Access to Information – Local (RO0053)

Extending standards on access to public information at the level of local public authorities
2018-2020 Lead implementing agency/actor Secretariat General of the Government (SGG), Directorate for Open Government and Civil Society Other actors involved State actors Ministries CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working groups Associative structures of the local public administration at city and municipality level Centre for Public Innovation What is the public problem that the commitment will address? At the level of the local public administration authorities, analyses of the current situation reveal a lower focus of transparency and access to information than in central administration. Commitment description What is the commitment? SGG will continue to develop and expand the application of standards developed in the "Memorandum on Enhancing Transparency and Standardizing Public Interest Information" and in the "Memorandum for the Establishment of the Single Register of Transparency of Interests" at the level of municipalities and cities. How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem? - applying a minimum standard for local public authorities for displaying public interest information; - reducing the number of requests for information already found on the web pages of institutions; - increase the general level of information available to citizens. Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? Increase transparency in the local public sector by standardized publication of an increased amount of public interest information Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable Responsible agency / partner Start Date: End Date: 16 The half-yearly monitoring of the compliance of the target group practices covered by this commitment (municipalities) with the provisions of the two Memorandums SGG 2018 2020 Identifying the most frequent issues in the ex-officio provision of public interest information in a standardized manner by the target group: 1 public consultation, online questionnaire SGG / NGOs 2018 2020 Developing and updating the RUTI platform to include interactions between target group representatives covered by this commitment (municipalities) and specialized groups SGG / MDRAP, MAI (TBD) 2018 2020 Half-yearly training sessions for the persons in charge with implementing the provisions of Law no. 544/2001 regarding the access to information of public interest within the target group covered by this commitment SGG 2018 2020 Additional information Correlation with other government programs/strategies National Anticorruption Strategy 2016-2020, Strategy for Strengthening Public Administration 2014-2020

6. Extending standards on access to public information at the level of local public authorities

Commitment Text: "SGG will continue to develop and expand the application of standards developed in the "Memorandum on Enhancing Transparency and Standardizing Public Interest Information" and in the "Memorandum for the Establishment of the Single Register of Transparency of Interests" at the level of municipalities and cities."

Milestones:

6. • The half-yearly monitoring of the compliance of the target group practices covered by this commitment (municipalities) with the provisions of the two Memorandums
   • Identifying the most frequent issues in the ex-officio provision of public interest information in a standardized manner by the target group: 1 public consultation, online questionnaire
   • Developing and updating the RUTI platform to include interactions between target group representatives covered by this commitment (municipalities) and specialized groups
   • Half-yearly training sessions for the persons in charge with implementing the provisions of Law no. 544/2001 regarding the access to information of public interest within the target group covered by this commitment

Start Date: 2018 ...............................................

End Date: 2020

Editorial Note: The commitment text is abridged. The full text can be found in the OGP 2016-2018 national action plan.

Context and Objectives

In 2016, an inter-ministerial Memorandum was signed, [57] according to which the signatories agreed to publish the same type of information and in the same format under law 544/2001 and agreed to publish the agendas of their high-level officials on the Unique Transparency of Interests Register (RUTI). The information to be provided, according to the Memorandum, falls into three categories: (1) information about the institution (i.e., legislation, leadership, organization, programs and strategies, reports and studies), (2) public interest information (e.g., Freedom of Information [FOI] forms and requests, budget, financial balances, public procurement), and (3) contact information (e.g., contact, address, email, opening time). The Secretariat General of the Government (SGG) periodically monitors the implementation of the Memorandum that was considered the benchmark of good practices for transparency. [58] In 2018 only 49.7 percent of local public authorities (which are autonomous and did not sign the Memorandum) conformed with the Memorandum requirements, [59] in contrast to 85 percent of central public authorities. [60]

This commitment aims to increase transparency through trainings, aid in using the RUTI platform, and identify structural particularities of local public administration that may prevent compliance with the 2016 Memorandum. Milestone 6.2 includes some consultations with local civil society organizations, which is relevant to the OGP value of civic participation (even though they are not designed on a recurring basis). All four milestones are sufficiently specific that the commitment can be verified.

