Despite international success, freedom of information is on a slippery domestic slope – and not in favour of the public.

Last fall, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) adopted a new policy to help re-establish an environment for government and civil society collaboration, safeguarding the Open Government Declaration and to mitigate reputational risks to OGP. Today, members of Hungarian civil society, including representatives of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and K-Monitor, as well as Sunlight’s international policy manager, a former employee of K-Monitor, called on the OGP Steering Committee to take action under the new policy and launch a thorough investigation into the situation in Hungary, with a special attention to the deterioration of the space for civil society.

Draft amendments to the Freedom of Information Act of Hungary raise concerns about access to public information and should be consulted with all stakeholders before adoption, Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media said today.

The Hungarian government has devised a new anti-corruption program, which, as opposed to reducing corruption, in fact increases the government's power. Compared with earlier plans, reforms concerning the financing of parties and the protection of whistleblowers have been excluded from the program, which also fails to deal with the asset declarations of MPs. The civil and the business sectors, in turn, are facing stricter regulations in the future.More:http://tasz.hu/informacioszabadsag/tovabb-lejton-elfogadta-kormany-nemzeti-korrupcioellenes-programot

Civils say law to classify data of the Paks nuclear power plant expansion as confidential for 30 years is unconstitutional.

Five NGOs, including the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, have addressed an open letter to Hungary's president after the draft law on the maintenance of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant was passed by the Parliament.