Ref. Ares(2015)1923991 - 06/05/2015
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROSTAT
The Director-General
Luxembourg,
ESTAT-DG/WR/A5/D(2015)
By registered letter with acknowledgment of
receipt
Mr Seán McCarthaigh
4th Floor, Bishop's Square
Redmond's Hill
Dublin 2
Ireland
Advance copy by email :
ask+request-1915-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Mr McCarthaigh,
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2015/2178
We refer to your e-mail dated and registered on 15/04/2015 under the above mentioned
reference number and in which you make a request for access to documents.
Your application concerns “all correspondence between Eurostat and Irish government and
Irish agencies to include but not limited to the Irish Central Statistics Office and the
Department of Environment in relation to the Market Corporation Test for Irish Water.”
In the domain of government finance and Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) statistics,
Eurostat provides bilateral advice to Member States - when requested - on specific cases.
This may be before or after the transactions themselves are undertaken. The advice takes the
form of letters addressed to the National Statistical Authorities.
In most cases, the advice given is subsequently published on the Eurostat website. In certain
cases of future transactions, where the preparation for the transaction is of a confidential
nature, Eurostat does not publish its advice until the transaction is announced by the national
authority concerned. The purpose in those cases is to protect the decision-taking procedures
at national level and, depending on the case in hand, the commercial interests of the legal
persons involved.
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, I regret to inform you that your
application cannot be granted, as disclosure is prevented by exceptions to the right of access
laid down in Article 4 of this Regulation.
The documents which you seek to obtain relate to a matter where the Commission
(Eurostat) has not yet communicated its advice on the clarification requested by the Central
Statistical Office of Ireland concerning the market Corporation Test for Irish Water.
Commission européenne, 2920 Luxembourg, LUXEMBOURG - Tel. +352 43011
Office: BECH A4/78 - Tel. direct line +352 4301-31748
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Disclosure of the documents requested would undermine the purpose of the clarification
request launched by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO); indeed, disclosure of the
documents at this point in time would affect the climate of mutual trust between the
authorities of the Member State and the Commission (Eurostat), and reveal preliminary
assessments. Eurostat must be free to consider all possible options - based on the applicable
Union legislation - in preparation of a clarification without external pressure. This is
required to enable it to support national authorities in a correct and effective implementation
of, in particular, Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the
Council1. Therefore the exception laid down in Article 4(3) first subparagraph of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies to these documents.
We have considered whether partial access could be granted to the documents requested but
they are entirely covered by the exception.
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) and 4(3) of Regulation 1049/2001 apply unless
there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the documents. I note that you have not
put forward any arguments demonstrating the existence of an overriding public interest in
disclosure. Nor have I been able to identify any elements capable of demonstrating that such
overriding public interest should exist. Therefore, the protection of the process of providing
clarification and advice to the Member States as described above prevails in this case.
Let me point out that Eurostat ensures the widest possible transparency as regards the
clarifications provided on the correct implementation of Union legislation concerning
government finance and EDP statistics, by way of making the information available on its
website. Only in duly justified cases will such publication not take place.
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a
confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon receipt
of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/327
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
e-signed
Walter Radermacher
1
Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013
on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union. (1)
OJ L 174, 26.6.2013, p. 1–727
2