Eoin O'Malley and BusinessEurope
Dear Trade (TRADE),
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting any correspondence (including letters and emails) between Eoin O'Malley and BusinessEurope, as well as a list of meetings attended by both parties and notes from such meetings.
Yours faithfully,
Vicky Cann
Dear Ms Cann,
Thank you for your request for access to documents. Unfortunately you have not indicated your postal address that is required for registering and handling your request in line with the procedural requirements. Please send us your full postal address at your earliest convenience. Pending your reply, we reserve the right to refuse the registration of your request.
You may, of course, use directly the electronic form for entering your request:
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/...
Best,
DG Trade
Dear Trade (TRADE),
Thank you for your response, in which you ask for my postal address, which you state is "required" for registering and handling my request in line with the "procedural requirements".
I would like this to be considered as a confirmatory application against your refusal to process my request without a postal address.
The right of access to EU documents is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 42 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and set out in Article 15 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. My request was made in exercise of that right.
Article 15 of the TFEU makes clear that the principles for and limits on exercise of the right of access to documents “shall be determined by the European Parliament and the Council, by means of regulations, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure” and that any Rules of Procedure adopted by the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the EU must be “in accordance with [these] regulations.” The Regulation currently in force is Regulation 1049/2001.
According to Regulation 1049/2001, the only things which may be "required" of an applicant in order for a request to be registered are found in Article 6.1, which includes an exhaustive list: applications must be made in "any written form", in one of the official languages, and in a "sufficiently precise manner to enable the institution to identify the document". I have met all of these requirements.
At no point does the Regulation mention that the requester must provide his or her postal address before the request can even be registered.
Indeed, since it was adopted in 2001, many requesters have exercised the right to documents under this Regulation without the need to provide a postal address.
Furthermore, the Regulation states that requests for access to documents should be handled "promptly" and in Article 15 there is an explicit reference to the need to "develop good administrative practices in order to facilitate the exercise of the right of access guaranteed by this Regulation."
The refusal to register a request if the citizen involved does not provide a postal address is contrary to the principles of good administration which require that officials “shall in particular avoid restricting the rights of the citizens … when those restrictions … are not in a reasonable relation with the purpose of the action pursued” (Code of Good Administrative Behaviour, Article 6). Delaying registering a request for want of a postal address in the 21st Century when emails are a common means of communicating with public administrations is an unnecessary impediment. It also serves to delay the processing of requests sent to the institutions, which constitutes an unreasonable and disproportionate impediment to the exercise of the fundamental right of access to EU documents.
Finally, in your response you have not indicated which "procedural requirements" you are referring to, which leaves me little certainty as to which procedural steps I now need to follow in order to exercise my right of access to documents. I am therefore requesting a copy of these requirements in order to know where I stand legally.
At the same time, since I am interested in obtaining the documents requested and have already been waiting for a response to my request since 14 August, please find Access Info's postal address below, as I do not consider it reasonable or appropriate to have to provide my personal details to the European Commission before you will process a request to exercise my fundamental rights:
Vicky Cann
c/o Access Info
Cava San Miguel 8 4C
Madrid
28005
Spain
I look forward to your prompt response.
Yours faithfully,
Vicky Cann
Dear Ms Cann,
In our previous correspondence we have informed you that we are unable to register your request for access to documents in the absence of a valid postal address. We wish to recall in this regard that since 1 April 2014, the Commission requires applicants to submit a valid and complete postal address. The decision to ask for a postal address was triggered by the following considerations:
The need to obtain legal certainty as regards the date of receipt of the reply by the applicant under Regulation 1049/2001. Indeed, as foreseen by Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), […] decisions which specify to whom they are addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are addressed and shall take effect upon such notification. Replies triggering the possibility for administrative or judicial redress are therefore transmitted via registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. This requires an indication of a valid postal address by the applicant;
The need to direct the Commission's scarce resources first of all to those requests which have been filed by "real" applicants. With only a compulsory indication of an e-mail address, applicants can easily introduce requests under an invented identity or under the identity of a third person. Asking for a postal address helps the Commission to protect the administration, as well as other citizens and legal persons, from abuse;
For similar reasons, asking for a compulsory indication of a postal address enables the Commission services to verify whether Article 6(3) of the Regulation, on voluminous requests, is being evaded by introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in its Ryanair judgment, the General Court confirmed that Article 6(3) cannot be evaded by splitting the application into a number of applications. The Commission would like to point out that, in 2012/2013, it received some 57 confirmatory requests from what it suspects to be one single applicant operating under 13 different identities;
Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident in the sense of Article 2(1) of Regulation 1049/2001 is a precondition for the purpose of correctly applying the exception in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001 (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual), which has to be interpreted in accordance with Data Protection Regulation 45/2001. Article 9 of Regulation 45/2001 requires the adequacy of the level of protection afforded by the third country or international organisation when transmitting personal data to third-country residents or legal persons. It follows that, in case of requests for documents which include personal data, the correct application of the data protection rules cannot be ensured in the absence of a postal address enabling the Commission to ascertain that the minimum data protection standards will be respected.
