HEAD OF THE LEGAL AND ASSURANCE SERVICES
Parma, 21 June 2017
Ref. DD/CR/mm (2017) - out-17932903
Martin Pigeon
Corporate Europe Observatory
Rue d'Edimbourg, 26
BE-1050 Brussels
Belgium
e-mail:
ask+request-4324-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Re:
Your request for public access to documents of 29 May 2017
Our ref.: PAD 2017/042
Dear Mr Pigeon,
I refer to your request for access to documents of 29 May 2017, submitted from the
website ‘
Ask the EU’, by means of which you requested access to ‘
all documents, such as
correspondence (including emails), briefings or meeting minutes, which relate to or
contain the above-mentioned checks and confirmations by EFSA experts of the
information provided by Mr. Rowland, following the teleconference (so between
September 2015 and November 12 2015)’ as well as ‘
all correspondence (including
emails) between EFSA and Mr. Rowland between 2013 and June 2016’
.
Having assessed your request in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
regarding public access to documents1 (hereinafter “
the PAD Regulation”), we would like
to provide you with a reply as follows.
1. Your request for all documents which relate to checks and confirmations
by EFSA experts concerning the information provided by Mr Rowland
during the pesticides peer review teleconference (TC 117)
Please be informed on the fact that all background documents relating to the EFSA peer
review of glyphosate are available on EFSA’s website2, including the report of the
teleconference 117 held on 29 September 2015. You can find this report on page 1418
of the Peer Review Report, which is part of the background documents.
We should add that EFSA is not in the possession of any other documents
(correspondence, briefings or meeting minutes) falling within the scope of your access
request, besides the TC 117 meeting minutes available on-line. In application of the
case law of the European Union Courts, a presumption of legality is attached to a
statement made by an Institution concerning the non-existence of documents
requested3.
1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43-48,
applicable to EFSA.
2 The background documents are available on EFSA’s website:
http://registerofquestions.efsa.europa.eu/roqFrontend/outputLoader?output=ON-4302
3 See Case T-42/05, Williams v Commission, T-380/04, ECLI:EU:T:2008:325; Joined Cases T-110/03,
Ioannis Terezakis v. Commission, ECLI:EU:T:2008:19; Case T-150/03, Sison v. Council [2005]
CLI:EU:T:2005:143.
European Food Safety Authority • Via Carlo Magno 1A • 43126 Parma • ITALY
Tel. + 39 0521 036 111 • Fax + 39 0521 036 110 • www.efsa.europa.eu
2. Your request concerning correspondence between EFSA and Jess
Rowland in the time period between 2013 and June 2016
For what concerns your request for the correspondence between EFSA and Mr Rowland
in the time period between 2013 and June 2016, please be informed that this qualifies as
a request for personal information, since by the scope of your request and the content of
the documents requested the person is identified in the sense of Article 2(a) of the Data
Protection Regulation (EC) No 45/20014.. According to the settled case law of the
European Union Courts5, the Data Protection Regulation is applicable in its entirety as
concerns personal data at stake in the context of a public access to documents request.
Likewise your request for the correspondence with Mr. Rowland qualifies as a request for
transfer of personal data in the sense of Article 8(b) of the Data Protection Regulation
and the two cumulative conditions laid down therein shall be fulfilled, namely (1) ‘
the
recipient establishes the necessity of having the data transferred’ and (2) ‘…
there is no
reason to assume that the data subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced’.
Having assessed your access request, EFSA concludes that at least the first of these
conditions has not been fulfilled, since your e-mail message of 26 May 2017 does not in
any way substantiate the need for you to receive the personal data. EFSA will only be
able to balance the interests at stake and to consider the disclosure of the personal data
documents after you have provided an express and legitimate justification and
convincing arguments in order to demonstrate the necessity of having these transferred
to you.
3. Confirmatory Application
To exercise your right to appeal the present decision by means of a confirmatory
application, you may write to EFSA at the address below. You have fifteen working days
from receipt of this letter to appeal. In case you submit a confirmatory application, EFSA
will inform you of the outcome of the re-examination of your request within fifteen
working days of receipt, either by granting you access to the document or by confirming
the refusal. In the latter case, you will also be informed of any further appeal routes
available.
Further correspondence must be sent to:
EFSA
Dirk Detken, Head of the Legal and Assurance Services
Via Carlo Magno 1/A
I – 43126 Parma
Italia
e-mail:
xxxx.xxxxxx.xxxxxx.xx.xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxxxxx.xx Yours sincerely,
[SIGNED]
Dirk Detken
Cc:
J. Tarazona (EFSA)
4 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, OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1–22.
5 See Judgment in
European Commission v The Bavarian Lager Co. Ltd., C-28/08 P, EU:C:2010:378.
2