Commissioner Ansip and his cabinet members' third party meetings

The request was partially successful.

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

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 informaation

- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's meetings with third parties, minutes, memos protocols or any form of documentation from such meetings, including audiovisual presentations and any material Commissioner Ansip was given throughout, as well as any subsequent internal communication on the meetings. This definition is to be inderstood broadly, as covering any documentation of information.
- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's cabinet members' meetings with third parties, minutes, memos, protocols or any form of documentation from such meetings, including audiovisual presentations and any material Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member were given throughout, as well as any subsequent internal communication on the meetings. This definition is to be inderstood broadly, as covering any documentation of information.

To allow for a prompt, efficient response, I would like to limit the temporal scope of this request to meetings dated between 1 January 2018 and 13 September 2018.

For the sake of clarity, I am referring to meetings listed at but not limited to http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati... (titled "Meetings of Vice-President Andrus Ansip with organisations and self-employed individuals") and http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati... (titled "Meetings of Cabinet members of Vice-President Andrus Ansip with organisations and self-employed individuals"). If meetings were held between Commissioner Ansip/Commissioner Ansip's cabinet and third parties within my given timeframe, which are not listed publicly for any reason, I would like to request that documentation (as defined above) be provided of these too.

In particular, I am interested in meetings covering the following subjects: Platforms, Startups, Illegal Content/Tackling Illegal Content Online, Terrorist Content Online, Copyright, Artificial Intelligence/AI and Code. If meetings have taken place, which touch upon these subjects but do not mention them in their description of subject, I would like to request documentation for those meetings too. Furthermore, I would like to request all described documentation, not limited to the subjects above, from Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member Stig Joergen Gren's third party meetings.

Electronic communication is my preferred method of receiving the requested documentation, in form of digital copies of these files, not black-and-white scanned printouts.

If documentation that I am requesting has already been disclosed to the piblic in an unredacted manner, I would of course be happy to receive the URL, for the sake of avoidance of redundancy and effort reduction.

I submit the following postal address:
Marlene Straub
Bundestagsbüro Julia Reda, MEP
Unter den den Linden 50
11011 Berlin
Germany

Best regards,
Marlene Straub

EC ARES NOREPLY,

[1]Ares(2018)4710061 - RE: access to documents Anfrage - Commissioner
Ansip and his cabinet members' third party meetings --- Ref. Gestdem
2018/4822

Sent by ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[SG request email]>. All responses have
to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[SG request email]>. Toutes les
réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 13/09/2018.  We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on
13/09/2018 under reference number GestDem 2018/4822.

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
04/10/2018.

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.

Please note also that the European Commission is not responsible for any
possible processing of personal data by the private organisation running
the AsktheEU.org website, through which you have channelled your request.
Please refer to their privacy policy.

Kind regards,

Carlos Remis
SG.B.4
Transparence
Berl. 05/315

-----Original Message-----
From: Marlene Straub [[2]mailto:[FOI #5919 email]]
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2018 4:24 PM
To: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS
Subject: access to documents Anfrage - Commissioner Ansip and his cabinet
members' third party meetings

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

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 informaation

- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's meetings with third parties,
minutes, memos protocols or any form of documentation from such meetings,
including audiovisual presentations and any material Commissioner Ansip
was given throughout, as well as any subsequent internal communication on
the meetings. This definition is to be inderstood broadly, as covering any
documentation of information.
- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's cabinet members' meetings
with third parties, minutes, memos, protocols or any form of documentation
from such meetings, including audiovisual presentations and any material
Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member were given throughout, as well as any
subsequent internal communication on the meetings. This definition is to
be inderstood broadly, as covering any documentation of information.

To allow for a prompt, efficient response, I would like to limit the
temporal scope of this request to meetings dated between 1 January 2018
and 13 September 2018.

For the sake of clarity, I am referring to meetings listed at but not
limited to
[3]http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
(titled "Meetings of  Vice-President Andrus Ansip with organisations and
self-employed individuals") and
[4]http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
(titled "Meetings of Cabinet members of  Vice-President Andrus Ansip with
organisations and self-employed individuals"). If meetings were held
between Commissioner Ansip/Commissioner Ansip's cabinet and third parties
within my given timeframe, which are not listed publicly for any reason, I
would like to request that documentation (as defined above) be provided of
these too.

