Commissioner letters on Poland RRP
Dear Madam, Sir
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 letters, e-mails and notes sent by European Commissioners to President Von der Leyen regarding the 1 June 2022 College discussion about Poland's Recovery and Resilience Plan (point 12.3 on the College agenda), including but not limited to those by Commissioners Reynders and Jourova.
Please note I prefer to receive the documents in digital format, not by physical mail.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054 HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your e-mail of 02/06/2022. We hereby acknowledge receipt of
your application for access to documents, which was registered on
02/06/2022 under reference number GESTDEM 2022/3208.
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 24/06/2022. In case this time limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.
You have lodged your application via a private third-party 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.
Please note that the private third party running the AsktheEU.org website
is responsible and accountable for the processing of your personal data
via that website, and not the Commission.
For further information on your rights, please refer to the third party’s
privacy policy.
We understand that the third party running the AsktheEU.org website
usually publishes the content of applicants’ correspondence with the
Commission on that website. This includes the personal data that you may
have communicated to the Commission (e.g. your private postal address).
Similarly, the third party publishes on that website any reply that the
Commission will send to the email address of the applicants generated by
the AsktheEU.org website.
If you do not wish that your correspondence with the Commission is
published on a private third-party website such as AsktheEU.org, you can
provide us with an alternative, private e-mail address for further
correspondence. In that case, the Commission will send all future
electronic correspondence addressed to you only to that private address,
and it will use only that private address to reply to your request. You
should still remain responsible to inform the private third-party website
about this change of how you wish to communicate with, and receive a reply
from, the Commission.
For information on how we process your personal data visit our page
Privacy statement – access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Dear Madam, Sir,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I refer to my application for access to documents under Regulation 1049/2001, which was registered under reference number GESTDEM 2022/3208. The European Commission was supposed to have handled my request by 24 June 2022.
Article 7.1 of Regulation 1049/2001 states EU institutions should handle applications "promptly" and no later than within 15 working days. In exceptional cases an extension of the time-limit is possible, but only if the applicant is "notified in advance". The time-limit of 24 June 2022 has passed and I have not been notified of any need to extend the time limit. Thus, article 7.4 entitles me to make a confirmatory application, since the Commission failed to reply within the prescribed time-limit.
I hope that as confirmatory application, my request will be handled promptly.
Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email dated 27/06/2022 by which you request, pursuant
to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by the
Secretariat General in reply to your initial application GESTDEM
2022/3208.
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 28/06/2022 (Ares(2022)4710631).
Your application will be handled within 15 working days (19/07/2022). In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery. Thank you for providing your contact phone number, so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.
Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
[5]Your confirmatory application for access to documents under Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3208 - 1st holding letter -
Ares(2022)5233380 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Teffer,
I refer to your email of 27 June 2022, registered on the following day, by
which you submitted 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 (EC) No
1049/2001"), registered under reference number above.
Your confirmatory application is currently being handled. Unfortunately,
we have not yet been able to gather all the elements needed to carry out a
full analysis of your request and to take a final decision. Therefore, we
are not in a position to reply to your confirmatory request within the
prescribed time limit which expires on 19 July 2022. Consequently, we have
to extend this period by another 15 working days in accordance with
Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. The new deadline expires on
10 August 2022. However, I can assure you that we are doing our utmost to
provide you with a final reply within the next 15 working days.
I regret this additional delay and sincerely apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Mariusz Daca, Ph.D.
Deputy Head of Unit
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D89B66.DFCD68E0
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
Dear Mrs Daca,
I refer to your e-mail received on 19 July 2022, with regards to my confirmatory application for access to documents registered as Ares(2022)4710631. In the e-mail, you say that the Commission has "not yet been able to gather all the elements needed to carry out a full analysis of [the] request and to take a final decision" and that "therefore" the Commission was "not in a position" to reply to my request within the prescribed time limit, which expires on 19 July 2022.
I would like to point out that Regulation 1049/2001 does not allow for an extension of the time limit unless there is an "exceptional case", and only when the applicant is provided with "detailed reasons" for the extension.
*Every* confirmatory application requires that the Commission "gathers all the elements needed to carry out a full analysis of [a] request" to take a final decision. This element-gathering cannot be an explanation for why my request is an exceptional case, nor can I accept the explanation as being "detailed".
Failure to gather all the elements needed to carry out a full analysis of a request and to take a final decision within the time limit of 15 working days is not a valid reason for an extension.
I therefore request that before the end of the day, you provide detailed reasons why my application is an exceptional case. Otherwise, I shall interpret your lack of reply as having denied me access, entitling me to complain to the European Ombudsman.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Dear Sir,
Please find attached an advance copy of the reply to your confirmatory
request for access to documents registered under the number GESTDEM
2022/3208.
Yours faithfully,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (GD)
[1]cid:image001.png@01D45409.F767C980
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG C.1
[2][email address]
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Madam, Sir
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, which was registered on 02/06/2022 under reference number GESTDEM 2022/3208.
