Contacts with the tobacco industry

The request was partially successful.

Mr Jean-Claude Juncker
President
European Commission

Dear Mr President,

On behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and the Smoke Free Partnership (SFP), I would like to - under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties as developed in Regulation 1049/2001 - request access to the following documents:

- all reports (and other notes) from meetings between the European Commission and representatives of the tobacco industry (producers, distributors, importers etc, as well as organisations and individuals that work to further the interests of the tobacco industry), since January 1st 2017.

- all correspondence (including emails) between the European Commission and representatives of the tobacco industry (producers, distributors, importers etc. as well as organisations and individuals that work to further the interests of the tobacco industry), since January 1st 2017.

- a list of all the above-mentioned documents (including dates, names of participants/senders/recipients and their affiliation, subject of meeting/correspondence)

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

On February 5th 2018 I submitted a request for access to documents (regarding contacts between Commission officials and the tobacco industry) via the asktheeu.org website. I have not received any response, not even an acknowledgment.

By law, the Secretariat General of the European Commission should normally have responded promptly and by February 26 2018. I would be grateful if you could clarify the situation. Is a response being prepared?

The request is online here: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/cont...

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear Sir,

Further to your access to documents request dated 05/02/2018, we would like to inform you that due to a clerical error the request was not registered and no acknowledgement of receipt was sent to you.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this may have caused.

Your access to documents request has been registered on 27/02/2018 under the references mentioned below and we hereby inform you that your request was split among several Directorates-General as follows:

GESTDEM 2018/1199 => DG SANTE (lead)
GESTDEM 2018/1203 => DG GROW
GESTDEM 2018/1204 => DG AGRI
GESTDEM 2018/1205 => SG

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 20/03/2018.
In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Yours faithfully,

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (LC)

European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[email address]

show quoted sections

EC ARES NOREPLY,

1 Attachment

Please find attached document Ares(2018)1498439 regarding "GESTDEM 2018/1205 - Demande d'extension de délai" sent by Mr Julien MOUSNIER on 19/03/2018.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: This e-mail was automatically generated by the European Commission's central mail registration system.
Replies by e-mail must be addressed to the original sender MOUSNIER Julien (mailto:[email address]).
Remarque : Cet e-mail a été généré automatiquement par le système d'enregistrement central du courrier de la Commission européenne.
Toute réponse éventuelle par e-mail doit être adressée à l'expéditeur en personne, à savoir MOUSNIER Julien (mailto:[email address]).

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear Sir,

Following a further assessment of your request for access to documents mentioned below, we kindly inform you that we have created an additional reference GESTDEM 2018/1654 which has been attributed as follows:

GESTDEM 2018/1654 => DG TAXUD

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 for GESTDEM 2018/1654 will expire on 12/04/2018.

In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Yours faithfully,

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (LC)

European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[email address]

show quoted sections

Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 05/02/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 27/02/2018 under the above mentioned
reference number.
Your application is currently being handled. However, 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 20/03/2018.
An extended time limit is needed for administrative reasons. Therefore, 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 13/04/2018.
However, I would like to inform you that we do our best in order to send
you our response letter earlier than the new deadline.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team

European Commission
DG Agriculture and Rural Development
 
Unit I.3
L130 7/96
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
 
 

show quoted sections

Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Mr HOEDEMAN,

We refer to your email dated 05/02/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 27/02/2018 under the above mentioned
reference number.

Your application is currently being handled. However, 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 20/03/2018.

An extended time limit is needed as some of the documents you requested
originate from third parties that must be consulted. Furthermore, in order
to retrieve the information requested, large files have to be examined.

Therefore, 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 13/04/2018.

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

Yours sincerely,

SANTE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

 

[1]cid:image001.png@01CF111A.80269DB0

 

European Commission

DG Health and Food Safety (SANTE)

Email: [2][email address]

 

 

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]

Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hoedeman

We refer to your e-mail dated 05/02/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 27/02/2018 under the above mentioned
reference number.

Your application is currently being handled. However, 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 20/03/2018.

An extended time limit is needed as part of the documents requested
originate from third parties which have been consulted.

Therefore, 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 13/04/2018.

