Digital services tax

La demande est partiellement réussie.

Dear Council of the EU,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting all agendas; minutes / notes of discussions; position papers; and any other documents relating to Council deliberations, since 1 January 2019, where the EU’s Digital Services Tax proposal, and/ or the OECD’s negotiations on a similar tax, were discussed.

Yours faithfully,

Vicky Cann
CEO
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brx

Postmaster Consilium, Conseil de l'Union européenne

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

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TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

2 Attachments

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

References

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2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

Dear TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM),
Thank you for the letter. An indicative timeline would be helpful, but I note what you say.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Vicky Cann

Postmaster Consilium, Conseil de l'Union européenne

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

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L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

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Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

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TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

22 Attachments

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CFD3F6.0B583760

 

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM

Directorate Information and Outreach

Information Services Unit

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

Dear Council of the European Union,

Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.

I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'Digital services tax'.

You correctly summarised that I requested “all agendas; minutes / notes of discussions; position papers; and any other documents relating to Council deliberations, since 1 January 2019, where the EU’s Digital Services Tax proposal, and/ or the OECD’s negotiations on a similar tax, were discussed."

You have granted partial access to certain documents under Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/200. You have also refused disclosure of other documents under Article 4(1)(a), and Article 4(3) Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, I ask the Council to review this decisions taking in the following considerations.
1. A fair balance was not found between the right of access to documents and the right to personal data protection.
2. Harm test under Article 4(1)(a), international relations and the financial, monetary or economic policy of the Community or Member State, has not been explicitly proven
3. In relying on Article 4(3) Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, it was not demonstrated that disclosure of the documents would cause a reasonable foreseeable, non-hypothetical harm, nor was the public interest properly considered.
4. Regulation No 1049/2001 is designed – as is stated in recital 4 and reflected in Article 1 – to confer on the public as wide a right of access as possible to documents of the institutions. Under Recital 6, an even wider access should be granted to institutions acting in a legislative capacity.
5. The Council has failed to consider that that the right of access to information is particularly strong for public watchdogs such as journalists, civil society and human rights organisations.

1. A fair balance was not found between the right of access to documents and the right to personal data protection.
While I do not argue that the documents I am requesting contain the names of individuals, I believe that in this case, the Council has failed to reconcile the right to protection of personal data with the right to freedom of information, especially considering the public interest in this information.
Article 9(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 Union institutions and bodies shall reconcile the right to the protection of personal data with the right of access to documents in accordance with Union law.

Under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, the Council is legally obliged to balance the protection of personal data with the right of access to documents. You have not shown that you have carried out the balancing needed.
In addition, regarding the release of personal data, the EU institutions and other EU Member States allow for the release of specific personal data for the public interest. These documents contain the names of public officials who are taking important decisions on behalf of the citizens of the EU. Knowing who is taking part in the decision-making process on our behalf, and who is influencing those decision, is of extreme public importance.

I argue that, due to the current context of the documents, the names of these individuals within should not be given such high levels of data protection. The Court of Justice has established that, given the need for accountability and transparency of public authorities, there exists some expectation of disclosure of personal data among public officials:

public figures have generally already accepted that some of their personal data will be disclosed to the public, and may even have encouraged or made such disclosure themselves. It is necessary therefore to take that environment into account when assessing the risk of the legitimate interests of public figures being prejudiced in the context of the application of Article 8(b) of Regulation No 45/2001, and in weighing those interests against the necessity of transferring the personal data requested. (1)

Advocate General Cruz Villalón has endorsed a similar line of argument, according to which the law should be relaxed where personal data is not the main object of a request, but rather incidental to a request for public documents. (2)

I do not seek any personal data other than the names of those officials involved in these negotiations, and certainly not any other or any sensitive personal data, rather I argue that, in light of the public interest arguments made below, the release of these documents in full is proportionate, necessary and justified.

2. Harm test under Article 4(1)(a), international relations and the financial, monetary or economic policy of the Community or Member State, has not been explicitly proven

Access to a subset of eight (8)3 of the identified documents has been refused under Article 4(1)(a), on grounds of both protection of international relations and of the financial, monetary or economic policy of the Community or Member State. You have asserted that partial access to these documents cannot be granted as the exception to the right of access applies to the entire document.