Like Commitment 2 of this action plan, to which this commitment is closely related, [61] the sample of 111 local public authorities that are consulted, trained, and monitored constitutes approximately 3 percent of the total population of local public authorities in Romania. This could limit the impact of this commitment. [62] Since this sample is not randomly selected (see the assessment of Commitment 2 in this report), and therefore it is unclear how representative its findings are for other local public authorities. Moreover, the impact of this commitment is limited by the autonomous nature of the local public administration.

An interviewed SGG representative acknowledged these limitations, arguing that this commitment is intended as a first step towards extending the standards of the 2016 Memorandum at the local level. [63] Currently, either local administrations needs to be convinced to join voluntarily the list of Memorandum signatories, or the Memorandum needs to be transferred into law. Voluntary compliance is preferred at this stage, as it allows SGG to understand what (if anything) needs to be changed in the 2016 Memorandum to meaningfully apply it at local level. [64]

Next steps

Moving forward, the IRM researcher suggests the following:

• SGG does not have the budget to train or monitor the public information provision of the entire population of local authorities. Therefore, SGG and Ministry for Regional Development and Public Administration (MDRAP) could select among the 111 local public authorities, several "transparency champions," and empower them to train and consult other local authorities within their network or geographical reach in order to create a multiplier effect.
• SGG could summarize and organize the feedback received from the 111 local public authorities, and then check (by means of a larger public consultation) if they reflect well the needs of the entire population of local public authorities in Romania. Input could therefore be required from the part of national-level CSOs (e.g., Center for Public Innovation [CPI]) that are now listed as implementation partners, but whose contributions have not been requested [65] or clearly envisioned.

[57] Ministry of Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue, Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Secretariat General of the Government, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Public Finance, and National Agency of Public Procurements (2016). "Creşterea Transparenţei Şi Standardizarea Afişării Informaţiilor De Interes Public", available [in Romanian] at https://goo.gl/tj1Xz9.

[58] Interview with Madalina Mitroi, General Secretariat of the Government (SGG), 17 April 2019.

[59] SGG (2018) "Analiza rezultatelor procesului de monitorizare a autoritatilor si institutiior publice cu privire la afisarea din oficiu, standardizata a informatiilor de interés public in perioada 2017-2018", pg. 15, available [in Romanian] at https://bit.ly/2WRY4v2.

[60] SGG (2018) "Analiza rezultatelor procesului de monitorizare a autoritatilor si institutiior publice cu privire la afisarea din oficiu, standardizata a informatiilor de interés public in perioada 2017-2018", pp. 26-29., available [in Romanian] at https://bit.ly/2WRY4v2.

[61] Interview with Madalina Mitroi, SGG, 30 August 2019.

[62] SGG (2018) "Analiza rezultatelor procesului de monitorizare a autoritatilor si institutiior publice cu privire la afisarea din oficiu, standardizata a informatiilor de interés public in perioada 2017-2018", pp. 26-29, available [in Romanian] at https://bit.ly/2WRY4v2.

[63] Interview with Madalina Mitroi, SGG, 17 April 2019.

[64] Interview with Madalina Mitroi, SGG, 17 April 2019.

[65] Interview with Ovidiu Voicu, Center for Public Innovation (CPI), 16 April 2019.

6. Extend standards on access to public information for local public authorities

Completed

SGG organized four monitoring rounds during the action plan period (March, June, and December 2019, and June 2020) on the degree to which 111 local public authorities (the same from Commitment 2 in this action plan) conformed to two memorandums on transparency at the local and municipal levels. [29] SGG tested compliance based on annual reports and other online evidence gathered through desk research. [30]

SGG questioned the 111 local public authorities on the most frequent issues in the ex-officio provision of public interest information in a standardized manner. The minutes of these meetings are available online. [31] According to the OGP repository, from May to July 2019, SGG and the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration (MDLPA) trained the 111 local public authorities. The trainings involved how to implement law 544/2001, the functionalities of the Unique Transparency of Interests Register (RUTI) platform, and on the legal framework and the benefits it brings. [32] Information from the trainings is not available online.

The 111 local public authorities represent only 3.5 percent of the total local public administrations in Romania and had already volunteered to be trained and to commit to supporting OGP values. However, according to the government, this target group is a representative sample of the country’s local government broadly. [33] SGG’s monitoring efforts revealed that these trainings only increased compliance with the memorandums on transparency at the local and municipal levels from 44 percent to 53 percent during the two years. [34]