Technical notes on PMI agreement
Dear European Anti-Fraud Office,
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 technical notes and all technical assessments, sent by Olaf in 2015 and 2016 to any European Commission service, regarding the Anti-Contraband and Anti-Counterfeit Agreement between the EU, member states and Philip Morris International (PMI).
Yours faithfully,
Peter Teffer
[1]Ares(2016)721185 - RE: Freedom of Information request - Technical notes
on PMI agreement
Sent by OLAF-FMB C4 <[OLAF request email]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par OLAF-FMB C4 <[OLAF request email]> . Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.
Dear Mr Teffer,
Thank you for your request for access to documents dated 8 February 2016,
registered under reference Gestdem 2016/0626
.
Unfortunately while treating your request, we have noticed that you have
not indicated your postal address. This address is necessary in order to
comply with the procedural requirements. Please send us your full postal
address at your earliest convenience. Pending your reply, we reserve the
right to suspend the handling your request as an application for access to
documents within the scope of Regulation (EC) N° 1049/2001.
You are kindly asked to provide the missing information via the e-mail
address: [email address] .
Best regards,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[2]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[3]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear European Anti-Fraud Office,
Many thanks for your reply.
Please use the following postal address:
Rue Montoyer 18B
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Sincerely,
Peter
Dear European Anti-Fraud Office,
On 10 February, you asked for a postal address, which you said was "necessary in order to comply with the procedural requirements". I provided you one that same day.
Unfortunately, I have not heard from you since. Are you still in the phase of considering the request or have you prepared for sending the documents to the postal address? I have not received any documents at the provided address yet as of Monday 22 February 2016.
I'm looking forward to an updated status of my request.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]themeData
Link: [3]colorSchemeMapping
[4]Ares(2016)933612 - Freedom of Information request - Technical notes on
PMI agreement
Sent by OLAF-FMB C4 <[OLAF request email]>. All responses have to be
sent to this email address.
Envoyé par OLAF-FMB C4 <[OLAF request email]> . Toutes les réponses
doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.
Dear Mr Teffer,
We acknowledge receipt of your postal address which is necessary to
consider your application for access to documents. You submitted your
request for access to documents on 8 February 2016. Please be informed
that according to Article 7 of Regulation 1049/2001 the request shall be
treated within 15 working days whereas this deadline may be extended by
another 15 working days.
Kind regards
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
Directorate C: Investigation Support
Unit C.4 – Legal Advice
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[5]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[6]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear European Anti-Fraud Office,
This is to remind you that the deadline of 15 working days to reply to my request for information dated 8 February 2016, registered under reference Gestdem 2016/0626, has now passed.
I would like to kindly urge you to respond to my request without delay.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Dear Mr Teffer,
Please find attached the reply to your request.
Yours faithfully,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROPEAN ANTI-FRAUD OFFICE (OLAF)
Directorate C: Investigation Support
Unit C.4 – Legal Advice
Rue Joseph II, 30 • B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
[1]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud
Our policy regarding personal data protection can be viewed on
[2]http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/about-us/...
Dear Madam, Sir
In response to the reply dated 29 February 2016, I would like to file a confirmatory application.
Mr Kessler writes that the first subparagraph of article 4(3) of the public access regulation prevents Olaf from publishing the documents I have requested.
That paragraph notes that access “shall be refused if disclosure of the document would seriously undermine the institution's decision-making process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.”
I have not been convinced by the letter that disclosure of the documents “would seriously undermine the institution's decision-making process”. I see no evidence in the letter that publishing those documents would do that.
Additionally, I would like to argue that there is an overriding public interest in disclosure. There has been, and there is currently, a public debate about the merits of the Anti-Contraband and Anti-Counterfeit Agreement, both in the public sphere, and among the elected representatives of the European citizens in the European Parliament.
If the European Commission makes a decision to renew the agreement, negotiations will have to begin quickly, and they are likely to take place behind closed doors. It is important that ahead of that decision, media and the public have been able to weigh all the arguments, including those not covered by the technical assessment published by the Commission on 24 February.
All the best,
Peter Teffer
Thank you for your request for access to documents.
Unfortunately you have not indicated your postal address that is required
for registering and handling your request in line with the procedural
requirements. Please send us your full postal address at your earliest
convenience. Pending your reply, we reserve the right to refuse the
registration of your request.
You may, of course, use directly the electronic form for entering your
request:
[1]http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/...
You have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website. Please note
that this website is not under the European Commission's management,
therefore the European Commission cannot be held accountable for any
technical issues or problems linked to the use of this system
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear European Anti-Fraud Office,
I have already sent you the postal address, in the response dated 10 February 2016.
In fact, on 23 February, you already acknowledged having received that address. Can you explain why you neglected to use the address you had already received, and instead ask for it again almost two weeks after my previous message?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Rue Montoyer 18B
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Dear Mr Teffer,
Thank you for your email dated 18/03/2016, by which you request, pursuant
to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by DG
OLAF in reply to your initial application GestDem 2016/626.
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 31/03/2016 (Ares(2016)1544705).
Your application will be handled within 15 working days (21/04/2016). In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery. We kindly offer you the possibility to provide us a contact
phone number (by email to [1][email address]), so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.
Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.
Apologies for the delay in registering your request earlier. The
Commission does not keep a record of the applicants' postal address,
therefore we ask for the confirmation each time a new initial or
confirmatory request is introduced.
Best regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
[2]ec logo
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit SG.B4 – Transparency