The keys to the Transparency Act in the Basque Country: access to public information, greater control and complaint mailbox

The Transparency Act of the Basque Country adopted this Thursday will make it possible to increase control over the management of public resources and cooperation with lobbies (lobbies) of administrations, and to strengthen the protection of citizens who report on infringements and corruption in the public sector.

The Act is binding on the public sector of the Basque Administration, on local entities, on the general meetings of the three territories, on the Ararteko, on the Labour Relations Council, on Parliament and, in some respects, on the private sector, but not on the Member States, which have their own regulations, and regulates everything relating to the "good" functioning of the public sector.

The right of individuals to free access to public information is guaranteed as a general rule and the participation of citizens in the design and adoption of decisions of public interest is regulated.

Public institutions shall publish on their own initiative relevant public information to ensure transparency, such as grants and subsidies granted and beneficiaries or remuneration for senior officials and contracts.

Public service organizations shall also provide information on their work and include a complaint and suggestion mailbox.

All citizens shall have the right to know the reasons for their failure to provide information and to respect obligations based on the principles of good faith.

Transparent, the authority that ensures compliance with the law

In this context, the Basque Transparency Authority -Gardena- is established as an independent body to ensure compliance by the public administration with its obligations with regard to active publicity and the right of access to information, with the capacity to issue decisions containing corrective measures and to initiate punitive procedures or disciplinary proceedings.

It shall also act as an independent authority for the protection of information on violations and the fight against corruption and shall include all administrations, agencies and institutions in the public and private sectors where such non-compliance is limited to the Basque Country.

Citizens may file a complaint with this body when they are denied the right to receive information or when the citizen does not wish to do so. The person responsible shall be appointed by the Basque Parliament by a three-fifths majority of its members.

Another section of the regulation regulates the creation ofa register of interest groups , also known as lobbies, which will facilitate their public identification and ensure transparency and control of their activity vis-à-vis the Basque public sector.

Interest groups are those persons or entities which, regardless of their form or legal status, carry out activities that may directly or indirectly affect the processes of public policies or normative provisions, their implementation or the decision-making of public sector administrations and entities.

In addition, a system of penalties is established for offences in the field of transparency, with penalties attributable to senior officials for breach of the law, with fines of up to €12,000, or with the need to cease in the case of very serious offences.

If the breaches are committed by private entities obliged to provide information and by public law corporations, the penalties may amountto EUR 400 000 and, in some cases, the refund of the subsidies received or, where appropriate, the termination of the contract or agreement.