Dear Human Resources and Security,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which relate to any article 16, article 12B and article 40 (staff regulations) applications made by Svend Albaek, former employee at the Chief Economist Team at DG Competition.

In particular, I request a note of all Mr. Albaek job titles at DG Comp including dates held; copies of any application(s) that he has made under article 12b, 16 and 40 to undertake a new professional activity; and all documents (correspondence, emails, meeting notes etc) related to the authorisation of the new role or roles.

There is a clear public interest in disclosure. Albaek had a senior position at the Chief Economist Team where he worked on merger and antitrust cases and was involved in developing competition policies. According to the press release by Charles River Associates, Mr. Albaek will be a senior consultant at the firm working at its antitrust and competition practice in Europe. https://www.crai.com/insights-events/pub...

There is a risk of conflict of interest due to the strong overlap between his work at the Commission and his position at Charles River Associates. Firstly, there is the risk that Mr. Albaek could advise clients in his new role on cases the European Commission is currently involved in. Secondly, Mr. Albaek might have had access to confidential information which he could use to the benefit of his new employer.

The public interest in disclosing these documents is further emphasized by statements made by several institutions and agencies including the European Parliament, the EU Ombudsman and the European Court of Auditors which have expressed concerns about former employees of the European Commission joining the private sector:
- https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocum...
- https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/decis...
- https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc...

In May 2022, the European Ombudsman stated after a year-long investigation that “the movement of regulators into sectors they formerly regulated has become a problematic issue in Brussels, yet this is not fully reflected in how the EU administration deals with the matter.” According to the Ombudsman the failure to control this practice “may erode public confidence in the integrity and expertise of the EU institutions”. The Ombudsman also stressed the importance of public scrutiny of revolving door cases. The European Commission as well has pointed to the importance of external scrutiny in monitoring the Article 16 decisions. https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/i...

For the above stated reasons, I believe there is a strong public interest in disclosure.

Yours faithfully,

Bram Vranken
On behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Rue d'Edimbourgh 26
1050 Brussels

Dear Human Resources and Security,

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 with case number 2024/2291.

The Commission is under an obligation to reconcile the right to data protection with the right of access to documents, as per Article 9(3) of Regulation 2018/1725. I argue that the correct balancing of data protection under Regulation 2018/1725 and access to documents under Regulation 1049/2001 has not been achieved in this instance by the Commission.

The public interest in disclosing these documents was clearly established in my request. Mr. Albaek had a senior position at the Chief Economist Team where he worked on merger and antitrust cases and was involved in developing competition policies. According to the press release by Charles River Associates, Mr. Albaek will be a senior consultant at the firm working at its antitrust and competition practice in Europe. https://www.crai.com/insights-events/pub...

There is a risk of conflict of interest due to the strong overlap between his work at the Commission and his position at Charles River Associates. Firstly, there is the risk that Mr. Albaek could advise clients in his new role on cases the European Commission is currently involved in. Secondly, Mr. Albaek might have had access to confidential information which he could use to the benefit of his new employer.

The public interest in disclosing these documents is further emphasized by statements made by several institutions and agencies including the European Parliament, the EU Ombudsman and the European Court of Auditors which have expressed concerns about former employees of the European Commission joining the private sector:
- https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocum...
- https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/decis...
- https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc...

The Commission itself has acknowledged the importance of external scrutiny with respect to compliance of Article 16 decisions. In response to questions from the Ombudsman, the Commission particularly referred to the importance of access to document requests with regard to monitoring of Article 16 decisions:

“With regard to monitoring the Article 16 decisions, in addition to internal means of control, the Commission relies also on external scrutiny by other institutions, the public, and third parties. For example, the Commission’s services actively follow publicly available information, such as media reports. External scrutiny can be exercised based on the report concerning occupational activities of senior officials after leaving the service, which is published annually. Additionally, scrutiny can be exercised through public access to document requests or through European Parliamentary questions.”

Without any form of disclosure of Article 16 decisions, external scrutiny of these decisions is severely limited.

As we believe there is a public interest in disclosure of these documents as set out above it is the responsibility of the Commission to prove there is an actual and specific harm to the legitimate interests of the data subject. In the Case T-166/05 Borax Europe v Commission, the Court ruled that when Article 4(1)(b) exception is invoked, the institution must explain how ‘access to that document could specifically and effectively undermine the interest protected by the exception’.

It is not immediately clear how disclosure of the requested information would harm the legitimate interests of Mr. Albaek as the information that he has joined Charles Rivers Associates has been made public by his new employer.

Yours faithfully,

Bram Vranken

Dear Secretariat-General ,

Your response to my confirmatory application (case number 2024/2291) is long overdue. Can you please let me know by when I can expect a response?

Yours faithfully,

Bram Vranken