Stakeholder contacts on Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA)

The request was partially successful.

Dear Madams & Sirs,

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:

1) a list of meetings of DG Trade officials and/or representatives (including the Commissioner and the Cabinet) and stakeholders, including trade unions, civil society groups, as well as representatives of individual companies, industry associations, law firms, public consultancies and think tanks in which the Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) was discussed (between January 2014 and today);

2) minutes and other reports of these meetings;

3) all correspondence (including emails) between DG Trade officials and/or representatives (including the Commissioner and the Cabinet) and stakeholders, including trade unions, civil society groups, as well as representatives of individual companies, industry associations, law firms, public consultancies as well as think tanks regarding the Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) (between January 2014 and today).

I would appreciate if you could take the Code of Good Administrational Behaviour into account when considering section 1 of this request.

Yours faithfully,

Lora Verheecke
on behalf of Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Corporate Europe Observatory
26 rue d'Edimbourg
1050 Brussels

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Verheecke,

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 17/01/2017.  We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on
18/01/2017 under reference number GestDem 2017/0311.

 

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
08/02/2017. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.

 

You have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website. Please note
that this is a private website which has no link with any institution of
the European Union. Therefore the European Commission cannot be held
accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to the use of this
system.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Access to Documents Team

[1]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
DG TRADE

 

 

 

 

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1 Attachment

Dear Ms Verheecke,

 

We refer to your request for access to documents, registered on 18/01/2017
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 08/02/2017.

 

An extended time limit is needed as your application concerns a large
number of documents and large files have to be examined.

 

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 01/03/2017.

 

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

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Access to Documents Team

[1]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
DG TRADE

 

 

 

From: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 5:32 PM
To: 'Lora Verheecke'
Cc: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS
Subject: RE: access to documents request - Stakeholder contacts on
Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) - GestDem 2017/0311

 

Dear Ms Verheecke,

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 17/01/2017.  We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on
18/01/2017 under reference number GestDem 2017/0311.

 

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
08/02/2017. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.

 

You have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website. Please note
that this is a private website which has no link with any institution of
the European Union. Therefore the European Commission cannot be held
accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to the use of this
system.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Access to Documents Team

[2]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
DG TRADE

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Verheecke,

 

We refer to your request for access to documents, registered on 18/01/2017
under the above mentioned reference number.

 

Following a close examination of your request, we have constituted that
your request concerns a large number of documents which is also why it
took us until today, when the deadline for your request expires, to get
back to you. We apologise for having taken longer than expected and hope
for your understanding.

 

As regards the first point of your request, we would like to inform you
that we are not able to identify any existing document within the meaning
of Article 2(3) of Regulation 1049/2001, which contains a list of
stakeholder meetings related to the EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement.
Unfortunately we also  do not have resources to generate such list ad hoc
either as in accordance with the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour
this would represent a disproportionate administrative burden for DG
Trade.

 

As regards point two and three of your request, we would like to inform
you that so far we have identified 266 documents that would fall under the
scope of your request. Please find attached a list of these documents; for
each of them the list provides the type of document, the date and a
description. This list may be amended in the event that we find additional
documents relevant to your request.

 

Regulation 1049/2001 provides for a possibility to confer with applicants
in order to find a fair solution when an application relates to a very
long document or concerns a very large number of documents. Article 6(3)
provides that in the event of an application relating to a very long
document or to a very large number of documents, the institution concerned
may confer with the applicant informally, with a view to finding a fair
solution.

 

Based on the above-mentioned provision, we would kindly ask you to specify
the objective of your request and your specific interest in the documents
requested and whether you could narrow down the scope of your request
(i.e. the subject matter(s) and/or timeframe covered), so as to reduce it
to a more manageable amount of documents.

 

If that is not possible and if you maintain your request for access to all
documents concerned by your application, we propose to handle your
application in successive stages. If you accept this proposal, you could
indicate an order of priority, which we would try to follow as much as
possible in handling your application. This means that parts of your
application would be considered to have been introduced in successive
stages and will be dealt with within the corresponding new time-limits.
You would in that case receive, at regular intervals, batches of documents
which have been cleared for full or partial release and/or a reasoned
reply explaining why some (parts of the) documents cannot be disclosed.

