Jorge Domecq and Airbus
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:
- The notification of Jorge Domecq of his intention to engage in an occupational activity for Airbus
- The High Representative's authorisation to Jorge Domecq to engage in an occupational activity for Airbus
- All e-mail exchanges between the Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency and Airbus from 1 February 2019 to 1 February 2020
- All documents related to meetings between the Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency and Airbus employees from 1 February 2019 to 1 February 2020, including briefings written ahead of the meetings and minutes reporting the content of the meetings
- All documents related to phone calls between the Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency and Airbus employees from 1 February 2019 to 1 February 2020, including briefings written ahead of the phone calls and minutes reporting the content of the calls
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
postal address:
Peter Teffer
Ekko Voorkamer
Bemuurde Weerd WZ 3
3513 BH Utrecht
The Netherlands
(Digital communication is fine, there is no need to send physical copies of documents disclosed via e-mail.)
Dear Sir,
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your application for access to documents,
which was registered by EDA on 12 October 2020.
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, applicable to EDA
in accordance with Article 30 of Council Decision 2015/1835 of 12 October
2015, your application will be handled within 15 working days. The time
limit will expire on 02 November 2020. In case this time limit needs to be
extended, you will be informed in due course.
Yours sincerely,
European Defence Agency
Access to Documents
[1][IMG] [2][IMG]
[3][IMG] [4][EDA request email]
Rue des Drapiers 17-23, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
[5]www.eda.europa.eu/info-hub/eda-
documents/access-to-eda-documents
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 09/10/2020, wherein you submit a request for
access to documents.
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 02/11/2020.
An extended time limit is necessary as your application concerns third
party documents and the third party is currently being consulted.
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 23/11/2020.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
European Defence Agency
Access to Documents
[1][IMG][2][IMG][3][IMG]
[4][EDA request email]
Rue des Drapiers 17-23, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
[5]www.eda.europa.eu/info-hub/eda-
documents/access-to-eda-documents
Dear Sir,
We refer to your email of 9 October 2020, whereby you submit an access to
documents request and our email of 1 November informing you of the need to
extend the deadline for our response until 23 November 2020.
We are currently in the process of finalising our response to your
application and will send it to you as early as possible and latest by
this Friday 27 November cob.
We apologise for the delay and any inconvenience this may cause to you.
With best regards,
European Defence Agency
Access to Documents
[1][IMG][2][IMG][3][IMG] [4][EDA request email]
Rue des Drapiers 17-23, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
[5]www.eda.europa.eu/info-hub/eda-
documents/access-to-eda-documents
From: ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS <[EDA request email]>
Sent: Sunday, 1 November 2020 09:59
To: Peter <[FOI #8639 email]>
Cc: ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS <[EDA request email]>
Subject: RE: access to documents request - Jorge Domecq and Airbus
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 09/10/2020, wherein you submit a request for
access to documents.
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 02/11/2020.
An extended time limit is necessary as your application concerns third
party documents and the third party is currently being consulted.
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 23/11/2020.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
European Defence Agency
Access to Documents
[6][IMG][7][IMG][8][IMG]
[9][EDA request email]
Rue des Drapiers 17-23, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
[10]www.eda.europa.eu/info-hub/eda-
documents/access-to-eda-documents
Dear Sir,
We refer to your email of 09 October 2020, wherein you submit an access to
documents request, registered under the reference 2020/18/IN.
We further refer to our email of 01 November 2020, extending the original
deadline to 23 November 2020, and our last email of 23 November
apologising for another delay due to internal finalisation of the
response.
In your request you seek access to:
1. The notification of Jorge Domecq of his intention to engage in an
occupational activity for Airbus
2. The High Representative's authorisation to Jorge Domecq to engage in
an occupational activity for Airbus
3. All e-mail exchanges between the Chief Executive of the European
Defence Agency and Airbus from 1 February 2019 to 1 February 2020
4. All documents related to meetings between the Chief Executive of the
European Defence Agency and Airbus employees from 1 February 2019 to 1
February 2020, including briefings written ahead of the meetings and
minutes reporting the content of the meetings
5. All documents related to phone calls between the Chief Executive of
the European Defence Agency and Airbus employees from 1 February 2019
to 1 February 2020, including briefings written ahead of the phone
calls and minutes reporting the content of the calls
With regard to the documents under points 3 and 5, we regret to inform you
that EDA does not hold any documents corresponding to the description
given in your request.
With regard to the documents under points 1 and 2, we are pleased to
inform you that partial access can be granted. A full disclosure of the
identified documents is prevented by the exception concerning the
protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual outlined in
Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, because they contain
personal data. Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation does not
allow the transmission of these personal data, except if you prove that it
is necessary to have the data transmitted to you for a specific purpose in
the public interest and where there is no reason to assume that the
legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced. In your
request, you do not put forward any arguments to establish the necessity
to have the data transmitted for a specific purpose in the public
interest. Consequently, we have concluded that, pursuant to Article
4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access cannot be granted to the
personal data contained in the requested documents, as the need to obtain
access thereto for a purpose in the public interest has not been
substantiated and there is no reason to think that the legitimate
interests of the individuals concerned would not be prejudiced by
disclosure of the personal data concerned. The personal data is thus
redacted in the documents.
