Volksentscheid Transparenz Berlin

In the Berlin coalition agreement, the governing parties agreed to further develop the Berlin Freedom of Information Act into a transparency law. However, a concrete draft has not yet been worked out. We want to change that. Together with civil society partners, we have written a draft for a Berlin Transparency Act. Within the framework of a referendum, we will implement the draft law for the whole of Berlin by 2021.

The Transparency Act obliges the Senate and the authorities to disclose important information to the public. This includes Senate resolutions, secret contracts with companies, expert opinions–e.g. on water quality or the development of land prices–as well as data on public contracts. According to our proposed law, the administration must make this information available centrally and free of charge on an online platform.

An active publication of information helps citizens, journalists and initiatives to gain an early insight into the actions of politics and administration. Only those who know, for example, where there is a lack of daycare places can do something about it. Transparency works against tax wastage and corruption. Disasters such as the BER airport and the State Opera, which cost billions of euros, show that we urgently need more public control!