Lobbying re. Collaborative Economy

La solicitud fue exitosa.

Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,

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:

(i) a list of meetings between DG GROW officials and/or representatives (including the Commissioner and her Cabinet) and
- representatives of collaborative economy platform companies (such as, but not limited to, Amazon (including Amazon Mechanical Turk/ ‘MTurk’), Deliveroo, TaskRabbit, Upwork, HomeAway, ClickWorker, Wimdu, Interhome, etc);
- consultancies or law firms acting for any of these companies (such as, but not limited to, FIPRA International, FTI Consulting, Covington & Burling, Technology Policy Advocates, acumen public affairs, Gide Loyrette Nouel, Flint Europe, EUROS / AGENCY, Delany & Covely, etc);
- representatives of Consumer Choice Center, Sharing Economy Ireland, Asociación Española de la Economía Digital (adigital), and/or any other collaborative economy platform interest groups; and,
- representatives of cross-sectoral industry federations (such as, but not limited to, BusinessEurope and AmCham EU),
at which the Collaborative Economy Communication, or follow-up to it, was discussed (since January 2015)

(ii) minutes and other reports of these meetings

(iii) all correspondence (including emails) between DG GROW officials and/or representatives (including the Commissioner and Cabinet) and representatives of the entities listed in part (i), concerning the Collaborative Economy Communication, or follow-up to it, since January 2015.

I am aware of previous access to documents requests published on the website asktheeu.org which cover some of the documents that I am interested in (namely those registered under GestDem 2017/5304 and GestDem 2017/5510). Therefore, please consider my request to exclude the following organisations, which are covered under these earlier requests: Uber, AirBnB, European Internet Forum, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), European Holiday Home Association (EHHA), Sharing Economy, European Collaborative Economy Forum (EUCoLab) and European Digital Media Association (EdIMA).

I would be grateful if you could take the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour into account when considering (i) of this request.

I would also kindly ask that you release documents relating to this request as soon as they are ready (ie in instalments, if necessary). I am aware that part (iii) may take longer for you to prepare, so I would appreciate if you could ensure that parts (i) and (ii) are not delayed whilst part (iii) is being prepared.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Tansey

Postal Address:
Corporate Europe Observatory
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels
Belgium

Mercado Interno, Industria, Emprendimiento y PYMEs

1 Adjuntos

Dear Ms Tansey,

 

Thank you for your email dated 13/12/2018. We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on
19/12/2018 under reference number GestDem 2018/6883.

 

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days. The time limit will expire on
21/01/2019. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.

 

You have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website. Please note
that this is a private third-party website which has no link with any
institution of the European Union. Therefore, the European Commission
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to
the use of this system.

 

Please note that the private third party running the AsktheEU.org website
is responsible and accountable for the processing of your personal data
via that website, and not the European Commission. For further information
on your rights, please refer to the third party’s privacy policy.

 

We understand that the third party running that website usually publishes
the content of applicants’ correspondence with the European Commission on
that website. This includes the personal data that you may have
communicated to the European Commission (e.g. your private postal
address).

 

Similarly, the third party publishes on that website any reply that the
Commission will send to the email address of the applicants generated by
the AsktheEU.org website.

 

If you do not wish your correspondence with the European Commission to be
published on the AsktheEU.org website, you can provide us with an
alternative, private e-mail address for further correspondence. In that
case, the European Commission will send all future electronic
correspondence addressed to you only to that private address.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

DG GROW – Access to documents team

 

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/03 – Strategic Planning and Delivery Unit

 

 

Mercado Interno, Industria, Emprendimiento y PYMEs

1 Adjuntos

Dear Ms. Tansey,

We refer to your e-mail dated 13/12/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 19/12/2018 under the above-mentioned
reference number.

Your application concerns a very long period of time and an exceptionally
wide range of scope (by list of interlocutors) which increases the time
needed to retrieve all relevant documents, also because most colleagues
from so long ago have possibly changed their place of work by now. Once
identified, all these documents will need to be assessed individually.
Such a detailed analysis cannot be carried out within the normal time
limits set out in Article 7 of Regulation 1049/2001.

Moreover, the handling of your request will involve the assessment of a
high number of documents originating from third parties. The analysis of
these documents, together with the need to consult the third parties
concerned in accordance with Article 4(4) and 4(5) of Regulation
1049/2001, cannot be expected to be completed within the normal time
limits set out in Article 7 of Regulation 1049/2001.

