European Health Data Space interservice consultation
Dear Madam, Sir
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:
All documents related to the interservice consultation for the Commission proposal for a Regulation on the European Health Data Space (COM(2022) 197 final)
Please note I prefer to receive the documents in digital format, not by physical mail.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054 HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Dear Sir / Madam,
Thank you for your e-mail of 05 July 2022. We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on the
same date under reference number GESTDEM 2022/3815.
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days. The time limit will expire on 27
July 2022. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
You have lodged your application via a private third-party website, which
has no link with any institution of the European Union. Therefore, the
European Commission cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or
problems linked to the use of this system.
Please note that the private third party running the AsktheEU website is
responsible and accountable for the processing of your personal data via
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We understand that the third party running the AsktheEU.org website
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[1]Privacy statement – access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
SANTE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[2]cid:image001.gif@01D3FF48.374A49E0
European Commission
Health and Food Safety
Dear Sir/Madam,
We refer to your request dated 5 July 2022 in which you make a request
for access to documents, registered on the same date under the above
mentioned reference number.
Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expires today, 27 July 2022.
An extended time limit is needed due to internal consultations and a
thorough analysis of your request.
Therefore, we have to extend the time limit with 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents. The new time limit expires on 18 August 2022.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
SANTE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[1]cid:image001.gif@01D3FF48.374A49E0
European Commission
Health and Food Safety
References
Visible links
Dear Mr. Teffer,
Please find attached the reply to your access to documents request of 5 July 2022.
According to standard operational procedure, the reply is sent by e-mail only. We would therefore appreciate if you could confirm receipt of the present e-mail within 5 working days by replying to this email.
Best regards,
European Commission
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety Unit B3 - Digital Health, European Reference Networks Rue Breydel 4 – B232 (8th floor)
1049 Brussels/Belgium
Email: [email address]
Website: Public Health (europa.eu)
Dear Madam, Sir,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request registered on 5 July 2022 under reference number GESTDEM 2022/3815.
DG SANTE has decided to refuse access to documents No 13.a, 13.b, 13.c, 13.d and 20.b, referring to Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001. It claimed that it could not identify any overriding public interest that would waive the Article 4 exceptions.
However, I believe that such overriding public interest clearly exists.
Regulation 1049/2001 has established that public access should in particular be granted when it concerns documents that have been ‘drawn up or received in the course of a legislative procedure’. The Court of Justice has stressed the intention of the co-legislators for ‘wider access’ when documents held by EU institutions deal with legislative proposals. As it has said in the case De Capitani v European Parliament (T‑540/15): ‘Openness in that respect contributes to strengthening democracy by allowing citizens to scrutinize all the information which has formed the basis of a legislative act. The possibility for citizens to find out the considerations underpinning legislative action is a precondition for the effective exercise of their democratic rights’.
The Court also stated: ‘If citizens are to be able to exercise their democratic rights they must be in a position to follow in detail the decision-making process within the institutions taking part in the legislative procedures and to have access to all relevant information (judgment of 22 March 2011, Access Info Europe v Council, T‑233/09, EU:T:2011:105, paragraph 69). Furthermore, Article 10(3) TEU states that every citizen is to have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union and that decisions are to be taken as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen.’
The Court made those comments in relation to trilogue, which are a means to achieve political compromise towards the end of the legislative process. However, I believe the arguments are just as valid when it comes to documents related to the beginning of the legislative process, i.e. the documents that fall under the scope of my request. Citizens should be able to scrutinize the content of the legal opinions expressed on the Commission’s proposal, so that they can participate in discussions during the legislative process.
The Court also noted in the De Capitani case that the first subparagraph of Article 4(3) of Regulation No 1049/2001 ‘does not draw a distinction according to the state of progress of the discussions’, and that therefore ‘it is irrelevant whether the documents at issue were produced or received at an early, late or final stage of the decision-making process’. Art. 4(2), second indent similarly does not draw a distinction according to the state of progress of the discussions, and therefore ‘the very early stage of the relevant legislative process’ – which the Commission cites as a matter to take into account when refusing to disclose a legal opinion – is equally irrelevant.
The claim that the current proposal ‘is highly sensitive both at political and legal level’ seems to be a bit of a non-argument. Many EU proposals are ‘highly sensitive both at political and legal level’. The Commission claims that this ‘clearly’ leads to a situation which would seriously impact the Commission’s ‘interest in seeking and receiving legal advice and on the Legal Service’s capacity to assist the Commission and its services in the assessment of highly sensitive matter’. But the Commission to my opinion has not convincingly argued why that is the case.
Moreover, the fact that the legislative proposal ‘is highly sensitive both at political and legal level’ is all the more reason to publish the withheld documents. Citizens have a right to participate in democratic life, and if there are legal reasons to oppose the adoption of this proposal, it is in the public interest that these reasons are made public.
Indeed, in the list of documents kindly provided by DG SANTE, some of the withheld documents are titled ‘negative opinion DG LEGAL SERVICE’. If the DG Legal Service has a negative opinion about a draft version of the proposal, it is highly relevant that this negative opinion is public. It would allow the citizens to determine if the parts the Legal Service had a negative opinion about, resurface in the course of the legislative process, in the form of amendments by the co-legislators.
