Nos lo ocultan, ¿por qué?
España es uno de los países más opacos de Europa y de los últimos sin ley de transparencia
Las administraciones esconden datos públicos de sanidad, medioambiente, justicia…
スペインでは、政府などが、情報公開法がないために、市民に情報や、事実資料を隠す。なんで?
We hide, why?
Spain is one of the most opaque of Europe and the last without transparency law
Administrations hide public data from health, environment, justice ...
'The opacity corrupts', Soledad Gallego-Díaz
The Obama revolution glass
Cózar Alvaro de Madrid 18 MAR 2012 - 00:56 CET
Spain is one of the most opaque of Europe and the last without transparency law
Administrations hide public data from health, environment, justice ...
'The opacity corrupts', Soledad Gallego-Díaz
The Obama revolution glass
Cózar Alvaro de Madrid 18 MAR 2012 - 00:56 CET
Maybe you want to know how many car thefts have occurred in your neighborhood or how many times the police officers in your community fired his service weapon while on duty. You may want to know the number of people who have died in the operating room of the hospital nearest your home, how many hip operations have gone well in the center, or if the nursing home where his father has been sanctioned. Or you may want to have data on how they spend political parties or trade unions that receive public money. You may want to work with these figures, cross them and analyze them with others, or may simply want to satisfy their curiosity. In any case, you can not get them in Spain, one of the most opaque of Europe.
The lack of transparency seems to be something in place in the Spanish political culture, something that goes beyond governments, whatever color you are. Sometimes, even when there has been publishing information the government has not openly admitting that the data should not have seen the light. This is the case of the Ministry of Industry, which last week issued a press release rebuking the National Energy Commission (CNE) to publish a report on possible measures to address the shortfall in electricity rates. The Minister regretted the impact that disclosure of the report caused to third parties. But the CNE is an independent body that publishes non-binding, even if they affect publicly traded companies.
Coalicción Pro Access Platform, which integrates to 54 organizations in early 2010 did an experiment. It was called the Campaign of 100 questions and tried to measure the transparency of government. In March of that year, a citizen asked the Ministry of Health: "How many shots were bought to combat swine flu?, At what cost? How many vaccines have been used?, How many have left and what to do with them? ". Another sent in April to the Ministry of Defence: "The number of Spanish soldiers killed and wounded (gravity, light) in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon in the past five years." In most cases there was no response (50%). Administrative silence. Only 20% of the responses were satisfactory.
The lack of transparency seems to go beyond governments, whatever color that is
Spain has not joined the bandwagon of countries that have chosen that which has been called Open Government (Open Government). United States, United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, Bulgaria and several Latin American countries have laws on transparency and access to information. In many of these countries is becoming possible to know in detail what the rulers have done with taxpayer money. "Lack of political will of our rulers and secular negative inertia and resistance to change in public institutions has made it impossible that we have a law such as exists in other countries," said Jesus Lizcano, professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid and chairman of Transparency International Spain.
The word most used by the governments themselves have decided to open the doors of government accountability is a concept that does not exist in Spanish and is often translated as "accountability with responsibility." President Barack Obama is a champion of the cause. "To be accountable," Obama said at the beginning of its mandate, "we need transparency." Some of the things that allows the initiative is available on the same site (www.data.gov) who have visited the White House, on what dates, and if those people have donated money to election campaigns.
Mariano Rajoy's government plans to adopt in the coming weeks the Law of Transparency and Good Governance. The idea is to present formally on 17 April in Brasilia in an international forum promoted by the United States and Brazil to promote access to information. If so, finally, Spain will no longer be the only country in Europe with more than one million people without transparency law-Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta do not have it. Former President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had pledged in 2004 to change that, but he fulfilled in his first term. In the second, the socialist government came to drafting a bill but the early elections, toppling the initiative.
There are still many questions that the new legislation will make Spain a country open
There are still many questions that the new legislation will make Spain a country open to allowing its citizens to check all data are confidential. The PP government has said that Spain will be the standard to the "cutting edge", but the Coalition for Access ensures that will not do much if not complied ten basic principles. "Among them, two very important: the creation of an independent body to ensure compliance with the law and that this be considered as a fundamental right," said Victoria Anderica, campaign coordinator of Access Info Europe, one of the founders of the platform .
For the Coalition, these two principles are essential for transparency not only affects the work of government, but also to the autonomous communities, judges and parliamentarians. Government sources say the law will strengthen the transparency of public administrations and all branches of government, including the judiciary. The same sources indicate that it is necessary to create a new body to ensure compliance with the standard but should be given powers to an existing one.
In theory, the law, which is being finalized by the team of Vice President Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, allowing citizens to ask for what you do not have the seal of confidentiality.
In that spirit of making citizens watchdog of the work of politicians, emerged in the UK the motto They work for you, that is, "they [government officials and politicians] work for you [citizen]." That is one of the websites (www.theyworkforyou.com) My Project Society, founded in 2003 with the intention to online tools for citizens to ask the Government what they want to control the work of officials or simply to what arrangements need to inform the streets. While in London, David Cabo, a Spanish computer, saw the different websites. "People could ask anything and the government responded. They were the pioneers. I do not even know what it was a law on access to information ". On his return to Spain, Cape met the heads of Access Info Europe, an organization based in Madrid and a European, struggling to get the information from the governments more accessible to citizens. The work of both Cape and Access Info, born this week a new page, tuderechoasaber.es. The aim of the website, which has got 6,100 euros of funding through grants that are available on the page, is to explain the law of Transparency and ensure compliance. The page users can submit questions to the various bodies through it. The answers will be published in the same place. "Without the social pressure of the questions, the law will not enforce a higher law," said Cape.
In theory, the law allowing citizens to ask for what you do not have a confidential
There are hundreds of stories that have come out of the questions submitted to governments. Many were made by journalists. In 2008, the Danish freelance journalist Brigitte Alfter and Belgian and Dutch colleagues, took advantage of the transparency provided by the Danish and Dutch laws to get some reports from pharmaceutical companies on drug side effects. The reports were sent to the European Commission and governments that kept secret. "These laws are extremely important to our work as journalists," says Alfter, which states that in countries like Sweden, access to information is enshrined in the Constitution since 1766. "We have the right to check what exactly does our taxes. My experience tells me that governments just considering it part of democracy, "he concludes Alfter, which states that it is necessary to make responsible use of requests for all the effort it takes for governments to meet the demands of citizens.
Andrew Ronnan is another case of what an ordinary citizen can expect to get if you know how and where to ask for the data. A Ronnan, a Briton who likes to Bavarian beer, he decided to import to your country. But many pubs had agreements with suppliers could not serve British and foreign beer. The European Commission considered whether the case involved competition. Ronnan asked to participate in meetings of the Commission. He was not allowed. Then he asked to know the names of participants, entrepreneurs trying to push for laws continue as they were. Ronnan took the matter to the European Court judges. In the first instance won and earned the applause of all the organizations calling for more transparency. In summer 2010 the judges right away saying Ronnan had to prove that you had a good reason for them to unveil the name of those who attended the meetings. Ronnan beer does not matter. Now he likes to run marathons.
The Guardian has set up a dedicated website that helps its readers to ask for data
British newspapers are squeezing those laws passed in 2005 in the UK. Like other media, the Guardian has assembled a dedicated website that helps its readers to request information. Simon Rogers is in charge of Datablog blog, which publishes information about the data that is accessible. "It has been installed in the UK a culture where we all see that we are entitled to information that the government wanted to keep out of reach. Politicians hate it. It is difficult to fight against free access to information. How can you be a Democrat and be against us? "
The new law, which should be ready a week and a half if Rajoy wants to fulfill his promise to pass it in the first 100 days of his government, can be a cataclysm in the world of information.
Remains to be seen yet its content, how much money it will cost and whether the Government can answer all questions. Ultimately, the law does not only serve to control the state but also to measure the level of demand by citizens. The number and quality of questions and answers will determine the health of democracy in Spain.
The lack of transparency seems to be something in place in the Spanish political culture, something that goes beyond governments, whatever color you are. Sometimes, even when there has been publishing information the government has not openly admitting that the data should not have seen the light. This is the case of the Ministry of Industry, which last week issued a press release rebuking the National Energy Commission (CNE) to publish a report on possible measures to address the shortfall in electricity rates. The Minister regretted the impact that disclosure of the report caused to third parties. But the CNE is an independent body that publishes non-binding, even if they affect publicly traded companies.
Coalicción Pro Access Platform, which integrates to 54 organizations in early 2010 did an experiment. It was called the Campaign of 100 questions and tried to measure the transparency of government. In March of that year, a citizen asked the Ministry of Health: "How many shots were bought to combat swine flu?, At what cost? How many vaccines have been used?, How many have left and what to do with them? ". Another sent in April to the Ministry of Defence: "The number of Spanish soldiers killed and wounded (gravity, light) in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon in the past five years." In most cases there was no response (50%). Administrative silence. Only 20% of the responses were satisfactory.
The lack of transparency seems to go beyond governments, whatever color that is
Spain has not joined the bandwagon of countries that have chosen that which has been called Open Government (Open Government). United States, United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, Bulgaria and several Latin American countries have laws on transparency and access to information. In many of these countries is becoming possible to know in detail what the rulers have done with taxpayer money. "Lack of political will of our rulers and secular negative inertia and resistance to change in public institutions has made it impossible that we have a law such as exists in other countries," said Jesus Lizcano, professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid and chairman of Transparency International Spain.
The word most used by the governments themselves have decided to open the doors of government accountability is a concept that does not exist in Spanish and is often translated as "accountability with responsibility." President Barack Obama is a champion of the cause. "To be accountable," Obama said at the beginning of its mandate, "we need transparency." Some of the things that allows the initiative is available on the same site (www.data.gov) who have visited the White House, on what dates, and if those people have donated money to election campaigns.
