Ref. Ares(2014)97249 - 17/01/2014
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICE
Director-General
The Internal Auditor
Brussels,
IAS/PT/MC
Sent by mail to:
Mr Martin Welz
ask+request-1096-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem Nr 2013/6421
Dear Mr WELZ,
I refer to your recent e-mail dated 17 December 2013 in which you request access to
documents concluded in 2013 following inspections performed by the Internal Audit
Service at the European Agency for Fundamental Rights: reports, notes, relevant
documents and AMP; information in redacted form/partial access. The request was
registered on 17 December 2013 under the reference number GestDem No 2013/6421.
As regards ‘AMP’, I would appreciate if you could specify the meaning of the acronym.
As regards the reports, notes, relevant documents, having examined the documents
requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
documents and the Financial Regulations (FR) Art 99(6) regarding public access to audit
reports, I regret to inform you that your application cannot be granted.
As regards the reports, in accordance with Art 99(6) of the FR, ‘’the reports and findings of
the internal auditor (…) shall only be accessible to the public only after validation by the
internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation’’, whereas the documents which
you seek to obtain relate to the ongoing audit work in the European Agency for
Fundamental Rights in 2013. Furthermore, the disclosure of the reports, respective notes,
relevant documents and information is prevented by the exception laid down in the
Article 4(2) third intent of Regulation (EC) Nr 1049/2001.
Disclosure of the documents you requested would undermine the protection of the purpose
of the ongoing audit work, as it would put into the public domain preliminary findings
which have not yet been confirmed and which may be rebutted by the entity being audited;
disclosure at this point in time would unduly interfere with the contradictory procedure and
may undermine the rights of the entity concerned. Therefore the exception laid down in
Article 4(2) third indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies to these documents.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: MADO 32/061 - Tel. direct line +32-2-2954252
The exceptions of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply unless they are
waived by an overriding public interest in disclosure. For such an interest to exist it, firstly,
has to be a public interest and, secondly, it has to outweigh the interest protected by the
exception to the right of access. However, at this stage the IAS has not identified any
arguments to demonstrate the overriding public interest within the meaning of that
Regulation.
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a
confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon
receipt of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-5
BERL 5/327
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Philippe Taverne
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: MADO 32/061 - Tel. direct line +32-2-2954252
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