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Friday, May 17 • 14:45 - 16:00
Ghost offices, expense secrecy and the right to know

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In September last year a large group of journalists lost a case in the European Court of Justice. They had asked for access to documented expenses by members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who each receive 4000+ Euros per month to keep an office in their home country. The journalists had documented that many of these offices do not exist. The Court ruled, that the MEPs’ right to privacy trumped the right to access to documents, although the costs are carried by the European taxpayers. So what now?
As the EU-court has ruled that privacy overrules transparency in the EU-institutions, how do we move forward? Accept and adapt? Challenge the ruling? Turn reporting into activism? Find new strategies to make legislators accountable? Join the discussion an let’s shape the strategies for tomorrow today.

Moderators
avatar for Margo Smit

Margo Smit

ombudsman, GIJN/ICIJ
Margo Smit is news ombudsman since August 1, 2015, overseeing the journalistic output of the Dutch public broadcasters at NPO since january 1, 2017.Smit has been working in journalism since 1989. She was successively a desk editor at commercial and public broadcasters, parliamentary... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Staffan Dahllöf

Staffan Dahllöf

Freelance reporter, freelance, Denmarken
Eager to discuss any matter related to EU-reporting, especially FOI/Wobbing-issues. Have taken part in crossborder project Farmsubsidy.org, the Facebook arrests the MEP's Project, Chlorpyrifos (the most dangerous pesticide you've never heared of), Illegal pesticide + ongoing Covid... Read More →
avatar for Delphine Reuter

Delphine Reuter

Data journalist and researcher, ICIJ
avatar for Kristof Clerix

Kristof Clerix

Journalist, Knack
Kristof Clerix (°1978) works as a reporter for the Belgian weekly news magazine Knack . He is specialized in security reporting and long term investigative projects.As member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), he collaborated on LuxLeaks, SwissLeaks, Evicted&Abandoned, the Panama Papers, Bahamas Leaks, the Paradise Papers, the Implant Files... Read More →
avatar for Nils Mulvad

Nils Mulvad

Investigative Reporting Denmark
Nils Mulvad is a co-founder of the Global Network for  Investigative Journalism and other international networks such as  Farmsubsidy.org. He was CEO for the Danish International Center for  Analytical Reporting 2001-2006, European journalist of the year in 2006,  and he also... Read More →
avatar for Nataša Pirc Musar

Nataša Pirc Musar

Director and partner, Law Firm Pirc Musar & Lemut Strle
Ex Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia, data protection and FOI expert
avatar for Hans-Martin Tillack

Hans-Martin Tillack

Investigative reporter, Welt
Hans-Martin Tillack works as an investigative reporter for the newspapers "Welt", "Welt am Sonntag" and the TV magazine "Report München" (public broadcaster ARD). Until 2021 he was an investigative reporter for the weekly magazine "Stern". From 1999 to 2004 he was the EU correspondent... Read More →
avatar for Anuška  Delić

Anuška Delić

founder & editor-in-chief, Oštro
An investigative and data journalist from Slovenia with more work titles than she wants to count. In 2018 she left the country's main daily newspaper to establish Oštro, Center for investigative journalism in the Adriatic region. In 2021, just in time for the publication of Pandora... Read More →


Friday May 17, 2019 14:45 - 16:00 BST
Aula I