EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 5.3.2020
C(2020) 1533 final
Mr Mathias Schindler
Bundestagsbüro Julia Reda, MEP
Unter den Linden 50
11011 Berlin
Germany
DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 4 OF THE
IMPLEMENTING RULES TO REGULATION (EC) NO 1049/20011
Subject: Your confirmatory application for access to documents – GESTDEM
2019/7365
Dear Mr Schindler,
I am writing in reference to your email of 24 January 2020, registered on 28 January 2020,
by which you lodge a confirmatory application in accordance with Article 7(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council
and Commission documents2 (hereafter ‘Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001’).
Through your initial application of 20 December 2019, you requested access to all
documents explaining why the document ‘Note for the attention of Mr L. Romero Requena,
Director General, Legal Service’ (hereafter ‘Note’), registered under reference
Ares(2015)4899298, was not sent out to Mr Luis Romero Requena, the Director General of
the Legal Service.
Concretely, you requested, I quote: ‘all information related to this process. This includes
any information held by any part of the European Commission and its officers concerning
this process and the decision to put it on hold. Among other things, I am very interested to
learn when, by whom and how the decision was made to put it on hold and how this
decision making process happened. I want all information to be included, including those
information that was not deemed important, not registered under eDomec rules etc., for
example emails, notes, drafts, comments etc.’
1
Official Journal L 345 of 29.12.2001, p. 94.
2
Official Journal L145 of 31.05.2001, p. 43.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
The process you refer to (registered under reference grow.b.2(2015)4899298) is an internal
Commission process whereby internal documents get validated before being sent out to their
addressees. However, this Note, prepared by the Directorate-General for Internal Market,
Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs for the attention of Luis Romero Requena, Director-
General for the Legal Service, was never sent out so the process grow.b.2(2015)4899298
was put on hold and never completed.
By letter of 23 January 2020, the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and SMEs informed you that it was not able to identify any documents as
falling within the scope of your request.
In your confirmatory application, you question the absence of any documents. You take the
view that ‘any work surrounding the memo, the decision to not send it and to halt any work
regarding the legality of the Spanish legislative work must have left a paper trail within the
Commission.’
Against this background, the European Commission has carried out a renewed, thorough
search for the documents requested. Following this renewed search, I confirm that the
Commission does not hold any documents that would correspond to the description given in
your application.
The Commission did not find any record in whatever form containing the instruction to halt
the internal process with the reference grow.b.2(2015)4899298 and not to send the note to
Mr Luis Romero Requena, the Director-General of the Legal Service.
Indeed, as specified in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the right of access as
defined in that regulation applies only to existing documents in the possession of the
institution.
Given that the European Commission does not hold any such documents corresponding to
the description given in your application, it is not in a position to fulfil your request.
Finally, I draw your attention to the means of redress available against this decision. You
may either bring proceedings before the General Court or file a complaint with the
European Ombudsman under the conditions specified respectively in Articles 263 and 228
of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Yours sincerely,
For the Commission
Ilze JUHANSONE
Secretary-General
2