All of these considerations show that the request for and the consequent processing of a postal address is not only appropriate but also strictly necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest within the meaning of Article 5 (a) of Data Protection Regulation 45/2001, namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
The Commission's new approach of requesting applicants for a valid postal address was introduced precisely because of the various problems encountered by the Commission in its previous practice (legal uncertainty, false identities used etc.), as pointed out above. It is evident that if the Commission were to accept generic postal addresses, as the one provided by you - an office address of Access Info in Mardid - the above-mentioned problems would not be addressed and the procedural requirement for a valid postal address would in practice be effectively by-passed.
Consequently, we cannot accept the address provided by you below and we kindly reiterate our request to you to provide us with your postal address (and not a generic one), so that we can duly register and handle your request. Please note that, once we receive your postal address, we will register your access to documents request accordingly.
Please be also informed that, as your application has not been dealt with yet at the initial level pending the receipt of your postal address, your message cannot be considered a confirmatory application in the meaning of Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001.
The European Data Protection Supervisor has also recently confirmed that the Commission's requirement for applicants in access to documents requests to submit their postal address is compatible with Regulation 45/2001.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
Dear Ms Cann,
In our previous correspondence we have informed you that we are unable to
register your request for access to documents in the absence of a valid
postal address. We wish to recall in this regard that since 1 April 2014,
the Commission requires applicants to submit a valid and complete postal
address. The decision to ask for a postal address was triggered by the
following considerations:
The need to obtain legal certainty as regards the date of
receipt of the reply by the applicant under Regulation 1049/2001. Indeed,
as foreseen by Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU), […] decisions which specify to whom they are
addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are addressed and shall
take effect upon such notification. Replies triggering the possibility for
administrative or judicial redress are therefore transmitted via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. This requires an
indication of a valid postal address by the applicant;
The need to direct the Commission's scarce resources first of
all to those requests which have been filed by "real" applicants. With
only a compulsory indication of an e-mail address, applicants can easily
introduce requests under an invented identity or under the identity of a
third person. Asking for a postal address helps the Commission to protect
the administration, as well as other citizens and legal persons, from
abuse;
For similar reasons, asking for a compulsory indication of a
postal address enables the Commission services to verify whether Article
6(3) of the Regulation, on voluminous requests, is being evaded by
introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in its
Ryanair judgment, the General Court confirmed that Article 6(3) cannot be
evaded by splitting the application into a number of applications. The
Commission would like to point out that, in 2012/2013, it received some 57
confirmatory requests from what it suspects to be one single applicant
operating under 13 different identities;
Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident in the sense of
Article 2(1) of Regulation 1049/2001 is a precondition for the purpose of
correctly applying the exception in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation
1049/2001 (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual),
which has to be interpreted in accordance with Data Protection Regulation
45/2001. Article 9 of Regulation 45/2001 requires the adequacy of the
level of protection afforded by the third country or international
organisation when transmitting personal data to third-country residents or
legal persons. It follows that, in case of requests for documents which
include personal data, the correct application of the data protection
rules cannot be ensured in the absence of a postal address enabling the
Commission to ascertain that the minimum data protection standards will be
respected.
All of these considerations show that the request for and the consequent
processing of a postal address is not only appropriate but also strictly
necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
within the meaning of Article 5 (a) of Data Protection Regulation 45/2001,
namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
The Commission's new approach of requesting applicants for a valid postal
address was introduced precisely because of the various problems
encountered by the Commission in its previous practice (legal uncertainty,
false identities used etc.), as pointed out above. It is evident that if
the Commission were to accept generic postal addresses, as the one
provided by you - an office address of Access Info in Mardid - the
above-mentioned problems would not be addressed and the procedural
requirement for a valid postal address would in practice be effectively
by-passed.
