DOC 6
Ref. Ares(2020)4117196 - 05/08/2020
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 15.2.2019
C(2019) 1456 final
Brussels
Belgium
DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 4 OF THE
IMPLEMENTING RULES TO REGULATION (EC) NO 1049/20011
Subject:
Your confirmatory application for access to documents under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2018/6361
Dear
,
I refer to your e-mail of 25 January 2019, registered on 28 January 2019, in which you
submited a confirmatory application in accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents2 (hereafter ‘Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001’).
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR REQUEST
In your initial application of 30 November 2018, you requested access to ‘[t]he precise
job description given to
upon assuming
duties as the
European Commission’s
’.
In your application, you underlined that ‘[w]hile recognising that the job description of
EU officials are not normally published for reasons of data protection, [you] believe there
is a demonstrable public interest in making available the aforementioned documents’,
and provided arguments in this respect.
1
Official Journal L 345 of 29 December 2001, page 94.
2
Official Journal L 145 of 31 May 2001, page 43.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Your initial application was attributed to the Directorate-General for Human Resources
and Security for handling and reply.
The European Commission has identified the following document as falling under the
scope of your initial application:
- Extract from internal Commission application SYSPER3 containing the job
description of the staff member in question.
In the reply of 23 January 2019, the Directorate-General for Human Resources and
Security referred to the reply provided by the European Commission to your previous
application submitted on 21 June 20184, in which you asked for access to the same
document.
The Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security outlined also the conclusions
of the assessment carried out by the European Commission in the handling of the above-
mentioned initial application. Indeed, the European Commission refused access to the
document concerned, based on the exception in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001, protecting privacy and the integrity of the individual. These conclusions,
according to the Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, remain valid
also with regard to your current application, as it relates to the same document.
In your confirmatory application, you request a review of this position. In particular, you
underline that ‘there is a clear public interest in disclosing details of the job description
[in question]’.
2.
ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSIONS UNDER REGULATION (EC) NO 1049/2001
When assessing a confirmatory application for access to documents submitted pursuant
to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the Secretariat-General conducts a fresh review of the
reply given by the Directorate-General concerned at the initial stage.
In the context of the review, I note that you do not put forward any change in the legal or
factual situation that has taken place since the refusal of the European Commission to
grant access to the requested document stipulated in the confirmatory decision replying
to your application that was registered under the reference number GESTDEM
2018/34125. I have examined whether there are any new circumstances and have come to
the conclusion that the legal and factual circumstances justifying that refusal have not
changed and that the earlier refusal of grant access remains justified in the light of the
current legal or factual situation. Consequently, I refer you to the Decision of the
3 SYSPER is the human resource management system used by the European Commission to store and
manage information concerning staff members.
4 Your initial application of 21 June 2018 was registered under number GESTDEM 2018/3412. You
made a confirmatory application requesting a review of the initial reply of the Directorate-General for
Human Resources and Security concerning this application. On 2 October 2018, the European
Commission replied to your application and confirmed the initial decision of the Directorate-General
for Human Resources and Security.
5 Decision of the European Commission C(2018)6537.
2
European Commission C(2018)6537 and to the conclusion contained therein that access
to the document you request cannot be granted, based on the exception protecting privacy
and the integrity of the individual (Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001).
With regard to your argument concerning a public interest that, in your view, warrants
public disclosure of the document concerned, please note that the exception laid down in
Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 does not need to be balanced against
overriding public interest in disclosure.
3.
MEANS OF REDRESS
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the means of redress that are
available against this decision that is, judicial proceedings and complaints to the
Ombudsman under the conditions specified respectively in Articles 263 and 228 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, are limited only to the assessment that
the legal and factual circumstances have not changed since the reply of the European
Commission to your earlier application.
Yours sincerely,
For the Commission
Martin SELMAYR
Secretary-General
3