In particular, I am interested in meetings covering the following
subjects: Platforms, Startups, Illegal Content/Tackling Illegal Content
Online, Terrorist Content Online, Copyright, Artificial Intelligence/AI
and Code. If meetings have taken place, which touch upon these subjects
but do not mention them in their description of subject, I would like to
request documentation for those meetings too. Furthermore, I would like to
request all described documentation, not limited to the subjects above,
from Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member Stig Joergen Gren's third party
meetings.

Electronic communication is my preferred method of receiving the requested
documentation, in form of digital copies of these files, not
black-and-white scanned printouts.

If documentation that I am requesting has already been disclosed to the
piblic in an unredacted manner, I would of course be happy to receive the
URL, for the sake of avoidance of redundancy and effort reduction.

I submit the following postal address:
Marlene Straub
Bundestagsbüro Julia Reda, MEP
Unter den den Linden 50
11011 Berlin
Germany

Best regards,
Marlene Straub

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dies ist eine Anfrage auf Dokumentenzugangs unter Artikel 15 des Vertrags
über die Arbeitsweise der Europäischen Union (AEUV) und, wo zutreffend,
Verordnung 1049/2001 welche über die Internetsetite AsktheEU.org gesendet
wurde.

Bitte verwendet Sie dies Email-Adresse für alle Antworten zu folgender
Anfrage: [FOI #5919 email]

Falls [SG request email] die falsche Email-Adresse für Anfragen auf
Dokumentenzugangs an Generalsekretariat der Europäischen Kommission ist,
teilen Sie dies dem AsktheEU.org team bitte durch eine Email an
[email address] mit.

Diese Nachricht und alle Antworten von Generalsekretariat der Europäischen
Kommission werden auf der AsktheEU.org Internetseite veröffentlicht. Für
weitere Informationen besuchen Sie bitte unsere speziell für EU-Beamte
eingerichtete Seite [5]https://www.asktheeu.org/de/help/officers

-------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...
2. mailto:[FOI #5919 email]
3. http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
4. http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
5. https://www.asktheeu.org/de/help/officers

hide quoted sections

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Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
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[5]Ares(2018)5101027 - Your application for access to documents-
Ref.GestDem No 2018/4822 -Extension of the deadline and proposal for a
fair solution

Sent by ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Ms Straub,

 

We refer to your e-mail, dated 13/9/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public
access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents
(‘Regulation 1049/2001’), registered on the same date under the
above-mentioned reference number.

 

By your application you requested ‘’documents which contain the following
information:

- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's meetings with third parties,
minutes, memos protocols or any form of documentation from such meetings,
including audiovisual presentations and any material Commissioner Ansip
was given throughout, as well as any subsequent internal communication on
the meetings. This definition is to be understood broadly, as covering any
documentation of information.

- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's cabinet members' meetings
with third parties, minutes, memos, protocols or any form of documentation
from such meetings, including audiovisual presentations and any material
Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member was given throughout, as well as any
subsequent internal communication on the meetings. This definition is to
be understood broadly, as covering any documentation of information.

To allow for a prompt, efficient response, I would like to limit the
temporal scope of this request to meetings dated between 1 January 2018
and 13 September 2018.

For the sake of clarity, I am referring to meetings listed at but not
limited to
http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
(titled "Meetings of  Vice-President Andrus Ansip with organisations and
self-employed individuals") and
http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
(titled "Meetings of Cabinet members of  Vice-President Andrus Ansip with
organisations and self-employed individuals"). If meetings were held
between Commissioner Ansip/Commissioner Ansip's cabinet and third parties
within my given timeframe, which are not listed publicly for any reason, I
would like to request that documentation (as defined above) be provided of
these too.

In particular, I am interested in meetings covering the following
subjects: Platforms, Startups, Illegal Content/Tackling Illegal Content
Online, Terrorist Content Online, Copyright, Artificial Intelligence/AI
and Code. If meetings have taken place, which touch upon these subjects
but do not mention them in their description of subject, I would like to
request documentation for those meetings too. Furthermore, I would like to
request all described documentation, not limited to the subjects above,
from Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member Stig Joergen Gren's third party
meetings.’’

 

Your application concerns a very large number of documents. At this stage,
we have identified approximately 153 meetings related to your request.
Therefore, we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your
application within the time limit of 15 working days expiring on 4/10/2018
and we have to extend the time limit by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation 1049/2001. The new time limit
expires on 25/10/2018.

 

The documents relating to these meetings need to be assessed individually,
according to Regulation 1049/2001 and the analysis of these documents,
together with the need to consult the concerned third parties in
accordance with Article 4(4) of Regulation 1049/2001, cannot be expected
to be completed within the normal time limits set out in Article 7 of
Regulation 1049/2001.

 

It is also to be  noted, that, in parallel, we are dealing with the second
access to documents request you submitted on the same date (GestDem
2018/4823), which also concerns a very large number of documents. 

 

Article 6(3) of the Regulation 1049/2001 provides that, in the event of an
application relating to very large number of documents, the institution
concerned may confer with the applicant informally with a view to finding
a fair solution.

 

In accordance with the case law of the Union Courts, the proposal for a
fair solution aims to balance the interest of the applicant against the
workload resulting from the processing of the application in order to
safeguard the interests of good administration (Judgments of 6 December
2001, Council v Hautala, Case C 353/99 P, EU:C:2001: 661, para. 30, and of
2 October 2014, Strack v Commission, Case C 127/13 P, EU:C:2014:2250,
para.27). Such solution can only concern the content or the number of
documents applied for, not the deadline for replying (Judgment of the
Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case C-127/13, Guido Strack v
Commission, paragraphs 26-28). This means that the scope of the request
must be reduced in a way that would enable its treatment within the
extended deadline of 15 + 15 working days.

 

Based on the above-mentioned provision, we would kindly ask you to specify
the objective of your request, your specific interest in the requested
documents (Judgment of the Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case
C-127/13, Guido Strack v Commission, paragraph 28; Judgment of the General
Court (then 'Court of First Instance') of 22 May 2012 in case T-344/08,
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg v Commission, paragraph 105 ) and whether
you could narrow down the scope of your request (the subject matters,  the
participants, and/or timeframe covered), so as to reduce it to a more
manageable amount of documents.

 

In order to help you narrow down your request, we hereby enclose the list
of the relevant meetings that were held between Commissioner Ansip and his
cabinet’s members with third parties, within the abovementioned timeframe
(01.01.2018-13.09.2018).

 

According to our first estimates and taking into account the access to
documents request GestDem 2018/4823 and  the other tasks that the
concerned staff has to deal with during the same period as well as the
human resources available, we estimate that only documents related to a
maximum of 10 meetings could possibly be dealt with within the remaining
days from the extended deadline of 30 working days counting from the date
of registration of you application (13/9/2018).

 

We therefore kindly ask you to specify the 10 meetings you are interested
in (subject, participants, timeframe).

 

In case you are not able to specify the meetings, we propose as a fair
solution limiting your request to the documents on the 10 most recent
meetings between Commissioner Ansip and his cabinet’s members with third
parties.

 

In order to enable us to respect the time-limits of Regulation 1049/2001,
we would ask you for a swift reply to our invitation proposing you a fair
solution, and within two working days at the latest.

 

Please send your response by email to the following address:

 

[6][email address]

 

In the absence of a reply within two working days, we will unilaterally
restrict the scope of your application to those parts that can be dealt
with within the extended deadline of 30 working days counting from the
date of registration of your application (13/09/2018).

 

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Access to Documents Team

 

[7]cid:image001.png@01D3AF19.959C0670

European Commission

DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25

B-1160 Brussels/Belgium

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D45BEC.294934E0
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...
6. mailto:[email address]

Dear Access to Documents Team,

thank you for your timely response. I'm happy to help you help me.

The specified objective of my request is to receive information on third party meetings of some of the highest-ranking officials of the EU and their staff. My interest in the requested information is curiosity, and my right to access it as an EU citizen. It is difficult for me to narrow down the scope of my request - although I would be happy to - as I have no more information than I had 15 working days ago. You have provided me with a list of meetings, which I had already found online via the links in my request dated 13 September. You are asking me for a fair solution, without offering me any information to do so in return. This seems objectively unfair. You have also provided me with an estimate of only 10 meetings I can receive information on - what calculations do you base this on, why 10? To me this number appears arbitrary and I would like an explanation. I would furthermore like an overview of what you have done for 15 working days, especially as you are requesting another 15. You will understand that the way you are handling my request on transparency is intransparent.

Based on this FOI request (https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/temp...) I have the template response you send out if you are seeking fair solutions. Within this template I see several points of information which are missing in your response, but would help me narrow down the scope considerably.
- It says to "Please provide the applicant with a list of documents or, if that is not possible, categories of documents, as well as an estimation of their total number and if possible the total of number of pages covered."
- The template also gives an estimate of how many working days the request would take to handle, broken down into different tasks, such as the "identification of the documents falling under your request" and the "retrieval and establishment of a complete list of the documents identified". These are the first and second tasks on the list.

In light of the fact of the aforementioned two template points missing from your response to my request, yet seemingly being some of the first tasks to be completed upon receipt, I would like to demand them retrospectively. For me to compromise, please provide me with a comprehensive list of documents (as defined by me) you have found associated with the 153 meetings. I'm sure that I could limit myself to a small number of meetings, or even individual pieces of information, with such a list.

I reject your proposal to limit my request to the ten most recent meetings between Commissioner Ansip and his cambinet members' with third parties. Please don't misunderstand me - I am open to compromise and am happy to narrow down the scope of of my request. However, I require the appropriate information to do so fairly. Your template seems to agree with me.

Thank you very much for your efforts so far.

Yours sincerely,

Marlene Straub

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[5]Ares(2018)5202989 - KIND REMINDER - Your application for access to
documents- Ref.GestDem No 2018/4822 -Extension of the deadline and
proposal for a fair solution

Sent by ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

Dear Ms Straub,

 

We are writing with regard to  our previous email from 4 October 2018
(please see below).

 

In order to enable us to respect the time-limits of Regulation 1049/2001,
we would ask you for a swift reply to our invitation proposing you a fair
solution, and by Thursday, 11/10/2018 at the latest.

 

Please send your response by email to the following address:

 

[6][email address]

 

In the absence of a reply within the prescribed time-limit, we will
unilaterally restrict the scope of your application to those parts that
can be dealt with within the extended deadline of 30 working days counting
from the date of registration of your application (13/09/2018).

 

Thank you in advance,

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Access to Documents Team

[7]cid:image001.png@01D3AF19.959C0670

European Commission

DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25

B-1160 Brussels/Belgium

 

 

 

From: EC ARES NOREPLY <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, October 4, 2018 2:18 PM
To: [FOI #5919 email]
Cc: CNECT CAD <[email address]>; CNECT-PUBLIC-ACCESS-TO-DOCUMENTS
<[email address]>
Subject: Ares(2018)5101027 - Your application for access to documents-
Ref.GestDem No 2018/4822 -Extension of the deadline and proposal for a
fair solution

 

[8]Ares(2018)5101027 - Your application for access to documents-
Ref.GestDem No 2018/4822 -Extension of the deadline and proposal for a
fair solution

 

Sent by ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[9][email address]>. All responses have to
be sent to this email address.

Envoyé par ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[10][email address]>. Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

 

Dear Ms Straub,

 

We refer to your e-mail, dated 13/9/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public
access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents
(‘Regulation 1049/2001’), registered on the same date under the
above-mentioned reference number.

 

By your application you requested ‘’documents which contain the following
information:

- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's meetings with third parties,
minutes, memos protocols or any form of documentation from such meetings,
including audiovisual presentations and any material Commissioner Ansip
was given throughout, as well as any subsequent internal communication on
the meetings. This definition is to be understood broadly, as covering any
documentation of information.