Consequently, we cannot accept the address provided by you below and we
kindly reiterate our request to you to provide us with your postal address
(and not a generic one), so that we can duly register and handle your
request. Please note that, once we receive your postal address, we will
register your access to documents request accordingly.
Please be also informed that, as your application has not been dealt with
yet at the initial level pending the receipt of your postal address, your
message cannot be considered a confirmatory application in the meaning of
Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001.
The European Data Protection Supervisor has also recently confirmed that
the Commission's requirement for applicants in access to documents
requests to submit their postal address is compatible with Regulation
45/2001.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
Dear Trade (TRADE),
Here is my postal address:
Corporate Europe Observatory
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
Bruxelles 1050
Belgium
Yours faithfully,
Vicky Cann
The activity of European Commission departments is likely to be reduced
during August. We will handle your requests for access to documents as
soon as possible. However, some delays may occur, especially where the
processing of data requires the consultation of national administrations,
external organisations or other services.
* * *
L'activité des services de la Commission européenne étant réduite durant
le mois d'août, vos demandes d'accès aux documents seront traitées dans
les meilleurs délais. Toutefois, certains retards peuvent se produire, en
particulier lorsque le traitement des données exige la consultation des
administrations nationales, d’organisations extérieures ou d’autres
services.
* * *
Die Tätigkeiten der Dienststellen der Europäischen Kommission sind im
August reduziert; Ihre Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden dennoch so
schnell wie möglich bearbeitet. Allerdings können Verzögerungen auftreten,
insbesondere wenn die Berarbeitung der Anträge die Konsultierung der
nationalen Verwaltungen, externer Organisationen oder anderer
Dienststellen erforderlich macht.
Dear Ms Cann,
Thank you for your postal address.
Your request for access to documents has been registered with ref number
GestDem 2014/3864. This message is an acknowledgement of receipt.
In accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, you will receive a
reply within 15 working days (18/09/2014).
Yours faithfully,
DG Trade
European Commission
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 2:54 PM
To: '[FOI #1447 email]'
Subject: RE: Internal review of access to information request - Eoin
O'Malley and BusinessEurope
Dear Ms Cann,
In our previous correspondence we have informed you that we are unable to
register your request for access to documents in the absence of a valid
postal address. We wish to recall in this regard that since 1 April 2014,
the Commission requires applicants to submit a valid and complete postal
address. The decision to ask for a postal address was triggered by the
following considerations:
The need to obtain legal certainty as regards the date of
receipt of the reply by the applicant under Regulation 1049/2001. Indeed,
as foreseen by Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU), […] decisions which specify to whom they are
addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are addressed and shall
take effect upon such notification. Replies triggering the possibility for
administrative or judicial redress are therefore transmitted via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. This requires an
indication of a valid postal address by the applicant;
The need to direct the Commission's scarce resources first of
all to those requests which have been filed by "real" applicants. With
only a compulsory indication of an e-mail address, applicants can easily
introduce requests under an invented identity or under the identity of a
third person. Asking for a postal address helps the Commission to protect
the administration, as well as other citizens and legal persons, from
abuse;
For similar reasons, asking for a compulsory indication of a
postal address enables the Commission services to verify whether Article
6(3) of the Regulation, on voluminous requests, is being evaded by
introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in its
Ryanair judgment, the General Court confirmed that Article 6(3) cannot be
evaded by splitting the application into a number of applications. The
Commission would like to point out that, in 2012/2013, it received some 57
confirmatory requests from what it suspects to be one single applicant
operating under 13 different identities;
Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident in the sense of
Article 2(1) of Regulation 1049/2001 is a precondition for the purpose of
correctly applying the exception in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation
1049/2001 (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual),
which has to be interpreted in accordance with Data Protection Regulation
45/2001. Article 9 of Regulation 45/2001 requires the adequacy of the
level of protection afforded by the third country or international
organisation when transmitting personal data to third-country residents or
legal persons. It follows that, in case of requests for documents which
include personal data, the correct application of the data protection
rules cannot be ensured in the absence of a postal address enabling the
Commission to ascertain that the minimum data protection standards will be
respected.
All of these considerations show that the request for and the consequent
processing of a postal address is not only appropriate but also strictly
necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
within the meaning of Article 5 (a) of Data Protection Regulation 45/2001,
namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
The Commission's new approach of requesting applicants for a valid postal
address was introduced precisely because of the various problems
encountered by the Commission in its previous practice (legal uncertainty,
false identities used etc.), as pointed out above. It is evident that if
the Commission were to accept generic postal addresses, as the one
provided by you - an office address of Access Info in Mardid - the
above-mentioned problems would not be addressed and the procedural
requirement for a valid postal address would in practice be effectively
by-passed.
