Recurrent: Ministry of Finance

Recurred resolution: R/0040/2024

In exercise of the right of access to public information, a request was submitted to the Ministry of Finance for access to various information on the way in which the calculation of the Quality of Life Module (MCV) and the Purchasing Power Modules (MPA I and MPA II) used to update the remuneration of officials posted abroad has been carried out.

The requested body issued a ruling denying access to the information by considering as applicable, in relation to one part of it, the cause of inadmissibility provided for in Article 18.1.b) LTAIBG – due to the auxiliary or supportive nature of the algebraic calculation formulas – and invoking, in respect of the other information, the limits provided in Article 14.1.h) and j) LTAIBG – as prejudicial to economic and commercial interests or to professional secrecy and intellectual and industrial property, respectively. It is pointed out, in this regard, that the contract with the company that provides the Ministry with the data and values necessary for the calculation of the compensation modules prohibits the sharing of information with third parties without their written consent, having denied the company such consent.

The Council considers the claim in the light of the fact that, on the one hand, the inadmissibility case invoked cannot be considered because it is understood that providing the requested information contributes to the explicability of the modules applied to establish compensation for officials abroad.

On the other hand, in relation to the limits invoked, both are based on the confidentiality clause contained in the contract signed between the Ministry and the consultancy. In this regard, the Council considers that the result of the weighting between the public interest in access to information and the damage alleged by the consulting company — basically, that access to such data could create a precedent contrary to its confidentiality clauses that could affect its own business — must yield the second, which, moreover, is not seen as a real and not hypothetical damage. The Council recalls that the confidentiality clauses provided for in the contracts concluded by the Administration cannot be conceived with an absolute character, which excludes in its full scope the fulfilment of the obligations of the LTAIBG.