Free Access to Information and Preventing Conflicts of Interest

Transparency International, a prominent international organization that fights corruption, is active in the countries of south eastern Europe. There, high levels of corruption, slow transition and their historical legacy all have prompted international groups to take up a greater interest in the region.

Owing to this, Transparency International was given an opportunity to implement a project called "Accountability Programme in the Western Balkans." The project enjoys the financial support of the Finnish government.

The accountability of government bodies, which is what the project is all ABOUT, will be upgraded by influencing the resolving of problems in two selected areas, key to enforcing the principle of good government.

The countries of the region (Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia) have made advances in fighting corruption in the past several years. In this the international community, primarily the Stability Pact and its anti-corruption initiative, have played a significant role, but it is obvious that serious problems still exist. The governments involved, beyond doubt, support the rule of law and the principles of good government. Yet the fact remains that the political will needed to adopt and enforce efficient anti-corruption measures is lacking, slowing down the attainment of these goals.

All the governments are facing serious challenges in the so-called period of transition. Even with best possible strategy the success of reforms depends on public confidence. If the public continues to perceive democratic institutions as corrupt, its trust is obviously low. This is why Transparency International believes that government ought to earn the trust of the people by doing the following:

Ensuring that the public and news MEDIA have easy access to all information related to the performance of government bodies; and
Persuading the public and news MEDIA that state officials and public servants are not using their authority to pursue private interests at the expense of the public interest.

The first step in that direction is passing adequate legislation. Serbia already has bills that will regulate these two until recently unregulated areas. Both bills have been around for a while and officials have announced plans to pass them on several occasions. However, in reality, they have done little to ensure that this happens.

Since the bills are already there, the project specifies that the following steps need to be taken by Sept. 1, 2005:

Setting a starting point. The initial stage of the project will analyze existing legislation regulating access to information and conflicts of interest, as well as poll the public and analyze the quality of the information publicized by the MEDIA.

Transparency Serbia, which is in charge of the project in Serbia, has formed expert teams that took surveys, whose results will most likely be unveiled in May. As part of the research, ordinary people were asked to say what they know and how they feel ABOUT conflicts of public and private interests when officials are in question, and how this problem should be eliminated. People will also be asked ABOUT ways to improve their access information concerning government bodies.

Raising public awareness: The project will also strive to gain support from government bodies, MEDIA organizations, and civil society representatives, in order to attain its goals.

The enforcement of regulations and training of public servants, civil society representatives and journalists: once the legislation is in place, Transparency Serbia will organize training programs for key bodies and government services responsible to enforce it, as well as journalists and people from non-government organizations, trade unions and professional associations.

Monitoring: The project`s closing phase envisages a survey that will show how the legislation in being enforced. Civil society representatives will be in charge of this check, which will be done using measures introduced by the new legislation. In the event any legal weaknesses are detected, adequate amendments would be proposed to eliminate them.

The regional nature of the project will make is possible to compare problems in different countries and exchange successful solutions. This does not mean solely an exchange between various regional chapters of Transparency International, but between government bodies in different states, as well as investigative journalists, since their professional interests would play a key role in monitoring the practical effectiveness of the legislation

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