Strikingly, DG SANTE states that ‘judicial proceedings against the legislation’ are ‘likely to take place given the very strong opposition to the legislative proposal’! If there are valid reasons for judicial proceedings against the legislation, it is all the more important that these reasons are published before the legislative process is over. That way, citizens could participate in a public debate and urge their politicians to improve the legislation while it is still in the draft stage. If there is strong opposition to the proposal, the Commission's response should not be an attempt to obstruct this opposition, but to understand this opposition and take it into account. It should however also be noted that the Commission has not clearly identified where this opposition comes from, and how powerful it is (in terms of member states or MEPs' support).
DG SANTE states that the disclosure of the requested documents ‘could be artificially exploited to put in question the legality of (certain parts of) the future legislative act in question and could therefore negatively influence the positions taken by the two branches of the EU Legislator in their quest for a political compromise’. But if there is any doubt as to the legality of (certain parts of) the future legislative act in question, this should best be resolved before the legislative act is adopted. It is absurd that DG SANTE is here arguing that a legislative proposal which potentially has a shaky legal basis, should be adopted before citizens can review the reasons for its possible illegality.
Similarly, DG SANTE’s comment that the ‘relevant decision-making process to be protected is the legislative procedure until the final adoption by the EU Legislator of the Commission's proposal’, makes a mockery of democracy. DG SANTE is arguing here that a Commission proposal should always lead to adoption by the co-legislators. This is of course nonsense. The outcome of the legislative process may be that the European Parliament or the Council of the EU rejects the proposal, and that it never becomes a legal act.
I therefore strongly urge the Secretariat-General to establish whether an overriding public interest exists to publish these documents.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054 HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email dated 10/08/2022 by which you request, pursuant
to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by DG
SANTE in reply to your initial application GESTDEM 2022/3815.
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 11/08/2022 (Ares(2022)5696126).
Your application will be handled within 15 working days (02/09/2022). In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery. Thank you for providing your contact phone number, so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.
Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
[5]First Holding Letter - TEFFER Gestdem 2022-3815 - Ares(2022)6061861
(Please use this link only if you are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien
exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Teffer,
I refer to your email of 10 August 2022, registered on 11 August 2022, by
which you submit a confirmatory application in accordance with Article
7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (hereafter ‘Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001’).
I would like to inform you that your confirmatory application is currently
being handled. Unfortunately, due to ongoing consultations, we are not in
a position to reply to your confirmatory request within the prescribed
time limit expiring on 2 September 2022.
Consequently, we have to extend this period by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. The new
deadline expires on 23 September 2022.
I regret this additional delay and apologise for any inconvenience this
may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Mariusz Daca, Ph.D.
Deputy Head of Unit
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D8BDED.5F1AA470
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2022 11:09 AM
To: [email address]
Subject: Your confirmatory application for access to documents under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3815 - 2nd holding letter -
Ares(2022)6453154
[1]Your confirmatory application for access to documents under Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3815 - 2nd holding letter -
Ares(2022)6453154 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Teffer,
I refer to your email of 10 August 2022, registered on 11 August 2022, by
which you submitted a confirmatory application in accordance with Article
7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (hereafter ‘Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001’).
I also refer to our holding reply of 1 September 2022, by which the time
limit for replying to your confirmatory application was extended by 15
working days, pursuant to Article 8(2) of the Regulation, until 23
September 2022.
I would like to inform you that, unfortunately, we will not be able to
respond within the extended time-limit, as we have not yet finalised
internal consultations.
I regret this additional delay and sincerely apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause.
I can assure you that we are doing our utmost to provide you with a final
reply as soon as possible and thank you very much in advance for your kind
understanding.
Yours sincerely,
Mariusz Daca, Ph.D.
Deputy Head of Unit
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
References
Visible links
1. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
Dear Madam, Sir
I refer to my confirmatory application Gestdem 2022-3815 - Ares(2022)6061861 .
The extended deadline to reply has passed. There is no legal basis for any further delay. Please finish your handling of my application without delay.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
[5]Your confirmatory application for access to documents under Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3815 - 2nd holding letter -
Ares(2022)6453154 - Ares(2022)6725760 (Please use this link only if you
are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e)
utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Teffer,
Thank you for your email enquiring on the state of play of the handling of
your confirmatory application registered under the above mentioned
reference.
We would like to refer to our holding reply of 19 September 2022, whereby
we indicated that the internal consultations pertaining to your
application had not yet been finalised.
Against this background, we would like to clarify that the
Secretariat-General is responsible for performing a full review of the
position taken at the initial stage by the responsible service. In this
capacity, the Secretariat-General engages in internal discussions within
the Commission and fully re-assesses the contents of the requested
documents in light of, inter alia, the arguments raised by the applicant
within their confirmatory application and the case law of the Court of
Justice. This delicate exercise requires a careful legal assessment and
balancing of the various interests which may be at stake. Whereas the
Secretariat-General strives to abide by the time limits provided under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, it is not always, unfortunately, in a
position to meet them, due to a high workload combined with constraints in
terms of human resources.
In this instance, we would like to confirm that the independent review of
the initial reply of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of
28 July 2022 is currently ongoing.
Whereas we are, unfortunately, unable to provide you with a specific date
as to when the final reply to your confirmatory application will be sent
to you, we would like to assure that we are doing our utmost to provide
with a reply as soon as possible.
We thank you very much in advance for your kind understanding and
patience.
We would also like to sincerely apologise again for this delay.
Yours sincerely,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (IC)
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG.C1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
Peter left an annotation ()
Complaint submitted to the European Ombudsman on 8 November 2022 (1999/2022/SF)