REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION on the application in 2013 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents
Date: 2014-10-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Council of the European Union, European Commission, European Parliament, access to EU information, application of EU law, document, provision of documents













EUR-Lex - 52014DC0619 - EN











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52014DC0619

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION on the application in 2013 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents /* COM/2014/0619 final */









This report, drawn up pursuant to Article
17(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents[1],
covers the year 2013[2]
and is based on statistical data which are summarised in the annex. 
These statistics reflect the number of
applications and not the number of documents requested. In practice,
applications may cover a single document as well as entire files concerning a
specific procedure containing thousands of documents. Applications for access
to documents which were already publicly accessible at the time of the request
are not included.
In 84% of cases at the intial stage the
requested documents were disclosed. At the confirmatory stage, either full or partial
access was granted in 42% of cases.
1.           Registers and Internet
Sites
1.1.        In 2013, 20,108 new
documents were added to the register of Commission documents (see annex – table
1).
1.2.        In 2013, the Commission's
public register covered the following documents: COM, SEC, C, JOIN, SWD, OJ and
PV series. No sensitive documents were created or received by the Commission in
2013, that would fall within one of these categories of documents.
1.3.        The table below shows the
statistics for 2013 on consultation of the Access to Documents website on
EUROPA[3].

   || Unique visitors || Visits || Pages viewed 
 Total || 34,178 || 40,175 || 71,152 
 Monthly average || 2,848 || 3,348 || 5,929 
2.           Cooperation with the other
Institutions subject to the Regulation
The three institutions (European Parliament,
Council and Commission) held regular meetings at administrative level to share
experience, develop best practices and ensure a consistent application of the
Regulation.
3.           Analysis of Access
Applications
3.1.        In 2013, the flow of access
requests at the initial stage increased in terms of the number of
applications (6,525 in 2013 in comparison with 6,014 in 2012). The number of replies
based on Regulation 1049/2001 was 5,906 in 2013 in comparison with 5,274 in 2012.
3.2.        As regards the confirmatory
stage, the number of applications received slightly increased by 3% (236
new confirmatory applications in 2013 against 229 in 2012). 252 cases were
closed in 2013 in comparison with 202 in 2012. This constitutes a significant
increase of 25%. (See annex – table 5).
3.3.        In 2013, as in 2012, the Secretariat
General and Directorate-General for Health and Consumers received the highest
number of initial requests (13.9%[4]
and 8.3% of the total respectively), followed by the Directorate-General for Competition
with 5.2% of initial applications and the Directorate-General Enviroment with 5.1%.
Requests for documents from Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union
(which ranked first in 2011) increased, whereas the demand for documents held
by the Directorate-General for Competition decreased. 
3.4.        The academic world proved
once again to be the most active category of applicants, accounting for 22.1%
of initial applications (as opposed to 22.7% in 2012). It was followed by civil
society (interest groups, NGOs) with 16.6% (as opposed to 10.3% in 2012) and law
firms with 14.5%  (as opposed to 13.6% in 2012) of the total number of
applications. For 25.3% of the applications, the socio-professional profile of
the applicants is undefined. This represents a drop from 33.8% in 2012. (See
annex – table 8).
3.5.        The geographical breakdown
of initial applications also shows similarities with previous years.  The
largest proportion of applications originated from Belgium (24.2%). Aside from Belgium and Germany (13%) none of the Member States, exceeded 10% of applications. These two
countries are followed by the UK, France, Spain and Italy. ( See annex – table
9).
4.           Application of Exceptions
to the Right of Access
4.1.        In 2013, the proportion of
applications that were fully refused at the initial stage decreased in
comparison with the previous year (14.5% in 2013 against 17% in 2012). Full
disclosure has been given in almost four out of every five cases (73.5% against
74.5% in 2012) whereas the percentage of partially disclosed documents
increased in comparison to the previous years to reach 10.7% (in comparison
with 8.6% in 2012). (See annex – table 3).
4.2.        The number of cases where,
following a confirmatory application, the Commission reversed the position
taken by its services by fully disclosing previously refused documents, slightly
increased (20.1% against 18.8% in 2012). In addition, there was a slight
decrease in cases where a refusal was fully confirmed and an increase in the
number of cases where wider access was granted following a confirmatory application.
(See annex – table 6).
4.3.        The frequency of invoking
the protection of the Commission's decision-making process (Article 4(3)) as
ground for refusal at the initial stage, in relation to all invoked exceptions,
slightly increased in comparison with the previous year (27.1% against 25.2% in
2012). It was the most frequently invoked exception, ahead of the exception
aimed at protecting the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits
(third indent of Article 4(2)), which accounted for 23.6% of the invoked
exceptions (against 25.3% in 2012). (See annex – table 4).
4.4.        The proportion of decisions
invoking the protection of commercial interests as an exception remained fairly
stable (16.2% against 16.9% in 2012). On the other hand, the frequency of using
the exception based on the protection of international relations increased (6.2%
against 3.6% in 2012). (See annex – table 4).
4.5.        The most frequently invoked
ground for confirming a refusal of access was, as in previous years, the
protection of the purpose of investigations (third indent of Article 4(2)), (36.9%
compared with 45.1% in 2012). (See annex – table 7)
–              
The proportion of decisions invoking the protection
of the Commission's decision-making process as an exception was 16.1% (an increase
in comparison with 2012). There was an increase in the frequency of decisions
invoking the on-going decision-making process (10.6% against 6.5% in 2012). There
was on the other hand a decrease concerning opinions for internal use where the
decision had already been taken (5.6% in comparison with 9.2% in 2012). 
–              
A significant increase is to be noted as regards
the proportion of decisions invoking the protection of privacy and integrity of
individuals (16.2% against 10.5% in 2012). The protection of commercial
interests was invoked slightly more frequently than in the previous year (12%
compared with 11.8% in 2012). As regards the exception based on the protection
of court proceedings and legal advice, there was a decrease from 7.9% in 2012
to 6.9% in 2013.
5.           Complaints to the European
Ombudsman
5.1.        In 2013 the Ombudsman
closed the following 15 complaints against the Commission's handling of
requests for access to documents:[5]
6 cases closed with a critical and/or a further remark: 
·     
2335/2008/(VIK)CK;
·     
2781/2008/(TS)FOR; 
·     
1817/2010/(DK)RA; 
·     
277/2012/RA; 
·     
1111/2012/AN; 
·     
1108/2012/RT
9 cases closed without further action: 
·     
1947/2010/PB; 
·     
2207/2010/PB; 
·     
422/2011/AN; 
·     
772/2012/(KM)PMC; 
·     
1454/2012/ANA;
·     
1598/2012/(KM)PMC;
·     
1750/2012/(GG)BEH; 
·     
375/2013/ANA; 
·     
1242/2013/RA
5.2.        In the course of the year
the Ombudsman opened 22 new inquiries where access to documents was either the
main or a subsidiary part of the complaint.
6.           Judicial Review
6.1.        As in previous years,
significant new case law was delivered in 2013.
6.2.        The Court of Justice handed
down one important judgment on appeal in the joined cases C-514/11 P - LPN and Finland v Commission and C-605/11 P - Finland v Commission.   This judgment concerns environmental
policy.
6.3.        The Court of Justice issued
one order  rejecting the appeal lodged by the Commission against the President
of the General Court's order to prevent the Commission from publishing a more
complete non confidential version of the Commission's Decision C (2008) 6815
final of 12 November 2008 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 [EC]
and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/39.125 – Car glass).
6.4.        As for the General Court,
it has handed down 7 judgments related to the right of access to documents: 
·      T-392/07, Strack v Commission, judgment of 15.01.2013
·      T-301/10, Sophie In 't Veld v Commission, judgment of 19.03.2013
·      T-93/11, Stichting Corporate Europe Observatory v Commission,
judgment of 07.06.2013
·      T-111/11, ClientEarth v Commission, judgment of 13.09.2013
·      T-380/08, the Netherlands v Commission, judgment of
13.09.2013
·     
T-545/11, Stichting Greenpeace Nederland and PAN
Europe v Commission, judgment of 08.10.2013
·     
T-561/12, Beninca v Commission, judgment
of 25.10.2013
6.5.        In one case the Court
ordered its removal from the register following the withdrawal by the
applicant: T-498/12, Koinopraxia
Touristiki Loutrakiou v Commission
6.6.        In the following two cases,
the Court found that there was no need to adjucate: 
·      T-403/05 RENV, My Travel v Commission
·      T-56/13, ClientEarth and Stichting BirdLife Europe v Commission
6.7.        10 new cases were brought
before the General Court against Commission decisions under Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001. 
·      T-3/13, Ronja v Commission
·      T-56/13, ClientEarth and Stichting BirdLife Europe v Commission
·      T-214/13, Typke v Commission
·      T-419/13, Unión de Almacenistas de Hierros de España v Commission
·      T-456/13, Sea Handling v Commission
·     
T-520/13, Philip Morris Benelux v Commission
·      T-538/13, Verein Natura Havel and Vierhaus v Commission
·      T-623/13, Unión de Almacenistas de Hierros de España v Commission
·      T-643/13, Rogesa v Commission
·      T-677/13, Axa Versicherung v Commission
6.8.        Also, five new appeals have
been brought before the Court of Justice against an order/judgment of the
General Court.
·      C-127/13 P, Strack v Commission
·      C-399/13 P, Stichting Corporate Europe Observatory v Commission
·      C-612/13 P, ClientEarth v Commission
·      C-615/13 P, ClientEarth and PAN Europe v EFSA (the Commission
intervenes in support of the position of EFSA)
·      C-673/13 P, Commission v Stichting Greenpeace Nederland and PAN
Europe
7.           Conclusions
The number of access
to document initial requests has increased from 991 in  2002 to 6,525 in 2013. 

The Commission
remains by far the institution handling the largest number of both initial and
confirmatory requests pursuant to Regulation 1049/2001.[6] The Commission handles
roughly twice as many requests as the Council and European Parliament together.
The number of
confirmatory applications has continued to increase for the fifth year in a
row, as citizens are making more use of their legal right to appeal the initial
decision taken by the Commission.
The considerable
number of access requests and the high rate of disclosure of documents show
that the right of access to documents constitutes an important tool within the Commission's
overall efforts to promote transparency. These include, among others, the
recent revision of the transparency register and the strengthening of the
Commission's guidelines for stakeholder consultation. 
In order to ensure
transparency in a timely and resource-efficient way, the right of access to
documents continues to be complemented by an extensive publication of
information and documents on the Commission's legislative and non-legislative
activities.
[1]               OJ L 145,
31.5.2001, p. 43
[2]               Statistics presented in this Report are based on
figures encoded in the GESTDEM application as of 17 June 2014.
[3]               http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/access_documents/index_en.htm
[4]               Percentages in the narrative part of the Report are
rounded to the closest decimal
[5]               For details on each case refer to http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/cases/home.faces
[6]               - Council: initial requests 2013: 2,212; confirmatory
requests 2013: 25;  
- European
Parliament: documents requested 2013: 610; confirmatory requests 2013: 1
ANNEX
Statistics relating to the application
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001

1.                      
Number of documents entered in the register
 
   || COM || SEC || C || JOIN || SWD || OJ || PV || Total 
 2013 || 2,170 || 1,591 || 15,196 || 76 || 863 || 125 || 87 || 20,108 
initial requests

2.                      
Applications received and handled
 
   || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 Applications received || 6,477 || 6,014 || 6,525 
 Replies given[1] [2] || 7,075 || 6,334 || 7,659 
 Replies given based on Regulation 1049/2001 || 6,055 || 5,274 || 5,906 

3.                      
Result 
 
             || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 No || % || No || % || No || % 
 Access granted || 4,856 || 80.20 || 3,928 || 74.48 || 4,400 || 73.43 
 Access refused || 737 || 12.18 || 892 || 16.91 || 866 || 14.45 
 Partial access || 462 || 7.62 || 454 || 8.61 || 640 || 10.68 
 total || 6055 || 100 || 5274 || 100 || 5906 || 100 

4.                      
Breakdown of refusals by exception applied (%)
 
   || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 4.1.a. 1st indent – Protection of public security || 2.40 || 1.34 || 1.53 
 4.1.a. 2nd indent Protection of defence and military matters || 0.39 || 0.11 || 0.26 
 4.1.a. 3rd indent - Protection of international relations || 12.02 || 3.58 || 6.19 
 4.1.a. 4th indent – Protection of the financial, monetary or economic policy || 1.88 || 1.40 || 1.66 
 4.1.b. Protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual || 8.90 || 14.65 || 16.26 
 4.2.1st indent - Protection of commercial interests || 16.83 || 16.94 || 16.14 
 4.2 2nd indent - Protection of court proceedings and legal advice || 6.76 || 9.84 || 5.42 
 4.2 3rd indent - Protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits || 21.90 || 25.32 || 23.60 
 4.3 subparagraph 1– Decision-making process, no decision yet taken || 17.15 || 20.23 || 20.60 
 4.3. subparagraph 2- Decision making process, decision already taken: opinions for internal use as part of deliberations and preliminary consultations || 8.58 || 4.92 || 6.51 
 4.5. Refusal by Member State/third author || 3.18 || 1.67 || 1.85 
 total || 100 || 100 || 100 
Confirmatory
requests

