Violation of right to privacy by Fundamental Rights Agency, Vienna, Austria / correspondence between FRA and Franco Frattini

Waiting for an internal review by European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights of their handling of this request.

Dear European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights,

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:

1. All and any relevant documents and information related to European Data Protection Supervisor`s findings, according to which FRA violated Article 4.1 (c) of Regulation (EC)45/2001 by transferring private data of individual(s) to a media company employed by FRA to defend its reputation. The findings of EDPS are presented here
http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/459/r...

For the identification of the subject of my request and media company which processed the private data of individual(s) please find more details here
http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/459/r...
and here
http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/459/r...

2. All and any correspondence between FRA and previous Commissioner Franco Frattini (whose name is mentioned in the press article under the link above) in the context of a "huge scandal" because of waste of taxpayers money occurred at FRA. Information on any measures taken and follow up.

3. Additionally, I request disclosure of the name of the media company which processed private data of the individual(s)in question and relevant info if FRA currently still use its services for defending its reputation in the frame of the new "fraud scandal" mentioned in March 2012 here
http://www.turtlebayandbeyond.org/2012/h....

4. Also I request details about the individual(s) whose private data was handled irregularly and which are their quality/qualities at FRA? Are they working for FRA?

5. I also request access to all contracts concluded with that media company and the amounts paid for the related services of defending FRA reputation.

Yours faithfully,

Kurt Weiss

EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

1 Attachment

To the attention of:

 

Mr Kurt Weiss

www.asktheeu.org

Vienna, 26 July 2013

2013-outgoing-001289

 

Subject:         Your request of access to documents registered under
reference number 2013-incoming-001181

 

Dear Mr Weiss,

 

Thank you for your access to documents request received on 07 July 2013
registered under reference number 2013-incoming-001181.

 

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 on 26/07/2013 due to complexity of
your request, high volume of data to be examined and limited human
resources at the Agency’s disposal.

 

We will handle your request as quickly as possible. Please note that our
institution is currently approaching the summer break, and that we will
only be in a position to carefully examine a proposed reply to your
request by 10 September. We hope you would accept the extension of this
deadline.

 

We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.   

 

Yours sincerely,

 

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Schwarzenbergplatz 11
1040 Vienna, Austria
Tel: +43 1 58030-0
Email: [email address]

Visit us on: [1]http://fra.europa.eu | [2]Facebook | [3]Twitter |
[4]YouTube | [5]LinkedIn

Helping to make fundamental rights a reality for everyone in the European
Union

The EU as a community of values: safeguarding fundamental rights in times
of crisis - [6]read more in the FRA 2012 Annual Report Focus.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.fra.europa.eu/
2. http://www.facebook.com/fundamentalrights
3. http://twitter.com/#!/EURightsAgency
4. http://youtube.com/user/EUAgencyFRA
5. http://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-funda...
6. http://fra.europa.eu/en/press-release/20...

Dear EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA),

Thank you for your reply. As my request is currently in its first phase, i.e. confirmatory application, I agree with an extension time of 15 days as provided by Regulation 1049.

The proposal made by FRA (i.e. 10 September 2013) is too large and amounts to extension time for approximately 3 initial applications.

However, in order to make a fair agreement I can add to the 15 days of extension provided in rules, 10 additional calendar days.

Consequently, I respectfully request FRA to comply with legal deadlines, to which it can add the above mentioned 10 additional calendar days. Thank you for your understanding.

Yours sincerely,

Kurt Weiss

EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

2 Attachments

To the attention of:

 

Mr Kurt Weiss

www.asktheeu.org

Vienna, 30 August 2013

2013-outgoing-001440

 

Subject:         Your request of access to documents registered under
reference number 2013-incoming-001181

 

Dear Mr Weiss,

 

We refer to your access to documents request received on 07 July 2013
registered under reference number 2013-incoming-001181.

 

In order to ensure clarity of our reply we will follow the structure of
your request. After thorough examination of your application we have
reached the following conclusions. 

 

Point 1 

 

The request concerns “(…) all and any relevant documents and information
related to European Data Protection Supervisor`s findings published under
following link:

[1]http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/459/r...

 

Having carefully examined your application, we established that the
documents and information requested have already been provided in the
answer published by EDPS and the subsequent access to documents available
under following link:

[2]http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/reque...

 

No other document could be identified that would correspond to the terms
of your request.

 

Point 2 

 

Your request refers to “(…) all and any correspondence between FRA and
previous Commissioner Franco Frattini (whose name is mentioned in the
press article under
the link above) in the context of a "huge scandal" because of waste
of taxpayers money occurred at FRA. Information on any measures
taken and follow up.”

Please note that FRA has no control and may assume no responsibility
for any opinion expressed by third parties in media.

 

Upon receipt of your request we checked whether there was any such
correspondence between FRA and Mr Franco Frattini. Nothing showed up,
therefore, as far as we can be aware, there has been no such
correspondence. 

 

Point 3

 

Your requests refers to  access to information concerning “(…) name of the
media company which processed private data of the individual(s)in question
and relevant info if FRA currently still use its services for defending
its reputation in the frame of the new "fraud

scandal" mentioned in March 2012.” 

 

Please note that FRA has no control and may assume no responsibility for
any opinion expressed by third parties in media. As the article invoked by
you under point 3 of your request refers to the Danish Institute for Human
Rights, we invite you to address your questions directly to the Danish
Institute for Human Rights.  The contact details please find herewith:

 

Danish Institute for Human Rights

Wilders Plads 8K

1403 Copenhagen K

PHONE: 32698888

FAX 32698800

EMAIL: [3][email address]

[4]http://humanrights.dk

 

Point 4    

 

Your application concerns access to information on “(…) details about the
individual(s) whose private data was handled irregularly and which are
their quality/qualities at FRA? Are they working for FRA?”

 

Having carefully examined your application, we established that the
documents and information requested have already been provided in the
answer published by EDPS and the subsequent access to documents available
under following link:

[5]http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/reque...

 

No other document could be identified that would correspond to the terms
of your request.

 

Point 5.

 

Under this point you requested access to “(…) all contracts concluded with
that media company and the amounts paid for the related services of
defending FRA reputation”.

 

We have determined that your request refers to a purchase order dated 30
June 2007.

 

We have decided to grant partial access to this document.

 

Having carefully analyzed its content, we came to conclusion that it can
only be disclosed partially since it is covered by at least two exceptions
provided for in Article 4(2) first indent ("commercial interests of a
natural or legal person, including intellectual property") of Regulation
(EC) 1049/2001 and Article  4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 in
conjunction with Article 8(b) of Regulation (EC) 45/2001 which governs the
processing of personal data.

 

The parts of document concerned contain information of a commercial nature
the disclosure of which would harm the commercial interests and/or
commercial reputation of legal entities. The Agency is bound by
professional secrecy to ensure the confidentiality of the documents it
receives and is restricted in their use for the purpose of evaluation of
offers during tendering phase and execution of contracts. 

 

In the absence of any evidence of an overriding public interest to warrant
disclosure, the Agency may not waive this exception. Pursuant to Article
4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, for such an overriding public interest to
exist, this interest, firstly has to be public and, secondly, overriding
i.e. must supersede the interests protected by virtue of Article 4(2) of
Regulation 1049/2001. We regret to inform you that your application failed
to provide arguments that would support existence of overriding public
interest.

 

Some parts of document have been blanked out as their disclosure is
prevented by exception to the right of access laid down in Article 4(1)
(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

 

Pursuant to Article 4(1) (b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access to a
document has to be refused if its disclosure would undermine the
protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular
in accordance with Community legislation regarding the protection of
personal data. The applicable legislation in this field is Regulation (EC)
No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December
2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of
personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free
movement of such data.

 

When access is requested to documents containing personal data, Regulation
(EC) No 45/2001 becomes fully applicable. According to Article 8(b) of
this Regulation, personal data shall only be transferred to recipients if
they establish the necessity of having the data transferred to them and if
there is no reason to assume that the legitimate rights of the persons
concerned might be prejudiced.

 

We consider that, with the information available, the necessity of
disclosing the aforementioned personal data to you has not been
established and that it cannot be assumed that such disclosure would not
prejudice the legitimate rights of the persons concerned. Therefore, we
are disclosing the documents requested expunged from this personal data.

 

If you wish to receive these personal data, we invite you to provide us
with arguments showing the need for having these personal data transferred
to you and the absence of adverse effects to the legitimate rights of the
persons whose personal data should be disclosed.

 

Please note that pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
you may make a confirmatory application asking FRA to reconsider its
position. Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15
working days upon receipt of this email to FRA general e-mail:
[6]info@fra.europa.eu    

 

Yours sincerely,

 

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Schwarzenbergplatz 11
1040 Vienna, Austria
Tel: +43 1 58030-0
Email: [email address]

Visit us on: [7]http://fra.europa.eu | [8]Facebook | [9]Twitter |
[10]YouTube | [11]LinkedIn

Helping to make fundamental rights a reality for everyone in the European
Union

FRA online toolkit to help connect public officials at all levels,
[12]available 25 September. 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/459/r...
2. http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/reque...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://humanrights.dk/
5. http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/reque...
6. mailto:[email address]
7. http://www.fra.europa.eu/
8. http://www.facebook.com/fundamentalrights
9. http://twitter.com/#!/EURightsAgency
10. http://youtube.com/user/EUAgencyFRA
11. http://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-funda...
12. http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2011/joi...

