Information regarding the South African Copyright Amendment Bill

Council of the European Union did not have the information requested.

Dear Council of the European Union,

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:

any information related to the pending Copyright Amendment Bill of South Africa. I am explicitly seeking any information that the Council holds in connection with the pending Copyright Amendment Bill of South Africa. I do not want this request to be limited to information that was registered as "not short-lived" or "not unimportant". I am requesting all information, including internal communication, communication with Member States, the European Commission, the Office of the South African President, the South African Department of Trade and Industry, the South African Select Committee on Trade and Industry Relations or any other South African bodies, or with third parties such as external stakeholders regarding or in connection with the pending South African Copyright Amendment Bill. This request also includes short-lived information such as drafts, e-mails, text messages and memos.

Yours faithfully,

Julia Reda

Dear Council of the European Union,

on April 28, 2020 I submitted my request for documents to you. According to article 7 of Regulation (EC) 1049/2001, my application for access to documents shall be handled promptly and an acknowledgement of receipt shall be sent to me. Up until now no such acknowledgement has been received. Please confirm having received my application, your registration number and May 20, 2020 as the the deadline for answering my request.

Yours faithfully,

Julia Reda

TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Council of the European Union

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Reda,

 

The General secretariat of the Council  has received your request on 28
April 2020 and registered it on 29 April 2020 under reference 20/0896 and
a time limit for reply on 25 May 2020 (taking into account the bank
holidays).

 

You should have received an automatic acknowledgement of receipt, however
apparently it was not the case. We have investigated into the incident and
found no reason. This may also be due to a technical issue on the side of
AsktheEU.

 

We would like to inform you that you will receive a reply to your request
very soon.

 

Yours sincerely,

Transparency

 

 

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM

Directorate Information and Outreach

Information Services Unit

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[1]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [2][email address]

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Julia Reda <[FOI #7918 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2020 4:07 PM
To: TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM) <[Council of the EU request email]>
Subject: Re: access to documents request - Information regarding the South
African Copyright Amendment Bill

 

Dear Council of the European Union,

 

on April 28, 2020 I submitted my request for documents to you. According
to article 7 of Regulation (EC) 1049/2001, my application for access to
documents shall be handled promptly and an acknowledgement of receipt
shall be sent to me. Up until now no such acknowledgement has been
received. Please confirm having received my application, your registration
number and May 20, 2020 as the the deadline for answering my request.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Julia Reda

 

 

 

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[3][FOI #7918 email]

 

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References

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TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Council of the European Union

2 Attachments

 

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

Dear Council of the European Union,

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 'Information regarding the South African Copyright Amendment Bill'.

I am aware that the monitoring of national laws in third countries is not a competency of the Council, however the Council does convene meetings of the working party on intellectual property. In this context, it may also exchange information with the European Commission on its activities in the field of intellectual property. The European Commission has in the past indicated that it acts upon authorization of the Council in matters related to international intellectual property law, see for example here: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc...

It is therefore possible that the Council holds documents on the subject of the South African copyright reform, as this reform may have been subject to exchanges between the Council and the European Commission. Unfortunately, it is unclear from your previous response whether a search for relevant documents has been performed or whether my request has been declined purely on the basis of the Council's assessment that the matter does not fall within the competence of the Council. In any case, I would like a search for relevant documents to be performed as indicated in my initial request.

A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/info...

Yours faithfully,

Julia Reda

TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Council of the European Union

2 Attachments

 

Dear Ms Reda,

 

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
extending the time limit for the Council to reply to your confirmatory
application for public access under Regulation 1049/2001.

Yours sincerely,

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

Dear TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM),

the timetable of meetings of the various Council bodies is not a valid reason for an extension of the time limit for the handling of confirmatory applications in accordance with Article 8 (2) of Regulation 1049/2001. Article 8 (2) of the Regulation only allows for an extension of the time limit in exceptional cases, whereas delays caused by the regular timetable of meetings of the Council bodies are not exceptional, rather they are likely to cause regular delays in the handling of a significant number of confirmatory applications. It is the responsibility of the Council to organize its working arrangements in order to ensure compliance with its obligations under Regulation 1049/2001. A systematic failure to make these arrangements does not constitute an exceptional case and hence cannot be grounds for an extension of the time limit according to Article 8 (2) of the Regulation.

Further, Article 8 (2) of Regulation 1049/2001 requires detailed reasons to be given as to why the exceptional circumstances of the case require an extension of the deadline. No such detailed reasons have been given that would establish any exceptional circumstances justifying an extension of the deadline.

I expect the Council to handle my confirmatory application promptly to limit the unjustified delay.

Yours sincerely,

Julia Reda

Postmaster Consilium, Council of the European Union

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

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TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Council of the European Union

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Reda

 

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
in reply to your confirmatory application for public access under
Regulation 1049/2001.

 

Owing to the publicly known exceptional circumstances the Council (and all
the EU Institutions) are currently facing, the present reply is being sent
via email.  If you wish to receive this reply also by post, could you
please provide us with an address to which the General Secretariat can
send the Council's reply letter by registered mail ? You can send the
address directly to the following email: [1][Council of the EU request email]

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Transparency

 

[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[3]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [4][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

 

References

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1. mailto:[Council of the EU request email]
3. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
4. mailto:[email address]