(All letters, e-mails and notes sent by European Commissioners to President Von der Leyen regarding the 1 June 2022 College discussion about Poland's Recovery and Resilience Plan (point 12.3 on the College agenda), including but not limited to those by Commissioners Reynders and Jourova.)
The Commission said the documents cannot be published because of that ‘would jeopardise the decision-making process in the meaning of the second subparagraph of Article 4(3)’ of the European access to documents regulation.
In particular, the Commission said that the information contained in these documents were ‘meant for internal use as part of the deliberations ensuring the best possible decisions for the sake of the Union’s general interest’. Additionally, the Commission stated: ‘Public disclosure of preliminary views of Members on sensitive issues that do not necessarily represent the final position of the Commission would have a negative effect on their participation in such informal exchanges and would undermine the Commission’s ability to take well-informed decisions.’
This stance assumes that the Members have kept their views to themselves, which is not the case here. Frans Timmermans, the Executive Vice-President of the Commission, himself has said on the record that he believed the decision taken by the Commission was “incorrect”. On 3 July 2022, the Guardian newspaper reported Timmermans saying this. The newspaper also quoted Timmermans saying “I believe the legislation prepared and voted in the Polish parliament does not comply with the milestones that we had set, and there I am in the minority within the college [of EU commissioners]”. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/j...)
Timmermans also made statements to the Dutch press, including newspaper Trouw, in which he publicly said that he and Executive Vice-President Vestager disagreed with a majority of the Commission (Timmermans: “Ik, en ook Vestager, leggen het arrest van het Europese Hof van Justitie over de Poolse tuchtkamer voor rechters anders uit dan de meerderheid van de Europese Commissie”, zo legt Frans Timmermans de ruzie in de Commissie uit. “Dat arrest stelt dat Poolse rechters onrechtmatig zijn ontslagen. Ik denk: als dat onrechtmatig was, dan moeten ze hun functie terugkrijgen. Maar Polen mag in plaats daarvan een procedure optuigen waarin het tot achttien maanden kan duren voor er is bepaald of ze daar recht op hebben.” https://www.trouw.nl/buitenland/frans-ti...)
It is thus a fiction that everything said in the discussions between Commission Members ‘shall remain confidential’. They have not remained confidential, because Members themselves have chosen not to. There is no evidence that these statements made in the media have had ‘a negative effect on [Commissioners’] participation in such informal exchanges’ nor that it has undermined the Commission’s ability to take well-informed decisions.
If Members of the Commission can present dissenting (‘preliminary’) views on decisions by the College in the media without having a negative effect on their participation in such informal exchanges and without undermining the Commission’s ability to take well-informed decisions, then it is quite likely that the disclosure of other preliminary views is also possible without those effects occurring.
The Commission states that the file ‘is particularly sensitive because it relates to the financial and budgetary interests of the EU with implications beyond the adoption of the Recovery and Resilience Plan as regards the situation of the concerned Member State’.
That may very well be the case. But this is more an argument for the existence of an overriding public interest, than an argument for the exception on undermining the decision-making process. The citizens’ interest in the money from the Recovery and Resilience Fund being spent properly, should be obvious to all. The importance of seeing concerns on Poland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan likewise.
You stated that you ‘have not been able, based on the information provided with the request, to establish the existence of any overriding public interest’. But that is taking a bit of an easy route. Regulation 1049/2001, article 4(3) states that access ‘shall be refused if disclosure of the document would seriously undermine the institution's decision-making process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure’.
It follows from this that the institution should establish whether there is an overriding public interest in disclosure. It should make a balance between the refusal grounds on one hand, and possible overriding public interest in disclosure on the other hand. The institution should make this consideration based on all information available to it, not just to ‘information provided with the request’.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
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/...
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email dated 10/08/2022 by which you request, pursuant
to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by the SG
in reply to your initial application GESTDEM 2022/3208.
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 11/08/2022 (Ares(2022)5697271).
Your application will be handled within 15 working days (02/09/2022). In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery. Thank you for providing your contact phone number, so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.
Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.
Yours faithfully,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (GD)
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG C.1
[5][email address]
Dear Madam, Sir
Unless I have missed a message, I am still waiting for the Commission to reply to my confirmatory application regarding GESTDEM 2022/3208. This reply was due on 2 September 2022, TWO MONTHS ago.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
[1]FW: Internal review of access to documents request - Commissioner
letters on Poland RRP- GESTDEM 2022/3208 - Ares(2022)5697412 -
Ares(2022)7852986 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Teffer,
Thank you for your email.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the delays in handling of your
request.
We can assure you that we are closely working with the President's Cabinet
on your request.
We hope to be able to reply you in coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Dear Madam, Sir,
I refer to your message today regarding my confirmatory application related to GESTDEM 2022/3208. You informed me you were "closely working with the President's Cabinet" on my request.
When doing so, could you please inform them that it was the President herself who said in a Communication to the Commission - titled The Working Methods of the European Commission, sent on 1 December 2019: "Members of the commission and services should respect the deadlines set by this regulation [1049/2001] at all times."
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
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/...
Peter left an annotation ()
Complaint sent to the European Ombudsman on 6 December 2022