Brexit
Dear Secretariat General,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting all minutes of the external meetings listed here (http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...) that Jonathan Faull has held on the Brexit/ UK referendum, plus copies of any position papers sent to him by external lobby groups on the Brexit/ UK referendum.
Yours faithfully,
Vicky Cann
CEO
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brx
Dear Mrs. Cann,
Thank you for your e-mail dated 21/01/2016. We hereby acknowledge receipt of your application for access to documents, which was registered on 25/01/2016 under reference number GestDem 2016/301.
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 15/02/2016. 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.
Yours faithfully,
Team Access to Documents
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit B4 - Transparency
Good morning,
With regard to the above request, please find attached a note for your
attention.
Marie
Marie Phillips
Office of the Director General
Task Force for Strategic Issues related to the UK Referendum
BERL 2/319
B-1049 Brussels
Tel: + 32 2 2958658
[1][email address]
The views expressed above are the writer's alone and may not in any
circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European
Commission. If you have received this message in error, please contact
the sender by e-mail or telephone + 32 2 2990725 and then delete this
message. Thank you.
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1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Secretariat General,
I am writing to make a confirmatory application regarding the Secretariat General's handling of my FOI request 'Brexit', Gestdem 2016/0301.
I make my appeal on several grounds:
- I do not consider that any harm would occur if the meeting notes were released and I note that you have not provided any arguments on this either. A recent court ruling (http://www.access-info.org/wp-content/up...) said "Thus, if the institution concerned decides to refuse access to a document which it has been asked to disclose, it must, in principle, explain how disclosure of that document could specifically and actually undermine the interest protected by the exception — among those provided for in Article 4 of Regulation No 1049/2001 — upon which it is relying (see Sweden v MyTravel and Commission, paragraph 18 above, paragraph 76 and the case‑law cited)."
- Moreover, the Commission's role as a "facilitator" in this process maybe be "crucial", as you argue, but the Commission is not in a decision-making position in the UK government - European Council negotiations. It is hard to see how the negotiation process would be undermined by the release of these notes.
- Release would bring transparency to the role of the Commission and lobby groups in this important area where there is a significant public interest (the UK referendum). This article already refers to these meetings and is an indication of the interest that there is in how the Commission is handling this topic and how it is being lobbied: http://www.politico.eu/article/lobbyists...
- Release of these notes would also help ensure that a few groups do not have privileged access to information or a privileged dialogue on such an important topic.
- Finally, I can confirm I would be happy to receive the documents after the Council meeting on 18-19 February. It is especially hard to imagine how, at that stage, the documents (including any opinions expressed within them) could affect an agreement between the EU Council and the UK government.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/brexit
Please acknowledge receipt of this confirmatory application.
Yours faithfully,
Vicky Cann
Dear Ms Cann,
Thank you for your email dated 10/02/2016, registered on 11/02/2016. I hereby acknowledge receipt of your a confirmatory application for access to documents (ref.: Ares(2016)738446 – GestDem 2016/301).
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 (03/03/2016).
In case this deadline needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
Dear Ms. Cann,
Please find attached a letter concerning your request for access to
documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM No 2016/301
Yours sincerely,
TEAM ACCESS DOCUMENTS
[1]cid:image001.gif@01D10B5D.0CD08030
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit B4 - Transparency
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Dear Ms Cann,
Please find attached a letter concerning your confirmatory application for
access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – GestDem 2016/301.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
[1]ec logo
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
References
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Dear Ms Cann,
Please find attached an advance information copy of the confirmatory
decision taken on your request for access to documents registered under
the reference number GestDem 2016/301 adopted on 04/04/2016 in the above
mentioned case.
Please note that the Secretariat General of the European Commission will
proceed with the formal notification of the decision in the coming days.
This advance copy is solely sent for your information and is not the
formal notification of the confirmatory decision.
Best regards,
Bernadett BERCZELI
Access to Documents
[1]ec logo
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
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Klaus Zinser left an annotation ()
I fully agree on your FOI request and would like to see this requested information, too. The nomination of Michael Shotter, an earlier colleague of Matin Selmayr under the Luxemburg Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, put up even more questions (worries about intransparency and secret deals)