- Briefing documents for Commissioner Ansip's cabinet members' meetings
with third parties, minutes, memos, protocols or any form of documentation
from such meetings, including audiovisual presentations and any material
Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member was given throughout, as well as any
subsequent internal communication on the meetings. This definition is to
be understood broadly, as covering any documentation of information.

To allow for a prompt, efficient response, I would like to limit the
temporal scope of this request to meetings dated between 1 January 2018
and 13 September 2018.

For the sake of clarity, I am referring to meetings listed at but not
limited to
[11]http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
(titled "Meetings of  Vice-President Andrus Ansip with organisations and
self-employed individuals") and
[12]http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
(titled "Meetings of Cabinet members of  Vice-President Andrus Ansip with
organisations and self-employed individuals"). If meetings were held
between Commissioner Ansip/Commissioner Ansip's cabinet and third parties
within my given timeframe, which are not listed publicly for any reason, I
would like to request that documentation (as defined above) be provided of
these too.

In particular, I am interested in meetings covering the following
subjects: Platforms, Startups, Illegal Content/Tackling Illegal Content
Online, Terrorist Content Online, Copyright, Artificial Intelligence/AI
and Code. If meetings have taken place, which touch upon these subjects
but do not mention them in their description of subject, I would like to
request documentation for those meetings too. Furthermore, I would like to
request all described documentation, not limited to the subjects above,
from Commissioner Ansip's cabinet member Stig Joergen Gren's third party
meetings.’’

 

Your application concerns a very large number of documents. At this stage,
we have identified approximately 153 meetings related to your request.
Therefore, we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your
application within the time limit of 15 working days expiring on 4/10/2018
and we have to extend the time limit by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation 1049/2001. The new time limit
expires on 25/10/2018.

 

The documents relating to these meetings need to be assessed individually,
according to Regulation 1049/2001 and the analysis of these documents,
together with the need to consult the concerned third parties in
accordance with Article 4(4) of Regulation 1049/2001, cannot be expected
to be completed within the normal time limits set out in Article 7 of
Regulation 1049/2001.

 

It is also to be  noted, that, in parallel, we are dealing with the second
access to documents request you submitted on the same date (GestDem
2018/4823), which also concerns a very large number of documents. 

 

Article 6(3) of the Regulation 1049/2001 provides that, in the event of an
application relating to very large number of documents, the institution
concerned may confer with the applicant informally with a view to finding
a fair solution.

 

In accordance with the case law of the Union Courts, the proposal for a
fair solution aims to balance the interest of the applicant against the
workload resulting from the processing of the application in order to
safeguard the interests of good administration (Judgments of 6 December
2001, Council v Hautala, Case C 353/99 P, EU:C:2001: 661, para. 30, and of
2 October 2014, Strack v Commission, Case C 127/13 P, EU:C:2014:2250,
para.27). Such solution can only concern the content or the number of
documents applied for, not the deadline for replying (Judgment of the
Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case C-127/13, Guido Strack v
Commission, paragraphs 26-28). This means that the scope of the request
must be reduced in a way that would enable its treatment within the
extended deadline of 15 + 15 working days.

 

Based on the above-mentioned provision, we would kindly ask you to specify
the objective of your request, your specific interest in the requested
documents (Judgment of the Court of Justice of 2 October 2014 in case
C-127/13, Guido Strack v Commission, paragraph 28; Judgment of the General
Court (then 'Court of First Instance') of 22 May 2012 in case T-344/08,
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg v Commission, paragraph 105 ) and whether
you could narrow down the scope of your request (the subject matters,  the
participants, and/or timeframe covered), so as to reduce it to a more
manageable amount of documents.

 

In order to help you narrow down your request, we hereby enclose the list
of the relevant meetings that were held between Commissioner Ansip and his
cabinet’s members with third parties, within the abovementioned timeframe
(01.01.2018-13.09.2018).

 

According to our first estimates and taking into account the access to
documents request GestDem 2018/4823 and  the other tasks that the
concerned staff has to deal with during the same period as well as the
human resources available, we estimate that only documents related to a
maximum of 10 meetings could possibly be dealt with within the remaining
days from the extended deadline of 30 working days counting from the date
of registration of you application (13/9/2018).