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

Yours faithfully,

DG GROW – Access to documents team

 

[1]cid:479385507@17082012-2045

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/A1 – Communication, Access to Documents and Document Management

 

References

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Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear Sir,

We refer to your request dated 19/03/2018 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered on 19/03/2018 under the above mentioned reference number.

Your application is currently being handled. However, 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 12/04/2018.

An extended time limit for consultations with third parties is needed in order to complete our assessment on the possibility for the public disclosure of the document requested.

Therefore, 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 04/05/2018.

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

Yours faithfully,

TAXUD ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 05/02/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 27/02/2018 under the above mentioned
reference number.

The reply to your request could not be finalised today. Therefore, we are
not in a position to complete the handling of your application within the
extended time limit of 15 working days, which expires today (13/04/2018).
Please be reassured that we are doing our best to be able to send you the
reply in the coming days.

 

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

 

Kind regards,

 

 

DG GROW – Access to documents team

 

[1]cid:479385507@17082012-2045

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/A1 – Communication, Access to Documents and Document Management

 

References

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EC ARES NOREPLY,

16 Attachments

Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document Ares(2018)2097871 concernant "Reply to GESTDEM 2018/1203 - Demande initiale - Hoedeman_contacts with tobacco industry" envoyé par Mme EVANS Lowri le 19/04/2018.

Please find attached document Ares(2018)2097871 regarding "Reply to GESTDEM 2018/1203 - Demande initiale - Hoedeman_contacts with tobacco industry" sent by Ms EVANS Lowri on 19/04/2018.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: This e-mail was automatically generated by the European Commission's central mail registration system.
Replies by e-mail must be addressed to the original sender EVANS Lowri (mailto:[email address]).
Remarque : Cet e-mail a été généré automatiquement par le système d'enregistrement central du courrier de la Commission européenne.
Toute réponse éventuelle par e-mail doit être adressée à l'expéditeur en personne, à savoir EVANS Lowri (mailto:[email address]).

Secretariat General of the European Commission

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

 

Please find enclosed the reply to your application for access to documents
– Ref. GestDem No 2018/1199.

 

Kind regards,

 

Sante B2 Tobacco Control
European Commission

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D3B153.01CDC1E0

Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety

Office B232/09-007

Rue Breydel 4, B-1049 Brussels

Tel: +32 2 299 33 40

Email: [2][email address]

 

 

 

 

References

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2. mailto:[email address]

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear Sir,

We refer to your request dated 19/03/2018 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered on 19/03/2018 under the above mentioned reference number.

Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your application which expires on 04/05/2018.

An extended time limit for consultations with third parties is needed in order to complete our assessment on the possibility for the public disclosure of the documents requested.

Therefore, we have to extend the time limit in accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents. The new time limit expires on 25/05/2018.

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

Yours faithfully,

TAXUD ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

Olivier Hoedeman

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

thank you for the response(s) to my access to documents request. I have a question of clarification for you. You informed me that you would split the request among several Directorates-General (DG SANTE, DG GROW, DG AGRI, SG and DG TAXUD). In the meantime documents has been (partially) released by some of these DGs. I am, however, wondering whether my request has also reached other DGs that are very likely to have had meetings with and/or corresponded with the tobacco industry, such as DG Trade., DG Competition or DG ECFIN? My request clearly covers all European Commission DGs.

Thank you in advance for clarifying this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Rue d'Edimbourg 26,
1050 Brussels, Belgium

Olivier Hoedeman

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

thank you for your letter dated 13 April, in response to my access to documents request submitted February 5th 2018 [Ares(2018)1987121]. I would herewith like to submit a confirmatory application.

Your letter included the release of 27 documents, but these documents have been heavily - and excessively - redacted. Document 2, for instance, appears to be a lobbying letter from the tobacco industry to the European Commission, but all information about both sender and recipient have been removed. Also a reference to a meeting between the lobbyist and a Commission official has been removed. There are similar problems with many of the other documents that were released.

