1. qI$i*,g=ivw
EuropeanAnti-Fraud Office
InvestigationsI
Director
EUROPEANCOMMISSION
Thor?il, rii" ?013
JanSofta
Suite177RosdenHouse
372 OldStreet
LondonEC1V9 LT
UnitedKingdom
Email: isofta@hotmail.com
Brussels
JDlimIHOR/OLAF.C.4(SX2013)l6l 8
,463"
Subject: Your requests for accessto documents of 19 November, t7,2O and 21
December2OI2,7, tO and 22 January 2013
OFNo oF/2Otr/94O
DearMr.Softa,
I referto your emailsdated19 November,L7,20 and 21 December20t2,7, 7A and22
January20-13requestingaccessto a numberof OLAFdocumentsunder RegulationNo
tA49/20At1 regardingpublic accessto EuropeanParliament,Counciland Commission
documents.Pleaselet me apologisefor the delayin the handlingof your requestas this
wasnotdonewithina deadlinedueto the complexityof documentsunderassessment.
l. PneurmrxARYREMARK
OLAF wishes to clarify from the outset that under the legislationgoverning O|-AF
investigations,OLAF is legally bound, pursuantto Article 339 of the Treaty on the
Functioningof the EuropeanUnion,ArticleB(1)of Regulationt073/99, andArticleL7 of
the Staff Regulations,to treat the informationit obtains during an investigationas
confidentialandsubjectto professionalsecrecy.
However,the purposeof Regulation1049/2001is to guaranteeaccessto documentsfor
everyoneand as a consequencethe documentsdisclosedunderthe Regulationenter the
public domain. Any documentdisclosedto an individualsubject to RegulationNo
L049/200tis automaticallydisclosableto the publicfollowinga subsequentrequestor by
the Commissionunderits rulesimplementingRegulation1049/2001.
2.scopeoFTHEREeuEsr
In youremailsmentionedaboveyourequestedaccessto the "documentswhichcontain
the followinginformation:Thecasenumberat the EuropeanAnti-FraudOffice(OLAF)is
oF/2011/940"
Havingcarefullyassessedyour requestOLAFhas identified17 documentswhichmay be
1 oJ L 145of 31.05.2001,Page43
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2. classifiedintothe followingcategories:
1, Internalcorrespondence(withinOLAF)- I document;
2. Externalcorrespondence- 10 documents;
3. Officialcasedocuments- 6 do.ur"ntr.
All documentsof these three categoriesare paft of casefile underRef.No OF/201L/940.
Pleasenote that the OLAFcasefiles containregistereddocumentsrelatingstricto sens{.,to
the case,i.e. documentscreatedor receivedbeforethe caseis formallyclosed,as well as
documentscreatedor receivedafterthe closureof the casewhichare relatedto the case.
The documentunder category(1) is an exchangeof emailsregardingthe incoming
informationof investigativeinterest.The external correspondenceunder category (2)
refersto the exchangeof emailsand letterswith the sourceof initial information.The
officialcasedocuments(category3) are the documentsof investigativenature,adopted,
under OLAF'sinternal procedures,€.g. appointmentof staff, Board recommendation,
assessmentof initialinformation,etc.
3. AssessMeNToFTHEDocuMENTscoNcERNEDANDRELEvANTExcEprroNsAppLTcABLE
3,7 Documents fo which partial access is granted
Followingthe assessmentof the documents,3 officialcase documentswere disclosed
paftially.The withheldpaftsof thesedocumentscannotbe disclosedbecausethey contain
informationcoveredby the exceptionsprovidedfor underArticle4(1Xb) and Afticle4(2),
first indentof the Regulationforthe reasonsmentionedbelowunder3,2 (b) and(c).
Followingthis, OLAFremovedsomepartsof the documentsconcerned,suchas the names
of naturalpersons,legalpersonsandotherinformationdirectlyrelatedto the identification
of suchpersons.
3,2 Documents withheld in full
Theremainingdocumentscannotbe disclosedsincetheircontentis coveredat leastby
oneof thefollowingthreeexceptionslaiddownin Article4 of Regulation1049/2001and
forthe reasonsexplainedbelow,
a) Firstly, the purpose of inspections,investigationsand audits as referred in Article
4(2), third indent of the Regulation,
The OLAFcaseis closedand the Non-CaseDecisionhas beenadopted.OLAFnotesthat
the informationreceivedfrom informantsis very impoftantsourceof informationto OLAF.
The publicdisclosureof the identityand informationdirectlyrelatedto informantswould
underminefuture investigationsof OLAFas it would discourageprivate personsfrom
sendingto informationon possibleirregularitiesaffectingthe financialinterestof the EU.
The disclosureof such informationwouldseriouslyunderminethe capacityof OLAF,the
EuropeanCommissionand the MemberStatesto correctlyimplementthe EuropeanUnion
legislation,in particularwith regardto the preventionand investigationof fraud and
irregularities.Consequently,this exceptionappliesto all documentswithheldin full, as
thesedocumentsare the correspondencebetweenOLAFthe informant(s)(category2) or
they referto informationrelatedto identificationof the informant(s).
