Ref. Ares(2016)6796283 - 05/12/2016
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Director-General
Brussels,
CONNECT/I2/CA/hz (2016) 7181753
By registered letter with
acknowledgment of receipt
Raymond SPEKKING
Eichendorffstr. 28
50823 Köln
Deutschland
Advance copy by email:
ask+request-3390-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2016/5882
Dear Sir,
I refer to your e-mail dated 18/10/2016 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 20/10/2016 under the above mentioned reference number. We
also refer to our holding reply of 10/11/2016 concerning the extension of the deadline.
Your application concerns "
all documents containing or concerning the term "linktax"
including emails within the Commission".
On a preliminary basis, I would like to inform you that a public consultation on the role of
publishers in the copyright value chain and on the 'panorama exception' took place from
15/03/2016 to 15/06/2016. All the contributions to this consultation, which may be of
interest with regard to your request, are now available in documents published on our
website:
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/public-consultation-role-publishers-
copyright-value-chain-and-panorama-exception.
You will also find that a further document, namely the report on the results of the public
consultation on the Regulatory environment for Platforms, Online Intermediaries and the
Collaborative Economy also addresses the question of "linktax".
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/full-report-results-public-consultation-
regulatory-environment-platforms-online-intermediaries
In addition, I draw your attention to the Impact Assessment on the modernisation of EU
copyright rules which has been published this 14/09/2016. The respective documents
include information that may be of interest with regard to your request and are available on
our website:
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/impact-assessment-modernisation-eu-
copyright-rules
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Furthermore, three parliamentary questions
(E-007431/2016, E-005931/2016, E-
004050/2016) contain or concern the term "linktax". Answers of the Commission to two of
these three questions have been published on the European Parliament's website
(E-
005931/2016, E-004050/2016).
I consider your request to cover all documents until the date of your application (i.e.
18/10/2016).
Documents contained in Annex I
Having examined this request under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
regarding public access to documents, I have come to the conclusion that the documents
included in Annex I may be fully disclosed.
Documents contained in Annex II
Annex II contains a series of documents and extracts which partly fall under the scope of
your request. After examining them under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
regarding public access to documents I have come to the conclusion that they may be
partially disclosed.
-
Parts of documents falling out of the scope of the request
Large parts of the documents contained in Annex II fall out of the scope of your request as
they are not related to the specific issue of "linktax". These parts have been therefore
blanked out with a written indication
[out of scope] at the beginning of the corresponding
passage / paragraph or page.
-
Parts of the document containing personal data
Certain parts of the documents in Annex II are expunged, since they contain personal data
of Commission officials or third persons, whose disclosure would undermine the protection
of privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in accordance with Union
legislation regarding the protection of personal data (Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001). 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 applicable1. According to Article 8(b) of that 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.
I 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.
1
Judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 29 June 2010 in case C-28/08 P, Commission/The
Bavarian Lager Co. Ltd, ECR 2010 I-06055.
2
Documents listed in Annex III
Annex III is listing documents that originate from third parties. Therefore the originators of
the documents have been consulted. They have motivated their position to object to a
disclosure as they deem that these documents contain commercially sensitive business
information whose disclosure would undermine the protection of their commercial interests.
Following an examination of the documents and taking into account the opinion of the
related third parties, I regret to inform you that your application cannot be granted regarding
these documents, as disclosure is indeed prevented by an exception to the right of access
laid down in Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001.
The documents listed in Annex III contain commercially sensitive business information,
representing commercial interests, which are protected against disclosure under the first
indent of Article 4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001.
I have considered whether partial access could be granted to the documents requested. Yet I
have come to the conclusion that this is not possible, since the invoked above exception of
the first indent of Article 4(2) covers the documents in their entirety.
The exception laid down in the first indent of Article 4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001 applies,
unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the documents. I have examined
whether there could be an overriding public interest in disclosure, but I have not been able
to identify such an interest.
***
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a
confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review the above positions.
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 Brussels
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Roberto Viola
Contact:
xxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
3
Electronically signed on 05/12/2016 17:33 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563