ERPONERCKH NAPRAMENT — PARLAMENTO EUROPE EVROPSK? PARLAMENT —_EUROPA-PARLAMENTET EUROPAISCHES PARLANENT EUROOPAPARLAMENT —EYPAIMAIKO KONOBOYNO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PARLEMENT EUROPEN PARLAIMINT NAEORPA.PARLAMENTO EUROPE GIROPAS PARLAMENTS UROPOS PARLAMENTAS EUROPAI PARLAMENT —IL-PARLAMENT EWROPEW _EUROPEES PARLEMENT 'ARLANENT EUROPEASKI PARLAMENTO EUROPEU * PARLAMENTUL EUROPEAN EUROPSKY PARLAMENT.EVROPSKIPARLAMENT EUROOPAN PARLAMENTTI EUROPAPARLAMENTET The President D 202530 04.10.2016 Mr Wemer LANGEN Chair Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Dear Mr Langen, Thank you for your letter dated 18 July 2016, supporting the request from Ms VAN BREMPT, Chair of the Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS), to modify the Rules governing the treatment of confidential information by the European Parliament and in particular the access rights of Members’ accredited parliamentary assistants (APAs) to “other confidential information” (OCD). At its meeting of 12 September 2016, the Bureau considered both requests together. The Bureau took note that you and Ms VAN BREMPT consider that the fact that APAs are not allowed access to “other confidential information”, as provided for in Parliament's internal rules (Bureau decision of 15 April 2013, in force since 1 April 2014), severely limits the capacity of the two temporary inquiry committees to maximise the confidential information obtained from consulting the documents made available to them by both the Commission and Member States. ‘The Bureau recalled that Parliament's internal rules governing the treatment of confidential information were adopted as an implementing measure of two interinstitutional agreements, one with the Commission (Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, signed on 20 October 2010, in particular Annex 2), and one with the Council (Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament and the Council concerning the forwarding to and handling by the European Parliament of classified information held by the Council on matters other than those in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, signed on 12 March 2014), ‘The Bureau noted that while the interinstitutional agreement with the Council only deals. with the handling of classified information, the interinstitutional agreement with the Commission covers both classified and non-classified information, i.e. “other confidential information” (OCI),As regards classified information, both interinstitutional agreements provide for very strict access to specific persons, including, under strict conditions, Parliament officials and staff of political groups who need to have a security clearance, As regards non-classified information, i.e. OCI, the interinstitutional agreement with the Commission provides for specific arrangements for access to and handling of such information in paragraph 3 of its Annex 2, which deals with “c of both classified and non-classified nature, limiting infer alia such access to, under strict conditions, Parliament officials and staff of political groups who need to have the required level of security clearane: The Bureau noted therefore that Parliament’s internal rules on access to OCI stem from interinstitutional agreements concluded with the Commission and the Council, endorsed by Parliament, and that the Bureau cannot unilaterally enlarge the circle of persons entitled to have access to any type of confidential information, including OCI, beyond ‘what is provided for in the interinstitutional agreements, ‘The Bureau therefore declined authorisation of your request. Please be informed that a similar letter was sent to Mr LANGEN. Yours sincerely, (a | Martin Schulz