 

To give you an idea of the overall timeline, we would expect to be able to
process a batch of up to 30 documents within 30 working days. So according
to that estimate and based on our initial search, your request would be
divided into successive batches which are processed taking into account
other applications for access to documents and other tasks that the staff
concerned are likely to have to deal with during the same period. This
includes:

-              assessment of the content of the documents in light of the
exceptions of Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001;

-              third-party consultations under Article 4(4) of Regulation
1049/2001;

-              final assessment of the documents in light of the comments
received;

-              drafting of the reply;

-              redaction of those parts of the documents to which one or
several exceptions apply(ies);

-              internal approval of the draft decision on your request;

-              preparation of the reply and the documents for dispatch.

 

It follows that, according to these first estimates, we would send you a
first batch of up to 30 documents within the deadline of 30 working days.
The remaining documents would be sent in successive batches.

 

As regards the reports of the discussions in the framework of the civil
society dialogue (documents 74, 89, 129 and 159 of the attached list),
they have been made public and can be found here:

-         
[1] http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/20...

-         
[2]http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/20...

-         
[3]http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/20...

-         
[4]http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/20...

 

We would kindly ask you for a swift reply to our invitation to propose a
fair solution. In the absence of a reply within five working days, we will
start processing the documents in batches of up to 30, as set out above.

 

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Access to Documents Team

[5]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
DG TRADE

 

From: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2017 6:08 PM
To: 'Lora Verheecke'
Cc: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS
Subject: RE: access to documents request - Stakeholder contacts on
Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) - GestDem 2017/0311

 

Dear Ms Verheecke,

 

We refer to your request for access to documents, registered on 18/01/2017
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 08/02/2017.

 

An extended time limit is needed as your application concerns a large
number of documents and large files have to be examined.

 

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 01/03/2017.

 

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

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Access to Documents Team

[6]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
DG TRADE

 

 

 

From: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 5:32 PM
To: 'Lora Verheecke'
Cc: TRADE ACCES DOCUMENTS
Subject: RE: access to documents request - Stakeholder contacts on
Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) - GestDem 2017/0311

 

Dear Ms Verheecke,

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 17/01/2017.  We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on
18/01/2017 under reference number GestDem 2017/0311.

 

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
08/02/2017. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.

 

You have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website. Please note
that this is a private website which has no link with any institution of
the European Union. Therefore the European Commission cannot be held
accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to the use of this
system.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Access to Documents Team

[7]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
DG TRADE

 

 

 

 

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Dear Access to Documents Team,

Thank you very much for your answer.

If I was to reduce the timeframe of my request for the list of stakeholder meetings related to the EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement to January 2015 until December 2015, would you be able to respond to it?
If so, could you make this your first priority?

