Ref. Ares(2021)5703796 - 17/09/2021
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, CONTENT AND
TECHNOLOGY
The Director-General
Brussels
CNECT/RV
Mr Mathias Schindler
Bundestagsbüro Julia Reda, MdEP
Unter den Linden 50 11011 Berlin,
Germany
Advance copy via email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
REGISTERED LETTER WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT
Subject: Your application for access to documents - Ref GestDem 2021/5197
Dear Mr Schindler,
We refer to your email dated 24 August 2021 wherein you make a request for access to
documents pursuant to 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 (hereinafter ‘Regulation 1049/2001’), registered under the
abovementioned reference number.
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR APPLICATION
Your application reads as follows:
‘Dear Communications Networks, Content and Technology,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation
1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
On July 23, 2021, the European Commission initiated the following infringement
cases, all related to the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the
Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC:
INFR(2021)0362 (Slovakia)
INFR(2021)0354 (Slovenia)
INFR(2021)0337 (Romania)
INFR(2021)0321 (Poland)
INFR(2021)0296 (Latvia)
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
INFR(2021)0289 (Luxemburg)
INFR(2021)0279 (Lithuania)
INFR(2021)0270 (Italy)
INFR(2021)0262 (Ireland)
INFR(2021)0251 (Croatia)
INFR(2021)0241 (France)
INFR(2021)0224 (Spain)
INFR(2021)0212 (Greece)
INFR(2021)0203 (Estonia)
INFR(2021)0196 (Denmark)
INFR(2021)0185 (Czechia)
INFR(2021)0173 (Cyprus)
INFR(2021)0160 (Bulgaria)
INFR(2021)0149 (Belgium)
INFR(2021)0137 (Austria)
I am requesting all information held by the European Commission and its DGs and
Agencies concerning the transposition of this Directive into national law and the
infringement cases concerning this matter. This includes all internal and external
conversation in email, writing, notes, memos, briefings, as well as any inter- or intra-
service-consultation.
Information and Documents such as comments by the Commission on ongoing or
completed transposition work is to be considered within the scope of this request.
Information and Documents are to be understood in a broadest possible sense,
including those information which is not considered important and not subject to
archival or filing rules.
In case the Commission considers this to be a case concerning many documents
("wide scope request"), I am disputing this assessment. However, in the interest of
finding a fair solution, I am willing to consider proposals for splitting this request up
into multiple requests for single infringement cases.[…]’
2.
DOCUMENTS FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REQUEST
We have identified the following categories of documents which fall within the scope of
your application:
A. Documents relating to Interservice consultations (4 documents)
B. Letters of formal notice sent by the Commission to Member States and their
Annexes (40 documents)
C. Correspondence from the Member States (24 documents)
D. National transposition measures (12 documents)
2
3.
ASSESSMENT UNDER REGULATION 1049/2001
Following our assessment under Regulation 1049/2001, we have arrived at the
conclusion that full access can be granted to the documents identified under category D
(National transposition measures – 12 documents). Disclosure is refused for the
documents identified under the remaining categories (Categories A-C), as their disclosure
is prevented by the exception to the right of access laid down in Article 4(2) third indent
of Regulation 1049/2001 (protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and
audits).
a. Full disclosure
The documents concerning the national transposition measures of Lithuania (one
document), France (three documents), Denmark (one document) and Czechia (seven
documents) are publicly available online and can be accessed via the following links:
- Lithuania
Lietuvos Respublikos autorių teisių ir gretutinių teisių įstatymas Nr. VIII-1185/1999
(suvestinė
redakcija
nuo
2019-07-01);
available
at
https://www.e-
tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/TAR.551F0CDE5B64/asr
- France
LOI no 2019-775 du 24 juillet 2019 tendant à créer un droit voisin au profit des agences
de presse et des éditeurs de presse (1) ; Official publication: Journal Officiel de la
République
Française
(JORF);
Publication
date:
2019-07-26;
available
at
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000038821358/
LOI no 2020-1508 du 3 décembre 2020 portant diverses dispositions d’adaptation au
droit de l’Union européenne en matière économique et financière ; Official publication:
Journal Officiel de la République Française (JORF) ; Publication date: 2020-12-04 ;
available a
t https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/dossierlegislatif/JORFDOLE000041566073/
Ordonnance n° 2021-580 du 12 mai 2021 portant transposition du 6 de l'article 2 et des
articles 17 à 23 de la directive 2019/790 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 17 avril
2019 sur le droit d'auteur et les droits voisins dans le marché unique numérique et
modifiant les directives 96/9/CE et 2001/29/CE (NOR : MICB2106674R) JORF n°0111
du 13 mai 2021 ; Official publication: Journal Officiel de la République Française
(JORF);
Publication
date:
2021-05-13 ;
available
at
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000043496429#:~:text=du%20Parlem
ent%20...,Ordonnance%20n%C2%B0%202021%2D580%20du%2012%20mai%202021
%20portant,CE%20et%202001%2F29%2FCE
- Denmark
Lov om ændring af lov om ophavsret (Implementering af dele af direktiv om ophavsret
og beslægtede rettigheder på det digitale indre marked og direktiv om regler for udøvelse
af ophavsretten og beslægtede rettigheder, der gælder for visse af tv- og
radioselskabernes onlinetransmissioner og retransmissioner af tv-og radioprogrammer
m.v.) available online a
t https://www.lovtidende.dk/api/pdf/223817
- Czechia
3
- Zákon č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským
