Improving citizens’ access to information: making the work of the Chamber of Deputies even more transparent
Right of access to information – Mouvement Ecologique requests further information
The government has presented a reform text to improve journalists’ access to information. It also includes some changes to the law on ‘administration ouverte et transparente’, which affects citizens. For years, the Mouvement Ecologique has been campaigning for reforms in this regard. Unfortunately, however, these proposed amendments do not go far enough. As was revealed at a meeting of the relevant commission of the Chamber of Deputies, there was a ‘note au formateur’ on how to improve access to information. This is a document that is passed on by a competent body of the previous government as a suggestion for the coalition agreement of the new government. This ‘note au formateur’ was forwarded to the members of the relevant commission. The Mouvement Ecologique requested this document. It will be interesting to see how the Chamber of Deputies approaches the right to information when it concerns itself.
Documents of the Chamber of Deputies publicly accessible
On a positive note, the Chamber of Deputies decided a few months ago that various committee meetings would now be broadcast live and would also be available for viewing on video afterwards. This development is to be seen in an absolutely positive light. Although it will certainly take some time before it is sufficiently well known and also used accordingly.
The Mouvement Ecologique encouraged the Chamber of Deputies to take a further step towards transparency. In numerous meetings, documents are presented and sent to the deputies, especially by ministries and government officials. These are, for example, summaries of current legislation or planned changes to laws; documents on the implementation of various strategies, figures, etc. Interested citizens can listen to the explanations during the live broadcast, but the documents themselves are not made available online. The Mouvement Ecologique has raised the question of why this is the case and suggested that the documents be made available online with the report. It will be interesting to see whether a further step is taken in terms of transparency. This approach would actually be required by law, even on the basis of the current rather poor law on ‘transparent and open administration’.