EU-US Energy Council
Dear European External Action Service,
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 communication, including e-mails and minutes from conversations, from the European Union to the United States, and vice versa, about the eighth United States-European Union Energy Council, and the EU-US Energy Council Climate Change Working Group
- All internal European Commission communication, including e-mails and minutes from conversations, about the eighth United States-European Union Energy Council
- All documents since 1 January 2016, including e-mails, presentations and minutes, with references to the meetings of the EU-US Energy Council Climate Change Working Group
- All documents since 1 January 2016, including e-mails, presentations and minutes, with references to the meetings of the EU-US Energy Technology Working Group
- All documents since 1 January 2016, including e-mails, presentations and minutes, with references to the meetings of the EU-US Energy Policy Working Group
- All documents since 1 January 2016, including e-mails, presentations and minutes, with references to the meetings of the EU-US Energy Security Working Group.
I'm looking forward to receiving your reply.
All the best,
Peter Teffer
postal address:
EUobserver
Rue Montoyer 18B
1000 Brussels
Belgium
PS: I have noticed that the Commission sometimes send both a digital and a paper version by registered mail of your response. Please only send paper versions of your communication if you do not intend to send a digital copy. The physical mail always reaches me later than e-mail, so paper versions are environmentally wasteful and somewhat inefficient.
Dear Mr Teffer,
This message is an acknowledgement of receipt for your requests for access
to documents under Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (which the EEAS is
also respecting).
Your requests for access to documents have been registered under reference
number: 2018/008
Please refer to this number in any further correspondence.
In accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15
working days: 29/1/2018.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS Access to Documents (AD)
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.AFFGEN.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
European External Action Service
[2]unnamed
References
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1. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Mr Teffer,
Our services are still examining your request for access to documents,
exceptionally, we need to extend the deadline for reply by additional 15
working days in accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 for the reply to be
adequately validated.
Please note that some parts of your request falls under the competence of
the European Commission and were sent to them.
Yours sincerely,
Access to Documents (AD)
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.AFFGEN.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Sir,
Further to your access to documents request dated 08/01/2018 and addressed
to the European External Action Service, we hereby inform you that your
request was registered on 30/01/2018 and split among several
Directorates-General of the European Commission as follows:
GESTDEM 2018/0636 => DG ENER (lead)
GESTDEM 2018/0638 => DG CLIMA
GESTDEM 2018/0639 => DG RTD
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
20/02/2018.
In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please note that part of your request falls under the competence of the
European External Action Service and will be handled separately from the
references mentioned above.
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 (LC)
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[1][email address]
Dear M. Teffer,
Your application for access to documents, registered under the above
mentioned reference number, is currently being handled. However, we were
not in a position to complete the handling of your application within the
time limit of 15 working days, which expired on Tue 20/02/2018.
An extended time limit is needed for thorough analysis as to the
availability of the document requested.
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 13/03/2018.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
ENER ACCES DOCUMENTS Team
European Commission
DG ENER
Unit A.1
DM24 08/046
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
+32 2 295 80503
Dear Mr Teffer,
As we were obliged to consult the third party, would you be so kind as to
be patient for a some more days for the reply to be adequately validated.
We will make every effort to process your request as quickly as possible.
We apologize for this delay.
Thank you for your understanding,
Yours sincerely,
EEAS Access to Documents (AD)
[1][email address]
SG.AFFGEN.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
From: EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2018 6:17 PM
To: '[FOI #4974 email]'
Subject: Request Under Regulation 1049 - holding reply
Dear Mr Teffer,
Our services are still examining your request for access to documents,
exceptionally, we need to extend the deadline for reply by additional 15
working days in accordance with Regulation 1049/2001 for the reply to be
adequately validated.
Please note that some parts of your request falls under the competence of
the European Commission and were sent to them.
Yours sincerely,
Access to Documents (AD)
[2][EEAS request email]
SG.AFFGEN.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Mr Teffer,
We refer to your application dated 8/1/2018, registered on 30/1/2018 under
the above mentioned reference number.
Your request for access to documents is currently being handled. However,
we are not in a position to complete the handling of your application
within the time limit of 15 working days, which will expire today,
20/2/2018.
An extended time limit is needed as your request concerns documents held
by different services, which have to be consulted.
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 13/3/2018.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
RTD Access to documents
European Commission
DG Research & Innovation
Common Legal Support Service
ORBN
1049 Brussels/Belgium
[1][email address]
[2]http://ec.europa.eu/research
_____________________________________________
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 5:55 PM
To: '[FOI #4974 email]'
Subject: Access to documents request - Peter TEFFER - SPLIT GestDem
2018/0636, GestDem 2018/0638, GestDem 2018/0639
Dear Sir,
Further to your access to documents request dated 08/01/2018 and addressed
to the European External Action Service, we hereby inform you that your
request was registered on 30/01/2018 and split among several
Directorates-General of the European Commission as follows:
GESTDEM 2018/0636 => DG ENER (lead)
GESTDEM 2018/0638 => DG CLIMA
GESTDEM 2018/0639 => DG RTD
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
20/02/2018.
In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please note that part of your request falls under the competence of the
European External Action Service and will be handled separately from the
references mentioned above.
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 (LC)
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[3][email address]
Dear Mr Teffer,
We refer to your request for access to documents registered under the
above mentioned reference number.
We are not in a position to complete the handling of your application
within the time limit of 15 working days, which expires today.
In accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents we have to extend the time limit by 15 working
days, the new deadline is set for 13 March 2018.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Sincerely,
Access to Documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Climate Action
Av. de Beaulieu 24
1049 Brussels
Dear Mr Teffer,
On behalf of Mr Visentin please find attached the reply to your request
for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS (AD)
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.AFFGEN.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Madam, Sir,
Thanks for the reply with part of the documents I have requested. I have not heard from your counterparts in DG ENER, CLIMA, or RTD. They should have responded by now, but have not.
I have written to an email address for a contact within DG ENER, but I do not have such contact information for the other two DGs. Could you assist by nudging the responsible persons within those DGs about the requests divided between them:
GESTDEM 2018/0636 => DG ENER (lead)
GESTDEM 2018/0638 => DG CLIMA
GESTDEM 2018/0639 => DG RTD
All the best
Peter
Dear Mr Teffer,
We were in contact with other two DGs. We have received the information from the Commission that you will receive a separate reply.
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS (AD)
Dear Mr Teffer,
Enclosed please find an advance copy of our reply:
Kind regards,
Access to Documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Climate Action
Av. de Beaulieu 24
1049 Brussels
Dear Mr Teffer,
We refer to your application dated 8/1/2018 in which you made a request
for access to documents, registered on 30/1/2018 under the above mentioned
reference number.
We were not in the position to complete the handling of your application
within the extended time limit of 30 working days, which expired
yesterday, 13/3/2018, but you will receive an answer to your application
very soon, as the internal approval procedures were initiated.
Please accept our sincerest apologies for the inconveniences we may have
caused you.
Yours sincerely,
RTD Access to documents
European Commission
DG Research & Innovation
Common Legal Support Service
ORBN
1049 Brussels/Belgium
[1][email address]
[2]http://ec.europa.eu/research
_____________________________________________
From: RTD ACCESS DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 1:37 PM
To: '[FOI #4974 email]'
Subject: FW: Access to documents request - Peter TEFFER - GestDem
2018/0639
Dear Mr Teffer,
We refer to your application dated 8/1/2018, registered on 30/1/2018 under
the above mentioned reference number.
Your request for access to documents is currently being handled. However,
we are not in a position to complete the handling of your application
within the time limit of 15 working days, which will expire today,
20/2/2018.
An extended time limit is needed as your request concerns documents held
by different services, which have to be consulted.
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 13/3/2018.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
RTD Access to documents
<< OLE Object: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) >>
European Commission
DG Research & Innovation
Common Legal Support Service
ORBN
1049 Brussels/Belgium
[3][email address]
[4]http://ec.europa.eu/research
_____________________________________________
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 5:55 PM
To: '[FOI #4974 email]'
Subject: Access to documents request - Peter TEFFER - SPLIT GestDem
2018/0636, GestDem 2018/0638, GestDem 2018/0639
Dear Sir,
Further to your access to documents request dated 08/01/2018 and addressed
to the European External Action Service, we hereby inform you that your
request was registered on 30/01/2018 and split among several
Directorates-General of the European Commission as follows:
GESTDEM 2018/0636 => DG ENER (lead)
GESTDEM 2018/0638 => DG CLIMA
GESTDEM 2018/0639 => DG RTD
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
20/02/2018.
In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please note that part of your request falls under the competence of the
European External Action Service and will be handled separately from the
references mentioned above.
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 (LC)
<< OLE Object: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) >>
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[5][email address]
Dear Madam, Sir,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications for DG CLIMA.