With respect to the protection of the financial, monetary or economic policy of the Community or a Member State, you argue that: the release to the public of the information contained in the documents could create expectations or unnecessary warning and thus could have a negative impact on the EU's financial system and undermine the protection of the public interest as regards the financial, monetary or economic policy of the EU.

Simply stating that the release of the documents could have a “negative impact” is not a sufficient demonstrating the harm to such a level that would compensate denying a citizen their fundamental right of access to documents.

Similarly, with respect to protection of international relations, you have similarly asserted a “negative impact”, explaining that: Disclosure of the information contained in the documents would also have a negative impact on the relations of the European Union with its counterparts in the OECD and G20. Should its internal views and negotiation strategy be made public while negotiations are still ongoing, the position of the Union in such multilateral negotiations would be seriously weakened. Disclosure of the documents would therefore undermine the protection of the public interest as regards international relations, since the documents contain information on negotiations which are still under discussion within the Council on the approaches to be taken in international fora.

Here we should stress that a mere “negative” impact is not a the level of test required, given that, as the Court of Justice of the European Union has stated, an EU body “remains obliged (...) to explain how disclosure of that document could specifically and actually undermine the interest protected by an exception provided for in that provision, and the risk of the interest being undermined must be reasonably foreseeable and must not be purely hypothetical.”(4) This has not been done, and certainly not specifically for each document. Indeed, it has not been made clear if both the economic policy and the international relations exceptions apply in their entirety to each and every one of these eight (8) documents.
It is important to underline here that the harm to a protected interest has to be such as to justify the denial of the fundamental right of access to documents as protected by the treaties. More specifically, the harm has to be such that the strong presumption of openness of legislative documents, as established by the treaties, is limited. The Council has not demonstrated that this is the case.

In addition, should the Council be able to identify and persuasively argue that some part of the information in these documents meets the standard of being information that should be reserved in order to protect financial, monetary or economic policy of the EU, there will nevertheless be some other parts of the documents that can be released, and hence that partial access is possible.

With respect to the protection of international relations, it should be stressed that this is largely an ongoing negation within the European Union space, between its Member States. The mere fact that there has been some consultation with or input from the OECD and G20, which are inter-governmental bodies/processes, is not sufficient to consider that international relations are at stake. This process cannot be considered to be precisely analogous to negotiations with third countries.

Furthermore, with respect to the digital taxation analysis developed by the OECD is, it is to be presumed that such a document is likely to be based largely on already publicly-available information, and hence, at a minimum, partial access to this documents should be possible.

3. In relying on Article 4(3) Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, it was not demonstrated that disclosure of the documents would cause a reasonable foreseeable, non-hypothetical harm, nor was the public interest properly considered.

There are certain documents which you have refused to disclose. In your response, you state that these documents contain: “analysis, notes and presentations from the Presidency, Delegations and third parties relating to negotiations and discussions regarding digital taxation, and in particular the draft Digital Services Tax Directive and Digital Advertising Tax Directive.”

You further state that due to the fact that these negotiations are still ongoing and require unanimity within the Council: “the release of the requested documents to the public would affect the negotiating process since delegations may come under additional pressure from stakeholders. It would therefore diminish the chances of reaching an agreement within the Council. For the Council to reach an agreement on these negotiations, Member States hold initial consultations and exploratory talks. Revealing the contents of such talks before an agreement has been reached would interfere with the negotiations and could jeopardise the conclusion of an agreement within the Council. Disclosure of the requested documents would therefore seriously undermine the decision making-process of the Council."

You have refused access under Article 4(3), first subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and state that partial access cannot be granted as the exception to the right of access applies to the entire document. It was not demonstrated that release of the documents would cause a reasonable foreseeable, non-hypothetical harm.

In Case T 233/09 Access Info Europe v Council, the General Court confirmed that the mere fact that a document concerns an interest protected by an exception to disclosure is not sufficient to justify the application of that exception.