With regard to the documents under point 4, please be informed that we
have identified 6 documents that correspond to the criteria given in your
request and which relate to two events, namely “Rencontres
Institutionnelles d’Airbus” and “Paris Air Show Le Bourget”. Having
examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, we regret to inform you
that access to those documents cannot be granted, as disclosure is
prevented by exceptions to the right of access laid down in Article 4 of
this Regulation.
First, please note that only some parts of those documents fall under the
scope of your request as only part of the document(s) relates to Airbus.
Second, the parts of the document(s) that do correspond to the criteria
given in your request are protected by the following exceptions:
1. Art.4(1)(a) second indent - defence and military matters.
The documents contain information regarding projects of the Member States
relating to defence and military matters. Additionally, the projects are
still ongoing.
2. Art. 4(2) first indent - commercial interests of a natural or legal
person, including intellectual property.
The documents contain information of commercial nature the disclosure of
which could undermine and impact negatively the business activities and
commercial interests of Airbus.
3. Art. 4(1)(b) privacy and the integrity of the individual, in
particular in accordance with Union legislation regarding the
protection of personal data.
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation does not allow the
transmission of these personal data, except if you prove that it is
necessary to have the data transmitted to you for a specific purpose in
the public interest and where there is no reason to assume that the
legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced. In your
request, you do not put forward any arguments to establish the necessity
to have the data transmitted for a specific purpose in the public
interest. Consequently, we have concluded that, pursuant to Article
4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access cannot be granted to the
personal data contained in the requested documents, as the need to obtain
access thereto for a purpose in the public interest has not been
substantiated and there is no reason to think that the legitimate
interests of the individuals concerned would not be prejudiced by
disclosure of the personal data concerned.
We have considered whether partial access could be granted to the
documents requested. Unfortunately, even in such a case the interests
protected under Article 4 would be prejudiced. Therefore, access to the
entirety of the documents must be refused.
Means of redress
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled
to make a confirmatory application requesting EDA to review its position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days
upon receipt of this letter to the Chief Executive of EDA to the following
email: [1][EDA request email]
Yours sincerely,
European Defence Agency
Access to Documents
[2][IMG][3][IMG][4][IMG]
[5][EDA request email]
Rue des Drapiers 17-23, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
[6]www.eda.europa.eu/info-hub/eda-
documents/access-to-eda-documents
Dear Madam, Sir,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I refer to my request for access to documents registered by EDA on 12 October 2020, under the reference 2020/18/IN.
Thank you for the release of the documents related to the notification and the High Representative's authorisation. I accept that the e-mail addresses and such personal data are redacted with reference to protection of privacy.
However, I would like a review of the position to refuse access to all 6 documents related to meetings between the Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency and Airbus employees from 1 February 2019 to 1 February 2020, including briefings written ahead of the meetings and minutes reporting the content of the meetings.
The EDA argued that disclosure is prevented by exceptions to the right of access laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Indeed, that article offers institutions the possibility to refuse access where disclosure would undermine the protection of defence and military matters and commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property. However, even if there is a risk of undermining these interests, an institution can still decide to release the documents if there is an "overriding public interest in disclosure".
As the High Representative wrote himself in the released document 2, "the situation [i.e. Mr Domecq's new occupation at Airbus] has in fact created a perception of a conflict with the legitimate interests of the Agency and may give rise, in the future, to an actual conflict of interest, which could, if not mitigated, cause serious damage to the reputation of the Agency".
Indeed, the combination of the facts that Mr Domecq has a new occupation at Airbus while also having interacted with Airbus as Chief Executive of the agency, leads to a possible perception that Mr Domecq has been awarded the job at Airbus because of things he did while Chief Executive of the agency, for example influence calls for proposals or other bids. To tackle this perception, the public benefits from as much transparency about Mr Domecq's interactions with Airbus as possible.
Mr Domecq himself wrote in the e-mail released as document 01b: "I never discussed or entertained any discussion related to specific call for proposals or bids in the EU context in which Airbus had or could have a direct interest in. Furthermore, each time I met any company representatives I made sure that these matters would not be discussed. You can check the minutes of these meetings to verify this aspect."
This is precisely the reason that release of the 6 documents would constitute an overriding public interest: it would allow the press and public to confirm whether Mr Domecq was indeed telling the truth in his e-mail.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Dear Sir,
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your email dated 30 November 2020 wherein
you submit a confirmatory application.
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, applicable to EDA
in accordance with Article 30 of Council Decision 2015/1835 of 12 October
2015, your application will be handled within 15 working days. The time
limit will expire on 21 December 2020. In case this time limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.
Yours sincerely,
European Defence Agency
Access to Documents
[1][IMG][2][IMG][3][IMG]
[4][EDA request email]
Rue des Drapiers 17-23, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
[5]www.eda.europa.eu/info-hub/eda-
documents/access-to-eda-documents
Dear Sir,
Please find attached the Chief Executive's decision regarding the
confirmatory application (ref. 2020/18/CONF) filed by email on 30
November 2020.
With best regards,
EDA Access to Documents
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