After years of wrangling, Luxembourg is strengthening the information rights of journalists vis-à-vis state administrations - at least a little.
This emerges from a new circular from Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who is also Media Minister.
The paper, known as "Circulaire Bettel 2.0", adopts some of the demands of the journalists' association ALJP (Association luxembourgeoise des journalistes professionnels).
This includes the obligation to process requests for information within 24 hours.
This can be done by sending the desired data or an acknowledgment of receipt stating the additional time that is required.
Each authority must also set up an e-mail address for journalists' inquiries, to which at least two officials have access.
If information is not released, this decision must now be justified.
Legal recourse is possible against such decisions.
Just a "micro-progress"
Luc Caregari, Secretary General of the ALJP and journalist at the investigative magazine Reporter.lu, sees the new regulation as a "micro-progress".
He sticks to his demand that the right to information must be enshrined in the law on freedom of expression.
The circular that has now been published does not have the same legal value as being enshrined in law.
The head of the press council, Roger Infalt, told the "Tageblatt" that civil servants have to coordinate with their superiors before any press contact, even if it is only about the transmission of statistics, is only handled in this way in two European countries: Luxembourg and Malta.
Reporter.lu editor-in-chief Christoph Bumb told the FAZ that even with the new regulation, information rights are nowhere near as pronounced as in France or Germany.