This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Correspondence regarding Proactiva Open Arms'.


Ref. Ares(2018)1707659 - 28/03/2018
From: HOME ACCESS DOCUMENTS 
To: Luisa 
Izuzquiza 
Cc:  HOME ACCESS DOCUMENTS 
Subject: 
your access to documents request - ref gestdem 2018/1826 
 
Dear Sir / Madam, 
 
Thank you for your e-mail dated 20/03/2018.  We hereby acknowledge 
receipt of your application for  
access to documents, which was registered under reference number GestDem 
2018/1826.  
 
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 23/04/2018. In case this time limit needs to be 
extended, you will be informed in due  
course. 
 
You have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website. Please 
note that this is a private website  
which has no link with any institution of the European Union. Therefore 
the European Commission  
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to 
the use of this system. 
 
In your e-mail of 27/03/2018 you have mentioned: "I'd also like to recall 
that there are no valid  
procedural requirements that allow an institution to refuse registration 
of an access to documents  
request pending the provision of a postal address." 
 
With respect to your concerns regarding the provision of a postal address 
(copied above), please find  
our explanations below. 
   
On 1 April 2014, the postal address became a mandatory feature for the 
purpose of introducing a  
request for access to documents. 
   
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; 
 
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.  
 
Yours faithfully, 
 
European Commission 
DG Migration and Home Affairs 
Access to Documents Team 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----  
From: Luisa Izuzquiza [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx]   
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2018 7:26 PM  
To: HOME ACCESS DOCUMENTS  
Subject: access to documents request - Correspondence regarding Proactiva 
Open Arms 
 
Dear Migration and Home Affairs, 
 

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed 
in Regulation 1049/2001, I am  
requesting: 
 
For the period from Wednesday 14 March 2018 to date: 
 
All correspondence – including, but not limited to, letters, e-mails, and 
any attachments – in regards,  
related to, or mentioning 
- NGO Proactiva Open Arms; 
- the seizure of the vessel "Open Arms"; and/or 
- the criminal investigation opened by the Catania Public Prosecutor’s 
Office 
 
exchanged between DG HOME and representatives of any of the following 
authorities: 
- the Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office; 
- the Italian Ministry of Interior; 
- the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 
- the Barcelona City Hall; 
- the European External Action Service; 
- the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. 
 
I would also like to request a phone log of all telephone conversations 
between DG HOME and  
representatives of any of the above-mentioned authorities to discuss any 
of the three above-mentioned  
issues. 
 
Finally, I would like to request all internal correspondence (i.e.: 
between DG HOME representatives)  
regarding, related to, or mentioning any of the three above-mentioned 
issues. 
 
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any clarification in 
regards to any aspect of my request. 
 
Thank you in advance. 
 
Yours faithfully, 
 
Luisa Izuzquiza 
 
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This is a request for access to information under Article 15 of the TFEU 
and, where applicable,  
Regulation 1049/2001 which has been sent via the AsktheEU.org website. 
 
Please kindly use this email address for all replies to this request: 
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