5.                      
Applications received and handled
 
   || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 Applications received || 165 || 229 || 236 
 Replies to applications || 162 || 202 || 252 
 Decisions on confirmatory applications based on Regulation 1049/2001 || 144 || 160 || 189 

6.                      
Result 
 
   || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 No || % || No || % || No || % 
 Confirmation || 61 || 42.36 || 91 || 56.88 || 106 || 56.08 
 Partial revision || 62 || 43.05 || 39 || 24.38 || 45 || 23.81 
 Full revision || 21 || 14.58 || 30 || 18.75 || 38 || 20.11 
 total || 144 || 100 || 160 || 100 || 189 || 100 

7.                      
Breakdown of refusals by exception applied (%) 
 
   || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 4.1.a. 1st indent – Protection of public security || 1.33 || 1.31 || 0.92 
 4.1.a. 2nd indent - Protection of defence and military matters || 2.00 || 0.65 || 3.69 
 4.1.a. 3rd indent - Protection of international relations || 4.67 || 7.19 || 0 
 4.1.a. 4th indent – Protection of the financial, monetary or economic policy || 3.34 || 0 || 7.37 
 4.1.b. - Protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual || 20.67 || 10.46 || 16.13 
 4.2. 1st indent - Protection of commercial interests || 14.66 || 11.76 || 11.98 
 4.2. 2nd indent - Protection of court proceedings and legal advice || 1.33 || 7.84 || 6.91 
 4.2. 3rd indent - Protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits || 32.68 || 45.10 || 36.87 
 4.3 subparagraph 1 – Decision-making process, no decision yet taken || 15.33 || 6.54 || 10.60 
 4.3. subparagraph 2 - Decision making process, decision already taken: opinions for internal use as part of deliberations and preliminary consultations || 4.00 || 9.15 || 5.53 
 4.5. Refusal by Third Party / Member State || - || - || - 
 total || 100 || 100 || 100 
Breakdown of initial requests 

8.                      
According to social and occupational Profile of
Applicants (%)
 
   || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 Academics || 25.73 || 22.70 || 22.08 
 Lawyers || 11.30 || 13.58 || 14.46 
 Civil society (interest groups, industry, NGOs. etc.) || 8.59 || 10.32 || 16.62 
 Public authorities (other than the EU institutions) || 8.20 || 7.12 || 8.24 
 Other EU institutions || 8.15 || 7.64 || 8.76 
 Journalists || 3.25 || 4.81 || 4.58 
 Not specified || 34.78 || 33.83 || 25.26 
 total || 100 || 100 || 100 

9.                      
According to geographical Origin (%)
 
   || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 Austria || 1.38 || 1.78 || 1.73 
 Belgium || 21.42 || 21.85 || 24.23 
 Bulgaria || 0.93 || 0.70 || 0.54 
 Cyprus || 0.25 || 0.08 || 0.17 
 Croatia || - || - || 0.14 
 Czech Republic || 0.93 || 2.01 || 1.39 
 Denmark || 2.11 || 1.58 || 3.12 
 Estonia || 0.19 || 0.17 || 0.11 
 Finland || 1.57 || 0.55 || 0.64 
 France || 8.90 || 7.53 || 7.27 
 Germany || 12.27 || 14.04 || 12.96 
 Greece || 1.10 || 1.73 || 1.67 
 Hungary || 0.96 || 0.63 || 0.86 
 Ireland || 1.02 || 1.50 || 0.84 
 Italy || 12.37 || 7.54 || 5.91 
 Latvia || 0.15 || 0.17 || 0.12 
 Lithuania || 0.42 || 0.30 || 0.78 
 Luxembourg || 2.12 || 1.79 || 1.50 
 Malta || 0.12 || 0.17 || 0.20 
 Netherlands || 4.18 || 4.62 || 3.80 
 Poland || 2.68 || 2.79 || 3.95 
 Portugal || 1.15 || 1.11 || 0.98 
 Romania || 0.87 || 0.91 || 0.67 
 Slovakia || 0.56 || 0.81 || 0.35 
 Slovenia || 0.31 || 0.22 || 0.29 
 Spain || 7.16 || 5.70 || 6.54 
 Sweden || 1.81 || 2.16 || 2.19 
 United-Kingdom || 8.59 || 10.17 || 7.64 
 Non-EU European countries || 0.40 || 0.37 || 1.81 
 North America || 0.23 || 0.88 || 0.28 
 Australia and New Zealand || 0.03 || 0.03 || 0.02 
 Africa || 0.02 || 0 || 0.08 
 South America || 0.02 || 0.03 || 0.03 
 Asia || 0.06 || 0.05 || 0.26 
 Not specified || 3.73 || 6.03 || 6.96 
 total || 100 || 100 || 100 

