Dataharvest 2014

Wobbers sharing FOI / RTI / WoB - notes - come and join the round table and share the news from your country. Scheduled subjects (feel free to contribute with more): Should political parties be subject to wobbing as in India (Shyamlal Yadav)? How do you deal with authorities who do not want to deliver even though the Ombudsman tells them to do so as happened in Ireland (Gavin Sheridan)? How will the upcoming EU data protection laws affect journalists' work (Staffan Dahllöf)? How comes the Swedish government waters down the century old Swedish Wob (Brigitte Alfter)? Will the EU business secrets directive affect Wobbing (Brigitte Alfter / Staffan Dahllöf)? Access denied in trade documents - hear Scott Crosby about the status in the CEO-court case. EU-court tells Member States in the Council to show their cards - before decisions are taken. The Council has so far refused to bow. Learn more about wobbing case turned into a battle of power and transparency (Staffan Dahllöf).

Norway is among Europe’s most open countries, not least thanks to the public administration’s online document system OEP.no. Since Norway is an EFTA member and fully participates in the EUs internal market, many EU documents can be obtained via Norway. Search, select and press return to file Norwegian access to documents request.

Two years ago we sought communications between the European Central Bank and the Irish Finance ministry concerning the Irish bailout in 2010. While some letters were released, one critical one was refused. We believe the letter, like ones sent to Spain and Italy, contains important information about what governments were told to do by the ECB during the financial crisis. The Ombudsman asked the ECB to release the letter in light of Ireland exiting the bailout, but they have still refused to do so.

Legal practice is crucial for the use of the access to documents regulation. Meet Scott Crosby, an experienced transparency lawyer, who will present some of his recent cases. The - still ongoing - case about access to documents in the EU-India trade negotiations was brought before the court by Corporate Europe Observatory, also covered by Wobbing. Another of his cases concerned the member state veto in a case concerning the environment - and recently Crosby got the last document - after 12 years and a good bit of legal practice with arguments useful for journalists.

Meet one of the most active Wobbers we’ve met in recent years, Shyamlal Yadav. Wobbing or Right To Information as it is called in India is a powerful tool to unveil corruption, misspending, spreading of arms, politicians’ wealth (and attempts to hide it from the public). He also has interesting experiences as it – uniquely – was possible to use the Indian RTI to access information from parties. http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/2418708, http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/2339542, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/rahul-gifts-his-land-near-vadras-in-haryana-village-to-sister-priyanka/, http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/1853022

In the country of surrealist painter Magritte, there is not one, but more than a handful of FOI-regulations and instances controlling the use of it. Using examples, that sometimes led to actual news reports, we will look at where and how to file FOI-requests in Belgium and, when needed, how to appeal. Additionally we will look at some other public information sources, such as the official state Gazette and the federal business registry. These can be useful for detecting companies, associations, pressure groups and their managers/leaders. website: http://openbaarheidvanbestuur.wordpress.com (in Dutch)

Where to find documents in the European Commission? How to wob them out. Obstacles and how to overcome them. Bring your own examples or follow those, Brigitte brings.

Ever heard of the working parties? That's where EU-politics is made, before it gets rubber stamped by the ministers in the Council. Learn more and see what there is to find in the partly accessible registers.