A/HRC/24/38 • Budgets must be the object of permanent monitoring, oversight and accountability by legislatures, internal and external audit institutions, the media and citizens. We call upon: All governments at the national and subnational levels to: 1. Recognize, legislate, enact and operationalize the right to information generally and to public budget information specifically; 2. Actively engage citizens and all other stakeholders in setting public budget priorities-- including para-statal and para-fiscal funds-- as early and inclusively as possible, 3. Produce, and publicly discuss, in a timely fashion, at least eight key budget documents: re-budget statement, executive’s budget proposal, enacted budget, citizens budget, in-year report, mid-year review, end-year report, audit report; 4. Comprehensively report on all public financial flows and institutions, including those that are managed outside of the formal budget process; 5. Include all resources used for the implementation of public, fiscal and economic policies, regardless of their origin, in their public budget documents and processes; 6. Ensure that legislatures and auditors are independent of government and have sufficient resources to increase their capacity and thus fulfill their oversight mandates effectively. 7. Publish and disseminate budget information in easy and accessible formats through all possible means, including digital open data formats through the internet, public libraries, information centers, etc. VII. European Grid Declaration on Transparency and Public Participation, 5 December 2012 (excerpts)7 1.1 The Parties aim to improve the public acceptability of grid development to accommodate renewable energy in Europe, by increasing transparency and enabling public participation. Trustful cooperation is the basis to deliver solutions jointly for best practice in grid planning processes. 1.2 The Parties recognise the need to undertake suitable initiatives to improve public acceptability, and jointly to communicate the necessity of grid development in the transition towards renewable energy. These steps are needed so that: • renewable electricity generation is not constrained by bottlenecks in the transmission system; and • plans and investments to accommodate renewable energy enjoy greater understanding, provoke less public opposition and encounter fewer delays. 1.3 The Parties recommend adapting planning and permitting practices so that: • investments are planned, consented and undertaken in a more transparent way; • stakeholders have access to all relevant information that they need to form and express their views; 7 32 http://renewablesgrid.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Files_RGI/European_Grid_Declaration_2nd_Part.pdf