Transparency is a core element of a functioning democracy. It is underpinned by the right to access information, understood as the ability of an individual to seek, receive, impart and use information (OECD, 2022). The OECD Recommendation on Open Government emphasises the importance of proactive disclosure of “clear, complete, timely, reliable and relevant public sector data and information” (OECD, 2017a). Likewise, the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity encourages transparency and stakeholder engagement at all stages of the political process and policy cycle to promote accountability and the public interest. In particular, this means 1) promoting transparency and an open government, including ensuring access to information and open data, along with timely responses to requests for information; and 2) granting all stakeholders – including the private sector, civil society and individuals – access to the development and implementation of public policies (OECD, 2017b).
The OECD Public Integrity Indicators on the transparency of public information measure both the quality of the regulatory framework on the transparency of public information (de jure) and its implementation in practice (de facto). On the de jure side, the indicator measures criteria including whether regulations establish that all public institutions and public officials are holders of public information, whether the right to request and access public information extends to both citizens and non-citizens, whether data are provided in the requested format and in a timely fashion, and whether everyone has the right to appeal to an independent body when a request is denied. On the de facto side, the criteria cover the extent to which public authorities publish a range of information and standard datasets that support social and economic benefits. These include detailed records of public revenues and expenditures, public contracts with private entities, legislation and policy documents, ministerial and government agendas, and asset and/or interest declarations of senior public officials.
Overall, OECD countries perform well across the OECD Public Integrity Indicators on transparency of public information. On average, they fulfil 66% of the predefined criteria on regulatory frameworks, and 62% of those on implementation in practice (Figure 6.1). The regulatory framework establishes that specific information must be accessible and standard datasets should be proactively disclosed. In practice, all OECD countries except Costa Rica proactively disclose the state budget for the current and the last full calendar years, and 31 out of 33 (94%) publish a consolidated repository of primary laws, featuring past amendments for every piece of legislation. However, fewer than half of OECD countries (16 out of 33) publish ministers’ agendas. The asset declarations of senior public employees across the three branches of government are accessible in 14 out of 33 (42%) of OECD countries. Only ten proactively disclose full data on the individual salaries of senior civil servants across all ministries (Table 6.1).
