According to the Council, it achieved this public recognition “after a detailed study by Transparencia Internacional of 45 authorities in the country.”

The international organisation’s assessment of the Basque country council focussed on five specific areas covering information on the council itself, relations with the public and society, economic and financial transparency, contracting of services and, finally, matters of services and support for municipalities. A total of 80 indicators were used to grade each authority and rank them based on the points they obtained.