Dear European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights's handling of my FOI request 'Violation of right to privacy by Fundamental Rights Agency, Vienna, Austria / correspondence between FRA and Franco Frattini'.

Request for internal review -
Would be possible that FRA provide also the rest of 3 sheets of this contract – order http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/634/r... disclosed on 30 August 2013.
Could FRA confirm that this is the right document? As you can see this document refers to “strategic communication activities”. My request refers to media consultancy activities contracted by FRA.
I remind you about my request for relevant info whether FRA currently still use its services
for defending its reputation in the frame of the new "fraud scandal" mentioned in March 2012 here
http://www.turtlebayandbeyond.org/2012/h...

I also remind you about the pending reply on my point 3, 4 and partially 5. I request a addressing of these points at the stage of internal review.

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

Yours faithfully,

Kurt Weiss

EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

1 Attachment

To the attention of:

Mr Kurt Weiss

www.asktheeu.org

Vienna, 25 September 2013

2013-outgoing-00 1559

 

Subject:         Your request of access to documents registered under
reference number 2013-incoming-001181

 

Dear Mr Weiss,

 

We refer to your access to documents request received on 07 July 2013
registered under reference number 2013-incoming-001181, and subsequent
exchange of correspondence.

 

Having thoroughly re-examined your confirmatory application of 04
September 2013 we were unable to identify any further document that would
match the terms of your request.

 

Nevertheless, in order to be able to treat in a good way this and several
other requests received from you recently, Mr Manolopoulos, the Head of
Administration at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, would like to
contact you by phone.

 

Could you please provide us with a phone number where Mr Manolopoulos may
contact you and tell us the best moment to reach you?

 

Please send the contact number to the following email address:

[1]info@fra.europa.eu  

 

Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Schwarzenbergplatz 11
1040 Vienna, Austria
Tel: +43 1 58030-0
Email: [email address]

Visit us on: [2]http://fra.europa.eu | [3]Facebook | [4]Twitter |
[5]YouTube | [6]LinkedIn

Helping to make fundamental rights a reality for everyone in the European
Union

FRA online toolkit to help connect public officials at all levels,
[7]available 25 September. 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.fra.europa.eu/
3. http://www.facebook.com/fundamentalrights
4. http://twitter.com/#!/EURightsAgency
5. http://youtube.com/user/EUAgencyFRA
6. http://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-funda...
7. http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2011/joi...

Dear EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA),

Thank you for your email.
There were some critical remarks by FRA made on me under a few Requests to access documents and information (by invoking EU ombudsman Statute – Code in a negative -punitive connotation). See in this website all those critical remarks). I do appreciate the FRA openness, but before to take any further steps, would it be possible to clarify if the critical remarks are withdrawn by FRA? Could FRA state clearly and undoubtedly if this paragraph inserted under a few of my requests was used correctly / incorrectly and fairly/not fairly on me:
FRA paragraph reads: “We would like to draw your attention to provisions laid down in the Code of good administrative behavior ([5]European Ombudsman Code), in particular Article 14.3 thereof stating that the rules on dealing with enquiries “(…) do not apply to correspondence which can reasonably be regarded as improper, for example, because it is repetitive, abusive and/or pointless.” Then, the Agency reserves the right to discontinue any such exchange of correspondence.”
In presence of a clear and undoubtedly Withdrawals of critical remarks, before to proceed with any further steps, would it be possible to upload the pending Briefly Overviews of management team http://fra.europa.eu/en/about-fra/struct...
This was requested also by European Parliament some good months ago under point on Transparency – no 11 – see here http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/a... .
As you can see the overview of Head of Administration delegated by FRA to deal with my requests is missing. I would appreciate if FRA could ensure a public access to the Briefly Overview of Head of Administration.
Point 11 – Transparency under EP Document with ref “P7_TA(2013)0162 2011 discharge: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 1. European Parliament decision of 17 April 2013 on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for the financial year 2011 (C7-0247/2012 – 2012/2185(DEC))”

states that European Parliament :

“11. Observes that some of the curricula vitae (CV) and the declarations of interest of the
Management Board members are available on the Agency's website; notes that as far as the Executive Director and the management team are concerned, only CVs are available; calls on the Agency to make the missing information publicly available and to inform the
discharge authority of the progress made on this matter as soon as possible;”
Thank you very much.

Yours sincerely,

Kurt Weiss