Ref. Ares(2019)582031 - 01/02/2019
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL JUSTICE AND CONSUMERS
The Director General
Brussels,
Ares(2019)532785s
By registered letter with
acknowledgement of receipt:
Mr Arun Dohle
Against Child Trafficking
c/o Crown Business Center Schiphol-
Hoofddorp
Planetenweg 5
NL-2132 HN Hoofddorp
Advance copy by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Sir,
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2018/6374
We refer to your e-mail dated 27/11/2018 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 03/12/2018 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to
“All documents and other data related to the departure of the Commission's Child Rights
Coordinator and the appointment of the successor.
Including, but not limited to, data related to her departure (request for leave/retirement
or other arrangements), farewell party/parties, and the recruitment of the successor
(recruitment procedure, nomination). “
Your application concerns the following documents:
-
Vacancy notice for the post of team leader – Coordinator for the rights of the child
-
Applications received for the post
-
Minutes of the selection panel
-
Decision of the AIPN to appoint the official for the job in question
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: MO59 08/005 ‐ Tel. direct line +32 229 20678
As for the departure of the previous Coordinator for the rights of the child, I would like to
inform you that there are no specific documents, but only data in the database where
requests of leave / retirement etc. are encoded.
You will find attached copy of the vacancy notice published internally to the European
Commission.
Concerning the other documents, I have to inform you that pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access to a document has to be refused if its disclosure
would undermine the protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular
in accordance with European Union legislation regarding the protection of personal data.
The applicable legislation in this field is Regulation (EC) No 2018/1725 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and
agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001
and Decision No 1247/2002/EC1 (‘Regulation 2018/1725’).
The documents which you request access contain personal data, in particular names,
addresses, telephone numbers, and information related to their working position within the
European Commission.
Indeed, Article 3(1) of Regulation 2018/1725 provides that personal data ‘means any
information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person […]’. The Court of
Justice has specified that
any information, which by reason of its content, purpose or effect,
is linked to a particular person is to be considered as personal data.2 Please note in this
respect that the names, signatures, functions, telephone numbers and/or initials pertaining to
staff members of an institution are to be considered personal data.3
In its judgment in Case C-28/08 P (
Bavarian Lager)4, the Court of Justice ruled that when a
request is made for access to documents containing personal data, the Data Protection
Regulation becomes fully applicable5.
1 Official Journal L 205 of 21.11.2018, p. 39.
2 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 20 December 2017 in C
ase C-434/16, Peter
Nowak v Data Protection Commissioner, request for a preliminary ruling, paragraphs 33-35,
ECLI:EU:C:2017:994.
3 Judgment of the General Court of 19 September 2018 in c
ase T-39/17, Port de Brest v Commission,
paragraphs 43-44,
ECLI:EU:T:2018:560.
4 Judgment of 29 June 2010 in Case C-28/08 P,
European Commission v The Bavarian Lager Co. Ltd,
EU:C:2010:378, paragraph 59.
5 Whereas this judgment specifically related to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing
of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data, the
principles set out therein are also applicable under the new data protection regime established by
Regulation 2018/1725.
2
Pursuant to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 2018/1725, ‘personal data shall only be
transmitted to recipients established in the Union other than Union institutions and bodies if
‘[t]he recipient establishes that it is necessary to have the data transmitted for a specific
purpose in the public interest and the controller, where there is any reason to assume that the
data subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced, establishes that it is proportionate to
transmit the personal data for that specific purpose after having demonstrably weighed the
various competing interests’.
Only if these conditions are fulfilled and the processing constitutes lawful processing in
accordance with the requirements of Article 5 of Regulation 2018/1725, can the
transmission of personal data occur.
According to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 2018/1725, the European Commission has to
examine the further conditions for a lawful processing of personal data only if the first
condition is fulfilled, namely if the recipient has established that it is necessary to have the
data transmitted for a specific purpose in the public interest. It is only in this case that the
European Commission has to examine whether there is a reason to assume that the data
subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced and, in the affirmative, establish the
proportionality of the transmission of the personal data for that specific purpose after having
demonstrably weighed the various competing interests.
In your request, you do not put forward any arguments to establish the necessity to have the
data transmitted for a specific purpose in the public interest. Therefore, the European
Commission does not have to examine whether there is a reason to assume that the data
subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced.
Notwithstanding the above, please note that there are reasons to assume that the legitimate
interests of the data subjects concerned would be prejudiced by disclosure of the personal
data reflected in the documents, as there is a real and non-hypothetical risk that such public
disclosure would harm their privacy and subject them to unsolicited external contacts.
Consequently, I conclude that, pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001, access
cannot be granted to the personal data, as the need to obtain access thereto for a purpose in
the public interest has not been substantiated and there is no reason to think that the
legitimate interests of the individuals concerned would not be prejudiced by disclosure of
the personal data concerned.
In case you would disagree with the assessment that the redacted data are personal data
which can only be disclosed if such disclosure is legitimate under the applicable rules on the
protection of personal data, you are entitled, in accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation
1049/2001, to submit 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 Secretariat-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission
3
Secretariat-General
Unit C.1. ‘Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents’
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles, or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Tiina ASTOLA
Enclosure:
Avis de vacance COM/2018/1137
4
Electronically signed on 30/01/2019 16:37 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563