Information regarding consultation services offered by Future Candy GmbH to the European Parliament
Dear European Parliament,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents pertaining to to private consultation services offered by the company Future Candy GmbH with relation to the ‘New Developments in Digital Services’ study published by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies within the Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the European Parliament, on behalf of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection of the European Parliament. The information I am seeking is with specification to the following:
1. How much were consultants from Future Candy GmbH paid to produce this paper?
2. Have any risk-based assessments been run by any European institutions regarding the impact of ‘a European firewall’ with regards to human rights violations and violations of the rule of law?
3. Has the proposal for ‘a European firewall’ been reviewed by seconded-national experts or by representatives of national governments?
4. Has the proposal for ‘a European firewall’ been reviewed by representatives or experts from stakeholders of the technological sector in Europe?
With relation to the last two questions, I would also like to inquire as to the existence and contents of any documents pertaining to the opinions/remarks/concerns/etc. of corporate groups and national governments.
If the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies within the Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the European Parliament does not presently possess any related documents, kindly relay me to another European institution that may have them.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Borg
Our reference: A(2021)8715 – acknowledgement of receipt
Dear Mr Borg,
The European Parliament hereby acknowledges receipt of your application
for public access to documents, which was registered on 18/10/2021.
All requests for public access to documents are treated in compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Regulation, your application will
be handled within 15 working days upon registration of your request.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.
The European Parliament reserves the right to ask for additional
information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Parliament’s implementing
measures.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application
via the AsktheEU.org website, which is a private website not officially
related to the European Parliament. Therefore, the European Parliament
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to
the use of this system.
In addition, please note that any personal data that you provide by using
AsktheEU.org website may be disclosed to the general public and visible on
this private website. The European Parliament cannot be held responsible
for such disclosure. Should you need to communicate directly to Parliament
any personal data and would like to avoid public disclosure, you may do so
from your private email address by using the following functional mailbox
address: AccesDocs(at)europarl.europa.eu
Kind regards,
[1]cid:image001.png@01D58B31.E2CF1C20 TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[2][email address]
[3]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our reference: A(2021)8715
Dear Mr Borg,
your application for public access to documents, submitted under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, was registered on 18 October 2021.
As a preliminary remark, Parliament draws your attention to the fact that
the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as defined in its Article 2(3),
extends only to existing documents held by an institution, whereas it does
not cover the broader concept of information. Information may be
distinguished from a document, in particular, as far as it is defined as a
data element that may appear in one or multiple documents.
With regard to your application for public access to documents, Parliament
has identified the attached order form for the study you refer to, dated
19 November 2019, as well as the study itself, which is available [1]here.
Please note that marginal personal data (handwritten signature) have been
removed from the identified document.
With regard to your request for information, we are glad to provide you
with the following answers.
Your questions read:
(1) "How much were consultants from Future Candy GmbH paid to produce this
paper?"
(2) "Have any risk-based assessments been run by any European institutions
regarding the impact of ‘a European firewall’ with regards to human rights
violations and violations of the rule of law?"
(3) "Has the proposal for ‘a European firewall’ been reviewed by
seconded-national experts or by representatives of national governments?"
(4) "Has the proposal for ‘a European firewall’ been reviewed by
representatives or experts from stakeholders of the technological sector
in Europe?"
With regard to question (1), the price for the product was EUR 14.500, as
evidenced by the order form.
As far as questions (2) to (4) are concerned, the answer is No. In this
regard, Parliament would like to point out that, while the paper was
discussed in international media, for instance [2]here in the Financial
Times, the specifications of the product, as evidenced by the order form,
did not make any reference to a 'firewall', and that the views expressed
in the paper are solely those of the authors (Sohnemann et al.) and do not
in any way prejudice the position of the European Parliament.
On this basis Parliament considers your request handled and the file
closed. Please do not hesitate to submit a new request should you identify
specific Parliament documents for which you would like to request public
access.
Kind regards,
[3]cid:image001.png@01D58B31.E2CF1C20 TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[4][email address]
[5]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/e...
2. https://www.ft.com/content/9edea4f5-5f34...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb