Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping

Sent by ve_ombu.euroombudsman (OMBU) <[European Ombudsman request email]>. All
responses have to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_ombu.euroombudsman (OMBU) <[European Ombudsman request email]>. Toutes
les réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Mr Fanta,

Thank you for your request for public access to documents that you
submitted to the European Ombudsman’s Office on 09/01/2024.

Your request has been registered today under reference
[5]Ares(2024)132121.

It will be dealt with in accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents and
the Decision of the European Ombudsman on internal procedures for dealing
with applications for public access to documents and requests for
information.

We will deal with your request as soon as possible and reply to you no
later than 30/01/2024 (15 working days from the date of registration of
your request).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Office by
telephone: + 33 (0)3 88 17 23 13 or e-mail: [6][European Ombudsman request email].

Yours sincerely,

[7]cid:image003.png@01D86A9B.093A7210 European Ombudsman
 
Access to Documents and Freedom of
Information Team
 

1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman
CS 30403
F - 67001 Strasbourg Cedex
[8]www.ombudsman.europa.eu

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01DA4303.BC504130
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
6. mailto:[European Ombudsman request email]
8. European Ombudsman Home Page
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/

Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping

Sent by ve_ombu.euroombudsman (OMBU) <[European Ombudsman request email]>. All
responses have to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_ombu.euroombudsman (OMBU) <[European Ombudsman request email]>. Toutes
les réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Mr Fanta,

By e-mail of 09/01/2024, you made a request for public access to documents
to the European Ombudsman’s Office.

Your request was registered under the reference number
[5]Ares(2024)132121.

We are handling your request in accordance with Regulation 1049/2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents and the Ombudsman’s Decision on the handling of requests for
public access to documents.

However, given the Office’s limited capacity, unfortunately we will not be
in a position to complete the handling of your request within the initial
time limit of 15 working days, which expires on 30/01/2024.

We therefore have to extend the deadline by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation 1049/2001. We will provide you
with a reply as soon as possible but in any case no later than 20/02/2024.

We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.

Yours sincerely,

[6]cid:image003.png@01D86A9B.093A7210 European Ombudsman
 
Access to Documents and Freedom of
Information Team
 

1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman
CS 30403
F - 67001 Strasbourg Cedex
[7]www.ombudsman.europa.eu

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01DA5064.934FC080
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
7. European Ombudsman Home Page
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/

Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping

Sent by ve_ombu.euroombudsman (OMBU) <[European Ombudsman request email]>. All
responses have to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_ombu.euroombudsman (OMBU) <[European Ombudsman request email]>. Toutes
les réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Mr Fanta,

By e-mail of 9 January 2024, you requested public access to documents
containing the following information:

“- All documents concerning the European Ombudsman's strategic inquiry
concerning the time the European Commission takes to deal with requests
for public access to documents (OI/2/2022/OAM) that have not been publicly
disclosed so far. I am hoping to obtain, for instance, any e-mailed
exchange or internal Commission document disclosed in the course of the
inquiry that has not yet been made public by the Ombudsman.”

Still on 9 January 2024, your request was registered under reference
number Ares(2024)132121.

On 26 January 2024, we informed you about the extension by 15 working days
of the deadline for our reply. The deadline for our reply will thus now
expire on 20 February 2024.

We have dealt with your request in accordance with Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001[5][1] regarding public access to European Parliament, Council
and Commission documents as well as the Decision of the European Ombudsman
on the handling of requests for public access to documents[6][2].

We have identified the following documents as falling under the scope of
your request:

(a) 1378 documents and 60 additional sets of documents concerning specific
case files received from the European Commission as part of the inspection
file; and

(b) 36 documents retrieved from our case management system that are not
available on our website.

As regards the documents under point (a) above, in line with Article 4(2),
third indent of Regulation 1049/2001, access to a document shall be
refused where its disclosure would undermine the protection of the purpose
of inspections, investigations and audits.

These documents were received by the Ombudsman from the European
Commission as part of the inspection of documents carried out in the
context of inquiry OI/2/2022/OAM. When requesting the inspection on 9
September 2022[7][3], in line with Article 5(8) of the Statute, the
Ombudsman made it clear to the Commission that any such documents would be
treated as confidential and would not be closed to third parties. They
would be destroyed shortly after the inquiry has ended. While we have not
destroyed the documents yet, we will do so in the near future.

Since these documents were provided to the Ombudsman on a confidential
basis, we have concluded that disclosing them would undermine the purpose
of inspections, investigations and audits. The disclosure would compromise
the principle of mutual trust and loyal cooperation between EU
institutions and therefore the Ombudsman’s capacity to carry out inquiries
in future. The exception laid down in Article 4(2), third indent of
Regulation 1049/2001 applies unless there is an overriding public interest
in disclosure of the document. We have concluded that there is nothing to
suggest that the disclosure of the specific documents would override the
need to protect the Ombudsman’s capacity to carry out inquiries
effectively. As a result, I regret that we are not in a position to grant
you access to these documents.

As regards documents under point (b) above, we have decided to grant you
partial access to the documents thus identified.

We have redacted the documents with a view to protecting personal data in
accordance with Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001 and with
Regulation 2018/1725[8][4]. According to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001, access to a document (or parts thereof) shall be
refused if its disclosure would undermine the protection of privacy and
the integrity of the individual. Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) No
2018/1725 states that personal data means “any information relating to an
identified or identifiable natural person [...]”.

If you wish to have access to the personal data deleted in this way, you
may submit a corresponding request. It should be noted that, pursuant to
Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, personal data shall only be
transmitted to recipients established in the Union other than Union
institutions and bodies if “the recipient demonstrates that it is
necessary for the data to be transmitted for a specific purpose of public
interest and the controller, where there is reason to assume that the
legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced, demonstrates
that it is proportionate to transmit the personal data for that specific
purpose after a demonstrable assessment of the various conflicting
interests”. It would therefore be necessary to demonstrate, in your
potential request, the need to have the personal data transferred for a
specific purpose of public interest and that its disclosure would not
prejudice the legitimate interests of others.

Should you wish to challenge this decision, you may request a review under
Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001 (‘confirmatory application’
procedure). You may do so by sending an e-mail to
[9][European Ombudsman request email] within 15 working days of having received this
decision. Our Secretariat-General would then handle the review request.

You are welcome to contact me through this e-mail address with any
questions or requests for clarifications you may have.

Yours sincerely,

Eija Salonen  
Transparency Officer  
   
European Ombudsman  
 
   
   
 
1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman  
CS 30403  
F - 67001 Strasbourg Cedex  
[10]www.ombudsman.europa.eu  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

────────────────────────

[11][1] Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, available at:
[12]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/....

[13][2] Decision of the European Ombudsman on internal procedures for
dealing with applications for public access to documents and requests for
information, available at:
[14]https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/docum....

[15][3] The inspection request is available at:
[16]https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/c....

[17][4] Regulation (EU) 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/EC,
available at:
[18]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/....

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01DA63F3.3BF4E980
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftn1
6. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftn2
7. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftn3
8. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftn4
9. mailto:[European Ombudsman request email]
10. European Ombudsman Home Page
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/
11. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftnref1
12. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
13. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftnref2
14. https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/docum...
15. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftnref3
16. https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/c...
17. file:///tmp/foiextract20240220-3012620-fdg3an#_ftnref4
18. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...