a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon) Official publication: Sbirka Zakonu CR ;
Publication date: 2000-05-12; available online at www.mkcr.cz › doc › 07-1212000-2001
- Zákon č. 480/2004 Sb., o některých službách informační společnosti a o změně
některých zákonů (zákon o některých službách informační společnosti) Official
publication: Sbirka Zakonu CR ; Publication date: 2004-09-07; available a
t https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&qid=1630919359802
- Zákon č. 216/2006 Sb., kterým se mění zákon č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o
právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon),
ve znění pozdějších předpisů a některé další zákony; Official publication: Sbirka Zakonu
CR; Publication date: 2006-05-22; available at
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&qid=1630919359802
- Zákon č. 89/2012 Sb., občanský zákoník, Official publication: Sbirka Zakonu CR ;
Publication
date:
2012-03-22;
available
at
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&qid=1630919359802
- Zákon č. 228/2014 Sb., kterým se mění zákon č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o
právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon),
ve znění pozdějších předpisů, a zákon č. 151/1997 Sb., o oceňování majetku a o změně
některých zákonů (zákon o oceňování majetku), ve znění pozdějších předpisů, Official
publication: Sbirka Zakonu CR ; Publication date: 2014-10-23; available at
https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&qid=1630919359802
- Zákon č. 102/2017 Sb., kterým se mění zákon č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o
právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon),
ve znění pozdějších předpisů; Official publication: Sbirka Zakonu CR ; Publication date:
2017-04-05;
available
at
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&qid=1630919359802
- Zákon č. 110/2019 Sb., o zpracování osobních údajů; Official publication: Sbirka
Zakonu CR ; Publication date: 2019-04-24; available at
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&qid=1630919359802
Please note that information about the national transposition measures communicated by
the Member States concerning Directive (EU) 2019/790 is publicly available online at
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&qid=1630919359802
b. Non-disclosure
We regret to inform you that access to the documents under categories A – C cannot be
granted, as disclosure is prevented by the exception laid down in Article 4(2) third indent
of Regulation 1049/2001 with regard to the protection of the purpose of inspections,
investigations and audits.
Article 4(2) third indent of Regulation 1049/2001 stipulates that ‘[t]he institutions shall
refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of the
purpose of inspections, investigations and audits […] unless there is an overriding public
interest in disclosure.’
4
The abovementioned documents concern infringement procedures which are still
ongoing.
The Court of Justice recognized the existence of a general presumption of non-
accessibility in ongoing infringement cases1. This confirmed the Court’s earlier
Petrie
judgment, in which it ruled that
'the Member States are entitled to expect the Commission
to guarantee confidentiality during investigations which might lead to an infringement
procedure’2.
Consequently, all abovementioned documents which form part of the files of the
concerned ongoing infringement procedures are covered by a general presumption of
non-accessibility based on the exception of Article 4(2), third indent of Regulation
1049/2001.
Disclosure of these documents would negatively influence the dialogue between the
European Commission and the Member States in question for which a climate of mutual
trust is essential and would deter the Member States from cooperating with the
Commission. This would be detrimental to the proper conduct of the investigations and
would have a negative effect on the effective fulfilment of the duties of the European
Commission. Furthermore, such disclosure could expose the Commission services to
undue external pressure during the performance of their tasks.
Consequently, there is a real and non-hypothetical risk that public release of these
documents would adversely affect the ongoing abovementioned investigations and their
follow-up. Therefore, access should be denied based on the exception of Article 4(2)
third indent of Regulation 1049/2001.
We have considered whether partial access could be granted. However, partial access is
not possible considering that the documents concerned are covered in their entirety by the
exception under Article 4(2), third indent, of Regulation 1049/2001.
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001 apply, unless there is
an overriding public interest in the disclosure of documents. Such an interest must,
firstly, be a public interest and, secondly, outweigh the harm caused by disclosure. We
have examined whether there could be an overriding public interest in the disclosure of
the aforementioned documents but we have not been able to identify such an interest. On
the contrary, we consider that in this case the public interest is best served by protecting
the purpose of the investigations and the climate of mutual trust between the Commission
and the Member States concerned in order to achieve full compliance with the Union
law.
4.
CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, you are entitled to
make a confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
1 Judgment of 14 November 2013, Liga para a Protecção da Natureza and Finland v Commission, Cases C
514/11 P and C-605/11 P, EU:C:2013:738, paragraphs 55 and 65.
2 Judgment of 11 December 2001, Petrie and Others v Commission, T-191/99, EU:T:2001:284, paragraph
68.
5
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
Secretariat-General
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles or by email t
o: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Electronically signed
Roberto Viola
6
Electronically signed on 17/09/2021 12:57 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482
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