However, the Regulation also provides for a possibility to confer with
applicants in order to find a fair solution when an application relates to
a very long document or concerns a very large number of documents. Article
6(3) provides that in the event of an application relating to a very long
document or to very large number of documents, the institution concerned
may confer with the applicant informally, with a view to finding a fair
solution.

 

In accordance with the case law of the EU Courts, such a solution can only
concern the content or the number of documents applied for, not the
deadline for replying.[1][1] This means that the scope of the request must
be reduced in a way that would enable its treatment within the extended
deadline of 15 + 15 working days.

 

Based on the above-mentioned provision, we would kindly ask you to specify
the objective of your request and your specific interest in the documents
requested[2][2], and whether you could narrow down the scope of your
request, so as to reduce it to a more manageable period of time, e.g. 2
June 2016 to 31 December 2018. The former date is the adoption date of the
2016 Communication you refer to, as you are interested in this
Communication and its “follow-up” we suggest starting the search for
corresponding documents with this date.

 

In order to help you to narrow down your request, please note that upon a
first search, per year more than 100 documents (not yet counting extra
search for meetings and meeting reports) could fall within the scope
(which remains to be specified), but all documents would need individual
verification. If you are interested in meetings and documents in which the
2016 Commutation was subject to discussion, or if you could specify what
sort of “follow-up” you have in mind, this would already significantly
facilitate the process of identifying the relevant documents.

 

According to our first estimates, the handling of your request would take
a minimum of 47 working days[3][3], broken down as follows:

-          identification of the documents falling under your request: 10
working days;

-          retrieval and establishment of a complete list of the documents
identified: 1 working day;

-          scanning of the documents: 3 working days;

-          assessment of the content of the documents in light of the
exceptions of Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001: 15 working days:

-          third-party/Member State consultations under Article 4(4)
and/or 4(5) of Regulation 1049/2001: 7 working days;

-          final assessment of the documents in light of the comments
received: 5 working days;

-          drafting of the reply: 1 working day;

-          redaction of those parts of the documents to which one or
several exceptions apply(ies): 4 working days;

-          internal approval of the draft decision on your request: 5
working days;

-          preparation of the reply and the documents for dispatch
(scanning of the redacted versions, administrative treatment,…): 2 working
days.

It follows that, according to our first estimates, your request cannot
possibly be dealt with within the extended deadline of 30 working days
counting from the date of registration of your application on 19/12/2018.

In order to enable us to respect the time-limits of Regulation 1049/2001,
we would ask you for a swift reply to our invitation to propose a fair
solution, within five working days at the latest:

·         by email to: [4][email address] and
[5][DG GROW request email]

·         by telephone at: (+32) (0) 22 966379

In the absence of a reply within five working days, we will unilaterally
restrict the scope of your application to those parts that can be dealt
with within the extended deadline of 30 working days, counting from the
registration of your application [19/12/2018].

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Yours sincerely,

DG GROW – ATD Team

 

[1] Judgment of the Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case C-127/13,
Guido Strack v Commission, paragraphs 26-28.

[1] Ibid, paragraph 28; Judgment of the General Court (then 'Court of
First Instance') of 22 May 2012 in case T-344/08, EnBW Energie
Baden-Württemberg v Commission, paragraph 105.

[1] Taking into account other applications for access to documents and
other tasks that the staff concerned are likely to have to deal with
during the same period. 

 

 

DG GROW – Access to documents team

 

[6]cid:479385507@17082012-2045

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG  GROW/03 – The Strategic planning and delivery Unit

 

 

------------------------

[7][1] Judgment of the Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case
C-127/13, Guido Strack v Commission, paragraphs 26-28.

[8][2] Ibid, paragraph 28; Judgment of the General Court (then 'Court of
First Instance') of 22 May 2012 in case T-344/08, EnBW Energie
Baden-Württemberg v Commission, paragraph 105.

[9][3] Taking into account other applications for access to documents and
other tasks that the staff concerned are likely to have to deal with
during the same period. 

References

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1. file:///tmp/foiextract20190118-10053-1h2ta5s#_ftn1
2. file:///tmp/foiextract20190118-10053-1h2ta5s#_ftn2
3. file:///tmp/foiextract20190118-10053-1h2ta5s#_ftn3
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[DG GROW request email]
7. file:///tmp/foiextract20190118-10053-1h2ta5s#_ftnref1
8. file:///tmp/foiextract20190118-10053-1h2ta5s#_ftnref2
9. file:///tmp/foiextract20190118-10053-1h2ta5s#_ftnref3

Mercado Interno, Industria, Emprendimiento y PYMEs

1 Adjuntos

Dear Ms Tansey,

We refer to your e-mail dated 13/12/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 19/12/2018 under the above mentioned
reference number.

