People often talk about access to information and transparency in the same breath, what is the difference?

A government is transparent when the great majority of the information that it holds about its activities, policies, etc., is available to the public.  Therefore, transparency is the result of information being available.

A transparent public body is one that is characterized by visibility or accessibility of information by people. Usually, this means not only that the public body is good and fast at answering requests for information from the public, but also that they publish a large amount of information without the need for requests, for example by publishing on their internet site and in official journals as well as in user-friendly leaflets and reports.

It doesn’t really matter too much if the words “transparency” or “access to information” are used, as the result is similar, but it helps to be specific.

Transparency has numerous benefits:

Transparency for accountability: The public has the right to hold the government and public officials to account for how they act and for the decisions they take. To do this information is needed. The role of media is particularly important here because journalists play the role of “public watchdogs” – something which they have a right to do as confirmed repeatedly by the European Court of Human Rights.

Transparency for participation: In a democracy it is essential that people can access a wide range of information in order to participate in a real and effective way in the matters that affect them. That means not just participating in elections but also participating in public debate and decision-making between elections, and in order to participate in a meaningful way we need information.

Transparency for efficiency: Responding to requests for information also has the benefit of encouraging public institutions to organise their information. In particular, proactive disclosure of information encourages better information management. This in turn should result in better, more fact-based decision-making inside each institution, as well as more effective communication between public bodies.