Setting up of the Group of Personalities on Defence Research

Secretariat General of the European Commission did not have the information requested.

Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,

I am writing on behalf of Vredesactie, a Member of the European Network Against Arms Trade ("ENAAT"), to exercise my rights under Regulation 1049/2001 to request access to documents as detailed below. As a Member of ENAAT, Vredesactie is actively involved in ensuring transparency within the EU institutions' defence and security policy-making process.

It is publicly known that Ms Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, and her Cabinet were involved in the setting up of the Group of Personalities on Defence Research ("Group of Personalities").

With the above in mind, I hereby respectfully request access to:

All documents held containing information relating to the setting up and establishment of Group of Personalities, including those providing information on:

1. The reasons for setting up the Group of Personalities;
2. Factors considered relevant for determining the composition of the Group of Personalities;
3. Criteria defined and/or applied for the identification and/or selection of members of the Group of Personalities (or rejection of potential members);
4. The process for appointing members to the Group of Personalities;
5. Actors (apart from Member State and EU institution actors) approached in relation to the setting up the Group of Personalities; and
6. Actual or proposed or contemplated meetings with actors (apart from Member State and EU institution actors) in relation to the setting up of the Group of Personalities or some other type of interaction which is recorded in a document (e.g. invitation documents, documents requesting information from actual or potential candidates).

I am seeking documents on the setting up of the Group of Personalities to have a better understanding of how the Commission approached the question of seeking input on the very important question of EU defence policy. In particular, it is important to understand how the influence of the arms industry and other non-governmental special interests were taken into account and balanced with the other civil society needs.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Yours faithfully,

Bram Vranken 
On behalf of Vredesactie

Vredesactie
Patriottenstraat 27, 
2600 Berchem 
www.vredesactie.be 
Tel. +32 (0) 3 281 68 39 
Mobile: +32 497 13 14 64

Secretariat General of the European Commission

Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
 
 
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]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 la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
 
 
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
 
 

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Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Bram Vranken,
Thank you for your e-mail dated 28/01/2019.  We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your request for access to documents, which was registered on
28/01/2019 under reference number GestDem 2019/0523.
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
18/02/2019. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
 
Best regards,
 
Gitte Louise Olsen
Access to documents team
 
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Unit C1 – Transparency, Document Management &
Access to Document
Office address CHAR 03/021
+32 2 995 63 26
[1][email address]
 
 

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Secretariat General of the European Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Vranken,

 

We refer to your e-mail dated 28/01/2019 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 28/01/2019 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 18/02/2019.

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 11/03/2019.

 

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

 

Yours sincerely,

 

DG GROW – Access to documents team

 

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/03 – Strategic Planning and Delivery Unit

 

Secretariat General of the European Commission

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Vranken,

 

Please find attached our reply concerning the above mentioned subject.

 

Best regards,

Grow I.5

[1]cid:image001.png@01D3258A.F012E100

European Commission
DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Unit I5-Defence2

45, Avenue d'Auderghem 1040 – Brussels

 

References

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