Consequently, we cannot accept the address provided by you below and we
kindly reiterate our request to you to provide us with your postal address
(and not a generic one), so that we can duly register and handle your
request. Please note that, once we receive your postal address, we will
register your access to documents request accordingly.
Please be also informed that, as your application has not been dealt with
yet at the initial level pending the receipt of your postal address, your
message cannot be considered a confirmatory application in the meaning of
Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001.
The European Data Protection Supervisor has also recently confirmed that
the Commission's requirement for applicants in access to documents
requests to submit their postal address is compatible with Regulation
45/2001.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS would like to recall the message, "access to information request CANN GestDem 2014/3864- Eoin O'Malley and BusinessEurope".
Dear Ms Cann,
Thank you for your postal address.
Your request for access to documents has been registered with ref number
GestDem 2014/3864. This message is an acknowledgement of receipt.
In accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, you will receive a
reply within 15 working days (18/09/2014).
Yours faithfully,
DG Trade
European Commission
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 2:54 PM
To: '[FOI #1447 email]'
Subject: RE: Internal review of access to information request - Eoin
O'Malley and BusinessEurope
Dear Ms Cann,
In our previous correspondence we have informed you that we are unable to
register your request for access to documents in the absence of a valid
postal address. We wish to recall in this regard that since 1 April 2014,
the Commission requires applicants to submit a valid and complete postal
address. The decision to ask for a postal address was triggered by the
following considerations:
The need to obtain legal certainty as regards the date of
receipt of the reply by the applicant under Regulation 1049/2001. Indeed,
as foreseen by Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU), […] decisions which specify to whom they are
addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are addressed and shall
take effect upon such notification. Replies triggering the possibility for
administrative or judicial redress are therefore transmitted via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. This requires an
indication of a valid postal address by the applicant;
The need to direct the Commission's scarce resources first of
all to those requests which have been filed by "real" applicants. With
only a compulsory indication of an e-mail address, applicants can easily
introduce requests under an invented identity or under the identity of a
third person. Asking for a postal address helps the Commission to protect
the administration, as well as other citizens and legal persons, from
abuse;
For similar reasons, asking for a compulsory indication of a
postal address enables the Commission services to verify whether Article
6(3) of the Regulation, on voluminous requests, is being evaded by
introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in its
Ryanair judgment, the General Court confirmed that Article 6(3) cannot be
evaded by splitting the application into a number of applications. The
Commission would like to point out that, in 2012/2013, it received some 57
confirmatory requests from what it suspects to be one single applicant
operating under 13 different identities;
Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident in the sense of
Article 2(1) of Regulation 1049/2001 is a precondition for the purpose of
correctly applying the exception in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation
1049/2001 (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual),
which has to be interpreted in accordance with Data Protection Regulation
45/2001. Article 9 of Regulation 45/2001 requires the adequacy of the
level of protection afforded by the third country or international
organisation when transmitting personal data to third-country residents or
legal persons. It follows that, in case of requests for documents which
include personal data, the correct application of the data protection
rules cannot be ensured in the absence of a postal address enabling the
Commission to ascertain that the minimum data protection standards will be
respected.
All of these considerations show that the request for and the consequent
processing of a postal address is not only appropriate but also strictly
necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
within the meaning of Article 5 (a) of Data Protection Regulation 45/2001,
namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
The Commission's new approach of requesting applicants for a valid postal
address was introduced precisely because of the various problems
encountered by the Commission in its previous practice (legal uncertainty,
false identities used etc.), as pointed out above. It is evident that if
the Commission were to accept generic postal addresses, as the one
provided by you - an office address of Access Info in Mardid - the
above-mentioned problems would not be addressed and the procedural
requirement for a valid postal address would in practice be effectively
by-passed.
Consequently, we cannot accept the address provided by you below and we
kindly reiterate our request to you to provide us with your postal address
(and not a generic one), so that we can duly register and handle your
request. Please note that, once we receive your postal address, we will
register your access to documents request accordingly.
Please be also informed that, as your application has not been dealt with
yet at the initial level pending the receipt of your postal address, your
message cannot be considered a confirmatory application in the meaning of
Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001.
The European Data Protection Supervisor has also recently confirmed that
the Commission's requirement for applicants in access to documents
requests to submit their postal address is compatible with Regulation
45/2001.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