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 21/01/2019.

An extended time limit is needed as your application concerns documents
held by different Services which must be consulted. In addition, part of
the documents requested originate from third parties which have been
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
11/02/2019.

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

Yours sincerely,

 

 

DG GROW – Access to documents team

 

[1]cid:479385507@17082012-2045

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG  GROW/03 – The Strategic planning and delivery Unit

 

 

 

References

Visible links

Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,

With regard to your email of Friday 18th January 2019 asking me to restrict the scope of my application GestDem 2018/6883, and asking me to reply within five working days, I'm just writing to say that I will send my reply by the end of tomorrow (Thursday 24th January) at the latest (ie within your deadline).

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Rachel Tansey

Mercado Interno, Industria, Emprendimiento y PYMEs

Many thanks for your kind feedback, dear Ms Tansey.
With best regards,
GROW ATD Team

mostrar partes citadas

Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,

With regard to your email of Friday 18th January 2019 asking me to narrow down the scope of my request GestDem 2018/688, so as to reduce it to a more manageable period of time, you gave an example of 2 June 2016 to 31 December 2018, ie a period of 2.5 years rather than the 4 years (Jan 2015 to Dec 2018) as in my original request. I agree to reduce the time period, however, I would like to narrow it to the period of 1 January 2016 to 31 Dec 2017 (ie a period of 2 years).

Additionally, in response to your request for clarification about what sort of 'follow-up' I am interested in, for the period after its adoption, meetings and documents in which the 2016 Communication was subject of discussion will suffice. As the narrowed period also includes 6 months before the Communication was adopted, for this period please consider it to include discussions relating to the preparation of the Communication.

I hope this suffices, and if you have any further questions, please let me know as swiftly as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Rachel Tansey

Mercado Interno, Industria, Emprendimiento y PYMEs

1 Adjuntos

Dear Ms Tansey,

We refer to your e-mail dated 13/12/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 19/12/2019 under the above mentioned
reference numbers.

The reply to your request could not be finalised today. Therefore, we are
not in a position to complete the handling of your application within the
extended time limit of 15 working days, which expires today (11/02/2019).
Please be reassured that we are doing our best to be able to send you the
reply as soon as possible.

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

Kind regards,

DG GROW – Access to documents team

 

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/03 – Strategic Planning and Delivery Unit

 

Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,

Thank you for your email of 11 February 2019. As you noted, the maximum extended time limit of an additional 15 working days, as set out in Regulation 1049/2001, to complete the handling of my application GestDem 2018/6883, expired on 11/02/2019. You wrote that the request could not be finalised on that date, and that you are doing your best to be able to send me the reply as soon as possible.

Please could you give me an approximate indication of when you will be able to send me your reply?

Yours faithfully,

Rachel Tansey

Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,

Further to my email of 13th February (copied below), noting your recognition that the extended deadline for my request GestDem 2018/6883 passed on 11/02/2019, and your commitment to reply as soon as possible, and with regard to your failure to respond with an approximate indication of when you would be able to send me your reply, I would now like to urgently request your response to my request GestDem 2018/6883.

The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has stated that “Citizens need to try access documents while they are still relevant. Information delayed is information denied”. Therefore, the 'fast-track' complaint procedure for access to documents requests includes the provision for complaints to be made in face of delays by EU institutions in releasing documents. With this in mind, if I do not receive your reply within one week (ie by 4th February 2019), I must consider making a complaint to the European Ombudsman.

Yours faithfully,

Rachel Tansey

Sent: February 13, 2019
Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,

Thank you for your email of 11 February 2019. As you noted, the maximum extended time limit of an additional 15 working days, as set out in Regulation 1049/2001, to complete the handling of my application GestDem 2018/6883, expired on 11/02/2019. You wrote that the request could not be finalised on that date, and that you are doing your best to be able to send me the reply as soon as possible.

Please could you give me an approximate indication of when you will be able to send me your reply?

Yours faithfully,

Rachel Tansey

Mercado Interno, Industria, Emprendimiento y PYMEs

15 Adjuntos

Dear Ms Tansey,

 

Please find enclosed reply to your request for access to documents
registered as GESTDEM No. 2018/6883.

 

Kind regards.

 

 

GROW E1
 
European Commission
DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Unit E1 – Service Policy for Consumers
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium