Work undertaken with private companies named
Dear International Partnerships,
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:
I am requesting a record of:
All contacts between DG INTPA and relevant European Commission DGs with the companies EUGG Advisors and Transport & Infrastructure Expertise Group (TIEG EEIG), or employees of contractors of those organisations.
These include but are not limited to: Baldwin Berges, Peter Bresseleers, Richard Doherty, Pieter Dickmans.
This includes but is not limited to: phone records, texts and online messages, emails, written correspondence, and physical meetings.
Full details of any work EUGG Advisors and TIEG have undertaken on behalf of the EU, either as a direct contractor or as a subcontractor. This includes, but is not limited to, commercial details including fees paid and contracts issued, details of the duties fulfilled or duties EUGG / TIEG was hired to fulfil.
Yours faithfully,
Finbarr Bermingham
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 27/10/2023 and registered on 27/10/2023 under case number 2023/6426.
Since you have not indicated your postal address, we are not able to start
handling your request. The 15 working days to reply to your request will
start running only when you send us your postal address.
You can send your postal address by replying to this e-mail. If we do not
receive your reply we may close this case.
Please note that you can submit a request for access to Commission
documents via the portal [1]'Request a Commission document', which does
not require you to indicate your postal address.
Why do we need your personal postal address?
Since 1 April 2014, the submission of a postal address became a mandatory
feature when submitting an application for access to Commission documents
via an e-mail. We would like to explain why we need your postal address in
order to register and handle your application for access to documents when
submitted via e-mail:
• Firstly, to obtain legal certainty as regards the date you received
the European Commission reply to your application for public access to
documents. Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU) states that 'decisions which specify to whom
they are addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are
addressed and shall take effect upon such notification.' In line with
this provision, if the Commission does not grant full access to the
requested documents, it notifies the reply to the applicant via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt or via delivery
service. This requires an indication of a valid postal address by the
applicant;
• Secondly, to apply correctly the [2]Data Protection Regulation (EU)
2018/1725. Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident (or not) is
necessary for deciding which conditions shall apply for the
transmissions of personal data to applicants for access to documents.
These conditions are not the same for recipients established in the
Union and for recipients in third countries. As the vast majority of
the documents requested contain personal data, the Commission cannot
ensure the correct application of the data protection rules in the
absence of a postal address;
• Thirdly, to apply correctly [3]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Article
4(1)(b) of that Regulation refers to the protection of the privacy and
integrity of the individual and has to be applied in line with the
Data Protection Regulation;
• Fourthly, to protect the interest of other citizens and safeguard the
principle of good administration. The Commission has to treat all
citizens equally by ensuring that the legal framework for public
access to documents is respected. For example, it has to verify
whether Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is being evaded
by introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in
its Ryanair judgment ([4]EU:T:2010:511), the General Court confirmed
that Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 cannot be evaded by
splitting an application into several, seemingly separate, parts. In
addition, the Commission has to make sure that the legal framework is
respected and the right of access to documents is not abused by making
requests under an invented identity.
The considerations above show that the request for and the consequent
processing of the applicant's postal address is not only appropriate, but
also strictly necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the
public interest within the meaning of Article 5(1)(a) of Data Protection
Regulation, namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for International Partnerships - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/do...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear International Partnerships,
My address is Avenue du Derby 3, Ixelles, Brussels, 1050, Belgium
Yours faithfully,
Finbarr Bermingham
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 27/10/2023 and registered on 31/10/2023 under the case number
2023/6426.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 23/11/2023. 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,
Directorate-General for International Partnerships - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Sir,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/6426.
Kind regards,
INTPA A3 secretariat
Dear International Partnerships,
You asked me to clarify my request, but my initial request is quite clear. The request is geographically agnostic, and applies to all forms of communication that the DG has had with the named entities.
In order to "fine-tune" the request, the documents can span January 1 2015 until the present day.
Yours faithfully,
Finbarr Bermingham
Dear Mr. Bermingham,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 31/10/2023 under case number 2023/6426.
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 15/12/2023, as the answer is still under
preparation and approval.
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 16/01/2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
INTPA A3 secretariat
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear International Partnerships,
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 'Work undertaken with private companies named'.
This request was delayed in December, when DG INTPA requested an additional 15 working days to deal with the request. The new deadline was January 16th, eight days ago.
I would like to request a full and immediate response to this request.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/work...
Yours faithfully,
Finbarr Bermingham
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2023/6426, sent on 24/01/2024 and registered on 25/01/2024.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 15/02/2024. 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,
Further to you request to access Commission documents (reference 2023/6426), please find attached a letter addressed to you.
We would be grateful for your feedback.
Yours sincerely,
Florence Decoster
Unit A3 Western Africa
Directorate-General for International Partnerships
Dear DECOSTER Florence,
In response to the correspondence from Pilar PALMERO VAQUERO, I can narrow the scope of the request as following:
- the request should include the previously specified documents from September 1 2021 to the present day
- the request can be limited to the individual Baldwin Berges and the companies EUGG Advisors and Transport & Infrastructure Expertise Group (TIEG EEIG).
The purpose of my request is journalistic work.
Yours sincerely,
Finbarr Bermingham
Dear DECOSTER Florence,
Could you please clarify whether you have received my previous mail, send last Friday, which already narrowed the scope of my request and which explained the purpose.
Yours sincerely,
Finbarr Bermingham
Dear sender,
Thank you for your message.
I am out of the office and I will have sporadic access to my mailbox, back
to the office on Monday 19 February 2024.
In case of urgency, please contact Antoine Gouzee de Harven
([email address]).
Kind regards,
Florence
Florence Decoster
International Aid / Cooperation Officer for Côte d'Ivoire
Directorate-General for International Partnerships
T : +32-2-295.86.00 Office: L-41 05/75, B-1049 Brussels
Dear Sir,
I confirm good reception of your message of last week which reduced the scope of your request. We are working in it and we will come back to you as soon as possible.
Yours Sincerely,
Florence Decoster
Sent from my iPhone
Dear aplicant,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case EASE 2023/6426 registered on 25 January
2024.
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 15 February 2024.
A new deadline is needed as consultations regarding your file are still
ongoing.
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 7 March 2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG C.1 Access to Documents Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear applicant,
We are writing to you concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2023/6426, registered on 25/01/2024
On 15/07/2024, we extended the time-limit for replying to your
confirmatory request to 07/03/2024
Unfortunately, we will not be able to send you the reply within this
extended time limit due to the complexity of the file.
However, we assure you that we are doing our best to send a reply to your
confirmatory request as soon as possible.
We regret this additional delay and sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
Dear International Partnerships,
Can you please in this case tell me what your new deadline is?
Yours faithfully,
Finbarr Bermingham
Dear colleagues,
Happy holidays! I will be back on Friday March 8th.
In case of extreme urgency, please contact the following functional
mailboxes:
- Access to documents requests --> INTPA ACCESS DOCUMENTS;
- Interservice consultations --> CONSULT INTERSERVICES INTPA;
- Document management in Delegations --> INTPA EDOMEC DELEGATIONS.
Best regards!
Pierre De Bisschop
Dear International Partnerships,
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 'Work undertaken with private companies named'.
The request has been delayed repeatedly with poor communication and clarity as to what is actually going on.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/work...
Yours faithfully,
Finbarr Bermingham