EU-JTI, EU-BAT & EU-ITL agreements
Dear Madam, Sir,
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 reports regarding compliance with the respective agreements between the EU and tobacco manufacturers Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco, and Imperial Tobacco Limited
If there is a need for me to clarify my request, please let me know.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Dear Mr Treffer,
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your request for access to documents sent
on 21 July 2023, and registered on 24 July 2023.
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.
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
[1]OLAFEN-low-resolution2
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[2][OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[3]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[4]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear Madam, Sir,
While I disagree with your policy to ask for a postal address (because it is no guarantee that it proves someone is an EU resident/citizen, and in 2023 one does not require printed versions of digital information), you can register this address:
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Dear Mr Treffer,
Thank you very much. I acknowledge receipt of your reply and of your
application for access to documents, registered today 24 June 2023.
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
August 2023. In case this time-limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
[1]OLAFEN-low-resolution2
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[2][OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[3]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[4]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 24/07/2023 and registered on 24/07/2023 under the case number
2023/4344.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 14/08/2023. 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,
European Anti-Fraud Office - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Mr Teffer,
We refer to your request for access to documents containing information
about reports regarding compliance with the respective agreements between
the EU and tobacco manufacturers Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco,
and Imperial Tobacco Limited.
The handling of your request involves potentially a large number of
documents, possibly originating from third parties. The analysis of such
documents, together with the need to consult the third parties in
accordance with Article 4(4) and 4(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
cannot be expected to be completed within the normal time limits set out
in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
As a result, in accordance with Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001, could we please ask you whether it is possible for you to
narrow down the scope of your application by reference to a specific
timeframe, so as to reduce it to a more manageable amount of documents?
Article 6(3) provides that the deadline for reply is extended by a further
15 working days, so that the new deadline is now 5 September 2023.
In order to enable us to respect the time-limits of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001, we would ask you for a swift reply to request, within five
working days at the latest. In the absence of a reply within five working
days, we will unilaterally restrict the scope of your application so that
it can be dealt with within the extended deadline.
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
[1]OLAFEN-low-resolution2
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[2][OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[3]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[4]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
From: OLAF FM D2
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 4:35 PM
To: Peter <[FOI #13295 email]>
Subject: RE: access to documents request - EU-JTI, EU-BAT & EU-ITL
agreements
Dear Mr Teffer,
Thank you very much. I acknowledge receipt of your reply and of your
application for access to documents, registered today 24 June 2023.
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
August 2023. In case this time-limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
[5]OLAFEN-low-resolution2
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[6][OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[7]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[8]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear Madam, Sir,
Thank you for your message. As someone who does not know how many documents exist, it is difficult to know how to narrow down the scope by referring to a specific timeframe, in such a way that it will sufficiently reduce the request to an amount of documents that is "more manageable".
Is it possible to provide a list of documents with their dates, so that I can understand better which documents OLAF holds? And could you then provide an indication of how many documents would be manageable?
best
Peter
Dear Madam, Sir,
On 2 August, OLAF urged me to reply swiftly to its request to narrow down the scope of my application. You asked me to reply within five working days. I even replied on the same day, telling you that I needed more information before I could narrow down the request.
To date, I did not receive any reply to that message.
So while OLAF asked me to reply within 5 working days, OLAF has now left me in the dark for 20 working days. I find this unacceptable. I would like to note that if the handling of my request now exceeds the statutory time limit of 2 x 15 working days, I am not to blame for this. I therefore expect OLAF to handle my request within that time limit.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Dear Mr Treffer,
Thank you for your email. Please rest assured that we are working on the
reply, which you will get within the deadline indicated in our last email,
5 September 2023. This deadline is indeed twice 15 working days.
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
[1]OLAFEN-low-resolution2
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[2][OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[3]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[4]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear Madam, Sir,
I refer to the previous e-mail exchange regarding case number 2023/4344.
Can you clarify what is now the status of OLAF's request to narrow down the scope of the request? Is this not necessary anymore?
This would be good news, of course, but it would be nice if I would be informed of such a development.
All the best,
Peter Teffer
Dear Mr Teffer,
Thank you for your quick reply. After further assessment, the scope of your request seemed clear. No further clarifications were therefore needed.
We are working on it and will get back to you as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear Mr Teffer,
Please find enclosed the reply to your application for public access to
documents.
We would kindly ask you to acknowledge receipt of this email.
Yours sincerely,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
[1]OLAFEN-low-resolution2
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[2][OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[3]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[4]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
From: OLAF FM D2
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2023 9:50 AM
To: 'Peter' <[FOI #13295 email]>
Subject: RE: access to documents request - EU-JTI, EU-BAT & EU-ITL
agreements
Dear Mr Treffer,
Thank you for your email. Please rest assured that we are working on the
reply, which you will get within the deadline indicated in our last email,
5 September 2023. This deadline is indeed twice 15 working days.
Kind regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
[5]OLAFEN-low-resolution2
Directorate D – Legal, Resources and Partnerships
Unit D.2 – Legal Advice
[6][OLAF request email]
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[7]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[8]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear Madam, Sir,
I confirm receipt of OLAF's reply to my application for public access to documents (EASE 2023/4344) on 5 September 2023.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer