8-12 June 2015 - Special Commission on the practical operation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention

The request was refused by Justice and Consumers.

Dear Justice and Consumers,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

- All documents, including but not limited to the invitation, internal communication, list of participants, conference documents, of the 8-12 June 2015 - Special Commission on the practical operation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention.

Please make such documents available online at the Ask the EU website. Please do not send paper copies, as I am in no position to collect those at the German post-office.

Yours faithfully,

Arun Dohle

Justice and Consumers

Dear Sir,

 

You have addressed a number of requests to DG JUSTICE in the last days. So
far, we have used the addressed you have provided for previous
applications. However, in two of these last requests you clearly indicate
that you do not wish to receive physical correspondence to your address.

 

With respect to this request, I would like to recall that the provision of
a postal address is from 1 April 2014 a mandatory feature for the purpose
of introducing a request for access to documents, irrespective of the
possibility to post electronically the Commission reply and the released
documents on a website.

 

The decision to ask for a postal address from applicants for access to
documents was triggered by the following considerations:

 

•      The need to obtain legal certainty as regards the date of receipt
of the reply by the applicant under Regulation 1049/2001. Indeed, as
foreseen by Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU), […] decisions which specify to whom they are addressed shall
be notified to those to whom they are addressed and shall take effect upon
such notification. Replies triggering the possibility for administrative
or judicial redress are therefore transmitted via registered mail with
acknowledgement of receipt. This requires an indication of a valid postal
address by the applicant;

 

•      The need to direct the Commission's scarce resources first of all
to those requests which have been filed by "real" applicants. With only a
compulsory indication of an e-mail address, applicants can easily
introduce requests under an invented identity or under the identity of a
third person. Asking for a postal address helps the Commission to protect
the administration, as well as other citizens and legal persons, from
abuse;

 

•      For similar reasons, asking for a compulsory indication of a postal
address enables the Commission services to verify whether Article 6(3) of
the Regulation, on voluminous requests, is being evaded by introducing
several requests under different identities. Indeed, in its Ryanair
judgment, the General Court confirmed that Article 6(3) cannot be evaded
by splitting the application into a number of applications. The Commission
would like to point out that, in 2012/2013, it received some 57
confirmatory requests from what it suspects to be one single applicant
operating under 13 different identities;

 

•      Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident in the sense of
Article 2(1) of Regulation 1049/2001 is a precondition for the purpose of
correctly applying the exception in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation
1049/2001 (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual),
which has to be interpreted in accordance with Data Protection Regulation
45/2001. Article 9 of Regulation 45/2001 requires the adequacy of the
level of protection afforded by the third country or international
organisation when transmitting personal data to third-country residents or
legal persons. It follows that, in case of requests for documents which
include personal data, the correct application of the data protection
rules cannot be ensured in the absence of a postal address enabling the
Commission to ascertain that the minimum data protection standards will be
respected.

 

All of these considerations show that the request for and the consequent
processing of a postal address is not only appropriate but also strictly
necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
within the meaning of Article 5 (a) of Data Protection Regulation 45/2001,
namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents. On 28 April
2015, the European Data Protection Supervisor decided on a complaint
against the European Commission relating to personal information (postal
address) asked by the Commission in the context of access to documents
requests lodged pursuant to Regulation (EC) 1049/2001. He concluded that
our policy is in line with Regulation (EC) 45/2001.

 

We therefore kindly ask you to provide a full postal address, so we can
duly register and handle your requests. Please note that, once we receive
your postal address, we will register your request for access as an
initial application for access to documents in the meaning of Article 6(1)
of Regulation 1049/2001. The deadline for handling your initial request
shall run as from the moment of registration of your request following the
submission of your postal address.

 

As for the fact that you postal address may appear on our correspondence
as published on the webpages of AsktheEU, it is always possible to blacken
the relevant lines so as it does not become of public domain.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

JUSTICE ACCESS TO DOCUMENT TEAM

Dear Justice and Consumers,

It is with disbelief that I see how my request are dealt with.

Either an immediate reply, without asking for an address. Or this long legal mail.

Anyway, hereby my physical address. Please register my request without further delay and I am looking forward to the documents within the 15 working day time limit.

Please make the documents accessible to the large public through the Ask the EU website, as a reply to this email.

Best regards,

Arun Dohle

Arun Dohle
Viktoriastr. 46
52066 Aachen

Justice and Consumers

Dear Mr Dohle,

Thank you for your request dated 14/06/2015 and your e-mail dated 16/06/2015. We hereby acknowledge receipt of your request for access to documents which was registered on 17/06/2015 under reference GestDem 2015/3188.

In accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application will be handled within 15 working days. The time limit will expire on 08/07/2015. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Yours faithfully,
JUST ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
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Arun Dohle left an annotation ()

Time limit 8 July 2015

Justice and Consumers

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Dohle,
 
Following your request of access to documents concerning the 4^th Special
Commission on the practical operation of the 1993 Inter-country Adoption
Convention ( 8-12 June 2015)- registered under GESTDEM 2015/3188, the
Commission  would like to  inform  you that  the documentation related to
the Special Commission is available to the public at the following link on
the Hague Conference website:
[1]http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=pro...
In addition, please find attached the invitation sent to the Commission
and the confirmation of attendance.
 
 
European Commission
Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
Civil Justice Policy Unit
 
 

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Dear Justice and Consumers,

Thank you for your reply.

I hereby hand in a confirmatory appeal>

The list of participants is missing. It is not available on the Hague website, and was provided to the participants.

Also I would like to see disclosed the mission report of Mrs. De Luca. Previous mission reports of 2005 and 2010 were already disclosed earlier through the Ask the EU website:

http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/dg_ju...

Yours faithfully,

Arun Dohle

Justice and Consumers

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email dated 23/06/2015.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access to documents, which was registered on 24/06/2015 under reference number GestDem 2015/3188 – Ares(2015)2646275.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application will be handled within 15 working days.

The time limit will expire on 15/07/2015. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Yours faithfully,

Carlos Remis
SG.B.4
Transparence
Berl. 05/332

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Arun Dohle left an annotation ()

Time Limit 15 July 2015

Justice and Consumers

3 Attachments

N° d'enreg. :
Ares(2015)2961033

 

Dear Mr Dohle,

 

Thank you for your e-mail of 23/06/2015 requesting access to documents
under Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents.

 

Please find attached the reply signed by our Head of Civil justice policy
Unit, Mr Michael Shotter.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Secretariat

[1]cid:image001.gif@01CE83E0.1EAB2A50
European Commission
Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers

Civil Justice Policy Unit

 

 

References

Visible links

Justice and Consumers

1 Attachment

Dear Sir,
 
Please find attached a note regarding your confirmatory application for
access to documents (GestDem 2015/3188).
 
Kind regards,
 
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (PS)
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
 
 
 
 

Justice and Consumers

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Dohle,

 

Following our email below, please find attached the conclusions and the
recommendations adopted by the Fourth Meeting of the Special Commission.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Secretariat

[1]cid:image001.gif@01CE83E0.1EAB2A50
European Commission
Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers

Civil Justice Policy Unit

 

 

 

From: JUST CIVIL COOP
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 3:10 PM
To: '[FOI #2050 email]'
Cc: JUST CIVIL COOP; JUST ACCES DOCUMENTS
Subject: FW: REPLY GESTDEM 2015/3429-Internal review of access to
information request - 8-12 June 2015 - Special Commission on the practical
operation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention
Importance: High

 

N° d'enreg. :
Ares(2015)2961033

 

Dear Mr Dohle,

 

Thank you for your e-mail of 23/06/2015 requesting access to documents
under Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents.

 

Please find attached the reply signed by our Head of Civil justice policy
Unit, Mr Michael Shotter.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Secretariat

[2]cid:image001.gif@01CE83E0.1EAB2A50
European Commission
Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers

Civil Justice Policy Unit

 

 

References

Visible links

Dear Justice and Consumers,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Justice and Consumers's handling of my FOI request '8-12 June 2015 - Special Commission on the practical operation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention'.

The reply I received was not satisfactory:

- first of all I request disclosure of the names of the civil servants who are in copy. As well as the disclosure of the name of the officer of the Hague Conference. There can in my opinion not be any reason to not disclose such names.

- second, I asked for the list of participants that was distributed during the conference. This list I did not receive.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/8_12_...

Yours faithfully,

Arun Dohle

Justice and Consumers

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email dated 14/07/2015.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access to documents, which was registered on 15/07/2015 under reference number GestDem 2015/3429 – Ares(2015)29800296.

Please be informed that your request concerning the second point of your request "the list of participants that was distributes during the Hague Conference" is already being handled, at confirmatory stage, under Gestdem reference 2015/3188.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application will be handled within 15 working days.

The time limit will expire on 06/08/2015. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Yours faithfully,

Carlos Remis
SG.B.4
Transparence
Berl. 05/332
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Justice and Consumers

3 Attachments

Dear Mr. Dohle,
 
Please find attached a letter concerning your confirmatory application for
access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM
No 2015/3188.
Annex –
Yours sincerely,
 
BLURIOT-PUEBLA Madeleine
Cellule 'Accès aux documents'
 
European Commission
SG/B/4 - Transparence

BERL 05/330
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
+32 2 296 09 97
[1][email address]
 
 
 

References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Justice and Consumers

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Dohle,

Kindly find the answer to your confirmatory application concerning your
request for access to documents pursuant to Regulation (EC) N° 1049/2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents (Gestdem 2015/3429).
Yours sincerely,
Carlos Remis
SG.B.4
Transparence
Berl. 05/332