In your letter you refer to the protection of personal data. But redacting documents so it is no longer possible to see which lobbyist wrote the lobbying letter on behalf of which organisation/company goes far beyond 'personal data'. The names of professional lobbyists and the organisations and companies they work for are not personal data. This is information that should be accessible to the public to enable scrutiny of who is influencing EU decision-making. There is a clear public interest and this is what constitutes the necessity of having the redacted data transferred. There is no reason at all to assume that the legitimate rights of the persons concerned might be prejudiced by disclosure of the names of professional lobbyists and the organisations and companies they work for. I would therefore in this confirmatory application like to request the full disclosure of the original, un-redacted versions of all 27 documents.

I would also like to point out that list of documents released by the Secretariat-General is far less informative than similar lists released by DG GROW and DG SANTE. The lists released by these DGs include - among other information - dates of the documents, the authors of the documents (lobby groups/companies) and mention what type of document it is.

The treaties oblige the EU institutions to work in an open and transparent manner, as openly as possible. Regulation 1049/2001 aims for the widest possible access to documents. Finally, Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control instructs governments to prevent tobacco industry interference. The Article 5.3 Guidelines very clearly call for transparency of government interactions with the tobacco industry.

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Rue d'Edimbourg 26,
1050 Brussels, Belgium

Olivier Hoedeman

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

regarding my confirmatory application submitted earlier today: I would like to stress that the confirmatory application has been submitted within 15 working days upon receipt of your letter. The letter was dated 13 April, but the post stamp on the envelope is 17 April, which means that the letter arrived at the earliest on 18 April.

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

Thank you for your email dated 08/05/2018, by which you request, pursuant to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by SG to your initial application GESTDEM 2018/1205.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access to documents which was registered on 15/05/2018 - Ares(2018)2526935.

Your application will be handled within 15 working days (06/06/2018). In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.

Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express delivery.
We kindly offer you the possibility to provide us a contact phone number (by email to [email address]), so that the external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.

Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will delete it immediately thereafter.

Yours sincerely,

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (LC)

European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[email address]

show quoted sections

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear Sir,

We refer to your request dated 19/03/2018 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered on 19/03/2018 under the above mentioned reference number.

Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your application which expires on 25/05/2018.

An extended time limit for consultations with third parties is needed in order to complete our assessment on the possibility for the public disclosure of the documents requested.

Therefore, we have to extend the time limit in accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents. The new time limit expires on 31/05/2018.

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

Yours faithfully,

TAXUD ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

EC ARES NOREPLY,

[1]Ares(2018)2694652 - RE: Internal review of access to documents request
- Contacts with the tobacco industry - GESTDEM
2018/2850-2018/2851-2018/2852

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 Sir,

Thank you for your e-mail and your specifications.

Following your request, we have registered on 24/05/2018 three new
requests for access to documents to DG TRADE, DG COMP and DG ECFIN under
the following references:

GESTDEM 2018/2850               DG TRADE
GESTDEM 2018/2851               DG COMP
GESTDEM 2018/2852               DG ECFIN

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
14/06/2018.
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.

We take the opportunity to inform you that your request concerns documents
held by the European Commission. The attribution of the requests is based
on the fields of competence of the Directorates-General, therefore the
requests are not attributed to Directorates-General, whose fields of
activity are not related to the one(s) covered by the request.

Yours faithfully,

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (LC)

European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[email address]

show quoted sections

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear Sir,

We refer to your request dated 19/03/2018 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered on 19/03/2018 under the above mentioned reference number.

Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your application which expires on 31/05/2018.

An extended time limit completing our assessment on the possibility for the public disclosure of the documents requested.

Therefore, we have to extend the time limit in accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents. The new time limit expires on 7/06/2018.

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

Yours faithfully,

TAXUD ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hoedemans,

 

We refer to your request for access to documents of 24/05/2018 under
reference number 2018/2851. You request, among other things, "all
correspondence (including emails) between the European Commission and
representatives of the tobacco industry (producers, distributors,
importers etc. as well as organisations and individuals that work to
further the interests of the tobacco industry), since January 1st 2017."

 

In 2017, this antitrust unit of DG Competition handled two cases in which
tobacco manufacturers and/or wholesalers were, or had been under
investigation. These are the following cases:

-          [1]AT.38238 – Raw Tobacco (ES) – this concerned an amendment to
a cartel decision against tobacco manufacturers and wholesalers from 2007;

-          [2]AT.40237 – Spanish Tobacco – which concerned the rejection
of a complaint against a tobacco wholesaler/distributor.

