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Transparency at the core
of democracy
By Leena Luhtanen
The question of transparency in government has lost none of its significance,
although it dates back as far as government itself. How much
information can decision-makers entrust citizens with? The answer on
this relates directly to the basic constituents of any political entity. In a
modern society decision-making must be based on the political will of
enlightened citizens, which is expressed through votes and elections. In
such a society transparency should be the rule and secrecy the exception.
Citizens should be entrusted with as much access to information as possible.
The right of access to public information has its roots in the 18th
century. The title of a founding father may rightly be bestowed upon the
Finnish priest Antti Chydenius. As a member of the Swedish Parliament
from 1765 onward, he was the initiator of the Freedom of Press and the
Right of Access to Public Records Act. At the time Finland was still part
of the Kingdom of Sweden.
The Swedish example was later followed by the United States’ Constitution.
The right to freedom of expression entered into the Constitution
with the First Amendment in 1789. The focus was, however, rather on
the freedom of press than on access to public information as a citizens’
right. In the US, the Freedom of Information Act was introduced in
1966, and today almost all European countries have such an Act.
In the EU, major steps towards open government were taken in the
1990s. A big step forward was the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union in 2000. The Charter includes both freedom of expression
and the right of access to documents. In 2001 the first regulation on
access to documents was adopted.
The Nordic countries are internationally regarded as forerunners in
questions of transparency and openness. Therefore it was only logical
for the Finnish Presidency of the European Union in 2006 to put special
emphasis on the transparency of the EU. Public discussion has largely focussed
on whether or not all legislative decision-making should be carried
out in public. However, the access to documents and an efficient information
policy are just as important for making legislation and the legislative
process more transparent and understandable to the European Union’s
citizens.
To this end, the Finnish presidency started implementing the new
overall policy on transparency, which had been adopted by the European
Council in June 2006. Consequently, the openness of legislative decision-
making has been significantly increased. Altogether about half of
all debates between ministers in the EU Council are now held in public.
Web streaming technology enables all citizens and the media to follow
such proceedings through the internet from wherever they are. Furthermore,
all documents discussed by ministers in public proceedings are also
made available on-line.
The transparency of government is a core issue of the democracy
principle and a precondition for bringing any government closer to its
citizens. If a government does not trust its citizens, how can one expect
the citizens to trust their government? The same applies to the European
Union and is therefore one of the main priorities of Finland’s EU policy
during and beyond the 2006 presidency.
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