Correspondence on the Dalli case between the Commission's Secretary-General and Swedish Match of 14 and 30 May 2012

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Dear Secretariat General (SG),

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

- the letter of 14 May 2012 from Swedish Match to the Commission (on the Dalli case)
- the Secretary-General's reply to this letter (dated 30 May 2012).

I would like to refer to the draft recommendation of the European Ombudsman in the inquiry into complaint 257/2013/OV against the European Commission. The Ombudsman concludes "that the Commission's failure to consider that the letters of 14 and 30 May 2012 were covered by the complainant's request constitutes an instance of maladministration." The Ombudsman recommends the complainant to immediately submit a new request for public access to those documents. The recommendation is available online here: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/cases/...

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

Thank you for your request for access to documents. Unfortunately you have not indicated your postal address that is required for registering and handling your request in line with the procedural requirements. Please send us your full postal address at your earliest convenience. Pending your reply, we reserve the right to refuse the registration of your request.
You may, of course, use directly the electronic form for entering your request:

http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/...

Best regards,

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM

European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency

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Dear Secretariat General (SG),

thank you for the quick reaction. My postal address is as follows:

Olivier Hoedeman
Research and Campaigns Coordinator
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Rue d'Edimbourg 26,
1050 Brussels, Belgium

Please note that we prefer receiving your reply to the access-to-documents request in electronic format, as a response to the request on the asktheeu.org website.

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

Thank you for providing your postal address.

I hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents registered on 10/04/2014 under the reference number GESTDEM 2014/2012

In accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, you will receive a response to your request within 15 working days: 12/05/2014.

If this deadline needs to be extended, you will be notified in due course.

Best regards,

Bernadett BERCZELI
Access to Documents

European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency

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Olivier Hoedeman

Dear Secretariat General (SG),

I would like to remind you that deadline of three weeks has passed. I therefore look forward to a swift reply to my request for access to documents.

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

 

Please find attached the reply to your request for access to documents
pursuant to Regulation (EC) N° 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents GESTDEM 2014/2012.

 

Best regards,

 

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM

[1]ec logo
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency

 

 

 

 

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Olivier Hoedeman

Dear Secretariat General (SG),

Please pass this on to the Secretary-General
of the Commission .

I am writing to request an internal review of Secretariat General (SG)'s handling of my FOI request 'Correspondence on the Dalli case between the Commission's Secretary-General and Swedish Match of 14 and 30 May 2012'.

I would like to appeal the Secretariat General's refusal of my request for access to the letter from Swedish Match to the European Commission dated 14 May 2012 (on the Dalli case), GestDem No 2014/2012.

In her letter dated 13 May, Marianne Klingbeil of the Secretariat General argued that "disclosing the allegations made against Mr Dalli at this stage when the subsequent judicial proceedings are still on-going would undermine the protection of court proceedings. Since the proceedings to which the requested document pertains are fully ongoing, its disclosure would have the effect of exposing judicial activities to external pressure, albeit only in the perception of the public, and would disturb the serenity of these proceeding and thus undermine their protection. In consequence, access to the documents has to be refused on the basis of the exception provided for under Article 4(2), second indent of Regulation 1049/2001 (protection of Court proceedings). The public interest in disclosure of the letter of Swedish Match does not, on balance, outweigh the need for continued protection of the judicial proceedings. Furthermore, until the judicial proceedings are completed, Mr Dalli and any other party, including Swedish Match, benefit from the presumption of innocence. Disclosing allegations made against Mr Dalli when the court proceedings are on-going would clearly breach this presumption and, therefore, undermine the protection of Mr Dalli's integrity."

I believe there is a overriding public interest in disclosure of the letter of Swedish Match: providing further clarity about the Dalli case and the Commission's handling of it. The court case Marianne Klingbeil refers to was initiated by Mr. Dalli and it is hard to image how the disclosure of the letter would "undermine the protection of Mr Dalli's integrity". In fact it seems unlikely that Mr Dalli would object to disclosure of the document. Have you contacted Mr. Dalli and/or the court that is currently handling the court case to consult about disclosure of the document?

Marianne Klingbeil also mentioned that the letter "was part of the investigation file of OLAF". I have not found the letter in the leaked OLAF report; only a reference on page 24 to Swedish Match informing the Secretary General of the European Commission in writing about the allegations concerning Commissioner John Dalli (on 21 May 2012 - not 14 May). The OLAF report is available online: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7Swai6S...

As the letter was part of the OLAF investigation and as the OLAF report on the investigation has been leaked and is available online, it seems unlikely that the letter contains any information that is not already in the public domain. Disclosing the letter would therefore in no way 'undermine' or 'disturb' the court proceedings.

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

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email dated 27/05/2014.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access to documents, which was registered on 02/06/2014 under reference number GestDem 2014/2012 – Ares(2014) 1788104.

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 24/06/2014. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Yours faithfully,

Carlos Remis
SG.B.5.
Transparence.
Berl. 05/329.

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Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

2 Attachments

Dear Sir,

Please find attached an advanced copy of our reply to your confirmatory application for access to documents (Gestdem 2014-2012).

The original will be sent to you by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

Yours sincerely,

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS (PSc)
European Commission
Secretariat General
B4 - Transparency

Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

Dear Mr Hoedeman,
 
We refer to your e-mail dated 27 May 2014 in which you request a review of
the decision to reject access the document.
Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days.
 
An extended time limit is needed as your application concerns a document
of third party which must be consulted.  Therefore, we have to extend the
time limit with 15 working days in accordance with Article 7(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents. The new
time limit expires on 06/08/2014.
 
We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
Directorate  C: Investigation Support
Unit  C.4 – Legal Advice

Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[1]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[2]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
 
 
 

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1. http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
2. http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...

Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 27 May 2014, transmitted to OLAF by a note
of 24 June 2014, in which you request a review of the decision to reject
access the document.

Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days.

 

An extended time limit is needed as for your application concerns a
document originating from a third party which was to be consulted.  We are
still waiting for its reply. Therefore, we have to extend the time limit
with 15 working days in accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents. The new time limit expires
on 28/08/2014.

 

We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

 

 

 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
Directorate  C: Investigation Support
Unit  C.4 – Legal Advice

Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)

Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[1]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...

Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 27 May 2014, transmitted to OLAF by a note
of 24 June 2014, in which you request a review of the decision to reject
access the document.

Your application is still being handled.

 

An extended time limit is needed as for your application concerns a
document originating from a third party which was to be consulted.  We are
still waiting for its reply.

Therefore, we have to extend the time limit with 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents.

 

We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

 

 

 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
Directorate  C: Investigation Support
Unit  C.4 – Legal Advice

Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)

Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[1]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...