OI-OO calculator
Dear Madam, Sir,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting public access to the Commission's internal ‘one in, one out’ calculator and its algorithm and/or methodology.
The European Commission has developed this calculator as part of its efforts to reduce the administrative burden for each policy proposal. It is part of the Commission's toolbox for proposing legislation, which means the way the calculator is designed can have an impact on ordinary citizens' life. This means there is a large public interest in public access to the calculator and its methodology.
I do not know what format the calculator has, but I would like to point out that Regulation 1049/2001 defines 'document' in a broad sense; "any content whatever its medium (written on paper or stored in electronic form or as a sound, visual or audiovisual recording) concerning a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions falling within the institution's sphere of responsibility".
If you require additional clarification regarding my request, do not hesitate to contact me.
Please note I prefer to receive the documents and any communication in digital format, and not by physical mail. Let's protect the environment.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054HT Amsterdam
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 15/01/2024 and registered on 15/01/2024 under the case number
2024/0227.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 05/02/2024. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2024/0227.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
Dear Madam, Sir,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing a following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request registered under case number 2024/0227.
I had requested public access to the Commission's internal ‘one in, one out’ calculator AND its algorithm and/or methodology.
The Commission replied to say that the IT tool, the so-called ‘one-in, one-out’ calculator "is not a document as defined by Article 3(a) of Regulation
No 1049/2001".
I would like the Secretariat-General to reconsider whether this is indeed the case.
Regardless of the outcome of that review, I believe that even if the calculator itself is deemed not to be a document, then its source code should be. Having asked for the calculator's algorithm and/or methodology, it should be clear that the source code was part of my initial request.
While the Commission has provided some information referring to the Better regulation toolbox, that is still not the same as the source code or algorithm determining how the ‘one in, one out’ calculator arrives at its conclusions. I therefore want the Commission to consider publishing the source code.
That would also be in line with the Commission's Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023, titled "Think Open", which was meant to reinforce "the Commission’s internal working culture that is already largely based on the principles of open source".
The communication said: "Openness increases trust in public services." and "To build Europe together, we have to get ready to contribute, and be ready to accept contributions from citizens."
If the Commission refuses to publish the source code of its internal OIOO calculator, I would appreciate an explanation of how that position relates to the Commission's vision of open source software.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2024/0227, sent on 25/01/2024 and registered on 25/01/2024.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 15/02/2024. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear Mr Teffer,
We refer to your email, registered on 25 January 2024, by which you submit
a confirmatory application in accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council
and Commission documents ("Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001"), registered
under reference number above.
Your confirmatory application is currently being handled.
Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to finalise the internal
consultations needed to carry out a full analysis of your request and to
take a final decision. Therefore, we are not in a position to reply to
your confirmatory request within the prescribed time limit which expires
on 15 February 2024. Consequently, we have to extend this period by
another 15 working days in accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC)
No1049/2001. The new deadline expires on 7 March 2024.
We regret this additional delay and sincerely apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause. However, we can assure you that we are doing
our utmost to provide you with a final reply as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
SG.C1 ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
Dear Sir,
Please find attached the electronic version of Commission Decision
C(2024)1862 as adopted by the European Commission on 17.03.2024.
The formal notification of the decision under Article 297 TFEU is being
made only in electronic form.
Could you please confirm receipt of the attached document by return
e-mail?
Many thanks in advance.
Kind regards,
Access to documents team - cr
SG.C.1
Transparency
Dear TEFFER, Peter,
Please find attached the electronic version of European Commission
Decision C(2024)1862 as adopted by the European Commission on 17/03/2024
concerning the request 2024/0227.
In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of this portal, please note
that this decision is being formally notified pursuant to article 297 TFEU
through this electronic platform only.
Yours sincerely,
Access to documents team- SG.C.1
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 18/03/2024 and registered on 18/03/2024 under the case number
2024/1487.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 11/04/2024. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Madam, Sir
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 registered under EASE 2024/1487, regarding the source code of the ‘one in one out’ calculator.
The Commission is saying that the source code does not fall under the definition of a document from Regulation 1049/2001, and that it cannot be considered as concerning a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions falling within the institution’s sphere of responsibility.
I would like to ask the Commission to review this position. The one-in one-out calculator software generates results which DO relate to policies, activities and decisions, because the Commission uses the calculator in its effort to achieve better regulation. It is different from software that for example the Commission uses to write emails, in that choices have been made in the source code, potentially choices that have an effect on legislation.
See in that regard Lawrence Lessig's phrase: code is law.
Furthermore, the European Commission in the past *has* published source codes in response to requests made under Regulation 1049/2001. See for example the application from 02/03/2016 registered under reference number GestDem 2016/1030. The requested had asked for the computer source code for the European Data Portal. The Commission wrote back: "We are pleased to inform you that its computer source code has been made freely available on the GitHub platform since 3 March 2016 at the following URL: https://gitlab.com/groups/european-data-...
Finally, I'd also like to remind you that in my initial application I wrote that publishing the source code would be in line with the Commission's Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023, titled "Think Open", which was meant to reinforce "the Commission’s internal working culture that is already largely based on the principles of open source".
The communication said: "Openness increases trust in public services." and "To build Europe together, we have to get ready to contribute, and be ready to accept contributions from citizens."
I also said that if the Commission refuses to publish the source code of its internal OIOO calculator, I would appreciate an explanation of how that position relates to the Commission's vision of open source software. The Commission has decided to ignore that request.
best
Peter Teffer
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]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 la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Peter left an annotation ()
This request has been answered via a different AsktheEU page.
https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/1438...