(Legal) Framework for funding the project "Participatory Development Programme in urban Areas" by Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ)
Dear International Cooperation and Development,
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:
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is involved in a project called "Participatory Development Programme in urban Areas" that is partly funded by the European Union (see https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/16278.html and http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/neighbou...).
I request any document that
(a) states the amount of the funding
(b) outlines the legal framework for implementing the project
(c) outlines the different phases for funding the project
(d) outlines goals to be achieved to grant (further) funding to the project
(e) evaluates the project
(f) prospects the EU's further involvement in the project
(g) any correspondence between the EU and GIZ concerning the project
as well as the documents identified by the following CRIS reference numbers:
ENPI/2012/024-570
ENPI/2012/024-571
ENPI/2012/024-572
Yours faithfully,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff
Dear Mr. Baudet von Gersdorff,
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,
Your NEAR ACCDOC Team
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 11/08/2016 to DEVCO DOSSIERS ACCES in which
you make a request for access to documents. I furthermore refer to your
e-mail of 17/08/2015 to DEVCO DOSSIERS ACCES by which you communicated
your postal address. Your request was registered by NEAR ACCDOC on
25/08/2015 under the above mentioned reference number.
The description given in your application does not enable us to identify
precisely the relevant documents which would correspond to your request.
We therefore invite you, pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, to provide us with more
detailed information on the documents which you seek to obtain, as
follows:
On your question (a) states the amount of the funding:
We consider that the relevant documentation can be found on the following
links:
[1]https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/dev...
[2]https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/dev...
[3]http://egypt-urban.net
Additional documentation about the programme can be found through the
following link:
[4]http://egypt-urban.net /
In case you wished to obtain any additional information, please specify
further?
On your question (b) outlines the legal framework for implementing the
project:
Please clarify whether you refer to the legal framework of the overall
project, i.e. the Financing Agreement between the Commission and the
Egyptian authorities, or to the contract between the Commission and GIZ
related to the implementation of the project?
On your questions (c) outlines the different phases for funding the
project and (d) outlines goals to be achieved to grant (further) funding
to the project, we consider that the relevant documentation can be found
under the above-mentioned links.
In case you wished to obtain any additional information, please specify
further?
On your questions (e) evaluates the project, please find attached a public
outline of the last evaluation of the PDP programme carried out by GIZ on
behalf of BMZ. The full report has not been published by GIZ yet.
In case you wished to obtain any additional information, please specify
further?
On your questions (f) prospects the EU's further involvement in the
project and (g) any correspondence between the EU and GIZ concerning the
project, please clarify whether your request covers documents which
originate from third parties, in particular the Egyptian authorities and
GIZ?
If you need assistance in clarifying or specifying your application, you
can contact us:
* by email to: [5][email address]
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,
Your NEAR-ACCDOC Team
Dear NEAR-ACCDOC Team,
I refer to your reply from August 25, 2015 concerning my request for documents in connection to the Participatory Development Programme in Cairo, Egypt executed by GIZ.
In the following text, as stated in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 Article 3, I use the term "document" to refer to "any content whatever its medium (written on paper or stored in electronic form or as a sound, visual or audiovisual recording)".
First of all, thank you for your instant and sophisticated reply.
Second, in your reply, I could not read anything about the status of my request concerning the documents I asked for at the very end of my original email, that are:
ENPI/2012/024-570
ENPI/2012/024-571
ENPI/2012/024-572
These documents are mentioned in http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/neighbou... at the very first page of the Annex. I consider these as very much related to my request.
I assume that there is no further need to specify my request related to these particular documents since I refer to them with their CRIS number. In your reply, I miss a statement concerning these documents. I kindly ask you to process my request concerning these documents too.
Third, I thank you for providing further references related to part (a) of my request. For the time being, concerning this part of my request, I consider the relevant information supplied.
Fourth, concerning part (b) of my request: I request both documents, i.e. the Financing Agreement between the Commission and the Egyptian Authorities and the contract between the Commission and GIZ. Because I consider this information crucial, I not only request documents concerning the current but also previous phases of the project. As far as I know, the project has been received funding by the European Union for several years.
Fifth, for the time being, I agree with your statements concerning part (c) and (d) of my request.
Sixth, thank you for providing the document related to part (e) of my request. In addition, I kindly request any document that refers to the dissertation of Elena Piffero available at http://egypt-urban.net/phd-thesis-what-h... and/or evaluates the project in terms of the deficiencies mentioned in the above mentioned work. Further, I request /any/ document that evaluates the project.
Seventh, especially concerning parts (f) and (g) of my request: Yes, my request also covers documents that originate from third parties. In principle, i.e. also in connection to all the other parts of my request, I do *not* restrict my request to documents that originate from the EU but I also request documents from third parties that are in the EU's possession (see Regulation 1049/2001, Article 1, Paragraph 3). Thus, my request covers documents that originate from the EU and from third parties.
I very much appreciate your cooperation. In case you need further specifications of the documents I request, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will reply as soon as possible.
Yours faithfully,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff
Dear International Cooperation and Development,
in reference to your email from August 25, 2009 and my reply from August 29, 2015 I would like to inform you that, according to Regulation 1049/2001 Article 7 §1, your response is delayed because 15 working days exceeded since I sent you the requested clarifications.
Is the answer to my request still in process?
Yours faithfully,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff
Dear Sir,
We refer to your requests for access to documents, registered on 31/08/2015 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 applications within the time limit of 15 working days, which expires today.
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 will expire on 12/10/2015.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
NEAR ACCDOC.
Dear Mr Baudet von Gersdorff,
We refer to your request for access to documents registered on 31.08.2015 and our ensuing correspondence.
As regards your request for documents identified by the CRIS reference numbers ENPI/2012/024-570, ENPI/2012/024-571 and ENPI/2012/024-572, please note that the above mentioned CRIS reference numbers are a Commission internal way of encoding. Those references correspond to programmes/components that are part of the SPRING Commission Decision (2013) 8416. The reference ENPI/2012/024-571 relates to your request as it corresponds to the European Union (EU) Delegation Agreement with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) signed on 28.08.2012 together with its Addendum of December 2013. These documents, which are the core of exchanges between the EU and GIZ in this respect, are attached.
Regarding the EU's further involvement with GIZ, please find attached the Commission Implementing Decision of 22.07.2015 on an Annual Action Programme 2015 in favour of Egypt and the relevant annex on support to GIZ.
As regards your request for documents outlining the legal framework for implementing the project, we have identified the Financing Agreement between the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and the Egyptian Government of November 2013. As this qualifies as an international agreement, we would like to let you know that we have consulted the Egyptian Government. We will follow up on this point, as appropriate.
As regards your request for documents that refer to evaluation of the project and to the dissertation of Elena Piffero, you received a public outline of the last evaluation of the PDP programme carried out by GIZ on behalf of BMZ with our mail of 25.08.2015. No further documents in particular referring to the dissertation of Elena Piffero could be found.
Yours sincerely,
NEAR ACCDOC
Dear NEAR ACCDOC Team,
thank you for your reply from October 7th, 2015 and the documents you attached to your mail.
I very much appreciate your efforts for following up on the international agreement you mentioned and wait for your response.
Yours faithfully,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff
Dear NEAR ACCDOC Team,
I refer to my request for access to documents registered on 31.08.2015 and our ensuing correspondence.
Since I haven't received anything from you about the progress concerning the following up on the international agreement for more than a month, I am wondering whether some progress could be made.
Did you receive a reply by the Egyptian Government? What is the current status of my request? Are you still following up on the Financing Agreement you mentioned?
Yours faithfully,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff
Dear Mr Baudet von Gersdorff,
Thank you very much for your email. For the time being, we did not received any reply form the Egyptian authorities. We will contact you once we receive it.
Sincerely yours,
NEAR ACCDOC
Dear NEAR ACCDOC Team,
I refer to my request for access to documents registered on 31.08.2015 and our ensuing correspondence. The last notice I received from you is from November 13, 2015. Since October 7, 2015 I have been waiting for the submission of another document. In your email you write:
"As regards your request for documents outlining the legal framework for implementing the project, we have identified the Financing Agreement between the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and the Egyptian Government of November 2013. As this qualifies as an international agreement, we would like to let you know that we have consulted the Egyptian Government. We will follow up on this point, as appropriate. "
Has the Egyptian government replied to your request yet?
Despite your original request, have you sent additional inquiries to the Egyptian government in regard of the document in question? If you have not, I kindly ask you to do so. Although you could provide me with the other documents that I requested, in regard of the aforementioned document the submission remains pending. I am afraid that your request to the Egyptian Government got lost accidentally.
Yours faithfully,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff
Dear Mr Baudet von Gersdorff,
Thank you very much for your email. We are following up on your request for the Financial agreement between the EU and the Egyptian Government of November 2013.
We will contact you as soon as we have a reply from the Egyptian authorities.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
Kind regards,
NEAR ACCDOC
Dear Mr Baudet von Gersdorff,
we would like to inform you that in the meantime the EU Delegation in Egypt has sent an official letter reminding the Egyptian authorities of our request to take a position on the release of the document that you have requested.
We will inform you when we receive a reply.
Kind regards,
NEAR ACCDOC
Dear NEAR ACCDOC,
thank you for following up on this. I am awaiting your response.
Kind regards,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff
Dear Mr Baudet von Gersdorff,
Thank you for your e-mail dated 21/06/2016.
Please be informed that we are working on your request regarding the relevant financial agreement.
Kind regards,
NEAR ACCDOC
Dear Mr Baudet von Gersdorff,
We refer to your e-mail dated 29 August 2015 in which you make a request for access to documents, registered on 31 August 2015 under the above mentioned reference number. Your application concerned several documents related to the Participatory Development Programme in Egypt.
On 7 October 2015, we sent you an email with all the relevant documents requested, except the Financing Agreement between the European Union and the Egyptian Government of November 2013. We informed you that as it qualified as an international agreement, according to article 4(4) of Regulation 1049/2001, the Egyptian Government was consulted on the disclosure of the document.
In our ongoing correspondence since October, we informed you in our emails of 13 November 2015, 27 April 2016, 31 May 2016 and 27 July 2016 about further developments concerning your request.
Please find in the attachment a copy of the document.
We apologize for the delay and for any inconvenience this might have caused you.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
NEAR ACCDOC
Dear NEAR ACCDOC,
thank you for following up on my request from 29 August 2015 and sending me the missing document. I very much appreciate your efforts.
Yours faithfully,
Niklaas Baudet von Gersdorff