 

Any contacts with the companies involved in these cases would
theoretically fall under the category of documents you requested. However,
we suspect that they are not the type of contacts you are interested in,
as they would be limited to the very narrow purpose of corresponding about
the specific case.

 

Before we start allocating resources to processing your request, we would
therefore like to ask whether or not you would be willing to limit the
scope of your request to exclude these cases.

 

We thank you for your consideration.

COMP E2 Team
[3]cid:image001.png@01D2DB8F.91F42AB0
European Commission
DG COMPETITION
Unit E2: Antitrust: Consumer goods, Basic industries, Agriculture and
Manufacturing

Competition websites: [4]http://ec.europa.eu/competition

DISCLAIMER"The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not
in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the
European Commission."

References

Visible links
1. http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/...
2. http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/...
4. http://ec.europa.eu/competition
http://ec.europa.eu/competition

EC ARES NOREPLY,

1 Attachment

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

[5]Ares(2018)2951520 - Your confirmatory application for access to
documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – GESTDEM 2018/1205

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 Mr Hoedeman,

 

I refer to your email of 8 May 2018, registered on 15 May 2018, by which
you submit a confirmatory application in accordance with Article 7(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (‘Regulation 1049/2001’).

 

Your confirmatory application is currently being handled. Unfortunately,
due to ongoing consultations, we are not in a position to reply to your
confirmatory request within the prescribed time limit that expires on 6
June 2018.

 

Consequently, we have to extend this period by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. The new deadline
expires on 27 June 2018.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Martine Fouwels

Deputy Head of Unit

[6]Flag

European Commission

Secretariat General

Unit B4 (Transparency)

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D3FD7C.A989AAA0
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...

Secretariat General of the European Commission

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

We thank you for your request.

Please find herewith our reply.

Best regards,

European Commission
DG TAXUD
Access to documents

show quoted sections

Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Sir,

We refer to your e-mail dated 24/05/2018 in which you make a request for
access to documents, under the above mentioned reference number.

Your application is currently being handled. However, 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 14/06/2018.

An extended time limit is needed as part of the documents requested
originate from third parties who are being consulted.

Therefore, 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 05/07/2018.

Please note that this new deadline does not apply to any documents
relating to antitrust cases [1]AT.38238 – Raw Tobacco (ES) and [2]AT.40237
– Spanish Tobacco. For these documents, the original deadline of
14/06/2018 is suspended until you reply to the e-mail from
[3][email address] (in cc of this reply) of 05/06/2018, in which
you were asked to clarify your request.

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

Yours faithfully,

On behalf of DG COMP

 

FOOD TASK FORCE
[4]cid:image001.png@01D2DB8F.91F42AB0
European Commission
DG COMPETITION

Competition website: [5]http://ec.europa.eu/competition

DISCLAIMER"The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not
in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the
European Commission."

 

 

References

Visible links
1. http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/...
2. http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/...
3. mailto:[email address]
5. http://ec.europa.eu/competition
http://ec.europa.eu/competition

Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

We refer to your request for access to documents which was registered for
DG Trade on 24/05/2018 under reference number GestDem 2018/2850.

Your application is currently being handled. However, 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 14/06/2018.

An extended time limit is needed as your application concerns documents
potentially held by several different units in DG Trade and those units
are in the process of being consulted.

Therefore, 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 05/07/2018.

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

Yours sincerely,

Access To Documents Team

 

European Commission 

DG TRADE

               

 

Olivier Hoedeman

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

in a letter dated 7 June 2018, DG TAXUD released 35 documents (in response to our access to documents request GESTDEM 2018/1654). Herewith I would like to submit a confirmatory application, focusing on two aspects of the response by DG TAXUD:

1) Firstly, DG Taxud has removed all names of those involved in correspondence and meetings. This is not acceptable. The names of professional lobbyists and the organisations and companies they work for are not personal data. This is information that should be accessible to the public to enable scrutiny of who is influencing EU decision-making. There is a clear public interest in having the redacted data made public. There is no reason at all to assume that the legitimate rights of the persons concerned might be prejudiced by disclosure of the names of professional lobbyists and the organisations and companies they work for. The fact that this concerns correspondence and meetings with the tobacco industry is an additional strong argument against expunging the names. Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control instructs governments to prevent tobacco industry interference. The Article 5.3 Guidelines very clearly call for transparency of government interactions with the tobacco industry. I would therefore in this confirmatory application like to request the full disclosure of the original, un-redacted versions of the 35 documents.

