Information newsletter
Issue 7(19), July 2005

Monthly Interview: Implementation of the Access to Public Information Act in Bulgaria – a View from Abroad
Brano Orgonik, VVMZ

“Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in Bulgaria” is the title of a joint project that is being carried out by Access to Information Programme (AIP) and the consultancy company VVMZ East European Investment Service B.V., the Netherlands. The three-year project is financed by the MATRA Programme of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Diana Bancheva conversed with the Slovak expert Mr. Brano Orgonik.

We are in the middle of the implementation process of the three-year project for the improvement of the situation of access to public information in Bulgaria. After a year and a half work over it, what are your impressions from the cooperative work with Access to Information Programme?

Concerning the developments in this field in Bulgaria I have to say that I am personally very pleased about the latest development because according to the annual report of AIP that we have received and the findings that are there, I think that the implementation of the freedom of information in Bulgaria is quite progressed at the moment.
One of our target groups is the NGOs. We are training them to be able to spread this information and to build a common awareness among common citizens that there is a tool that they can use to gather information that they need for their everyday life or business. Another target group that we have are those that are actually possessing information, those that can disclose it. These are public administrators. We have public administrators on a local level and on a national level. Since the municipalities are working closer to common citizens in, we think it is very important to train them on how to use access to information. They also have created certain procedures and certain good practices how to disclose information and how to work with people, how to help them. Public administration on the national level is always distanced and a longer-term working is required because they are not meeting common people in everyday work. However, it is also important for them to create certain structures and procedures how to disclose information, and mostly what information could be given in an active way without being demanded. That is why I think that this project is beneficial. With joint forces, the support from the Dutch government, with a Dutch know-how, with the hard work of people, working for AIP, I think that this issue has been brought forward and significant changes have been made in this field.

What improvements do you see in access to information? Is governance getting more transparent here?

Comparing the amount of information contained in the web sites of the ministries, which I have been following for two years, today there is much more information about public procurement, also, about some new legislation and developments toward the accession of the EU.

Of course this is far from ideal, it is not perfect but we can expect that it will take a lot of small steps to build a much better provision of information by the national level of state administration.

Also, concerning the openness of the local government, that’s another part of this story. I experienced much more active provision of information. That means that the public administrators are giving more information out on their own because they have learned that if they inform people more, they can expect less request for information and it could be done in more efficient and cheaper way.

What problems with freedom of information do you see as the project has been implemented?

As we have experienced, there is no different situation in Bulgaria and in the other countries. Maybe because there is a longer history of open government and I think that is more the issue. It’s not only about the issue of legislation, about the FOI Act.
It’s more issue of culture, of the attitude of the local and national administration. About how open they are and how much information they are willing to actively or passively disclose to citizens. And as we know in BG because of the former regime, there is a big history of secrecy and not giving any information. That is why it’s going to take longer time not to implement the law but to change the attitude of public administrators, as well as the habit of the common people, who are also not used to ask for information and make the law work.

I would also say that the FOI legislation should be used only as a last instance - if the person is not able to get information or the public administrator is not sure if this information is public or not. In all the other cases, there should be a good will of those who possess the information to give it to the citizens because they should work for the citizens.

Bulgaria and Slovakia has adopted FOI laws in the same year – 2000. What progress is the Slovak administration making since the adoption of the FOI Act?

If you experience the situation from day to day, we don’t see any significant changes because there is very slight change everyday. If you compare, however, the present situation in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, or Poland, it is not very different from that two or three years ago. There is definitely a big great change in the attitude of public administrators. There is much more information. It’s the same as in Bulgaria. It’s far from perfect. It’s going to take time and continuous efforts of journalists or organizations like AIP but it’s an everyday work that is actually bringing results already. And if you compare it in a longer-term perspective – two-three years, you can experience significant changes.

In Slovakia, because I live there, access to information is not such a big issue as in 2000. Because it is now widely accepted and it is really part of everyday life. People are using it. Public administrators are using it as well but they don’t think of it as something special, something new. It’s just part of everyday life and everyday work they have to or they want to fulfill. That’s is the change in the attitude that is very important.

In comparison to the Netherlands, where do you think Bulgaria and Slovakia are?

The biggest difference between our countries is that Dutch culture of openness is much older than the legislation itself. So, the legislation was adopted maybe hundred years after they were used to receive quite open and free information from the municipalities and the government. That is why some people in the Netherlands say that they do not need any WOB (Dutch FOI Act) because, they say, they have disclosed information anywhere because they have history of being open and transparent and giving information away. I met a lot of people, who are actively using the WOB in the Netherlands in their everyday life and career.

Also, the legislation that is concerning the freedom of information is important because it brings some limitations like personal data protection, etc. Thus, other rights of citizens are protected. As we know, WOB in the Netherlands is 25 years old. It is being reviewed every 5 years and the revision that was done last year put a little more limitations to the information that could be freely disclosed to public. I think that it is concerning the fear of international terrorism and abuse of information.