 

We therefore kindly ask you to specify the 10 meetings you are interested
in (subject, participants, timeframe).

 

In case you are not able to specify the meetings, we propose as a fair
solution limiting your request to the documents on the 10 most recent
meetings between Commissioner Ansip and his cabinet’s members with third
parties.

 

In order to enable us to respect the time-limits of Regulation 1049/2001,
we would ask you for a swift reply to our invitation proposing you a fair
solution, and within two working days at the latest.

 

Please send your response by email to the following address:

 

[13][email address]

 

In the absence of a reply within two working days, we will unilaterally
restrict the scope of your application to those parts that can be dealt
with within the extended deadline of 30 working days counting from the
date of registration of your application (13/09/2018).

 

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Access to Documents Team

 

[14]cid:image001.png@01D3AF19.959C0670

European Commission

DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25

B-1160 Brussels/Belgium

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D46090.25FE58D0
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...
6. mailto:[email address]
8. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...
9. mailto:[email address]
10. mailto:[email address]
11. http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
12. http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiati...
13. mailto:[email address]

Marlene Straub,

Dear access to documents team,

there seems to be a bug on the AskTheEU.org website, as my response there
dated 5 October seems to not have gone through, and you must have
overlooked the e-mail I sent to the '[1][SG request email]' address
last Friday, juust in case. You'll be happy to know that I did meet your
deadline. Please respond to my request on the AskTheEU platform
nevertheless, as I have been in touch with them about fixing the bug,
which is also how I got your proper address.
Thank you, and kind regards,
Marlene Straub
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Marlene Straub <[2][email address]>
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 at 17:46
Subject: FOI Request
To: <[3][SG request email]>

To whom it may concern,

there seems to be an error on AskTheEU.org, so I will resend my response
to this request
([4]https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/comm...)
here, in order to not miss the deadline. Apologies, if AskTheEU fixes the
bug, and you receive my response twice.

Best regards,
Marlene Straub
----

Dear Access to Documents Team,

thank you for your timely response. I'm happy to help you help me.

The specified objective of my request is to receive information on third
party meetings of some of the highest-ranking officials of the EU and
their staff. My interest in the requested information is curiosity, and my
right to access it as an EU citizen. It is difficult for me to narrow down
the scope of my request - although I would be happy to - as I have no more
information than I had 15 working days ago. You have provided me with a
list of meetings, which I had already found online via the links in my
request dated 13 September. You are asking me for a fair solution, without
offering me any information to do so in return. This seems objectively
unfair. You have also provided me with an estimate of only 10 meetings I
can receive information on - what calculations do you base this on, why
10? To me this number appears arbitrary and I would like an explanation,
especially as I was given the same number for a similar request containing
approximately 40 meetings more. I would furthermore like an overview of
what you have done for 15 working days, especially as you are requesting
another 15. You will understand that the way you are handling my request
on transparency is intransparent.

Based on this FOI request ([5]https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/temp...
I have the template response you send out if you are seeking fair
solutions. Within this template I see several points of information which
are missing in your response, but would help me narrow down the scope
considerably.
- It says to "Please provide the applicant with a list of documents or, if
that is not possible, categories of documents, as well as an estimation of
their total number and if possible the total of number of pages covered."
- The template also gives an estimate of how many working days the request
would take to handle, broken down into different tasks, such as the
"identification of the documents falling under your request" and the
"retrieval and establishment of a complete list of the documents
identified". These are the first and second tasks on the list.

In light of the fact of the aforementioned two template points missing
from your response to my request, yet seemingly being some of the first
tasks to be completed upon receipt, I would like to demand them
retrospectively. For me to compromise, please provide me with a
comprehensive list of documents (as defined by me) you have found
associated with the 153 meetings. I'm sure that I could limit myself to a
small number of meetings, or even individual pieces of information, with
such a list.

I reject your proposal to limit my request to the ten most recent meetings
between Commissioner Ansip and his cambinet members' with third parties.
Please don't misunderstand me - I am open to compromise and am happy to
narrow down the scope of of my request. However, I require the appropriate
information to do so fairly. Your template seems to agree with me.

Thank you very much for your efforts so far.

Yours sincerely,

Marlene Straub

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[SG request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[SG request email]
4. https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/comm...
5. https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/temp...)

hide quoted sections

PLEASE NOTE: This message is a re-sending of the message that I originally sent on 5 October 2018. The system did not accept it because you wrote from one email address but asked me to reply to another ([email address]). Please kindly forward this message to the relevant person.

Dear Access to Documents Team,

thank you for your timely response. I'm happy to help you help me.

The specified objective of my request is to receive information on third party meetings of some of the highest-ranking officials of the EU and their staff. My interest in the requested information is curiosity, and my right to access it as an EU citizen. It is difficult for me to narrow down the scope of my request - although I would be happy to - as I have no more information than I had 15 working days ago. You have provided me with a list of meetings, which I had already found online via the links in my request dated 13 September. You are asking me for a fair solution, without offering me any information to do so in return. This seems objectively unfair. You have also provided me with an estimate of only 10 meetings I can receive information on - what calculations do you base this on, why 10? To me this number appears arbitrary and I would like an explanation. I would furthermore like an overview of what you have done for 15 working days, especially as you are requesting another 15. You will understand that the way you are handling my request on transparency is intransparent.

Based on this FOI request (https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/temp... I have the template response you send out if you are seeking fair solutions. Within this template I see several points of information which are missing in your response, but would help me narrow down the scope considerably.
- It says to "Please provide the applicant with a list of documents or, if that is not possible, categories of documents, as well as an estimation of their total number and if possible the total of number of pages covered."
- The template also gives an estimate of how many working days the request would take to handle, broken down into different tasks, such as the "identification of the documents falling under your request" and the "retrieval and establishment of a complete list of the documents identified". These are the first and second tasks on the list.

In light of the fact of the aforementioned two template points missing from your response to my request, yet seemingly being some of the first tasks to be completed upon receipt, I would like to demand them retrospectively. For me to compromise, please provide me with a comprehensive list of documents (as defined by me) you have found associated with the 153 meetings. I'm sure that I could limit myself to a small number of meetings, or even individual pieces of information, with such a list.

I reject your proposal to limit my request to the ten most recent meetings between Commissioner Ansip and his cambinet members' with third parties. Please don't misunderstand me - I am open to compromise and am happy to narrow down the scope of of my request. However, I require the appropriate information to do so fairly. Your template seems to agree with me.

Thank you very much for your efforts so far.

Yours sincerely,

Marlene Straub

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
 
 
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
 
 
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
 
 

References

Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...

EC ARES NOREPLY,

1 Attachment

Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping

[5]Ares(2018)5491697 - Your application for access to documents-RefGestDem
2018/4822

Sent by ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_cnect.public_access_to_documents (CNECT)
<[email address]>. Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.

 

Dear Ms Straub,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 13/09/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on the same date under the above mentioned
reference number.   

 

We also refer to our email dated 04/10/2018  our reference
Ares(2018)5101027, whereby we informed you that the time limit for
handling your application was extended by 15 working days pursuant to
Article 7(3) of  Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 on public access to
documents. 

 

We would like to inform you that we are in the process of finalising our
reply and it will be sent to you as soon as possible.

 

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

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Access to Documents Team

[6]cid:image001.png@01D3AF19.959C0670

European Commission

DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25

B-1160 Brussels/Belgium

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D46C90.31C806F0
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...

EC ARES NOREPLY,

3 Attachments

Sehr geehrter Frau Straub,

anliegend übermitteln wir Ihnen das beigefügte Dokument Ares(2018)5630054 über Ihren Antrag auf Akteneinsicht - Az. GestDem 2018/4822 gesendet von Frau Katleen Engelbosch, Leiterin des Referats „Konformität und Planung“.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Europäische Kommission
GD CONNECT – ZUGANG ZU DOKUMENTEN
Avenue de Beaulieu 25
1160 Brüssel
BELGIEN

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Replies by e-mail must be addressed to the original sender VIOLA Roberto (mailto:[email address]).
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