briefings for ERT meetings june 21-nov22
Dear Energy,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting all briefings prepared for the Commissioner, Director General and/or DG energy officials in advance of meetings with the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) from June 2021 until the present day.
Yours faithfully,
Belen Balanya
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 08/11/2022 and registered on 09/11/2022 under the case number
2022/6388.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 30/11/2022. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Ms Balanya,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 09/11/2022 under case number 2022/6388.
Your request is a duplicate of EASE 2022/6387.
Therefore, we have closed this case 2022/6388 and you will receive a reply
for only EASE 2022/6387.
Kind regards,
DG Energy
DG ENERGY – Access to Documents Team
Email: [1][email address]
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Energy,
Thanks for your response. Please notice they are not a duplicate. I agree only one should be considered but this should 2022/6388, as the period I'm asking for is from June 2021 (not June 2022).
Please confirm this will be the case,
Kind regards,
Belen Balanya
Dear Ms Balanya,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 09/11/2022 under case number 2022/6388.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 30/11/2022.
Your application concerns documents held by different Services, which must
be consulted.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 21/12/2022.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG Energy
DG ENERGY – Access to Documents Team
Email: [2][email address]
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms Balanya,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2022/6388.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
DG Energy - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear Energy
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'briefings for ERT meetings june 21-nov22', sent on 08/11/2022 and registered on 09/11/2022 under the case number
2022/6388.
On 24 January I received a response refusing to disclose the documents: "With reference to documents originating from Commissioner Simson and/or her Cabinet, we cannot provide the requested briefing for a meeting between the Commissioner and ERT on 8/11/2022. Disclosing the briefing is prevented by the exception to the right of access laid down in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 because it would not be beneficial to ongoing relationships with the interlocutors, and would therefore potentially undermine the Commission’s decision-making process in future."
Article 4(3) reads: Access to a document, drawn up by an institution for internal use or received by an institution, which relates to a matter (1)where the decision has not been taken by the institution, shall be refused if disclosure of the document would (2)seriously undermine the institution's decision-making process, unless there is an (3)overriding public interest in disclosure.
The response is not specific about which decision has not been taken that is related to that meeting, only stating a general claim that disclosure would undermine the Commission's decision-making process in the future.
Moreover, DG Energy should prove the harm , it is not enough to simply state that the process would “potentially” be undermined in the future. The same request has been answered in a positive manner by DG GROW and DG Clima, which shows how disclosure is not likely to seriously undermine decision making.
There is a public interest of public interest to be able to monitor and detect potential cases of undue influence. The Union institutions must conduct their work as openly as possible
Article 15 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states:
1. In order to promote good governance and ensure the participation of civil society, the Union's institutions, bodies, offices and agencies shall conduct their work as openly as possible.
As stated in Case C‑280/11 P, the Court lays out the “advantage” of increased openness is that it enables citizens to participate more closely in the decision-making process and guarantees that the administration enjoys greater legitimacy and is more effective and more accountable to the citizen in a democratic system.
In addition to this, in relation to the right of access to EU documents, recital 4 in the preamble to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 states:
The purpose of this Regulation is to give the fullest possible effect to the right of public access to documents
Article 1 of Regulation 1049/2001 states:
‘The purpose of this Regulation is:
(a) to define the principles, conditions and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing the right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission … documents … in such a way as to ensure the widest possible access to documents.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/brief...
kind regards,
Belen Balanya
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.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2022/6388, sent on 10/02/2023 and registered on 10/02/2023.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 03/03/2023. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2022/6388, sent on 10/02/2023 and registered on 10/02/2023.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 03/03/2023. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear applicant,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2022/6388 registered on 10/02/2023.
We are currently working on your confirmatory request. However, we have
not yet been able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full
analysis of your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within
the prescribed time limit expiring on 03/03/2023.
Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to provide you with our final
position within this deadline given the delay took with our service
consultation concerning your request.
Therefore, in line with Article 8(2) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 we
need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new time
limit expires on 24/03/2023.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Secretariat General/ Energy,
I submitted a confirmatory application in February and I still did not get a response. This delay is excessive and against the rules. I urge you to disclose the documents originally requested as soon as possible,
Kind regards,
Belen Balanya
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.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...