Minutes of the Council Working Group meeting of 13 May 2013 (Possible Aarhus Directive)

The request was partially successful.

Kieran Fitzpatrick

Dear Council of the EU,

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 earlier (30 January 2018) made an FOI request to the EU Commission. (The request is posted on asktheeu .org website and entitled "ID Member States which failed to support the 2003 Aarhus Directive on Access to Justice". Reference Number GestDem2018/629 .

In the course of that request, the Commission refered to a document/documents in the possession of the EU Council, and advised me to apply directly to you for same.

The relevent email from the Commission is here:

Dear Mr Fitzpatrick,
We are contacting you regarding the decision provided to you (by email) on
20 March 2018, containing the reply to your confirmatory application
2018/629. That application related access to, among others, to the minutes
of the Council Working Group meeting of 13 May 2013.
In the decision, the Commission confirmed that it does not hold this
document; however, it transmitted your application (in so far as this
document is concerned) to the Council for handling and follow-up.
The application was indeed transferred to the Council, however, the latter
informed us that, if you maintain your request for access to that
document, you need to contact the Council access to documents team
directly (the address of the functional mailbox:
[email ------------]
Best regards,
----
SG.B.4, Transparence
Berl. 05/315

Further to the above specific request , I also request access to any other documents held by the Council which helps to indicate any member state’s reluctance (or any reluctance as expressed by any official of a member state) to implement an EU Aarhus Directive on Access to Justice, including and documents sent by any EU Commissioner to the Council referencing same, in the period from 1 January 2001 to 1 January 2018.

I seek the above documentation pursuant to Regulation 1049/2001
AND
pursuant to EU REGULATION (EC) No 1367/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL (of 6 September 2006), and specifically including Article 2(1) (d) of that later Regulation [as well as measures or activities designed to protect those elements]. For clarification, I seek that the requested documentation be supplied in electronic format ONLY, and my reference to documentation includes all available formats.

In responding to my request, I would ask the Council to have regard to it responsibility to comply with its obligations to respect the spirit of the Treaties of the EU to adhere to the rule of law, and to ensure that there is maximum transparancy and accountability, in regard to the EU legislative process, and particularly, a legislative process which has failed to implement recommendations of the democratically elected European Parliament, to give effect to international commitments of both the EU and all member states of the EU. Regard should also be had to the recent recommendations of the Office of the Ombudsman of the EU, in regard to need for transparency of EU Council meetings in regard to abandoned legislative proposals. I request that any redaction of documents should be the minimally applied to protect any permitted exceptions to transparency.

Yours faithfully,
Kieran Fitzpatrick

Anbally, Cummer, Co. Galway, Postcode-H54 AX90, Ireland.

Postmaster Consilium, Council of the European Union

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

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L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au 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 l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

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Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

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SECRETARIAT DGF Access, Council of the European Union

2 Attachments

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CFA5C5.5240EA00

 

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat

Communication and Information

Knowledge Management

Transparency

 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]

Kieran Fitzpatrick

Dear SECRETARIAT DGF Access,
Thank you for letter of today, 20 april 2018.
I had requested access to a specific document, plus other unspecified documents. The specific document refers to a council meeting, and the council has had a number of months to reflect on its release. I would point out that under Article 4, of the Aarhus convention, environmental information should be provided ASAP.
Whilst, more time may be necessary to find and assess the release of the unspecified documents, this should not be used to delay the release of the main document requested.
I hope you can give this matter further consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Kieran Fitzpatrick

Postmaster Consilium, Council of the European Union

Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.

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This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.

***

To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.

***

L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au 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 l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.

***

S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.

***

Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.

***

Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.

***

Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch generiert. Bitte nicht antworten.

***

Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...

Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.

SECRETARIAT DGF Access, Council of the European Union

3 Attachments

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CFD3F6.0B583760

 

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat

Communication and Information

Knowledge Management

Transparency

 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]