Thank you for your reply to the 'DG CLIMA part' of my access to documents request about the EU-US Energy Council and the Climate Change Working Group, registered under GESTDEM 2018/0638.
DG CLIMA states that access to parts of some of the documents has to be denied, as well as entire access to others. The reason given for not disclosing documents 2-5 and 9, and parts of documents 1 and 6-8, is that this disclosure would undermine the position of the European Union in its relations with the United States of America.
Indeed, this can be a valid reason under article 4 of the regulation regarding public access to EU documents, but article 4 also states that exceptions may not apply if there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.
The documents may include valuable information needed for journalists like myself – and the wider public – to assess the progress of cooperation between the EU and the USA on climate change, a most vital issue of public interest. How climate change is being tackled is of interest to all EU citizens, as many EU commissioners and politicians in the past have pointed out.
I therefore would like to ask that the decision is reconsidered with the possible overriding public interest in mind.
In addition to the above, I also would like to challenge that all the information withheld would potentially undermine the position of the European Union in its relations with the United States of America.
I particularly doubt this 'undermine'-argument applies to the summaries of the first constituent meeting of the Climate Change Working Group on 22 September 2016. One would expect such a summary to be mostly factual and thus to not hold unpleasant surprises for the US side, which would have attended the meeting.
Additionally, I would like to have more specific metadata on the documents not disclosed, to help me assess the Commission's decision for non-disclosure.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
All the best,
Peter Teffer
postal address:
EUobserver
Rue Montoyer 18B
1000 Brussels
Belgium
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/eu_u...
Dear Mr Teffer,
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled
to make a confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review its
position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days
upon receipt of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at
the following address:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/282
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to: [email address]
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.AFFGEN.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
Dear Mr Teffer,
Please be informed that DG ENER's reply is being finalized and you will
receive it shortly.
We do apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
ENER ACCES DOCUMENTS Team
European Commission
DG ENER
Unit A.1
DM24 08/046
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
+32 2 295 62 44
_____________________________________________
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 5:55 PM
To: '[FOI #4974 email]'
Subject: Access to documents request - Peter TEFFER - SPLIT GestDem
2018/0636, GestDem 2018/0638, GestDem 2018/0639
Dear Sir,
Further to your access to documents request dated 08/01/2018 and addressed
to the European External Action Service, we hereby inform you that your
request was registered on 30/01/2018 and split among several
Directorates-General of the European Commission as follows:
GESTDEM 2018/0636 => DG ENER (lead)
GESTDEM 2018/0638 => DG CLIMA
GESTDEM 2018/0639 => DG RTD
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
20/02/2018.
In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please note that part of your request falls under the competence of the
European External Action Service and will be handled separately from the
references mentioned above.
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 (LC)
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG B.4 – Transparency
[1][email address]
Dear Mr Teffer,
With regard to your request for access to documents under Regulation
(EC)1049/2001, which has been registered on 30 January 2018 under
reference GestDem 2018/0636 in the GestDem database, please find attached
and advanced copy of our reply as well as the annexes.
The original hard copy letter with annex will be send to your postal
address , registered with acknowledgement of receipt ,by postal services.
Peter Teffer
postal address:
EUobserver
Rue Montoyer 18B
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Yours faithfully,
European Commission
DG ENERGY – Directorate General for Energy
Secretariat Directorate A – Unit A3 – International Relations and
Enlargement
Office DM 24 7/137
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
[5]Ares(2018)1882807 - 1st Holding reply - Teffer - Gestdem 2018/638
Sent by ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[email address]>. All responses have
to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[email address]>. Toutes les
réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.
Dear Mr Teffer,
I refer to your email of 15 March 2018, registered on 5 March 2018,
through which you submit a confirmatory application in accordance with
Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents ('Regulation
1049/2001').
Your confirmatory application is currently being handled. Unfortunately,
we have not yet been able to gather all the elements we need to carry out
a full analysis of your request in order to take a final decision and,
therefore, we are not in a position to reply to your confirmatory request
within the prescribed time limit expiring 10 April 2018.
Consequently, we have to extend the deadline for handling it by another 15
working days in accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. The
new deadline expires on 2 May 2018.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Martine Fouwels
Deputy Head of Unit
[6]Flag
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit B4 (Transparency)
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D3D017.5C6D5290
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/ext/doc...
Please find attached the document Ares(2018)2166509 regarding your access to documents request - GestDem 2018/0639.
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