10.                  
According to Area of Interest (%)
 
 Directorate-General / Service || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 
 AGRI – Agriculture and Rural Development || 2.62 || 3.44 || 3.05 
 BEPA – Bureau of European Policy Advisers || 0.11 || 0 || 0.06 
 BUDG – Budget || 1.02 || 0.81 || 0.72 
 CLIMA – Climate Action || 2.22 || 2.86 || 2.53 
 COMM – Communication || 1.26 || 0.65 || 0.55 
 COMP – Competition || 6.99 || 6.81 || 5.13 
 CONNECT – Communications Networks, Content and Technology[3] || 1.98 || 1.74 || 2.07 
 DEVCO – Development and Cooperation-EuropeAid (former DEV + AIDCO) || 3.30 || 4.67 || 2.89 
 DGT – Translation || 0.14 || 0.20 || 0.14 
 DIGIT – Informatics || 0.09 || 0.12 || 0.05 
 EAC – Education and Culture || 1.05 || 1.13 || 2.13 
 ECFIN – Economic and Financial Affairs || 1.57 || 1.11 || 1.53 
 ECHO – Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection || 0.33 || 0.18 || 0.23 
 ELARG – Enlargement || 1.04 || 0.95 || 0.93 
 EMPL – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion || 1.64 || 3.47 || 2.51 
 ENER – Energy || 5.86 || 5.15 || 4.78 
 ENTR – Enterprise and Industry || 4.84 || 4.55 || 5.02 
 ENV – Environment [4] || 6.37 || 6.61 || 5.07 
 EPSO – European Personnel Selection Office || 0.23 || 0.23 || 0.18 
 ESTAT – Eurostat || 0.20 || 0.20 || 0.28 
 FPIS – Foreign Policy Instruments Service[5] || - || 0.13 || 0.46 
 HOME – Home Affairs || 4.74 || 3.14 || 2.07 
 HR – Human Resources and Security + OIB (Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels) + OIL (Offices for Infrastructure and Logistics in Luxembourg) + PMO (Office for Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements) || 2.34 || 2.98 || 2.23 
 IAS – Internal Audit Service || 0.05 || 0.02 || 0.17 
 JUST – Justice || 2.54 || 3.72 || 4.21 
 MARE – Maritime Affairs and Fisheries || 0.95 || 066 || 1.01 
 MARKT – Internal market and services || 5.72 || 5.02 || 4.30 
 MOVE – Mobility and Transport || 3.02 || 2.66 || 4.15 
 OLAF – European Anti-Fraud Office[6] || 0.25 || 0.48 || 0.66 
 OP – Publications Office || 0.37 || 0.12 || 0.11 
 REGIO – Regional Policy || 2.29 || 3.41 || 2.20 
 RTD – Research and Innovation + JRC – Joint Research Centre || 1.27 || 1.61 || 1.95 
 SANCO – Health and Consumer || 6.96 || 7.28 || 8.26 
 SCIC – Joint Interpreting and Conference Service || 0 || 0.02 || 0.02 
 SG – Secretariat General || 10.12 || 12.10 || 13.88 
 SJ – Legal Service || 2.76 || 4.37 || 3.75 
 TAXUD – Taxation and Customs Union || 7.80 || 4.92 || 6.01 
 TRADE – Trade || 3.47 || 2.48 || 4.73 
 total || 100 || 100 || 100 
[1]               Please note that a single request can concern several
documents and can consequently give rise to several different replies
[2]               Please note that the category "Replies
given" includes the replies given outside the scope of Regulation
1049/2001, for example replies given under Regulation 45/2001
[3]               Please not that it was previously DG INFSO
[4]               Please note that DG ENV split into DG ENV and DG
CLIMA in 2010
[5]               Please note that since the creation of the European
External Action Service (EEAS), only documents of FPI are retained within the
Commission
[6]               Requests for access to documents concerning OLAF
investigations are not included