Requestor categories
Dear Secretariat General (SG),
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents/records which contain the following information:
1) How many requests you (the SG) receive(received) from the categories: [1]
a) Public body
b) Citizen
c) Lawyer
d) Academia
e) Journalist
f) Other Institution
g) Unknown
2) The date when the optional category 'business domain' [2] was changed from optional to mandatory on your online electronic form. [3]
3) The date when the policy(s) pertaining to the need/requirement of a full postal address [4] for processing a freedom of information request comes(came) in to effect [5] and it's affect(s).
4) How the categories in question one are used and for what purpose(s). [6]
5) Is the category [7] the requestor belongs to recorded for requests lodged through the http://www.asktheeu.org website, where it is sufficiently clear from the request.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Kushra Navartne
[1] - Please include all documents. Also create a new document by retrieving information from any storage system showing monthly figures for the period 01 January 2013 to present.
[2] - or similar, if ‘business domain’ replaced a previous category.
[3] - electronic form available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/...
[4] - Freedom of Information request titled ‘Principles applicable to the bodies responsible for out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes’, currently handled by you, available at:
http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/princ...
A reference number is not available for the above request, I presume it is only issued for requests where(when) a full postal address is provided.
[5] - FOI request in [4] confirm this as 01 April 2014, what is requested here are documents, both internal and external, communicating the change of policy. This could be minutes of meetings, e-mails between colleagues/staff, letters to external agencies, not exclusive or limited to these examples.
[6] - If it is used for research purposes, please submit all publications or include the website links of the publications. Also, how can researchers apply for this data.
[7] - listed in question one.
Thank you for your request for access to documents. Unfortunately you have not indicated your postal address that is required for registering and handling your request in line with the procedural requirements. Please send us your full postal address at your earliest convenience. Pending your reply, we reserve the right to refuse the registration of your request.
You may, of course, use directly the electronic form for entering your request:
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/...
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
Dear Secretariat General (SG),
This request is pending since 20 May 2014, you may process it using access info's office address shown below:
Cava San Miguel 8 4C
Madrid
28005
Spain
Yours faithfully,
Kushra Navartne
The activity of European Commission departments is likely to be reduced
during August. We will handle your requests for access to documents as
soon as possible. However, some delays may occur, especially where the
processing of data requires the consultation of national administrations,
external organisations or other services.
* * *
L'activité des services de la Commission européenne étant réduite durant
le mois d'août, vos demandes d'accès aux documents seront traitées dans
les meilleurs délais. Toutefois, certains retards peuvent se produire, en
particulier lorsque le traitement des données exige la consultation des
administrations nationales, d’organisations extérieures ou d’autres
services.
* * *
Die Tätigkeiten der Dienststellen der Europäischen Kommission sind im
August reduziert; Ihre Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden dennoch so
schnell wie möglich bearbeitet. Allerdings können Verzögerungen auftreten,
insbesondere wenn die Berarbeitung der Anträge die Konsultierung der
nationalen Verwaltungen, externer Organisationen oder anderer
Dienststellen erforderlich macht.
Dear Ms Navartne,
In our previous correspondence we have informed you that we are unable to register your request for access to documents in the absence of a valid postal address. We wish to recall in this regard that since 1 April 2014, the Commission requires applicants to submit a valid and complete postal address. The decision to ask for a postal address was triggered by the following considerations:
The need to obtain legal certainty as regards the date of receipt of the reply by the applicant under Regulation 1049/2001. Indeed, as foreseen by Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), […] decisions which specify to whom they are addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are addressed and shall take effect upon such notification. Replies triggering the possibility for administrative or judicial redress are therefore transmitted via registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. This requires an indication of a valid postal address by the applicant;
The need to direct the Commission's scarce resources first of all to those requests which have been filed by "real" applicants. With only a compulsory indication of an e-mail address, applicants can easily introduce requests under an invented identity or under the identity of a third person. Asking for a postal address helps the Commission to protect the administration, as well as other citizens and legal persons, from abuse;
For similar reasons, asking for a compulsory indication of a postal address enables the Commission services to verify whether Article 6(3) of the Regulation, on voluminous requests, is being evaded by introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in its Ryanair judgment, the General Court confirmed that Article 6(3) cannot be evaded by splitting the application into a number of applications. The Commission would like to point out that, in 2012/2013, it received some 57 confirmatory requests from what it suspects to be one single applicant operating under 13 different identities;
Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident in the sense of Article 2(1) of Regulation 1049/2001 is a precondition for the purpose of correctly applying the exception in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001 (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual), which has to be interpreted in accordance with Data Protection Regulation 45/2001. Article 9 of Regulation 45/2001 requires the adequacy of the level of protection afforded by the third country or international organisation when transmitting personal data to third-country residents or legal persons. It follows that, in case of requests for documents which include personal data, the correct application of the data protection rules cannot be ensured in the absence of a postal address enabling the Commission to ascertain that the minimum data protection standards will be respected.
All of these considerations show that the request for and the consequent processing of a postal address is not only appropriate but also strictly necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest within the meaning of Article 5 (a) of Data Protection Regulation 45/2001, namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
The Commission's new approach of requesting applicants for a valid postal address was introduced precisely because of the various problems encountered by the Commission in its previous practice (legal uncertainty, false identities used etc.), as pointed out above. It is evident that if the Commission were to accept generic postal addresses, as the one provided by you - an office address of Access Info in Mardid - the above-mentioned problems would not be addressed and the procedural requirement for a valid postal address would in practice be effectively by-passed.
Consequently, we cannot accept the address provided by you below and we kindly reiterate our request to you to provide us with your postal address (and not a generic one), so that we can duly register and handle your request. Please note that, once we receive your postal address, we will register your access to documents request accordingly.
The European Data Protection Supervisor has also recently confirmed that the Commission's requirement for applicants in access to documents requests to submit their postal address is compatible with Regulation 45/2001.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
Dear Secretariat General (SG),
Your replies repeatedly keep asking us to SUBMIT a postal address. It is a sure sign of an organization in need of:
a) authority - that it sees as lacking, so needs to (re)-assert this by way of pleading.
b) legitimacy - due to the inferior processes followed in introducing the organization’s policies. [1]
Therefore, continuous appeals to "submit" a postal address (or otherwise) would only arise where there is a lack of (a) and (b).
Yours faithfully,
kushra navartne
[1] - From what you say it is clear that most of your policies were concocted and put in place when staff (senior management) congregated at the water cooler.