[OKFN-Spain] Fwd: Access Info calls on Commission to publish travel expenses data proactively

Mar Ene 31 19:48:23 UTC 2017

---------- Mensaje reenviado ----------
De: "Access Info Europe" <info en access-info.org>
Fecha: 31 ene. 2017 20:46
Asunto: Access Info calls on Commission to publish travel expenses data
proactively
Para: <coalicion-proacceso en googlegroups.com>
Cc:

Madrid, 31 January 2017 – Following a massive public response to Access
Info’s campaign to crowd source requests for Commissioners’ expenses...

Access Info calls on Commission to publish travel expenses data proactively

*Madrid, 31 January 2017* – Following a massive public response to Access
Info’s campaign <https://www.access-info.org/commissioners-expenses> to
crowd source requests for Commissioners’ expenses, the organisation has
written to Vice President Frans Timmermans calling for the data to be
proactively published.

In under two days on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 January, a total of 119
people from across Europe submitted a total of 168 requests for access to
the 2016 travel expenses claims of the 28 European Commissioners.

“*The rapid response to this campaign demonstrates the huge public interest
in getting this information into the public domain*,” stated Andreas
Pavlou, Access Info’s EU Researcher and Campaigner. “*The sensible and
efficient solution would be to publish all the data online in bulk and in
machine-readable formats.*”

The Commission has never proactively published the official travel costs
and Access Info spent almost two years
<https://www.access-info.org/eut/27442> in back-and-forth requests and
appeals to establish that this data would be released to the public after
the Commission first tried to deny access to the documents on the rather
remarkable grounds of protecting the privacy of the Commissioners. In spite
of this situation, a Commission spokesperson told a journalist from
Politico.eu
<http://www.politico.eu/blogs/playbook-plus/2017/01/call-to-publish-european-commissioners-travel-expenses/>
on the topic, that “We are very transparent.”

Transparency around the spending of public funds on official travel by EU
Commissioners has been a hot topic recently with questions raised around
the spending by President Juncker on an air taxi to Turkey in 2015, as well
as a ‘free’ flight that Commissioner Oettinger took to Hungary using a
lobbyist’s private plane in 2016.

The reaction from the Commission to spending of public funds on official
travel is that “the rule is quite simple: you have to take every time the
cheapest travel option.” Access Info questions whether this is really the
case, as clearly it might be appropriate for senior EU officials to take
business class tickets at times, even when a cheaper option might be an
overnight bus.

In a further twist to the story, the Commission denied Access Info access
to the contracts signed with private travel companies, including those
providing air taxi services, on the vague grounds of commercial interests.
Working with The Good Lobby <http://www.thegoodlobby.eu/>, Access Info has
prepared a formal appeal (known as a “confirmatory application”) to
challenge
<https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/airline_and_train_agreementscont#outgoing-7727>
this denial.

Andreas Pavlou also noted that Vice President Timmermans has stated:
“Transparency is one of the few tools we have to reconnect with very
sceptical citizens.”

“*In order to address concerns about lavish spending in Brussels, one
obvious measure is be up front with details of how taxpayer’s funds are
spent on basic activities such as travel by the Commissioners,*” concluded
Pavlou.

You can read Access Info’s letter to Vice President Frans Timmermans here
<https://www.access-info.org/wp-content/uploads/Letter-Timmermans-31-January-2017.pdf>
For more information, please contact:

*Luisa Izuzquiza*, Communications Officer | Access Info Europe
or
*Andreas Pavlou*, Campaigner and Researcher | Access Info Europe

Send an e-mail <http://www.access-info.org/about-us> or call +34 913 656 558

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