Regarding my requests for documents, could you please send me the following meeting reports?
Meeting report 31/01/2014 J.L. Demarty meeting - the International Relations Committee of BusinessEurope
Meeting report 04/02/2014 Meeting JLD-Cefic
Meeting report 28/02/2014 ESF
Meeting report 23/05/2014 International Relations Committee of BusinessEurope on 23 May 2014
Meeting report 17/06/2014 ESF
Meeting report 20/06/2014 FTA working group BusinessEurope
Meeting report 10/07/2014 Meeting with the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI)
Meeting report 28/07/2014 Meeting with Cosmetics Europe
Meeting report 30/09/2014 ESF
Meeting report 14/10/2014 ESF Policy Committee
Meeting report 24/10/2014 J.L. Demarty at the International Relations Committee of BusinessEurope
Meeting report 13/11/2014 Report: Japan Network Meeting of BusinessEurope
Meeting report 09/12/2014 Meeting with VDA
Meeting report 15/12/2014 Digital Europe
Meeting report 16/12/2014 ESF Policy Committee
Meeting report 11/02/2015 Meeting with international committee of Business Europe
Meeting report 11/03/2015 Meeting with BDI
Meeting report 19/03/2015 ESF Policy Committee
Meeting report 24/03/2015 Meeting with MEDEF
Meeting report 31/03/2015 ESF
Meeting report 08/05/2015 J.L. Demarty at the International Relations Committee of BusinessEurope
Meeting report 28/07/2015 Meeting report: meeting with Business Europe on the EU-Japan FTA negotiations
Meeting report 01/10/2015 Stock taking meeting with Cosmetics Europe on several trade issues
Meeting report 17/11/2015 Business Europe
Meeting report 17/11/2015 J.L. Demarty meeting with Cercle de l'Industrie
Meeting report 16/12/2015 ESF Policy Committee
Meeting report 29/01/2016 Report meeting at the International Relations Committee of BusinessEurope
Meeting report 22/02/2016 J.L. Demarty meeting at the Corporate Advisory and Support Group of BusinessEurope
Meeting report 03/03/2016 ESF Policy Committee
Meeting report 07/06/2016 ESF Policy Committee
Meeting report 19/07/2016 Meeting of the Market Access Working Group on Sanitary and Phytosanitary issues
Meeting report 15/09/2016 Meeting with BusinessEurope
Meeting report 26/10/2016 ESF
Meeting report 18/11/2016 Meeting of the Market Access Working Group on Sanitary and Phytosanitary issues
Meeting report 14/12/2016 Digital Europe

Those documents could come at a later stage, after the list of external meetings.
Yours faithfully,

Lora

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Verheecke,

 

Thank you for responding so swiftly to our email and for indicating your
priority interests.

 

As regards a list of stakeholder meetings that took place between January
2015 and December 2015, we regret to confirm, however, that we are not
able to identify any existing document within the meaning of Article 2(3)
of Regulation 1049/2001. As explained in our previous email, we do not
have the resources to create such a new document that does not yet exist.
But for the purpose of your request, we have already created and released
a list containing the meeting reports and correspondence mentioned in
points 2 and 3 of your request, from which you could extract information
with respect to the first point of your application. We very much hope
this information will be useful for you.

 

As regards the meeting reports you have listed in your email, it is
helpful for us to know that these are of particular interest to you. 
Could you please kindly clarify if you will consider your request closed
once those reports will be disclosed? In that case we would aim to deliver
all these documents in one single batch.

 

In case it is not possible for you to narrow down the scope of points 2
and 3 of your request to those priority meeting reports, the documents
would be delivered in successive batches as indicated in our previous
email, each within consecutive periods of 30 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,

 

 

Access to Documents Team

[1]http://ec.europa.eu/trade/images/ec-logo...
European Commission
DG TRADE

 

 

 

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Dear Trade,

Thank you for your answer.
I hereby confirm that I will consider my request closed once my list of reports will be disclosed.
Yours faithfully,

Lora Verheecke

EC ARES NOREPLY, Trade

36 Attachments

Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document Ares(2017)3028981 concernant "Access to documents request - Stakeholder contacts on Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) - GestDem 2017/0311" envoyé par M DEMARTY Jean-Luc le 16/06/2017.

Please find attached document Ares(2017)3028981 regarding "Access to documents request - Stakeholder contacts on Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) - GestDem 2017/0311" sent by Mr DEMARTY Jean-Luc on 16/06/2017.

Access to Documents Team
DG TRADE
[DG TRADE request email]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: This e-mail was automatically generated by the European Commission's central mail registration system.
Replies by e-mail must be addressed to the original sender DEMARTY Jean-Luc (mailto:[email address]).
Remarque : Cet e-mail a été généré automatiquement par le système d'enregistrement central du courrier de la Commission européenne.
Toute réponse éventuelle par e-mail doit être adressée à l'expéditeur en personne, à savoir DEMARTY Jean-Luc (mailto:[email address]).

Dear EC ARES NOREPLY,

I would like to thank you again for all the documents you sent me.
Could I please ask you for the report of the meeting between DG Trade and Grayling on 30th July 2015?
Yours sincerely,

Lora Verheecke