Contacts with, and references to, Sense about Science
Dear Research and Innovation,
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:
Minutes of meetings with representatives of the charity Sense about Science, between 2016 and today.
References to Sense about Science and/or its work in any minutes, documentation, reports etcetera, between 2016 and today.
Yours faithfully,
Lise Witteman
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 07/10/2024 and registered on 08/10/2024 under case number 2024/5440.
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 Research and Innovation - 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 Research and Innovation,
The postal address is:
Lise Witteman / Follow the Money
Rue Auguste Orts 2
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Yours faithfully,
Lise Witteman
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 07/10/2024 and registered on 11/10/2024 under the case number
2024/5440.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 04/11/2024. 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 Research and Innovation - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2024/5440.
Kind regards,
RTD Access to documents
Dear Research and Innovation,
Thank you for your message. To clarify:
1. Yes I would like to receive the minutes of meetings with representatives of the charity Sense about Science and anyone from the Cabinet of DG R&I, aswell as EU officials from the DG itself;
2. When it comes to the references to Sense about Science and/or its work: yes this is also related to the meetings mentioned above in the first point, looking at any sort of documents: correspondence of R&I Cabinet/DG with Sense about Science, background material provided by the organisation on its work, preparatory briefings for those meetings etc.
To help clarifying: the aim of my request is to understand how Sense about Science has been representing itself, what messages it has been bringing across and how these were received and discussed within the Commission.
Yours faithfully,
Lise Witteman
Dear Ms. Witteman,
Many thanks for your clarification. We confirm that your request under
Regulation 1049/2001 to DG R&I was complemented as following:
1. Minutes of meetings between representatives of the charity "Sense about
Science" and anyone from the Cabinet of DG R&I, as well as EU officials
from the DG itself, between 2016 and today.
2. References to "Sense about Science" and/or its work in the documents
relating to those meetings (i.e., reports, minutes, correspondence of R&I
Cabinet/DG with Sense about Science, background material provided by the
organization, preparatory briefings for the meetings), between 2016 and
today.
The aim of my request is to understand how Sense about Science has been
representing itself, what messages it has been bringing across and how
these were received and discussed within the Commission.
Kind regards,
R&I Access to documents
Dear Ms. Witteman,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 11 October 2024 under case number 2024/5440.
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. The application concerns documents held by different
Services, which must be consulted.
We will not be able to send you the reply within the prescribed time limit
expiring on 05 November 2024.
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 26 November 2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG RTD - Access to Documents
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...