Such application may be justified only if access to that document could specifically and effectively undermine the protected interest. Moreover, the risk of the protected interest being undermined must not be purely hypothetical and must be reasonably foreseeable. It is up to the institution concerned to weigh the specific interest which must be protected through non-disclosure of part of the requested document in the circumstances against the general interest in the entire document being made accessible.(5)

In merely claiming that the disclosure of the requested documents would seriously undermine the decision making-process, the Council is not sufficiently demonstrating a non-hypothetical and reasonably foreseeable risk in order to rely on Article 4(3).

• The EU institutions must take decisions as openly as possible and ensure public participation.
Article 4(3) is subject to an overriding public interest. You state that there is no such interest in this case. I would like to expressly state that I do not agree with your assessment, as there does in fact exist an overriding public interest in the release of these documents, one that the Council has failed to recognise.

Given the importance of public participation in EU decision-making and the treaty obligation imposed upon the EU to take decisions as closely as possible to the citizens, the public interest test in being granted access to these documents has not been correctly considered.
Article 15 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states:
1. In order to promote good governance and ensure the participation of civil society, the Union's institutions, bodies, offices and agencies shall conduct their work as openly as possible.
As stated in Case C‑280/11 P, the Court lays out the “advantage” of increased openness is that it enables citizens to participate more closely in the decision-making process and guarantees that the administration enjoys greater legitimacy and is more effective and more accountable to the citizen in a democratic system.

Openness in that respect contributes to strengthening democracy by enabling citizens to scrutinise all the information which has formed the basis for a legislative act. The possibility for citizens to find out the considerations underpinning legislative action is a precondition for the effective exercise of their democratic rights (Sweden and Turco v Council, paragraph 46).(6)

In order for the public to fully participate in Council decision making, citizens must be able to follow decisions as they are happening. Just communicating finalised decisions with European citizens once they are made, without giving them a chance to have an input, is not a democratic system.

If citizens are to be able to exercise their democratic rights, they must be in a position to follow in detail the decision-making process within the institutions taking part in the legislative procedures and to have access to all relevant information.(7)

Indeed, opening up these documents at a time when decision-making process is still ongoing, enables citizens to understand the options envisaged and the choices made by that institution and, thus, to be aware of the considerations underlying the action of the European Union. In addition, that disclosure puts those citizens in a position effectively to make their views known regarding those choices before those choices have been definitively adopted.(8)

‘it is rather a lack of public information and debate which is likely to give rise to doubts as to whether that institution has fulfilled its tasks in a fully independent manner and exclusively in the general interest’. (9)

4. Regulation No 1049/2001 is designed – as is stated in recital 4 and reflected in Article 1 – to confer on the public as wide a right of access as possible to documents of the institutions. Under Recital 6, an even wider access should be granted to institutions acting in a legislative capacity.

Recital 4 in the preamble to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 states: The purpose of this Regulation is to give the fullest possible effect to the right of public access to documents.

Article 1 of Regulation 1049/2001 states: ‘The purpose of this Regulation is:
(a) to define the principles, conditions and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing the right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission … documents … in such a way as to ensure the widest possible access to documents.

In addition to this, the Regulation also states that a wider access should be granted to documents in cases where the institutions are acting in their legislative capacity. Recital 6 in the preamble to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 states:
“Wider access should be granted to documents in cases where the institutions are acting in their legislative capacity, including under delegated powers, while at the same time preserving the effectiveness of the institutions’ decision-making process. Such documents should be made directly accessible to the greatest possible extent.”

The concerned documents contain analysis, notes and presentations from the Presidency, Delegations and third parties relating to negotiations and discussions regarding digital taxation, and in particular the draft Digital Services Tax Directive and Digital Advertising Tax Directive. These documents are being used by the Council acting in a legislative capacity. It is therefore under a legal obligation to make these documents directly accessible to the greatest possible extent.

5. The Council has failed to consider that that the right of access to information is particularly strong for public watchdogs such as journalists, civil society and human rights organisations.

I would like to remind the Council that as I work within civil society, I have a specific “watchdog” function.
Therefore, when making this request as part of the exercise of my role as a public watchdog, I was exercising both my right of access to documents (Article 15 of the TFEU and Article 42 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union) and also my right to freedom of expression and information, as protected by in Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which is analogous to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights has established, through a series of judgments, that the right of access to information is particularly strong for public watchdogs such as journalists, civil society and human rights organisations.

