EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 31.7.2019
C(2019) 5882 final
Mr Michael Grange
Ardcollum Ave, Artane
Dublin 5
Ireland
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 – GESTDEM
2019/2823
Dear Mr Grange,
I am writing in reference to your email of 19 July 2019, registered on the same day, by
which you lodge 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 APPLICATION
In your initial application of 10 May 2019, registered on 15 May 2019 and dealt with by the
Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, you requested access to ‘documents which contain
the information on the Irish election roster’. More specifically, you requested access to
‘documents within the control of the Commission concerning the establishment of the call
for applicants, the conduct of the competitions and appeals including briefing materials
provided for/at EU Focus Point meetings’.
By letter of 5 July 2019, the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments identified the following
documents as falling within the scope of your request:
- Call for candidatures for long-term observers and short term observers for an
election observation mission (EU EOM) to Senegal, 26 November 2018, reference
Ares(2018)6060458 (hereafter ‘document 1’);
1
Official Journal L 345 of 29.12.2001, p. 94.
2
Official Journal L145 of 31.05.2001, p. 43.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
- call for candidatures for long-term observers for an election observation mission (EU
EOM) to Nigeria, 21 November 2018, reference Ares(2018)5990656 (hereafter
‘document 2’);
- call for candidatures for long-term observers and short term observers for an election
observation mission (EU EOM) to Madagascar, 13 August 2018, reference
Ares(2018)4230042 (hereafter ‘document 3’);
- call for candidatures for long-term observers and short term observers for an election
observation mission (EU EOM) to Malawi, 3 April 2019, reference
Ares(2019)2373984 (hereafter ‘document 4’);
- European Union guidelines on common criteria for the selection of electoral
observers, reference Ares(2019)4304306 (hereafter ‘document 5’);
- minutes of the bi-annual meeting of the national focal points for election
observation, 10-11 December 2018, reference Ares(2019)4062213 (hereafter
‘document 6’).
In its initial reply dated 5 July 2019, the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments granted full
access to documents 1-5 and partial access to document 6. The limited withheld parts of
document 6 were redacted on the basis of Article 4(1)(a), third indent (protection of
international relations) and Article 4(1)(b) (protection of privacy and the integrity of the
individual) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
In your confirmatory application, you do not contest the redactions that were made in
document 6. You only question the list of documents identified at the initial stage as falling
under the scope of your application. In particular, you state that ‘[t]he documents are not
related to the information request that I actually made. I sought namely records within the
framework of the establishment of the 2018 Irish election roster “documents within the
control of the Commission concerning the establishment of the call for applicants, the
conduct of the competitions and appeals including briefing materials provided for/at EU
Focus Point meetings”’.
Therefore, the scope of this confirmatory review will be limited to this point.
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.
Against this background, the European Commission has carried out a renewed, thorough
search for documents that would fall within the scope of your request as described above.
Following this renewed search, I confirm that the European Commission does not hold any
further documents that would correspond to the description given in your application.
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Indeed, please note that the European Commission does not have any document related to
the Irish election roster for the year 2018 because it is up to the national authorities (focal
points, in the present case, the Irish focal point) to define their pre-selection criteria for
nominating their candidates for short-term and long-term observers. This means that any
documents related to the Irish pre-selection roster are neither within the control nor in
possession of the European Commission. In particular, the responsibility of the pre-selection
of observers is under the exclusive remit of the national authorities.
As specified in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the right of access as defined
in that regulation applies only to existing documents in the possession of the institution.
Given that the European Commission does not hold any such documents corresponding to
the description given in your application, it is not in a position to fulfil your request.
3.
MEANS OF REDRESS
Finally, I draw your attention to the means of redress available against this decision. You
may either bring proceedings before the General Court or file a complaint with the
European Ombudsman under the conditions specified respectively in Articles 263 and 228
of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Yours sincerely,
For the Commission
Martin Selmayr
Secretary-General
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