Troika in Ireland - Irish Legal System
Dear Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN),
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) Any document expressing concern about, or requesting any change to, or reform of the legal system in Ireland.
2) Any document in response or answer to such concern or request made by the Irish authorities.
3) Any document offering or suggesting change or reform of the legal system in Ireland made by the Irish authorities.
4) Any document in response or answer to such offer or suggestion made by the European Commission.
Yours faithfully,
Fergal Foley
Dear Mr Foley,
Subject: Your application for access to information - Troika in Ireland - Irish Legal System
We refer to your e-mail dated 17/11/2013 in which you make a request for access to documents.
We note that your application is formulated in a very general terms and in order to be able to identify relevant documents we would kindly ask you whether you could specify the scope of your request.
In particular, could you please specify the following:
1. What do you mean by "reform of the legal system in Ireland". Do you refer to a specific Irish legislation or a specific legislative project?
2. What is the temporal scope of your request, i.e. during what time period the relevant documents were produced?
3. Do you only request documents in possession of DG ECFIN or your request is related to the whole Commission?
We will register your application and process it as soon as we receive your clarifications.
If you have any questions, you can contact us by email to: [DG ECFIN request email]
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Yours faithfully,
J. Lotarski
Legal officer
European Commission
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
R.3: Evaluation, internal control, business continuity and document management
Dear Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN),
FOI EC & ECB
Given that between September 2010 and December 2013, a group of organisations, comprised of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank, known as “The Troika” visited Ireland at regular intervals and met with Government Ministers and officials, for the purpose of overseeing the management of the Irish economy and the efforts and actions needed to recover from the disaster that had occurred, please supply copies of all or any documents, of any kind including items held in electronic form, received or sent by "The Troika" or any European Agency, by
(a) Any Directorate or other organ of the European Commission; and
(b) Any division or other organ of the European Central Bank;
Suggesting, proposing or recommending, dealing with, or making, or seeking, comment or information about any of the undermentioned matters:-
(1) The Irish Legal System;
(2) The division of the Legal Profession in Ireland into Barristers and Solicitors;
(3) The cost of litigation in Ireland;
(4) The possibility of merging the two parts of the Irish legal profession;
(5) The Regulation of the two parts of the Irish legal profession;
(6) The establishment of a body to regulate the two parts of the Irish legal profession;
(7) The cost of any system of Regulation that may have been considered or discussed;
(8) Any Regulatory Impact Study that may have been undertaken on any such Regulatory System;
(9) Permitting or encouraging partnerships or any other type of joint enterprise between lawyers in Ireland and other occupations such as Accountants, Insurers, Auctioneers, Engineers or Financial Institutions;
(10) The effect on Competition between Irish Lawyers of any such partnership or joint enterprise;
(11) Any Legislation to be enacted by the Irish Parliament, providing for the regulation of lawyers in Ireland, such as the Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011.
In summary: Please supply copies of all or any documents as outlined above.
Yours faithfully,
Fergal Foley
P.S. When I attempt to reply to your e-mail, I get a permanent delivery failure error message for "[email address]"
Dear Sir,
Your request for access to documents has been registered. This message is an acknowledgement of receipt.
In accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, you will receive a reply within 15 working days (29/01/2014).
We will handle your request as far as the documents in the possession of the European Commission are concerned. We informed the European Central Bank about your request.
Yours faithfully,
J. Lotarski
Legal officer
European Commission
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
R.3: Evaluation, internal control, business continuity and document management
Dear Mr Foley,
The ECB hereby confirms receipt, on 8 January 2013, of your application
for access to documents, which was forwarded to the ECB by the European
Commission.
Please note that access to ECB documents is governed by Decision
ECB/2004/3 (the unofficial consolidated version of this ECB Decision is
available on the<[1]ECB website>).
Your request has been registered and a reply will be provided to you in
line with this Decision, i.e. by 5 February 2013.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat Division
European Central Bank
Kaiserstrasse 29
60311 Frankfurt am Main.
[2][email address]
Phone+49 69 1344 0
Fax: +49 69 1344 6170
Dear Mr Foley,
Subject: Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2014/0085
We refer to your request in which you make a request for access to documents, registered 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 today.
An extended time limit is needed as your application requires a consultation with the Irish authorities under Article 4.5 of the Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding the disclosure of the documents originating from Ireland.
