EuropeAid & Energy Reform in Egypt
Dear Development & Cooperation - EuropeAid (DEVCO),
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:
I am searching for information on EuropeAid's "Energy
Sector Policy Support Programme".
I am searching for an action fiche for the programme, which doesn't seem to be available on the net, and in addition I am searching for more detailed reports on this programme, the studies that were undertaken under the Energy SSRP, and the evaluation reports on the SSRP or Europe's aid to Egypt's energy sector in general.
This program makes the release of funds dependent of predefined conditionalities so I would like to receive detailed information on these conditionalities and the amount of funds (and their destination), that were linked to them.
Also, as this project is run in coordination through the energy subgroup of the Donor Assistance Group (DAG) or Donor Partners Group (DPG), so I would like to have a copy of this subgroups' program, minutes, studies or evaluations.
Additionally to this, I am searching for specific information on the Stakeholder and the Civil Society Consultations regarding EuropeAid's or DPG's work on Egypt's energy sector.
I would like to make clear I prefer you produce the documents on a rolling basis. At no point should the Commission's search for—or deliberations concerning—certain documents delay the production of others that the Commission has already retrieved and elected to produce.
If the European Commission wants me to precise references of the studies I would like to have access to, please provide me with information on public registers of available documents.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Nagi
Habi Center for Environmental Rights
116 Masr wa Sudan Street Hadayek El Koba
Cairo, Egypt.
www.hcer.org
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 06/04/2015 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 13/04/2015 under the above mentioned
reference number.
The description given in your application does not enable us to identify
concrete documents, apart from the Action Fiche you mention.
We therefore invite you, pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, to provide us with more
detailed information on the documents which you seek to obtain, in
particular on the following elements:
1. As regards the Sector Policy Support Programme, please clarify what
kind of studies and evaluation reports and for which period you are
looking for. Could you be so kind as to indicate concrete dates and
references?
1. As regards the energy subgroup, please clarify what kind of studies or
evaluations you are looking for. Could you indicate any titles or
references? As regards the programme and the minutes you mention: do
they refer to specific meetings and, if yes, could you indicate the
dates and subject of these meetings?
1. As regards information on the Stakeholder and the Civil Society
Consultations regarding EuropeAid's or DPG's work on Egypt's energy
sector: could you please specify what kind of information you are
exactly looking for? Do you have any document references, titles or
dates?
If you need assistance in clarifying or specifying your application, you
can contact us:
* by email to: [1][email address]
The 15 working days the time limit for handling your application will
start running when we receive the requested clarifications.
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Yours faithfully,
NEAR-ACCDOC.
Dear International Cooperation and Development,
I think my request was sufficiently precise, and in fact the article 6(2) you seek to use doesn't instruct me to precise the references, dates or periods, etc..., but instructs you to provide me with information about which information is available, if you want me to be more precise, you could do so by providing me with information on public registers of documents for example, because without this register I wouldn't be able to precise references, dates or periods.
I already noted this in my original request in fact; " If the European Commission wants me to precise references of the studies I would like to have access to, please provide me with information on public registers of available documents."
You asked me a question I already answered in the original request, so unless you seek to unduly delay my request, I don't see how you can claim that "The 15 working days the time limit for handling your application will start running when we receive the requested clarifications.".
Yours faithfully,
Habi Center for Environmental Rights
Dear Sir,
We refer to your last e-mail dated 18/04/2015 in which you refer to your request for access to documents which was registered under GestDem 2015/2146.
In the following link you will find the requested Action Fiche: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devc... (3rd action fiche)
As for the other documents requested and following our exchange on our request for clarification, we would like to inform that the EU Delegation in Cairo is currently assessing voluminous files based on your indications, primarily on the following:
- Detailed reports and studies undertaken under the ESPSP.
- Evaluation reports on the ESPSP or Europe's aid to Egypt's energy sector in general.
- Specific conditions related to the ESPSP programme and disbursements.
- Available information derived from the DPG Subgroup: agendas, minutes, studies, evaluations.
- Information on Civil Society Consultations In the framework of EU support to Egypt's energy sector.
We will then be in a position to provide you with a list of relevant documents from which you could choose. We will provide you with such a list as soon as possible and at the latest on 1 June
Furthermore, we would like to propose to you that you establish a direct contact with the EU Delegation in Cairo which could confer with you informally and provide you with further guidance. Therefore, we would be glad to provide you with the contact details of the project managers following the Energy sector at the EU Delegation in Cairo, with whom you could arrange a meeting, discuss your concerns in a more effective manner and possibly ask for further information on these two this programme.
Yours faithfully,
NEAR-ACCDOC
Dear Sir,
We refer to your request for access to documents registered under GestDem 2015/2146 and to our last e-mail dated 05/05/2015 to which a link to the action fiche was attached.
As agreed, please find below the list of further relevant documents which could be identified for your consideration:
1. Detailed reports and studies undertaken under the ESPSP:
a) Formulation Report of November 2010;
b) Terms of Reference for the Technical Assistance to support the reform of the energy sector (attached).
2. Evaluation reports on the ESPSP: There are no such documents in the possession of the Commission services because no evaluation has been undertaken yet, as the programme is still on- going.
3. Specific conditions related to the ESPSP programme and disbursements: The Financing Agreement signed between the European Union and the Arab Republic of Egypt specifies the specific conditions (including tentative disbursement calendar) of the Programme.
4. Documents derived from the DPG Subgroup such as agendas, minutes, studies and evaluations.
5. Information on Civil Society Consultations in the framework of EU support to Egypt's energy sector: There is no written record of consultations in the possession of the Commission services.
The documents quoted under 1. are attached.
As regards the documents quoted under 2. and 5., no documents were found that would correspond to the description given in your application.
As regards the document quoted under 3., consultation of the competent Egyptian authorities would have to be undertaken under Art. 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 to assess whether an exception in its paragraphs 1 or 2 is applicable.
As regards the document quoted under 4., consultation of the third parties who authored such documents would have to be undertaken under Art. 4 (4) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 to assess whether an exception in its paragraphs 1 or 2 is applicable.
In line with our last e-mail dated 05/05/2015, we would be grateful to you to let us know whether you would be interested in disclosure of documents mentioned under 3. and/ or 4.
Once more, we would like to you know that the EU Delegation to Egypt would be pleased to schedule a meeting with representative/s from the Habi Center for Environmental Rights to better understand your needs and support you as much as possible.
Yours faithfully,
NEAR-ACCDOC