Secretary-General Chiocchetti
Dear European Parliament,
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 job vacancy, minutes, notes from the Secretary-General, and e-mails, related to the procedure appointing Alessandro Chiocchetti to Secretary-General of the European Parliament
- Note from the Secretary-General on Creation of a Directorate-General for Parliamentary Democracy Partnerships
Please note that the note from the Secretary-General has been mentioned in Bureau agenda PE-9/BUR/OJ/2022-08, and therefore should be in principle made public, according to a majority of MEPs:
On 28 April 2016 the European Parliament adopted a resolution, in which it called on the Parliament "to make available the agendas and feedback notes of the meetings of committee coordinators, the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents, as well as, in principle, all documents referred to in these agendas ... by publishing them on the parliament's website". The text received the support from an 86 percent majority (523 yes votes, 37 no votes, and 46 abstentions.
On 14 September 2017, the European Parliament adopted another resolution (368 yes votes, 161 no votes, and 60 abstentions). In the resolution, the parliament recalled “its calls on the Commission and the Council in its resolution of 28 April 2016 on public access to documents for the years 2014-2015 , in which it: … called for agendas and feedback notes of the meetings of Parliament’s Committee Coordinators, Bureau and Conference of Presidents to be made available, and, in principle, for all documents referred to in those agendas to be made available too, by publishing them on Parliament’s website”.
As regards the documents related to the appointment of the European Parliament secretary-general, I foresee that possibly article 4 will be invoked. But please consider that there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of all documents related to this appointment: It is not so long ago that the European Parliament plenary heavily criticised the appointment of the European Commission secretary-general Martin Selmayr. In a resolution MEPs said the nomination of Mr Selmayr “could be seen as a coup-like action” and noted: “All vacant posts should be published in the interest of transparency, integrity and equal opportunity".
If it is in the public interest that the European Commission appoints its secretary-general in a proper manner and that citizens should be able to check this procedure, the same applies to the European Parliament.
Please note I prefer to receive the documents in digital format, not by physical mail.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054 HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Our reference: 2022-0858
Dear Mr Teffer,
The European Parliament hereby acknowledges receipt of your application
for public access to documents, which was registered on 05/07/2022.
All requests for public access to documents are treated in compliance with
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Regulation, your application will
be handled within 15 working days upon registration of your request.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with [2]Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.
The European Parliament reserves the right to ask for additional
information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Parliament’s implementing
measures.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application
via the AsktheEU.org website, which is a private website not officially
related to the European Parliament. Therefore, the European Parliament
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to
the use of this system.
In addition, please note that any personal data that you provide by using
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for such disclosure. Should you need to communicate directly to Parliament
any personal data and would like to avoid public disclosure, you may do so
from your private email address by using the following functional mailbox
address: AccesDocs(at)europarl.europa.eu
Kind regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[3][European Parliament request email]
[4]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
4. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our reference: 2022-0858
Dear Mr Teffer Peter,
The time limit for responding to your application for public access to
documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as registered on July 5th,
2022, expires on July 27th, 2022.
However, our consultations are taking more time than expected, so that
Parliament must exceptionally extend the time limit provided by Article
7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 by a further 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of that Regulation in order to reply to your
application.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience. We thank you for your
understanding.
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[1][European Parliament request email]
[2]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our reference: 2022-0858
Dear Mr Teffer,
Further to your application submitted under [1]Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 requesting public access to (1) documents related to the
procedure of appointing a new Secretary-General of the European Parliament
and (2) the Note from the Secretary-General on Creation of a
Directorate-General for Parliamentary Democracy Partnerships, Parliament
has identified the three attached documents as falling within the scope of
your application.
Concerning (1), enclosed please find the vacancy notice for the post of
Secretary-General and concerning (2) you can also find attached the Note
of the Secretary-General to the members of the Bureau of 27 June 2022 on
the creation of a Directorate-General for Parliamentary Democracy
Partnerships and its annex on the structure of the new
Directorate-General.
On this basis, Parliament considers your application as handled and the
file closed. Should you have any new requests for specific Parliament
documents, [2]please do not hesitate to come back to us.
Kind regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[3][European Parliament request email]
[4]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreW...
3. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
4. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb