Correspondence and exchange on pesticide reduction law (SUR)
Dear Health and Food Safety,
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 information:
all correspondence since 01 August 2022, (including emails, letters and attached documents, and SMS & any other type of messages processed through phone apps - eg., WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram etc, recorded voice messages), regarding the revision of the Sustainable Use of pesticides Directive (SUD) and the proposal for a Regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products as published on 22 June 2022, between the European Commission (President, Vice-Presidents, Comissioners & cabinets, DGs and officials) on the one hand, and on the other hand, one or several of these entities: Croplife Europe, CropLife International, ECCA (European Crop Care Association), Copa-Cogeca, CEJA, Business Europe, CEFIC, FarmEurope, Bayer, BASF, Syngenta, Corteva, Agriculture&Progress, CEFS (European Federation of Sugar Manufacturers), Cargill, CEPM/Maiz’Europ’, CIBE (International Confederation of European Beet Growers), Coceral, the Grain Club; and anybody acting on their behalf, such as law firms or lobby firms including EPPA, Hume Brophy or Fleishman Hillard.
I would also like to request a list of the meetings/ discussions (including those held face to face, online, by telephone etc) between the above-mentioned entities, with detailed minutes and any other reports of such meetings having occurred, since 01 August 2022, as well as any records, minutes or notes of these meetings/discussions and any briefings prepared for these meetings. My request does not include submissions to public EU consultations.
I am asking you to not redact any name of EU employees, professional lobbyists and the organisations and companies they work for, as such data cannot be considered personal data under Regulations 1049/2001 on access to documents and 45/2001 on data protection. Similarly, I kindly urge you to not apply an excessive interpretation of the clause on commercial secrets under 1049/2001.
Should this request be denied wholly or partially, please explain the denial or all deletions by referring to specific exemptions in the regulation, and by justifying your interpretation of the applicable legislation. To the extent possible, our preference is to receive documents in electronic format. Documents that cannot be sent in electronic format should be sent to Corporate Europe Observatory, Rue d’Edimbourg 26, 1050 Brussels – to the attention of Hans van Scharen. Should you transmit documents to us by regular post, we kindly ask you to announce us in advance in this regard.
I look forward to a positive consideration of this request.
Yours faithfully,
Hans van Scharen
Researcher CEO
Yours faithfully,
hans van scharen
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 03/04/2023 and registered on 12/04/2023 under case number 2023/2162.
Since you have not indicated your postal address, we are not able to start
handling your request. The 15 working days to reply to your request will
start running only when you send us your postal address.
You can send your postal address by replying to this e-mail. If we do not
receive your reply we may close this case.
Please note that you can submit a request for access to Commission
documents via the portal [1]'Request a Commission document', which does
not require you to indicate your postal address.
Why do we need your personal postal address?
Since 1 April 2014, the submission of a postal address became a mandatory
feature when submitting an application for access to Commission documents
via an e-mail. We would like to explain why we need your postal address in
order to register and handle your application for access to documents when
submitted via e-mail:
• Firstly, to obtain legal certainty as regards the date you received
the European Commission reply to your application for public access to
documents. Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU) states that 'decisions which specify to whom
they are addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are
addressed and shall take effect upon such notification.' In line with
this provision, if the Commission does not grant full access to the
requested documents, it notifies the reply to the applicant via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt or via delivery
service. This requires an indication of a valid postal address by the
applicant;
• Secondly, to apply correctly the [2]Data Protection Regulation (EU)
2018/1725. Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident (or not) is
necessary for deciding which conditions shall apply for the
transmissions of personal data to applicants for access to documents.
These conditions are not the same for recipients established in the
Union and for recipients in third countries. As the vast majority of
the documents requested contain personal data, the Commission cannot
ensure the correct application of the data protection rules in the
absence of a postal address;
• Thirdly, to apply correctly [3]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Article
4(1)(b) of that Regulation refers to the protection of the privacy and
integrity of the individual and has to be applied in line with the
Data Protection Regulation;
• Fourthly, to protect the interest of other citizens and safeguard the
principle of good administration. The Commission has to treat all
citizens equally by ensuring that the legal framework for public
access to documents is respected. For example, it has to verify
whether Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is being evaded
by introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in
its Ryanair judgment ([4]EU:T:2010:511), the General Court confirmed
that Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 cannot be evaded by
splitting an application into several, seemingly separate, parts. In
addition, the Commission has to make sure that the legal framework is
respected and the right of access to documents is not abused by making
requests under an invented identity.
The considerations above show that the request for and the consequent
processing of the applicant's postal address is not only appropriate, but
also strictly necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the
public interest within the meaning of Article 5(1)(a) of Data Protection
Regulation, namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/do...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Health and Food Safety,
On April 12th you asked for my postal adress.
Please find it here:
Corporate Europe Observatory
Hans van Scharen
Rue d’Édimbourg 26
1050 Brussels – Belgium
Yours faithfully,
hans van scharen
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 03/04/2023 and registered on 17/04/2023 under the case number
2023/2162.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 10/05/2023. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2162.
Kind regards,
DG SANTE F.3.
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2162.
Kind regards,
DG SANTE F.3.
Dear Mr Van Scharen,
Please find attached a message (Ares(2023)4140314) concerning your request
for access to Commission documents registered under the above case number
2023/2162.
According to standard operational procedure, the reply is sent by e-mail
only. We would therefore appreciate if you could confirm receipt of the
present e-mail within 5 working days by replying to
[1][email address].
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)
Directorate F – Health and food audits and analysis
Unit F3 - Plants and organics
Grange, Dunsany, C15 DA39
IRL - Co. Meath
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Van Scharen,
Please find attached a message (Ares(2023)4140314) concerning your request
for access to Commission documents registered under the above case number
2023/2162.
According to standard operational procedure, the reply is sent by e-mail
only. We would therefore appreciate if you could confirm receipt of the
present e-mail within 5 working days by replying to
[1][email address].
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)
Directorate F – Health and food audits and analysis
Unit F3 - Plants and organics
Grange, Dunsany, C15 DA39
IRL - Co. Meath
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Van Scharen,
Please find attached a message (Ares(2023)4140314) concerning your request
for access to Commission documents registered under the above case number
2023/2162.
According to standard operational procedure, the reply is sent by e-mail
only. We would therefore appreciate if you could confirm receipt of the
present e-mail within 5 working days by replying to
[1][email address].
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)
Directorate F – Health and food audits and analysis
Unit F3 - Plants and organics
Grange, Dunsany, C15 DA39
IRL - Co. Meath
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Van Scharen,
Please find attached a message (Ares(2023)4140314) concerning your request
for access to Commission documents registered under the above case number
2023/2162.
According to standard operational procedure, the reply is sent by e-mail
only. We would therefore appreciate if you could confirm receipt of the
present e-mail within 5 working days by replying to
[1][email address].
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)
Directorate F – Health and food audits and analysis
Unit F3 - Plants and organics
Grange, Dunsany, C15 DA39
IRL - Co. Meath
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]