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 19 February 2014.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
J. Lotarski
Legal officer
European Commission
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
R.3: Evaluation, internal control, business continuity and document management
Dear Mr Foley,
According to Decision ECB/2004/3 on access to ECB documents, the ECB
shall provide a reply to your application within 20 working days. As,
however, your request requires the consultation of third parties, we have
to invoke Article 7.3 of the Decision and extend the time limit provided
to reply by an additional 20 working days, i.e. until 5 March 2014
Your faithfully,
Secretariat Division
European Central Bank
Kaiserstrasse 29
60311 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
Phone+49 69 1344 0
Fax: +49 69 1344 6170
_____________________________________________
From: Secretariat Inbound e-mails
Sent: 15 January 2014 17:47
To: '[FOI #1021 email]'
Subject: Your request for access to ECB documents - ECB-UNRESTRICTED
Dear Mr Foley,
The ECB hereby confirms receipt, on 8 January 2013, of your application
for access to documents, which was forwarded to the ECB by the European
Commission.
Please note that access to ECB documents is governed by Decision
ECB/2004/3 (the unofficial consolidated version of this ECB Decision is
available on the<[2]ECB website>).
Your request has been registered and a reply will be provided to you in
line with this Decision, i.e. by 5 February 2013.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat Division
European Central Bank
Kaiserstrasse 29
60311 Frankfurt am Main.
[3][email address]
Phone+49 69 1344 0
Fax: +49 69 1344 6170
Dear Mr Foley,
Subject: Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2014/0085
We refer to your request in which you make a request for access to documents, registered under the above mentioned reference number.
We would like to inform you that the Commission's discussions and recommendations on legal services reforms in the context of the programme of economic and financial assistance to Ireland are all included in the Memorandum of Understanding (and its quarterly updates during the three years of the programme) and in the quarterly reports assessing programme implementation. All quarterly reports, which include Memorandum of Understanding updates, are available on the ECFIN internet page on Ireland: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/assi...
The only documents related to your request in possession of the Commission and which are not publicly available originate from the Irish authorities. We are still in the process of consulting with the Irish authorities under Article 4.5 of the Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding the disclosure of these documents.
We will inform about the disclosure of these documents at due time.
We apologise for the delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
J. Lotarski
Legal officer
European Commission
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
R.3: Evaluation, internal control, business continuity and document management
Dear Mr Foley,
Please find attached the ECB’s reply to your request on the above.
Your faithfully,
Secretariat Division
European Central Bank
Kaiserstrasse 29
60311 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
Phone+49 69 1344 0
Fax: +49 69 1344 6170
_____________________________________________
From: Secretariat Inbound e-mails
Sent: 30 January 2014 11:33
To: [FOI #1021 email]
Subject: RE: Your request for access to ECB documents - ECB-UNRESTRICTED
Dear Mr Foley,
According to Decision ECB/2004/3 on access to ECB documents, the ECB
shall provide a reply to your application within 20 working days. As,
however, your request requires the consultation of third parties, we have
to invoke Article 7.3 of the Decision and extend the time limit provided
to reply by an additional 20 working days, i.e. until 5 March 2014
Your faithfully,
Secretariat Division
European Central Bank
Kaiserstrasse 29
60311 Frankfurt am Main
[2][email address]
Phone+49 69 1344 0
Fax: +49 69 1344 6170
_____________________________________________
From: Secretariat Inbound e-mails
Sent: 15 January 2014 17:47
To: '[FOI #1021 email]'
Subject: Your request for access to ECB documents - ECB-UNRESTRICTED
Dear Mr Foley,
The ECB hereby confirms receipt, on 8 January 2013, of your application
for access to documents, which was forwarded to the ECB by the European
Commission.
Please note that access to ECB documents is governed by Decision
ECB/2004/3 (the unofficial consolidated version of this ECB Decision is
available on the<[3]ECB website>).
Your request has been registered and a reply will be provided to you in
line with this Decision, i.e. by 5 February 2013.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat Division
European Central Bank
Kaiserstrasse 29
60311 Frankfurt am Main.
[4][email address]
Phone+49 69 1344 0
Fax: +49 69 1344 6170
Dear Mr Foley,
Subject: Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2014/0085
We refer to your request of 28 December 2013 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered under the above mentioned reference number.
Please find attached the reply to the request in point.
We apologise for the delay in replying.
Yours faithfully,
J. Lotarski
Legal officer
European Commission
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
R.3: Evaluation, internal control, business continuity and document management