Denying me this information is impeding my watchdog function, something that the European Court of Human Rights has established is an interference with freedom of expression and information.
“As the applicant was obviously involved in the legitimate gathering of information of public interest with the intention of imparting that information to the public and thereby contributing to the public debate, there has been an interference with its right to freedom of expression”.(10)

The Strasbourg Court has stated that public bodies cannot “allow arbitrary restrictions which may become a form of indirect censorship”.(11) In denying access to this information, the Parliament is creating barriers to the exercise of freedom of expression and information. The European Court of Human Rights has made clear that there is a positive obligation to eliminate such obstacles: “The State’s obligations in matters of freedom of the press include the elimination of barriers to the exercise of press functions where, in issues of public interest, such barriers exist solely because of an information monopoly held by the authorities”. (12)

Given that transparency is needed for civil society to carry out our watchdog activities, to contribute to public debate and decision making, there is a strong and specific purpose to transparency of how decisions are taken in EU institutions.

A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/digi...

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Vicky Cann

1. Case T-115/13 Dennekamp v European Parliament (Dennekamp II) EU:T:2015:497, para 119
2. See Opinion of Advocate General Cruz Villalón, in Case C-615/13 P, ClientEarth et al. / European Food Safety Authority, ECLI:EU:C:2015:219, para 53. Villalón argues that “the ‘necessity’ to which Regulation No 45/2001 refers cannot be understood with the same rigour or scope when access is sought to documents quite devoid of public interest as when the application concerns information of obvious public interest and relating to an individual’s professional activities...”
3. We note that document WK 2260 2020 INIT has been included in the list twice, so it may be the case that we are talking about seven (7) documents here.
4. Judgment of 3 July 2014. Council of the European Union v Sophie in 't Veld.C-350/12P para. 64
5. Case T‑233/09 Access Info Europe v Council
6. Case C‑280/11 P Council v Access Info Europe, para 33
7. Case T‑233/09 Access Info Europe v Council, para 69
8. Case C-57/16P ClientEarth v Commission
9. Case C-57/16P ClientEarth v Commission para 104
10. Youth Initiative for Human Rights v. Serbia, App. No. 48135/06, ECHR , 25 June 2013, para 24
11. Társaság a Szabadságjogokért v. Hungary, App. No. 37374/05, ECHR, 14 April 2009, para 27
12. Társaság a Szabadságjogokért v. Hungary, App. No. 37374/05, ECHR, 14 April 2009, para 36

Postmaster Consilium, Conseil de l'Union européenne

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

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L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

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Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
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Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

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Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
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Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.

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TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

2 Attachments

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CFD3F6.0B583760

 

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM

Directorate Information and Outreach

Information Services Unit

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Cann,

 

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
extending the time limit for the Council to reply to your confirmatory
application for public access under Regulation 1049/2001.

Yours sincerely,

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

27 Attachments

Dear Ms Cann,

 

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
in reply to your confirmatory application for public access under
Regulation 1049/2001.

Yours
sincerely,                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

28 Attachments

Dear Ms Cann,

 

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
in reply to your confirmatory application for public access under
Regulation 1049/2001.

Yours
sincerely,                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

Dear TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM),

I am writing in response to my request for documents regarding the Digital Sevices Tax which I tabled on 2 July 2020: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/digi...

I submitted a confirmatory application on 4 November 2020.

On 14 January 2021 the Council provided additional documents. However, no substantive reply was provided at this time. This reply appears to relate to a different request entirely: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/8282...

According to my records, and based on the list of documents which you provided on 14 October 2020, I have received neither the following documents, nor an explanation of why they cannot be released. Please could you clarify and send the documents and the full response to my confirmatory application. The missing documents are:

WK 7902 2020
WK 13225 2019
WK 11769 2019
WK 10988 2019
WK 8650 2019
WK 2630 2019
WK 260 2019
WK 5870 2020
WK 2260 2020
WK 11055 2019
WK 8515 2019
WK 2260 2020

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

Postmaster Consilium, Conseil de l'Union européenne

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

***
This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.
***

To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.

***

L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

***
S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.

***

Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.

