Single market for mortgages
Dear Madam, Sir,
The European Commission's report on the review of the Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property (11.5.2021, COM(2021) 229 final) contained the following paragraph:
"The Directive has had a limited impact on the creation of a single market for mortgages,
mostly for reasons falling outside the scope of the MCD. However, gold-plating of the MCD
by the Member States may also hinder the achievement of this goal. With the digitalisation of
financial services comes the possibility that cross-border activity might increase in the near
future. Peer-to-peer mortgage lending also has the potential to grow, bringing the need to
ensure that the current rules remain fit for that purpose. There is also scope to increase the
level of mortgage switching by consumers, which could potentially unlock huge benefits for
consumers while increasing competition and innovation in the market."
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:
- All documents related to a possible response by the Commission to remove barriers which prevent the creation of a single market for mortgages, including but not limited to documents from stakeholders and member states, since publication of the report (11 May 2021) to date.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054HT Amsterdam
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/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 03/09/2024 and registered on 03/09/2024 under the case number
2024/4543.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 24/09/2024. 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 Mr Teffer,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 9 September 2024 under case number 2024/4543.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 24 September 2024.
• The application concerns a very large number of documents.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 15 October 2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG FISMA
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Mr Teffer,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 9 September 2024 under case number 2024/4543.
We expect to send your request to you very shortly, it is currently with
the hierarchy for approval and signature.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG FISMA
Dear Madam, Sir,
Thank you for the update on case number 2024/4543. I will await the final stage of your internal process.
Best,
Peter Teffer
Dear Mr Teffer,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2024/4543.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
DG FISMA
Dear Madam, Sir,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing a confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request registered under case number 2024/4543, regarding a possible response by the Commission to remove barriers which prevent the creation of a single market for mortgages.
First, I would like a review of the decision not to disclose documents 5 and 11. Second, I believe a document is missing.
With regard to documents 5 and 11: For both these documents, the Commission argues that they cannot be published because that would lead "to undue external pressure and lead to premature conclusions on the matter at stake", and therefore could "seriously interfere with the Commission’s internal decision-making process".
The concept of "undue external pressure" is too vague to convince me as a citizen. The European Commission is under constant external pressure, by lobbyists, MEPs, member states, and citizens. This is what is part of a democracy, that stakeholders reach out to the Commission with their input. The Commission is surely strong enough to withstand this external pressure and take its own decisions based on all the available evidence. If the publication of some internal documents can lead to pressure of the kind that would "seriously interfere with the Commission’s internal decision-making process", this says more about the robustness of the Commission's internal decision-making process than the documents in question.
Court of Justice case law (De Capitani v Parliament, T-540/15) stated that "the reality of such external pressure must, however, be established with certainty, and evidence must be adduced to show that there is a reasonably foreseeable risk that the decision to be taken would be substantially affected owing to that external pressure". The Commission gave no tangible evidence.
As for the fear that publication would "lead to premature conclusions on the matter at stake", here the Commission is underestimating the European citizens. As the Court of Justice stated in the aforementioned ruling, "the preliminary nature" of information in documents "does not per se justify the application of the exception provided for in the first subparagraph of Article 4(3) of Regulation No 1049/2001, since that provision does not draw a distinction according to the state of progress of the discussions".
Documents containing proposals or possible legislative initiatives, like documents 5 and 11, are "by [their] nature, intended to be discussed and is not liable to remain unchanged following such discussion. Public opinion is perfectly capable of understanding that the author of a proposal is likely to amend its content subsequently".
The same is valid here. Both the general public, and myself as an experienced journalist "will be fully aware of the preliminary character" of the information in those documents.
Additionally, there is an overriding public interest in disclosure. The Commission itself has acknowledged in the review of the Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property that the directive has had a limited impact on the creation of a single market for mortgages. The Commission has also previously stated that the creation of a single market for mortgages could benefit EU citizens. Therefore, there is a clear public interest in understanding which possible legislative initiatives that could help establish such a single market for mortgages are on the table.
Document 7 (Ares(2023)8337347) provides literal evidence of the public interest: it is a reply to a citizen who submitted a complaint about "not [being] able to access the whole EU market to compare mortgage offers".
Finally, since document 7 (Ares(2023)8337347) is a reply to a citizen, logic dictates that there must also exist a document which is the complaint by the citizen. This document was not included in the scope. I believe that is an error, since I had asked for documents since 11 May 2021. (The reply states the complaint was dated 19 July 2023).
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2024/4543, sent on 08/11/2024 and registered on 08/11/2024.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 29/11/2024. 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
Hello,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2024/4543 registered on 8/11/2024.
We are currently working on your confirmatory request. However, we have
not yet been able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full
analysis of your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within
the prescribed time limit expiring on 29/11/2024.
Therefore, in line with Article 8(2) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 we
need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new time
limit expires on 20/12/2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.C1 Access to Documents Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Madam, Sir,
I refer to my confirmatory request for case 2024/4543. The extended time limit to reply has expired on 20 December 2024. There is no further legal basis for any more delay. Please respond immediately.
Sincerely
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 ()
Complaint submitted to the Ombudsman on 28 April 2025