This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Report Independent Panel of EU Member State Experts on Family Law'.

Dear Mr. Dohle,

Please find attached the requested document.

Yours sincerely,

The ELARG-ACCDOC Team.


-----Original Message-----
From: ELARG-ACCDOC
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 5:35 PM
To: 'Arun Dohle'
Cc: ELARG-ACCDOC
Subject: RE: Internal review of access to information request - Report Independent Panel of EU Member State Experts on Family Law

Dear Mr. Dohle,

We refer to your request for access to documents registered on 20 August under GESTDEM reference 2013/4455.

Your request should have been dealt with until today. However, due to difficulties in retrieving the requested document from the archives, we need more time than expected to process your request.

We will do our utmost to send you our reply until 07/10/2013. In any case, we are very sorry for the delays and the inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you very much for your understanding.

Yours sincerely,

The ELARG-ACCDOC Team.




-----Original Message-----
From: Arun Dohle [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx]
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 9:18 PM
To: ELARG-ACCDOC
Subject: Internal review of access to information request - Report Independent Panel of EU Member State Experts on Family Law

Dear Enlargement (ELARG),

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Enlargement (ELARG)'s handling of my FOI request 'Report Independent Panel of EU Member State Experts on Family Law'.

I do not consider another 15 working days delay as justified.

According to Regulation 1049/2001
Article 7.3:
In exceptional cases, for example in the event of an application relating to a very long document or to a very large number of documents, the time-limit provided for in paragraph 1 may be extended by 15 working days, provided that the applicant is notified in advance and that detailed reasons are given.

I am of the opinion that my request does not fit the definition of "exceptional cases'. My request concerns a specific document that should be easy to retrace.

In the US cable a letter of Commissioner Verheugen is cited, in which he states:

"Following Prime Minister Nastase's request for legal advice on children's rights and adoption, the Commission set up an Independent Panel of EU Member State experts on family law.
In its latest report, which I have forwarded to Prime Minister Nastase, the Panel noted the fundamental change made by Romania on the issue of intercountry adoption."

The date of the US cable is 10 June 2004. So, one may assume that the letter from Commissioner Verheugen to US Deputy Secretary of State Armitage is of the same date, or a day or some days before.

So, my request concerns the latest report of the Independent Panel, before 10 June 2004.

I assume that a letter from a European Commissioner to the Romanian Prime Minister can be easily retraced in an electronic registry.

Considering the above, I kindly request a reply without further delay.

Yours faithfully,

Arun Dohle

-----Original Message-----

Dear Mr Dohle,

We refer to your below request for access to documents dated and registered on 20 August under the above mentioned reference number.

We would like to thank you very much for the clarifications you provided.

Please note that your application is currently being handled. However, we would like to inform you that we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your application within the time limit of 15 working days, which expires on 10 September 2013. As large files have to be examined in order to retrieve the documents requested, an extended time is limit needed.

For this reason, 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 1 October 2013.

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

Yours faithfully,

The ELARG-ACCDOC Team.

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