2) Secondly, document 35 (note of 19 January 2018) mentions that DG Taxud has decided to commission a study into the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco, but crucial information about the study has been removed: "The study has been commissioned to a consortium led by [...] team leader for the assignment is [...}." There is no justification for removing this information. Quite the contrary, there is public right to know to whom the contract for the study was awarded.

Yours faithfully,

Olivier Hoedeman
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Dear sir,

We refer to your e-mail dated 08/05/2018 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered under the above-mentioned reference number.

We regret to inform you that Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) does not hold any documents that would correspond to the description given in your application.

As specified in Article 2(3) of Regulation 1049/2001, the right of access as defined in that regulation applies only to existing documents in the possession of the institution.

Given that no such documents, corresponding to the description given in your application, are held by DG ECFIN, we are not in a position to handle your request.

In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon receipt of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:

European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/282
B-1049 Bruxelles

or by email to: [SG request email]

Yours faithfully,

ECFIN ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM


European Commission
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
Unit R.1 – HR, business correspondent, business continuity and control

show quoted sections

EC ARES NOREPLY,

1 Attachment

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

[5]Ares(2018)3257658 - Your confirmatory application - Gestdem 2018/1654 -
Contacts with the tobacco industry

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 Sir,

Thank you for your email dated 15/06/2018 by which you request, pursuant
to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by
Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union in reply to your
initial application GESTDEM 2018/1654.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 20/06/2018 (Ares(2018)3257279).

Your application will be handled within 15 working days (11/07/2018).  In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.

Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery.  We kindly offer you the possibility to provide us a contact
phone number (by email to [6][email address]), so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.

Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.

Yours faithfully,

 

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (GD)

 

[7]cid:image001.png@01D3BD42.20769590

European Commission

Secretariat-General

SG B.4 – Transparency

[8][email address]

 

show quoted sections

Secretariat General of the European Commission

27 Attachments

 
 
 
 
 
 
Dear Sir,
 
Please find attached a copy of the confirmatory decision taken on your
request for access to documents registered under Gestdem number 2018/1205,
adopted on 25/06/2018 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 copy is solely sent for your information and is not the formal
notification of the confirmatory decision.
 
Yours faithfully,
 
 
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (GD)
 
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[1][email address]
 
 
 
 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Secretariat General of the European Commission

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

 

We refer to your request for access to documents which was registered for
DG Trade on 24/05/2018 under reference number GestDem 2018/2850.

 

Unfortunately, we will not be in a position to complete the reply to your
request by today. The documents have been identified and assessed, but we
are still waiting for the reply from one of the third-parties on the
disclosure of two of the documents that fall within the scope of the
request.

 

Once we get the response from the third-party, the reply letter will
circulate for the signature of the Director-General. We hope that you will
receive the reply soon.

 

We apologise again for the delay and thank you very much for your
patience.

 

Yours sincerely,

Access to Documents Team

[1]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
Directorate-General for Trade

[2][email address

 

From: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 11:55 AM
To: '[FOI #5114 email]'
<[FOI #5114 email]>
Cc: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS <[email address]>
Subject: Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem 2018/2850

 

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

We refer to your request for access to documents which was registered for
DG Trade on 24/05/2018 under reference number GestDem 2018/2850.

Your application is currently being handled. However, 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 14/06/2018.

An extended time limit is needed as your application concerns documents
potentially held by several different units in DG Trade and those units
are in the process of being consulted.

Therefore, 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 05/07/2018.

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

Yours sincerely,

Access To Documents Team

 

European Commission 

DG TRADE

 

               

 

References

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2. mailto:[email address]

Secretariat General of the European Commission

11 Attachments

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

 

We refer to your letter dated 02/10/2017 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 02/10/2017 under the above mentioned
reference number.

