Ref. Ares(2014)969746 - 28/03/2014
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICE
Director-General
The Internal Auditor
Brussels,
IAS/PT/MC/dac
Sent by mail to:
Mr Ernst Sorenson
ask+request-1246-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Access to information – SG submission to VP – Ref GestDem
Nr 2014/1419
Dear Mr SORENSON,
I refer to your recent e-mail dated 11 March 2014 in which you request access to
documents containing information related to potential fraud at the European Commission
and European Agency for Fundamental Rights’ contractor (Danish Institute for Human
Rights): Point 2: any reports, findings, notes, by the Commission's Internal Audit Service
subsequent to the submission of information to DG JUST. The request was registered by
DG JUST on 13 March under the reference number GestDem No 2014/1419. By email of
13 March 2013, you were informed that this particular point was handled by the Internal
Audit Service of the Commission.
Having examined the documents that could potentially fall under your request under the
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents and
having regard to the Financial Regulations (FR) Art. 99(6) regarding public access to audit
reports, I regret to inform you that your application cannot be granted.
In accordance with Art.99(6) of the FR, “The reports and findings of the internal auditor,
as well as the report of the institution, shall be accessible to the public only after
validation by the internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation”, while the
documents which you seek to obtain relate to
ongoing audit work in the European
Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2014. As a consequence, access cannot be granted.
Furthermore, the disclosure of reports, respective notes, relevant documents and
information is prevented by the exception laid down in Article 4(2) third indent of
Regulation (EC) Nr 1049/2001. Disclosure of the documents you have requested would
undermine the protection of the purpose of ongoing audit work, as it would put into the
public domain preliminary findings which have not yet been confirmed and which may be
rebutted by the entity being audited; disclosure at this point in time would unduly interfere
with the contradictory procedure and may undermine the rights of the entity concerned.
Therefore the exception laid down in Article 4(2) third indent of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 applies to these documents.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: MADO 32/061 - Tel. direct line +32-2-2954252
The exceptions of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply unless they are
waived by an overriding public interest in disclosure. For such an interest to exist it, firstly,
there has to be a public interest and, secondly, it has to outweigh the interest protected by
the exception to the right of access. However, at this stage the IAS has not identified any
arguments to demonstrate the overriding public interest within the meaning of that
Regulation.
It would also be relevant to clarify the role of the IAS as opposed to that of OLAF, whose
specific role is to investigate and identify cases of fraud, whereas the audit work of the IAS
is risk-based and it assesses the suitability and effectiveness of internal management
systems and the performance of departments as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of
the internal control and audit systems (Article 99(1) of the FR).
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a
confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon
receipt of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-5
BERL 5/327
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Philippe Taverne
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: MADO 32/061 - Tel. direct line +32-2-2954252
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