Creation of Transparency Act (DE0044)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? Access to official information and public records is possible through many channels. The legal preconditions for that access, however, are enshrined in various laws. The following are unclear: conditions of access, permissible reasons for refusals and exceptions, formats to be used, obligations on providers to prepare files, possibilities for reuse or searchability tools. Elements of them overlap; some are contradictory. Publication practice to date has been mixed and is not yet entirely consistent, active and structured. The information and data that are made public could be made easier to find. In some areas, the rules for reuse are unclear.

What is the commitment? The Federal Government will introduce a bill which refines the legal basis for access to information and data and shepherd it through Parliament. It is examining to what extent existing freedom of information laws can be amalgamated and unified. The intention is also to improve the substantive criteria for granting access. For certain categories of information and data, an obligation to publish proactively is to be created. A centralised transparency platform is to ensure that, once published, information and data can be found. The law will establish a legal entitlement to open data.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The Transparency Act will create a cohesive legal framework governing access to and reuse of official information and data. This will result in legal certainty and clarity and will improve the availability of data. Expanded publication obligations and access rights will mean more information and data available to the individual and to the public at large. The obligation to publish proactively and the legal entitlement of the individual to open data will contribute to more effective accessing practice. A centralised transparency platform will make things easier to find. Freedom of information and open data will be brought together. The right of the individual to access information, formerly vouchsafed through freedom of information, will be brought closer to the legal regime governing open data by the obligation to publish proactively; the obligation to make public records accessible as open data, formerly enshrined in generally applicable law, will come into closer alignment with freedom of information as a result of the legal entitlement of the individual. This closer alignment will serve to better satisfy the demand for information from policymakers, industry, academia and society, to the benefit of the data economy as a whole.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? In creating the Transparency Act, the Federal Government is making great strides in the direc- tion of openness and transparency. The legally enshrined routes for accessing information are to be imbued with a new quality, improve cooperation within the government, foster oversight of administration and government, and enhance people’s options for participating in the political process. The resultant availability of data for business, researchers, civil society and the state will serve the common good.

Additional information: Objectives from the coalition agreement between the SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens and the FDP for the 20th legislative term

Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable | Start date - Implementation by

Government bill | End of 2024

Entry into force of the Act