Continued commitment to transparency and openness
The European Commission is committed to acting transparently and openly in its dealings with other institutions, lobbyists, the general public and even among its own services. This was the message of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič at an event organised by the European Ombudsman on 27 September in the European Parliament.
Speaking at the Right to Know Day event, VP Šefčovič highlighted the many ways in which the Commission makes information available to citizens, most of which can be accessed via the Transparency Portal. These include a right to access for all public documents, information on the formation of expert groups, the Commission's ethics guidelines and information on how to take part in public consultations.
Perhaps the most high-profile measure to aid transparency is the Commission's Transparency Register, run jointly with the European Parliament. The register is currently being revised, and VP Šefčovič took part on 30 September in a high level meeting on the revision process, alongside European Parliament Vice-President Wieland. The meeting focused on Annexes 3 and 4 of the register, focusing respectively on the code of conduct to which all registrants are bound and the complaint and sanctions mechanism.
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