88842432
3. b) Secondly, the protection of privacy and integrity of individuals protected in
accordancewith Communitylegislationregarding the protection of personal data as
referred in Article 4(1)(b) of the Regulation.
Thisincludes,interalia, the personaldataof individuals,suchas informants,employeesof
legalentities,personsconcerned,OLAFofficials,etc., whichif disclosed,wouldundermine
the privacyand the integrityof the individualsconcernedin accordancewith Regulation
45/204Lwhichspecificallyappliesto the processingof personaldata by the Institutions.
In this regard,your attentionis patticularlydrawnto Article8(b). On the basisof the
informationavailableOLAFconsidersthe necessityfor disclosingpersonaldata has not
beenestablishedand if disclosed,it wouldunderminethe privacyand the integrityof the
individualsconcerned.
c) Thirdly, the protection of commercial interests of natural or lega[ persons (Art,
4(2), first indent) of the Regulation.
In pafticular,the documentsconcernedcontain the names on private entities, the
disclosureof which would harm the reputationof legal entities and therefore their
commercialinterests. This information refers to OLAF investigations,allegationsof
mismanagementof funds and maladministration,however,it does not necessaryreflect
the Commission'sposition.Publicdisclosureof the names of legal entitiesinvolvedin
investigationin such context would show them in a negativelight, would give rise to
possiblemisrepresentationsabouttheir performanceand consequentlywould harm their
reputationand otherlegitimatebusinessinterests.
3,3 Overriding public interest in disclosure
The exceptionsof Article4(2) and (3) of RegulationL049/2A0Lapply unlessthey is an
overridingpublicinterestin disclosure.Forsuchan interestto exist it firstly has to be a
publicinterestand,secondly,it hasto outweighthe interestprotectedby the exceptionto
the rightof access.OLAFis not awareof any elementthat wouldcauseit to concludethat
there is an overridingpublicinterestin disclosureof the documentsconcerned.Rather.in
this casethe public interest lies on the protectionof the commercialinterestsof the
personsconcerned,
3.4 Partial access
OLAFhas also examinedthe possibilityof grantingpaftial accessto the documentsto
which no access is granted in accordancewith Article 4(6) of Regulation(EC) No
L049/2A01However,giventhat the informationthey containfallsentirelyunder,at least,
one of the exceptionsinvoked,partialaccessis not possible.
4. ConrrnuAToRYAPPLTCATToN
If you wantthis initialdecisionto be reviewed,the formalprocedureunderthe Regulation
(EC)No 1049/2001is that youshouldwriteto OLAF'sDirectorGeneralat the addressbelow,
confirmingyour requestfor a review.Youhavefifteenworkingdaysfrom receiptof this letter
in whichto do so,afterwhichyourinitialrequestwillbedeemedto havebeenwithdrawn.
The DirectorGeneralof OLAFwill then inform you of the result of this review within 15
workingdaysfrom the registrationof your request,eithergrantingyou accessto the entire
documentsor confirmingthe paftialdisclosure,In the lattercase,you will be informedof
how.youcantakefudheraction,
Yourfurthercorrespondenceshouldbesentto the followingaddress:
0064213?
4. MrGiovanniKESSLER
DirectorGeneral,OLAF
EuropeanCommission
RueJosephII, 30
B-1OOOBRUSSELS
Your attention is drawn to the privacy
below,
statementconcerningthe transferof personaldatal
Yourssincerely,
Annexes:
Copiesof 3 OLAFdocuments
Privacy statement
In accordancewith Regulation(EC)45/20oL,O|-AFtakesspecialcareto ensurethat all relevantdata protection
requirementsare met in conductinginvestigations.Informationon Data ProtectionIn OIAF is availableat
www,ec,europa.eu/dgs/olaf,
Pursuantto Articles 11 and 12 of Regulation(EC) 45/200L on the protectton of tndtvldualswith regard to the
processingof personaldata by the Communityinstitutionsand bodiesand on the free movementoi such data,
pleasebe informedthat your personaldataare storedin OLAF'selectronicand paperfilesconcerningthis matter
for the PurPosesof carrying out Ol-AF'sinvestigatlveactivity. The categoriesof your personafdata being
Processedare identificationdata,professionaldata,andcaseinvolvementdata.your data may be transferredto
other EUinstitutions,bodies,officesand agencies,competentMemberState and third countryauthoritiesand
internationalorganisations.Yourdatawill bestoredfor a maximumof 20 years.
Youhavethe right to accessthosedataandto correctandcompletethem, On requestand withinthree months
from the receiptof your request,you may obtaininformationconcerningyour personaldata which we have
processed.Any such requestshouldbe addressedto the Controller(Ol-AF-FMB-data-protection@ec.europa,eu).
Youmay lodgea comPlaintconcerningthe processingof your personaldata with the EuropeanData protectien
Supervisor(edps@edps.europa.eu)at anytime.
9064'2132
