Dear Mr John,

Thank you for your e-mail of 5August, in which you requested an internal review of the decision, conveyed to you in an email of 5 August 2009, not to disclose information requested by you regarding infringement proceedings initiated by the European Commission under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I have conducted a full examination of all of the material relevant to your request. I have concluded the following.

I uphold the exemptions given in the reply to your original request on 5 August 2009.

As mentioned in our original reply, it is important that the Commission and Member States should be able to raise issues in confidence, and the important part that this information plays in free and frank discussion would be inhibited by disclosure. I have re-assessed the use of this exemption and believe that the use of sections 27 and 35 were correct and the public interest in favour of withholding the information still applies for the reasons given.

If you are not content with the outcome of this Internal Review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

Charles Shackleford