Esta es la versión HTML de un fichero adjunto a una solicitud de acceso a la información 'EASE and Artificial Intelligence Study'.





 
Ref. Ares(2020)2244932 - 27/04/2020
Ref. Ares(2020)7898951 - 23/12/2020
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
LEGAL SERVICE 
 
 
  INST Team (Institutions) 
Brussels 27 April 2020 
sj f(2020)2572816 
NOTE FOR THE ATTENTION OF TATJANA VERRIER,  
DIRECTOR SG - C  
Subject: 
Electronic notification of replies to initial requests for access to 
documents 

I would like to make reference to your Note of the 7 April 2020 (ARES (2020)1968909) 
wherein you asked the Legal Service, in the context of the ongoing business analysis of 
the EASE project, guidance concerning the notification by electronic means of initial 
replies to applicants for access to documents submitted on the basis of Regulation (EC) 
No 1049/2001. This note exposes the views of the Legal Service to the specific questions 
you raised.  
General remarks 
In your note, you refer to some of the technical features of the proposed EASE portal, 
however, the modalities for the use of the EASE portal by the applicants are not 
described in detail. One could assume, however, that similar to other electronic portals, 
access to the EASE Portal would be granted to members of the public only after a 
registration procedure through individual accounts.  As both questions relate to the legal 
effects of the  transmission  of documents through the dedicated EASE Portal to the 
applicants, I would like to recall that the terms and  conditions which the users of the 
EASE system will be asked to accept during the registration procedure are relevant to 
provide an accurate reply to the questions you raise.  These conditions normally contain 
specific provisions with regard to the sending and receipt of documents and alternative 
arrangements for the submission of applications and delivery of documents in case of 
technical failure of the IT system. 
Additionally, I note that, whilst  you state “The electronic notification offered by the new 
EASE portal would allow the Commission to know the exact time when the applicant not 
only received the initial reply on the EASE portal but also when he/she opened the file 
containing the initial reply and became aware of it
”, it remains unclear what kind of 
proof (if any) the EASE Portal would retain for the receipt of the transmitted 
document(s) in case the recipient user would not take any positive action i.e. open or 
download the file. In these cases, it is essential, for the correct and unambiguous 
application of the timelines provided for in the applicable legislation, that the terms and 
conditions for the use of the EASE Portal specify when users will be deemed to have 
received the documents transmitted. In fact, the Commission would need to be in 
 
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111 
 
      

 
possession of a proof of the receipt of the transmitted documents in all cases, not only 
when the user downloads the document from the system but when the recipient remains 
inactive and does not manually open the file transmitted through the EASE Portal.  
Question 1) “if the initial application is submitted via future online EASE portal, can 
the initial reply be sent to the applicant only via the EASE portal, that is, without the 
postal notification?
” 
I would like to confirm that, in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 
1049/2001, it is possible to envisage the use of a digital platform such as the proposed 
EASE Portal. In fact, the legislation does not mandate any specific modalities for the 
submission of the application for access to documents (cf.: Article 6(1) “…applications 
for access to documents can be made in any written form, including electronic form…
”). 
Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 provides that the applicant shall have 
access to the requested documents either “by consulting them on the spot or by receiving 
a copy, including, where available, an electronic copy
”.  
Therefore, a digital platform such as the EASE Portal could be used in order to receive 
requests for access to documents and also to deliver to the applicants electronic copies of 
the requested documents, provided that it ensured legal certainty as to the date in which 
the initial reply was received by the applicant
. In fact, the provisions of the legislation 
establish a set deadline for the submission of a confirmatory application and therefore the 
period in which the applicant can challenge the initial reply with a confirmatory 
application starts running from the date in which the applicant has received the reply.  
As highlighted above, in the context of the EASE Portal, it is important to clarify that the 
date in which a document/reply was delivered or made available through the IT platform 
to the applicant cannot be understood as the “date of receipt”.  Such a proof of receipt 
would entail a record showing that the documents have been delivered at a specific date 
from which the time-limits set out in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 for submitting a 
confirmatory application can unequivocally start to run (for example, this can be an 
electronic acknowledgment of receipt generated when the document is downloaded or 
after a certain period of time indicated in the terms and conditions).  
In addition, if the EASE Portal, and its conditions of use, were to be designed in such a 
way as to guarantee that the Commission can maintain a record of the acknowledgment 
of receipt of documents transmitted via the Portal, we consider problematic the 
coexistence of two notifications dates regarding confirmatory decisions – a first date 
following the downloading of the decisions on the EASE portal and  the date of the DHL 
notification - and suggest considering a synchronized extension of the use of the EASE 
Portal also to the submission of confirmatory applications by users and to notify them of 
confirmatory decisions. In the current configuration, the system runs the risk of creating 
uncertainties as to the date of the notification of confirmatory decisions, which is a matter 
determined by reference to the factual circumstances in which the decision is received by 
the applicant. Moreover, in practice, the systematic notification via DHL will probably 
become largely superfluous since it may be assumed that, in most cases, applicants will 
download confirmatory decisions on the EASE portal before receiving the documents by 
DHL. 
It should be also flagged that the EASE project offers an innovative way for citizens to 
submit applications under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and to have access to the 
documents requested by using a dedicated IT platform. It is therefore recommended that, 
once the technical aspects of the EASE Portal are finalized and in any case before it is