***

Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

***
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***

Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.

***

Dear Postmaster Consilium,

I would be grateful for an acknowledgement of and response to my previous message of 6 July which is copied below for ease.

Thanks in advance.

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

COPY:
Dear TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM),

I am writing in response to my request for documents regarding the Digital Sevices Tax which I tabled on 2 July 2020: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/digi...

I submitted a confirmatory application on 4 November 2020.

On 14 January 2021 the Council provided additional documents. However, no substantive reply was provided at this time. This reply appears to relate to a different request entirely: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/8282...

According to my records, and based on the list of documents which you provided on 14 October 2020, I have received neither the following documents, nor an explanation of why they cannot be released. Please could you clarify and send the documents and the full response to my confirmatory application. The missing documents are:

WK 7902 2020
WK 13225 2019
WK 11769 2019
WK 10988 2019
WK 8650 2019
WK 2630 2019
WK 260 2019
WK 5870 2020
WK 2260 2020
WK 11055 2019
WK 8515 2019
WK 2260 2020

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

Mail Delivery System,

2 Attachments

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

[email address]
host mx1b.consilium.europa.eu [170.255.252.25]
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<[email address]>:
550 #5.1.0 Address rejected.

Dear Postmaster Consilium,

I would be grateful for an acknowledgement of and response to my previous message of 6 July which is copied below for ease.

Thanks in advance.

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

COPY:

Dear TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM),

I am writing in response to my request for documents regarding the Digital Sevices Tax which I tabled on 2 July 2020: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/digi...

I submitted a confirmatory application on 4 November 2020.

On 14 January 2021 the Council provided additional documents. However, no substantive reply was provided at this time. This reply appears to relate to a different request entirely: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/8282...

According to my records, and based on the list of documents which you provided on 14 October 2020, I have received neither the following documents, nor an explanation of why they cannot be released. Please could you clarify and send the documents and the full response to my confirmatory application. The missing documents are:

WK 7902 2020
WK 13225 2019
WK 11769 2019
WK 10988 2019
WK 8650 2019
WK 2630 2019
WK 260 2019
WK 5870 2020
WK 2260 2020
WK 11055 2019
WK 8515 2019
WK 2260 2020

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

Postmaster Consilium, Conseil de l'Union européenne

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

***
This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.
***

To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.

***

L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

***
S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.

***

Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.

***

Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

***
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***

Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.

***

TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Cann,

 

Thank you for drawing our attention to this issue.

 

Due to a technical error in our server, the wrong attachment was included
in the email containing the Council's reply to your confirmatory
application our ref. n° 23/20.

 

Please accept our apologies.

 

The Council's reply to your confirmatory application our ref. n° 23/20 is
attached to this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CFD3F6.0B583760

 

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM

Directorate Information and Outreach

Information Services Unit

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

 

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

 

Afficher les sections citées

Dear TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM),

Thank you. I have now received the letter of 14 January 2021.

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

Postmaster Consilium, Conseil de l'Union européenne

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

***
This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.
***

To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.

***

L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

***
S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.

***

Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.

***

Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

***
Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch generiert. Bitte nicht antworten.
***

Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.

***

Dear Postmaster Consilium,

Thank you again for the copy of the confirmatory application.

If any member states made any statements for or against the Council's draft reply to my confirmatory application I would be pleased to receive them via access to documents.

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

Mail Delivery System,

2 Attachments

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

[email address]
host mx1b.consilium.europa.eu [170.255.252.25]
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<[email address]>:
550 #5.1.0 Address rejected.

Dear Postmaster Consilium,

Thank you again for the copy of the confirmatory application.

If any member states made any statements for or against the Council's draft reply to my confirmatory application I would be pleased to receive them via access to documents.

I first sent this on 24 Sept but it seems as if it did not arrive.

Yours sincerely,

Vicky Cann

Yours faithfully,

Vicky Cann

Postmaster Consilium, Conseil de l'Union européenne

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

***
This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.
***

To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.

***

L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

***
S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.

***

Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.

***

Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

***
Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch generiert. Bitte nicht antworten.
***

Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.

***

TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Conseil de l'Union européenne

2 Attachments

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

 

 

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

Afficher les sections citées