Mariano Rajoy's government plans to adopt in the coming weeks the Law of Transparency and Good Governance. The idea is to present formally on 17 April in Brasilia in an international forum promoted by the United States and Brazil to promote access to information. If so, finally, Spain will no longer be the only country in Europe with more than one million people without transparency law-Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta do not have it. Former President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had pledged in 2004 to change that, but he fulfilled in his first term. In the second, the socialist government came to drafting a bill but the early elections, toppling the initiative.
There are still many questions that the new legislation will make Spain a country open
There are still many questions that the new legislation will make Spain a country open to allowing its citizens to check all data are confidential. The PP government has said that Spain will be the standard to the "cutting edge", but the Coalition for Access ensures that will not do much if not complied ten basic principles. "Among them, two very important: the creation of an independent body to ensure compliance with the law and that this be considered as a fundamental right," said Victoria Anderica, campaign coordinator of Access Info Europe, one of the founders of the platform .
For the Coalition, these two principles are essential for transparency not only affects the work of government, but also to the autonomous communities, judges and parliamentarians. Government sources say the law will strengthen the transparency of public administrations and all branches of government, including the judiciary. The same sources indicate that it is necessary to create a new body to ensure compliance with the standard but should be given powers to an existing one.
In theory, the law, which is being finalized by the team of Vice President Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, allowing citizens to ask for what you do not have the seal of confidentiality.
In that spirit of making citizens watchdog of the work of politicians, emerged in the UK the motto They work for you, that is, "they [government officials and politicians] work for you [citizen]." That is one of the websites (www.theyworkforyou.com) My Project Society, founded in 2003 with the intention to online tools for citizens to ask the Government what they want to control the work of officials or simply to what arrangements need to inform the streets. While in London, David Cabo, a Spanish computer, saw the different websites. "People could ask anything and the government responded. They were the pioneers. I do not even know what it was a law on access to information ". On his return to Spain, Cape met the heads of Access Info Europe, an organization based in Madrid and a European, struggling to get the information from the governments more accessible to citizens. The work of both Cape and Access Info, born this week a new page, tuderechoasaber.es. The aim of the website, which has got 6,100 euros of funding through grants that are available on the page, is to explain the law of Transparency and ensure compliance. The page users can submit questions to the various bodies through it. The answers will be published in the same place. "Without the social pressure of the questions, the law will not enforce a higher law," said Cape.
In theory, the law allowing citizens to ask for what you do not have a confidential
There are hundreds of stories that have come out of the questions submitted to governments. Many were made by journalists. In 2008, the Danish freelance journalist Brigitte Alfter and Belgian and Dutch colleagues, took advantage of the transparency provided by the Danish and Dutch laws to get some reports from pharmaceutical companies on drug side effects. The reports were sent to the European Commission and governments that kept secret. "These laws are extremely important to our work as journalists," says Alfter, which states that in countries like Sweden, access to information is enshrined in the Constitution since 1766. "We have the right to check what exactly does our taxes. My experience tells me that governments just considering it part of democracy, "he concludes Alfter, which states that it is necessary to make responsible use of requests for all the effort it takes for governments to meet the demands of citizens.
Andrew Ronnan is another case of what an ordinary citizen can expect to get if you know how and where to ask for the data. A Ronnan, a Briton who likes to Bavarian beer, he decided to import to your country. But many pubs had agreements with suppliers could not serve British and foreign beer. The European Commission considered whether the case involved competition. Ronnan asked to participate in meetings of the Commission. He was not allowed. Then he asked to know the names of participants, entrepreneurs trying to push for laws continue as they were. Ronnan took the matter to the European Court judges. In the first instance won and earned the applause of all the organizations calling for more transparency. In summer 2010 the judges right away saying Ronnan had to prove that you had a good reason for them to unveil the name of those who attended the meetings. Ronnan beer does not matter. Now he likes to run marathons.
The Guardian has set up a dedicated website that helps its readers to ask for data
British newspapers are squeezing those laws passed in 2005 in the UK. Like other media, the Guardian has assembled a dedicated website that helps its readers to request information. Simon Rogers is in charge of Datablog blog, which publishes information about the data that is accessible. "It has been installed in the UK a culture where we all see that we are entitled to information that the government wanted to keep out of reach. Politicians hate it. It is difficult to fight against free access to information. How can you be a Democrat and be against us? "
The new law, which should be ready a week and a half if Rajoy wants to fulfill his promise to pass it in the first 100 days of his government, can be a cataclysm in the world of information.
Remains to be seen yet its content, how much money it will cost and whether the Government can answer all questions. Ultimately, the law does not only serve to control the state but also to measure the level of demand by citizens. The number and quality of questions and answers will determine the health of democracy in Spain.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