InternalProcedureonPublicAccesstoDocumentsECDC.IP.61-rev.1_Redacted
Dieses Dokument ist Teil der Anfrage „Transparency unit staffing and budget“
BEENN Au Fecdc EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION D CONTROL Title: Internal procedure on public access to documents Number Checked by Procedure ECDC/IP/61- rev | coordinator upon completion and approval Ze. Consultation Press, Media and Information Group: 27/3/16 Author Date and signature of Author U vol* "En Reviewer: Head of RMC Unit El Consultation of Legal Services Section Date and signature of Reviewer ns Date and signature of Head of Legal Section 25/2006 Date and signature of Procedure coordinator 35.2016 — | Consultation of the SMT: Date | 26/1/16, 12/4/16 Formal check: Procedure coordinator Consultation of external bodies (Commission, MB, etc.) Daie of Consultation N/A Approval by the Director Daifınd sigA0lBe Mbirch} / i /6.05. Aolb 5.05: 2019 Rev # Issue date ECDC/IP/61 (ECDC/HCU/005) 15/10/2007 Date issued (effective date):
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1. Purpose The purpose of this Internal Procedure (“IP”) is to define the arrangements and workflows that ECDC applies to manage written requests for access to the documents held by the Centre according to Regulation (EC) 1049/2001. It describes roles and responsibilities when processing access to document (“ATD”) requests. 2. Scope This procedure applies to all ECDC staff members and to all the documents covered by Regulation (EC) 1049/2001. This procedure applies without prejudice to more specific procedures, such as the right to access one’s own file (e.g. under Art. 26 ofthe Staff Regulations), the rights of data subjects under Regulation 45/2001 or requests under the TESSy Data Access Policy. The procedure does not apply to requests coming from the press, nor to email requests to the Office of the Chief Scientist that concern publicly available documents and that can be directly replied to by the recipient. A record should be kept of such requests according to the applicable procedures. 3. Background/legal base ECDC Founding Regulation 851/2004, in particular article 20; Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding Public Access to the European Parliament, Council and Commission documents; Management Board MB1/17 Decision on the implementing rules on public access to documents, of 12 October 2004;
4. Description 4.1 Definitions Document According to Article 3(a) of Regulation 1049/2001, document means any content whatever its medium (written on paper, or stored in electronic form or as a sound, visual or audiovisual recording) concerning a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions falling within the Centre’s sphere of responsibility. E-mails also fall within the definition ofa document. Initial ATD application and confirmatory application An initial application (or simply “application”) is an application to access a document made in written form, including electronic form, in any of the languages of the EU, and in a sufficiently precise manner to enable ECDC to identify the document. The applicant is not obliged to state reason for the application. A confirmatory application is an application that follows an initial application in case of only partial disclosure or a failure to reply within the prescribed time limit. 4.2 Main actors The Coordinator (Coordinator for the processing of all initial ATD applications) The PHC Unit is the Coordinator for the processing of initial ATD requests and appoints one or more person for this function. The function appointed for the Coordinator shall have a dedicated backup. The function is run by the Press, Media and Information Group. The Review Coordinator (Coordinator for the processing of ATD confirmatory requests) The Legal Services Section, supported by the Administrative Assistant for the Section, is the Review Coordinator for the processing of ATD confirmatory applications. Unit contact person/function Each Unit has at least one contact person/function (and a backup) with the responsibility to coordinate with others involved in identifying and retrieving documents that are subject to ATD requests.
ICT support The ICT Unit provides support to allow the submission of access request by creation of a dedicated e-mail address or electronic template (including its maintenance) for ATD requests. Legal services section The Legal Services section drafts replies to confirmatory applications, provides regular training on rules applicable to ATD requests. It provides the templates that are used to draft replies. When consulted, it provides advice on whether a request constitutes a request for access to documents and for replies to initial applications. The Legal Services section assures that all actors involved are appropriately trained (process, legal implications, exceptions etc.). Signing manager Heads of Unit decide on and sign the replies to ATD requests concerning documents produced or held by their Unit. When a document is not clearly linked to a specific Unit, the Director signs the reply. When a reply falls in the responsibility of two Units, the Units need to agree who of them will be in lead ofthe process. The Director decides on and signs the replies to confirmatory requests. Before taking a decision, the Director may decide to consult the HoU of the contributing units. Mail Office Assists in registering incoming applications and replies in the Chrono system. 4.3 Tools Functional mailboxes A functional mailbox is set up for the Coordinator. It receives all ATD requests. Requests that are submitted through an electronic template on the website (if available) are forwarded to the functional mailbox. The Coordinator uses the functional mailbox to dispatch replies. A further functional mailbox is created for confirmatory requests (the “Confirmatory applications mailbox”). The Review Coordinator manages it. When replying to initial
