The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its German affiliates, dju in ver.di and DJV, in calling on the German government to abandon its plans to gut Germany’s Freedom of Information Act. The proposed amendments threaten press freedom and core human rights essential to transparency and public participation in a democracy based on the rule of law.
On 2 July, the coalition committee of the German government, comprised of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), decided to significantly amend Germany’s Freedom of Information Act. The changes will severely restrict the ability of the public, including journalists and civil society, to obtain public records that relate to the actions of the government and public authorities.
In practice, the government seeks to adopt five key amendments to Germany’s Freedom of Information Act:
- journalists and citizens will have to prove a “legitimate interest” to obtain official information, giving authorities broad discretion to reject information requests and deter people from seeking information of public concern;
- non-EU citizens who do not live in Germany would not be able to obtain public records, regardless of whether they may be able to prove a legitimate interest;
- only individuals would have access to public records, preventing media organisations or civil society organisations from making requests;
- the government would remove the cap, currently at €500, on fees for information requests, which risks creating financially prohibitive barriers, excluding journalists and citizens from access;
- the government would allow routine redactions of names of public officials, which would obscure individual responsibility for government actions.
German journalists’ organisations have criticized the government’s plans as barriers to information for journalists and attempts to limit the media’s oversight, since they would make it significantly more difficult for journalists to do their jobs of monitoring the actions of politicians and the public authorities.
“The federal government wants to create a climate of total secrecy, withhold information from the public and make journalistic work more difficult. The Freedom of Information Act is a democratic tool for scrutinising government action. It must not be restricted under any circumstances. Even today, Germany remains one of the worst-performing countries internationally when it comes to transparency,” said Lars Hansen, dju Co-Chair.
“It is up to the German Bundestag to safeguard freedom of information,” said Mika Beuster, Federal President of the DJV. “The Freedom of Information Act isn’t perfect for media professionals, but it’s better than nothing.” Under the proposed reform, the Act would become a toothless tiger.
“The EFJ strongly supports its German affiliates in this vital fight for citizens’ right to access information,” insists EFJ President Maja Sever. “We strongly condemn the government’s proposals and call on all democrats in the German Bundestag to uphold standards of transparency and safeguard the rule of law.”
Source: EFJ