 

Please find attached a scan of the reply to your request for access to
documents.

 

The paper version of the reply signed by the Director General will be sent
to you shortly by registered mail.

 

Please note that the documents for which access has been granted are
transmitted by e-mail only (see attachments).

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Food Task Force

[1]cid:image001.png@01D2DB8F.91F42AB0
European Commission
DG COMPETITION
Food Task Force

Competition website: [2]http://ec.europa.eu/competition

DISCLAIMER"The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not
in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the
European Commission."

 

References

Visible links
2. http://ec.europa.eu/competition
http://ec.europa.eu/competition

EC ARES NOREPLY,

1 Attachment

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

[5]Ares(2018)3687238 - Your confirmatory application for access to
documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – GESTDEM 2018/1654

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 Mr Hoedeman,

 

I refer to your email of 15 June 2018, registered on 20 June 2018, by
which you submit a confirmatory application in accordance with Article
7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (‘Regulation 1049/2001’).

 

Your confirmatory application is currently being handled. Unfortunately,
we have not yet been able to gather all the elements needed to carry out a
full analysis of your request and to take a final decision. Therefore, we
are not in a position to reply to your confirmatory request within the
prescribed time-limit that expires on 11 July 2018.

 

Consequently, we have to extend this period by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. The new deadline
expires on 1 August 2018.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Martine Fouwels

Deputy Head of Unit

[6]Flag

European Commission

Secretariat General

Unit B4 (Transparency)

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D4190D.35DF4180
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,

21 Attachments

Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document Ares(2018)4014499 concernant "Reply - [Re] GESTDEM 2018/2850 - Demande initiale" envoyé par M/Mme DEMARTY Jean-Luc le 30/07/2018.

Please find attached document Ares(2018)4014499 regarding "Reply - [Re] GESTDEM 2018/2850 - Demande initiale" sent by Mr/Ms DEMARTY Jean-Luc on 30/07/2018.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: This e-mail was automatically generated by the European Commission's central mail registration system.
Replies by e-mail must be addressed to the original sender DEMARTY Jean-Luc (mailto:[email address]).
Remarque : Cet e-mail a été généré automatiquement par le système d'enregistrement central du courrier de la Commission européenne.
Toute réponse éventuelle par e-mail doit être adressée à l'expéditeur en personne, à savoir DEMARTY Jean-Luc (mailto:[email address]).

EC ARES NOREPLY,

1 Attachment

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

[5]Ares(2018)4061861 - 2nd holding letter - HOEDEMAN - Gestdem 2018/1654

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.

Subject:                 Your confirmatory application for access to
documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – GESTDEM 2018/1654

 

Dear Mr Hoedeman,

I refer to your email of  15 June 2018 by which you submit a confirmatory
application in accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents[6]^[1] ('Regulation 1049/2001').

I also refer to our holding reply of 11 July 2018, by which the time limit
for replying to your confirmatory application was extended by 15 working
days, pursuant to Article 8(2) of the Regulation. This extended time limit
expires on 1 August 2018.

I regret to have to inform you that we will not be able to respond within
the extended time-limit, as the Commission decision is currently still
being finalised through the formal decision-making process. I regret this
additional delay and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may
cause.

Yours sincerely,

 

Martine Fouwels

Deputy Head of Unit

 

[7]Flag

European Commission

Secretariat General

Unit B4 (Transparency)

 

 

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

[8][1]      Official Journal L 145 of 31.5.2001, p. 43.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D429AD.A2B15A40
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...
6. file:///tmp/foiextract20211201-23715-1468jk7#_ftn1
8. file:///tmp/foiextract20211201-23715-1468jk7#_ftnref1

Secretariat General of the European Commission

5 Attachments

Dear Olivier Hoedeman,
Please find attached a copy of the confirmatory decision taken on your
request for access to documents registered under Gestdem number 2018/1654,
adopted on 08/08/2018 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 copy is solely sent for your information and is not the formal
notification of the confirmatory decision.
 
Best regards,
 
Gitte Louise Olsen
Access to documents team
 
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Unit B4 - Transparency
Office address BERL 05/315
+32 2 995 63 26
[1][email address]
 
 
 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]