applications, ECDC invites to send confirmatory application to the Confirmatory applications mailbox. ATD Tracking function in Chrono The ATD Tracking function in Chrono, which is set up by the DMS team, allows tracking of all ATD requests received through the dedicated shared mailbox. The tool records the date ofreceipt ofthe request, the document type requested, the person handling the request, whether or not the request concerns a third party document, the data of the reply and whether or not ECDC granted the access. The tool will be used for the purpose ofthe yearly reporting on the requests as set out in Decision MB1/17. The DMS team extracts the report at the end of each year and provides a copy to the Coordinator and the Legal Services Section. 4.4 Process: initial applications 1. Requests are submitted to a designated Functional Mailbox/electronic template and registered by the Mail Office. When a request is sent by other means (e.g. directly addressed to an ECDC staff member), the recipient shall forward it immediately to the Functional Mailbox. The Mail Office enters the request in Chrono and forwards it to the Coordinator. 2. The Coordinator determines if he/she is dealing with an ATD request or a request for information. In the latter case, he/she will re-direct the request to the competent service (e.g. ECDC info). In case of doubt, the Coordinator may then consult the Legal Services section. 3. When the Coordinator is dealing with an ATD request, the request shall be marked as such in the Chrono System. The Coordinator then considers if the application refers to documents that are already publicly available. In such case, he/she may reply indicating where the document can be obtained and directly attach the documents if electronically available. 4. Ifthe documents are not already publicly available, or ifthe Coordinator cannot retrieve the documents from a publicly available source, the Coordinator sends an acknowledgment ofreceipt based on a standard template to the requester and forwards the request to the Unit contact person(s) in the Units that might be the generator or might be holding the documents covered by the ATD request. Estimated timeframe for points ] to 4 above: 2 working days
5. The Unit contact person(s) identifies which documents are covered by the ATD request and makes an assessment based on the exceptions of art. 4 Regulation 1049/2001 on whether or not the documents can be disclosed. When only a part of a document can be disclosed, he/she will redact the document accordingly. The Unit contact person may be assisted by individual experts that have knowledge of the document(s) in question for this task. 6. In the meantime, the Unit contact person can consult the Legal Services section and the Data Protection Officer in case of doubt. However, consultation is mandatory when the Unit contact person does not foresee a full disclosure of the requested document. Where necessary, also SMT can be consulted according to the procedure in section 4.5. 7. The Unit contact person drafts the reply by completing the relevant template made available by the Legal Services Section and obtains the signature ofthe Head of Unit. Then, the Unit contact person scans the reply (signed by the Head of Unit) and sends it to Coordinator, together with all the relevant attachments. Estimated timeframe for points 5 to 7 above: 11 working days (of which 5 needed for legal advice) 8. The Coordinator dispatches the reply through the functional mailbox and registers the reply in the Chrono System. The Coordinator should have at least 2 working days to dispatch the reply. Deadline to reply to the request: 15 working days. 4.5 Process: confirmatory applications 1. The Review Coordinator monitors the Confirmatory application mailbox, registers any received applications in the Chrono system and acknowledges receipt based on a standard template. 2. When a confirmatory application is received, the Administrative Assistant ofthe Review Coordinator immediately alerts the Legal Officers in the Legal Services section. 3. The Legal Services section drafts the reply after consultation with internal stakeholders as appropriate. If the request may raise the interest of the press, the Press, Media and Information Group will be informed. If needed, a short note is prepared for the Director.
The draft reply shall be sent to the Director at least 5 working days before expiry of the deadline to reply. 4. The Director signs the reply. The Review Coordinator dispatches it and registers the reply in the Chrono System, ensuring the link between the reply to the original application and the confirmatory application 4.6 Third parties consultation l. The Unit contact person shall liaise with third parties, when third-parties consultation is necessary. To carry out this task, the Unit contact person may request assistance from another colleague, ifthe colleague has an already established communication channel with the third party concerned. 2. When contacting third parties, the third party shall be given a minimum of 5 working days to reply. 3. The Unit contact person shall ensure that the correspondence with the third party is recorded in the Chrono System. 4.7 Consultation of the SMT or other internal stakeholders 1. Where the Unit contact person considers that an ATD request concerns a particularly sensitive document, the Unit contact person will discuss his/her concerns with the corresponding Head of Unit. The Head of Unit might decide to obtain the opinion of the SMT or any other internal stakeholder that the Head of Unit deem necessary. The SMT or the internal stakeholder shall have at least 5 working days to issue their opinion. Requests and replies are channelled through the Head of Unit. 4.8 Extension of deadlines l. In exceptional cases, if the Unit contact person considers that it is impossible to process the application in the time limit of 15 working days (e.g. due to a large number of documents being requested), the Unit contact person shall notify the Coordinator of the need to have an extension of further 15 working days to prepare the reply. The Unit contact person shall clearly justify the reason why the extension is needed. 2. The Coordinator shall contact the requester giving information about the new deadline and the reason of the extension.
3. The Coordinator is responsible to liaise with applicants in case of non sufficiently precise application, and to informally confer with applicants in case of application relating to a very long document or to a very large number of documents. The Coordinator ensures that such situations are correctly taken into account when calculating the deadline for replying. 4.9 Public register of documents l. The electronic register is implemented through a “search function” for documents on ECDC’s website. A repository of publicly available documents is also contained in the “key documents” section on the ECDC website. This section will be reviewed by the corresponding contributors in regular intervals and expanded by additional categories of documents, if these prove to be of general interest to the public.
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