Request for names of accredited parliamentary assistants for previous terms.
Dear European Parliament,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information: the list for PREVIOUS parliamentary terms of the accredited parliamentary assistants including name/surname, email address and which MEP employs them.
This information was once available on your website, but now is no longer accessible, not even with a search in the Public Register of Documents. I think that as European Citizens we have a right of public scrutiny over the list of people who served our MEPs as assistant in previous terms.
As an example, at the link https://imagebin.ca/v/5NPohiA5vsds you can see a screenshot which contains Google Results for a page no longer accessible on the european Parliament Website:
www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/21817/cv....
I think that the information once provided on this page, along with all the other data concerning MEPs assistants for previous terms, should be made publicly available.
Yours faithfully,
Carlo Gubitosa
Dear Mr Gubitosa,
The European Parliament hereby acknowledges receipt of your application
for public access to documents, registered on 25 May 2020, under the
reference A(2020) 5575. All applications for public access to documents
are treated in compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents. In accordance with that Regulation, your application will be
handled within 15 working days from its registration.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.
The European Parliament reserves the right to ask for additional
information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Parliament’s implementing
measures.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application
via the AsktheEU.org website, which is a private website not affiliated
with the European Parliament. Therefore, the European Parliament cannot be
held responsible for any technical issues or problems linked to the use of
that system.
In addition to that, please note that any personal data that you provide
by using AsktheEU.org website may be disclosed to the general public and
visible on that private website. The European Parliament cannot be held
responsible for such disclosure. Should you need to communicate directly
to Parliament any personal data and would like to avoid public disclosure,
you may do so from your private email address by using the following
functional mailbox address: AccesDocs[at]europarl.europa.eu .
Kind regards,
[1]cid:image001.png@01D58B31.E2CF1C20 TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[2][email address]
[3]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Dear Mr Gubitosa,
The names of assistants are published on Parliament's website with their
consent for the duration of their contract, in compliance with Article
34(8) of Parliament's BUREAU decision on the IMPLEMENTING MEASURES FOR THE
STATUTE FOR MEMBERS OF THE EP of 19/5 and 9/7/2008, last amended on
16.12.2019.
([1]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
When the contract relation with Parliament expires, the relevant names or
corporate names are deleted from Parliament's website in accordance with
EU legislation regarding the protection of personal data.
The rationale of the obligation under Art. 34(8) of the Implementing
measures for the Statute for Members, to disclose on Parliament's website
the names of a Member's assistants, trainees, service providers and paying
agents essentially stems from the principle of transparency, as enshrined
both in primary law (Article 15 TFEU) and in secondary law (Article 6 of
the Financial Regulation).
However, a balancing exercise with the right of privacy and to the
protection of personal data is to be carried out according to the
principle of proportionality, which is a general principle of EU law. The
proportionate outcome of this balancing exercise (between the principle of
transparency and the right to privacy and protection of personal data) is
the limitation of the obligation to publish the names as long as a
contract for parliamentary assistance is in force. The protection of
personal data is therefore (relatively) restricted for the duration of the
contract in order to ensure transparency and accountability in the
implementation of EU budget.
Without a specific and valid legal basis to that effect, Parliament could
only publish the requested personal data about assistants that it holds,
on the basis of point b) of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 1725/2018
([2]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
that is to say, if it was demonstrated that the transfer of the requested
data was necessary to achieve an objective in the public interest.
Parliament trusts that the above clarification satisfies your research and
on this basis, it considers your request as handled and the file closed.
Kind regards,
[3]cid:image001.png@01D58B31.E2CF1C20 TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[4][email address]
[5]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb