The Government has approved the DECREE 8/2021, of 9 February, on transparency and the right of access to public information which aims to ensure a more homogeneous, effective and comprehensive implementation of the Law 19/2014 on transparency, access to public information and good governance.
The regulations clarify legal concepts and resolve interpretative doubts taking advantage of the valuable experience acquired by the public administrations of Catalonia in the application of the Law over the last six years.
The Law on Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Governance has two main objectives: the regulation of transparency in public activity and the regulation of citizens' access to public information. Public information is understood as the obligation of the Administration to provide information and data on its organization, operation, decision-making and management of public resources, and in general all the information available to it due to its activity.
The fulfillment of the obligations of transparency and those of good governance and the exercise of the right of access must favor the improvement of the democratic quality in the functioning of the public administrations of Catalonia.
The Decree therefore provides clarity, nuances and concretions to a very broad Law to facilitate its application. Among other things, it develops three areas of great interest to all those who manage the exercise of transparency: who should publish information, how to publish it and how to process requests for access to public information. .
- With regard to the subjects that must publish information, the new regulations clarify which entities are part of the public sector and, therefore, must provide information proactively, and define which are responsible for processing applications. It also specifies what certain private entities must publish in order to comply with the Law.
- The decree also highlights the contents to be published by the administrations: the form, place or means of publication as well as the deadlines for publication. For example, the data of patrimonial declarations and interests of the high positions and managerial personnel in the Administration of the Generalitat that must be published are specified, and it is determined what the publicity of its public agendas must be with respect to the contacts and meetings held with stakeholders.
- One of the main novelties of the Decree, and which has a direct and eminently practical impact on the management of citizen requests for public information, is the fact that when an application is estimated by the Administration, this it will be able to issue a simplified communication of end of the process, something that will speed up the procedure favoring so much the citizenry as the Administration.
- Another novelty is the specification of the legal causes for which an application is admitted or not. At the same time, the Decree specifies the limits that must be taken into account when providing information to the public.
- Given the rapid evolution that transparency has had in recent years in Catalonia, the development of the Law should also favor instruments that update the exercise of the Law. In this sense, it is worth noting that the Decree devotes a chapter to regulating the free reuse of information to be published in order to allow its exploitation to the public through its reproduction and dissemination by any means.
During the process of drafting the Decree there has been a lot of participation and collaboration. The work and contributions of the Local Transparency Group of the Network of Local Governments of Catalonia should be highlighted. On the other hand, the work carried out by the Interdepartmental Commission for Transparency and Open Government and by the Commission for the Guarantee of the Right of Access to Public Information, which have been developing interpretative criteria and doctrine throughout 'these six years of application of the Law of Transparency.
With the approval of the Decree, the Government complies with Resolution 821 / XII of the Parliament of Catalonia on the need to approve the regulations for the implementation of Law 19/2014, on transparency, access to public information and good governance.
From the Network of Transparent Governments we will work to put into practice the different elements and criteria that the new Decree includes, both from the point of view of legal and organizational updates to the different files of the items, as well as identifying, prioritizing and incorporating the potential changes and improvements that are necessary in the Transparency Portal that we offer you from the AOC. In future posts we will keep you informed of the status and evolution of the work.
