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Fwd: [ogp] The EU and OGP - sign-on statement deadline 16 June

  • Subject: Fwd: [ogp] The EU and OGP - sign-on statement deadline 16 June
  • From: "Theodoros G. Karounos" <karounos [ at ] eellak [ dot ] gr>
  • Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:02:17 +0300
Στείλτε προτάσεις για το πώς μπορούμε να υποστηρίξουμε αυτή την
πρωτοβουλία ώστε να συμμετέχει και η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή στο
http://www.opengovpartnership.org/


Θ.Καρούνος


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: neil [ dot ] campbell [ at ] opensocietyfoundations [ dot ] org
<neil [ dot ] campbell [ at ] opensocietyfoundations [ dot ] org>
Date: Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 11:12 AM
Subject: [ogp] The EU and OGP - sign-on statement deadline 16 June
To: OGP Civil Society group <ogp [ at ] dgroups [ dot ] org>



Dear all,

I managed to have a conversation with some of you that were present in
Dublin at the Europe regional meeting, and we all heard the European
Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, among others, call for EU engagement with
OGP. I hope we can now move this forward.  I would like to circulate
the attached sign-on statement calling for the new EU leadership to
commit to EU engagement with and eventual participation in OGP.

The European elections were a stark reminder of the distance between
the EU institutions and the citizens they represent. The question of
whether the EU institutions are actually able to improve the lives of
EU citizens through promoting and practicing inclusive and transparent
governance was lost in much of the debate. The OGP provides a template
for a radical re-think of how the EU institutions communicate among
themselves on these issues and how they could bring themselves closer
to citizens. As the new set of leaders takes shape in Brussels over
the next few months, we would like to ensure that they have a
practical option for addressing the question of citizen participation
in, and the transparency and accountability of EU governance. The OGP
may not be the full answer, but at the very least the process,
objectives and methodology of what is now a truly global initiative
will offer practical solutions.

I would like to collect responses from CSOs based in European
countries (in this instance, EU members states and states in the
neighbourhood or enlargement process). Please send your organisation's
name and logo by 16 June. I will then compile the document and
redistribute for your use in advocacy towards the new EU leadership.
I'm very aware that a simple statement is a reductive way to approach
such a complicated issue and there are many detailed arguments that
will follow - this is merely an initial call to raise the issue on the
policy agenda and to gauge how much support exits.

There are also many additional steps that are required to make this
happen, these include a strategy of engagement with the OGP support
unit and steering committee, EU/OGP members states, institutions in
Brussels etc, but the first step is civil society. It won't happen
unless civil society asks for it. PLEASE SIGN ON!

I would also like to thank GONG, Access Info Europe and TI-EU for
their engagement in this initiative and their initial agreement to
sign the statement. NB that Access Info have managed to secure
commitments from 165 out of 751 members of the new European Parliament
to transparency and lobby control; while the TI-EU report on the
integrity of EU institutions is a primer to this whole issue. Other
orgs in Brussels are also doing great work to open up the institutions
- hopefully this initiative will add to their efforts.

Please get in touch with any questions or comments on the statement and process.

All best,

Neil

Neil Campbell
Head of EU Policy Development
Open Society European Policy Institute
Tel.: +32-(0)2-505 46 42 * Mobile: +32-(0)491-366-667

-----Original Message-----
From: neil [ dot ] campbell [ at ] opensocietyfoundations [ dot ] org
[mailto:neil [ dot ] campbell [ at ] opensocietyfoundations [ dot ] org]
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 3:18 PM
To: OGP Civil Society group
Subject: [ogp] OGP regional meeting. Panel on EU-OGP: Thurs 14:30-16:30

Dear all,

Looking forward to seeing some of you at the regional meeting in
Dublin later this week. The Open Society European Policy
Institute<http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/offices-foundations/open-society-european-policy-institute>
has organised a panel to be held on Thursday 8th May from 14:30 -
16:30: "The EU's role in promoting transparency & accountability, and
engagement with the OGP".

The EU has hovered on the margins of OGP. The aim of this discussion
is to bring together some of the complementary efforts of the EU
towards open government, and critical observations on how the EU
institutions might also improve their own transparency and
accountability to European citizens. The discussion will lead towards
an assessment of whether there is potential for the EU institutions to
develop a closer relationship with the OGP, and steps that could be
taken to make that happen.

Our panelists will be:


*        Emily O'Reilly, European Ombudsman

*        Dr Mechthild Rohen, Head of Public Services unit, DG Connect,
European Commission

*        Carl Dolan, Director, Transparency International's EU office

*        Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe

*        Saša Šegrt, Project Development Coordinator, GONG

For those of you also joining the Civil Society
day<http://www.opengovpartnership.org/get-involved/europe-regional-meeting/cso-day>
on Wednesday, myself and my colleague Anca Cioriciu will lead a
discussion on this issue from 17:00 to 17:30.

The gist of it: On the surface, the EU and OGP are remarkably
complementary: the EU institutions play an important role in
supporting open governance in and beyond Europe; the accession process
for membership includes important conditions for transparent and
accountable governing institutions; and the EU's own treaties require
that the institutions develop policy and laws in as open a manner as
possible. Why is the EU not a cheerleader for OGP? And what might EU
membership of OGP look like in practice? This is a timely discussion
as the EU moves towards leadership changes and parliamentary elections
amid calls for enhanced accountability of EU institutions to European
citizens. OGP was not initiated for regional bodies but as its
relations with multilateral institutions show, neither is it closed to
new forms of engagement and participation. European civil society
could play the essential role of pushing EU leaders, institutions and
officials towards a better understanding and implementation of open
government.

Best,

Neil
Neil Campbell
Head of EU Policy Development

Open Society European Policy
Institute<http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/offices-foundations/open-society-european-policy-institute>
Rue d'Idalie 9-13 * B-1050 Brussels * Belgium
Tel.: +32-(0)2-505 46 42 * Mobile: +32-(0)491-366-667
neil [ dot ] campbell [ at ] opensocietyfoundations [ dot ] org<mailto:neil [ dot ] campbell [ at ] opensocietyfoundations [ dot ] org>
* OSEPI webpage<http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/offices-foundations/open-society-european-policy-institute>

[Description: cid:image001.jpg@01CDAC60.6D5A6150]

Active in more than 70 countries, the Open Society Foundations work to
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For more information see:
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Attachment: ogp.eu.CSO statement 2.6.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document