Ref. Ares(2023)5800149 - 25/08/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR MOBILITY AND TRANSPORT
Directorate B – Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport
B.4 – Sustainable & Intelligent Transport
MOVE.DDG1.B.4/
Ms Agathe Bonfour
VOLUMES Coworking
78 Rue Compans
75019 Paris
France
ask+request-13313-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – EASE 2023/4503
Dear Ms Bonfour,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents registered
on 28 July 2023 under case number 2023/4503.
In 22 August 2023, we presented you with a proposal for a fair solution pursuant to
Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 (1), suggesting to narrow down the scope
of your application to documents relating to meetings held by Commissioner Adina-
Ioana Vălean and the members of her Cabinet with the organisations concerned, for a
period between 1 December 2019 and the date of registration of your request, and
relating to the topics which you mention in your application (Ares(2023)5720224).
In 24 August 2023, you replied to this proposal for a fair solution (Ares(2023)5779490),
accepting the proposal, but “
on the condition that you also include the following
documents which are outside of the proposed timeframe but really critical for our query:
All briefings, minutes of meetings, and correspondence between formers or the
present transport Commissioner, or members of his/her cabinet, or any other
representatives of DG Move, on the one side; and representatives of ‘Concawe’
regarding:
-the ‘2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution’
-‘Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe” and its
subsequent fitness check undertaken in 2018”
.
(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).
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 lays down that “
In the event of an
application relating to a very long document or to a very large number of documents, the
institution concerned may confer with the applicant informally, with a view to finding a
fair solution”. According to the case-law of the Court of Justice, although “
Article 6(3)
allows the institution concerned to find a fair solution with the applicant seeking access
to documents in its possession, that solution can concern only the content or the
number of documents applied for” (2).
The condition that you propose for accepting our proposal for a fair solution would, in
fact, amount to a new request for access to documents, as it includes documents that are
not covered by the original application, and which would have to be dealt with under a
reduced deadline. It is to be noted that, also according to the above-mentioned case-law,
“
reliance on the principle of proportionality cannot allow the time-limits laid down by
Regulation No 1049/2001 to be changed without creating a situation of legal
uncertainty” (3)
. We therefore regret to inform you that we cannot accept the condition
you propose to agree on a fair solution.
You may submit a new, separate request for access to documents covering the documents
mentioned in your latest communication.
Please note, however, that neither the 2005
Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution nor Directive 2008/50/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council fall within the remit of DG MOVE policy areas, being therefore unlikely that DG MOVE would hold documents falling within the scope
of such application. You may want to consider submitting such request directly to the
Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV), as it is the Directorate-General
responsible for developing and carrying out the Commission's policies on improving air
quality and reducing air pollution.
As a result, we again kindly ask you to confirm whether you agree to narrow down the
scope of your application to that suggested in our proposal for a fair solution. In order to
enable us to respect the time-limits of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please reply to
this proposal
within two working days at the latest.
In the absence of a reply within two working days, we will unilaterally restrict the scope
of your application to that suggested in that letter.
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Kind regards,
Kristian HEDBERG
Head of Unit
(2) Judgment of the Court of 2 October 2014 in Case C-127/13 P –
Commission v Strack,
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2250, paragraph 26.
(3)
Idem, paragraph 28.
2
Electronically signed on 25/08/2023 11:44 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
