Contracts awarded by ID
Dear European Parliament,
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:
The European Parliament publishes contracts awarded in the last two years, including those issued by the Identity and Democracy Group between 02-07-2019 to 31-12-2023.
In a decentralised tender, the ID group offered the Paris-based vendor "Unanime" €999.424,84 for printing services and then another €412.603,50 for the same services.
I am requesting documents relating to the contract, the contract itself, plus any possible copies of the material produced.
Please see here for the list: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/contracts...
Please note I prefer to receive the documents in digital format, not by physical mail.
Yours faithfully,
Nikolaj Nielsen
EUobserver
Résidence Palace, International Press Centre
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 155
1040 Brussels
Belgium
Our reference: 2024-0959
Dear Mr. Nielsen,
The European Parliament hereby acknowledges receipt of your message, which
was registered on November 7, 2024.
All applications for public access to documents are treated in compliance
with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access
to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Regulation, your application will
be handled within 15 working days upon registration of your request.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. A
detailed privacy statement is available [1]here.
The European Parliament reserves the right to ask for additional
information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Parliament’s implementing
measures.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application
via the AsktheEU.org website, which is a private website not officially
related to the European Parliament. Therefore, the European Parliament
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to
the use of this system.
In addition, please note that any personal data that you provide by using
AsktheEU.org website may be disclosed to the general public and visible on
this private website. The European Parliament cannot be held responsible
for such disclosure. Should you need to communicate directly to Parliament
any personal data and would like to avoid public disclosure, you may do so
from your private email address by using the following functional mailbox
address: AccesDocs(at)europarl.europa.eu
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[2][European Parliament request email]
[3]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreW...
2. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
3. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our reference: 2024-0959
Dear Mr Nielsen,
The time limit for responding to your application for public access to
documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as registered on November 7,
2024, expires tomorrow, on November 28, 2024.
However, since both our consultation and our assessment are taking more
time than expected, the Parliament must exceptionally extend the time
limit provided by Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 by a
further 15 working days in accordance with Article 7(3) of that Regulation
in order to reply to your application.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
We thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[1][European Parliament request email]
[2]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our reference: 2024-0959
Dear Mr Nielsen,
The time limit for responding to your application submitted under
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as registered on November 7, 2024,
expires today, on December 19, 2024.
However, our assessment requires more time than usual due to the nature of
the documents requested, some of which originate from third parties, and
to the consultations necessary in this context. A decision pursuant to
your request is in preparation and it will be sent to you by letter once
finalised.
We also inform you that the European Parliament’s offices will be closed
from 23 December 2024 to 3 January 2025. Our activity will resume on 6
January 2025.
Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience.
We thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[2][European Parliament request email]
[3]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/P...
2. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
3. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Dear European Parliament,
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 'Contracts awarded by ID'. Un
By law, under all circumstances, the authority should have responded by now.
Yours faithfully,
Nikolaj Nielsen
Our reference: 2024-0959C
Dear Mr. Nielsen,
The European Parliament hereby acknowledges receipt of your confirmatory
application, which was registered on January 30, 2024.
All applications for public access to documents are treated in compliance
with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access
to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Regulation, your application will
be handled within 15 working days upon registration of your request.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. A
detailed privacy statement is available [1]here.
The European Parliament reserves the right to ask for additional
information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Parliament’s implementing
measures.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application
via the AsktheEU.org website, which is a private website not officially
related to the European Parliament. Therefore, the European Parliament
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to
the use of this system.
In addition, please note that any personal data that you provide by using
AsktheEU.org website may be disclosed to the general public and visible on
this private website. The European Parliament cannot be held responsible
for such disclosure. Should you need to communicate directly to Parliament
any personal data and would like to avoid public disclosure, you may do so
from your private email address by using the following functional mailbox
address: AccesDocs(at)europarl.europa.eu
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[2][European Parliament request email]
[3]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreW...
2. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
3. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our reference: 2024-0959
Dear Mr Nielsen,
your request for public access to documents is likely to concern documents
that contain personal data within the meaning of Article 3(1) of
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
In light of Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the
possibility of undermining the protection of the integrity of the
individual must always be taken into consideration in the context of
applications for public access to documents containing personal data. In
that sense, Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 provides that the
recipient of personal data must establish the necessity to have the data
transmitted for a specific purpose in the public interest.
Please note that merely personal interests would not qualify in this
sense.
In view of the above, we would like to ask you to establish that the
transmission of the personal data you have requested is necessary in the
above-mentioned sense.
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[1][European Parliament request email]
[2]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Dear European Parliament,
This request is grounded on the understanding that public access to information serves the public interest. In particular, I believe that the need for transparency, accountability, and public oversight of these institutional actions outweighs any potential concern about the protection of personal data that might be included in the documents in question.
Under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, access to documents can only be refused if there is an overriding public interest in maintaining confidentiality. Furthermore, as stipulated in Article 5(1)(a) of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), personal data processing must be balanced against the principle of transparency and the public's right to know, especially in cases where the release of such information serves the broader public interest.
In this instance, I believe the following reasons demonstrate that the public interest should take precedence over any data protection concerns:
Accountability and Oversight: The information sought pertains to a company receiving European Parliament funds. It should be pointed out that the facts giving rise to the present case are of a highly exceptional nature, in that they concern certain individuals with ouvert political ties. One is the former executive of the Groupe union défense (GUD), a far-right group, and the unofficial advisor to Marine Le Pen.
In other words, Unanime is not a neutral firm and merits greater public scrutiny in light of the EU funding that it receives. Public access is essential for ensuring proper oversight and that actions or decisions taken are in the best interest of the public.
Legitimate Public Interest: The disclosure of this information is of significant value to the public, and its release serves the public good. The individual tied to the firm was previously indicted for "forgery and use of forgery" , "fraud", "misuse of corporate assets" and "laundering of misuse of corporate assets" as part of the judicial investigation into the financing of the FN's election campaigns for the 2011 cantonal and 2012 legislative elections.
Given this context, obtaining the contract, the contract itself, plus any possible copies of the material produced, is a legitimate public interest to ensure due accountability.
Anonymization/Redaction of Sensitive Information: Should there be concerns regarding specific personal data or sensitive information, I would accept redactions or anonymization of any individual identifiers to ensure compliance with data protection standards while still providing access to the core public interest-related content.
Proportionality: Given the overarching need for transparency, the potential risk posed by disclosing this information is minor compared to the public benefit of releasing it. Any concerns regarding personal data can be mitigated with appropriate safeguards such as redactions, without affecting the document’s relevance to the public interest.
Therefore, in accordance with the principles of openness and transparency that underlie EU law, I respectfully request that the information sought be provided, with any necessary safeguards applied to protect personal data. I trust that a fair balance will be struck in line with the public interest requirements of EU regulation.
I look forward to your response, ideally within the statutory timeframes. Should you require further clarification on my request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully,
Nikolaj Nielsen
Our references: 2024-0959C
Dear Mr Nielsen,
The time limit for responding to your confirmatory application for public
access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as registered on
January 30, 2025, expires tomorrow, on February 20, 2025.
However, since both our consultations and our assessment are taking more
time than expected, the Parliament must exceptionally extend the time
limit provided by Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 by a
further 15 working days in accordance with Article 8(2) of that Regulation
in order to reply to your confirmatory application.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
We thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[1][European Parliament request email]
[2]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our reference: 2024-0959C
Dear Mr Nielsen,
The time limit for responding to your confirmatory application for public
access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as registered on
30 January, 2025, expires today, on March 13, 2025.
However, the decision concerning your confirmatory application is being
prepared and will be sent to you by post without delay once finalised.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
In the meantime, we kindly ask you to provide us with your phone number,
which we intend to share with the courier to ensure the smooth delivery of
our response.
We thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[1][European Parliament request email]
[2]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[european%20parliament%20request%20email]
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Dear European Parliament,
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 'Contracts awarded by ID'.
By law you should have responded by April 03, 2025. I have yet to receive anything.
Yours faithfully,
Nikolaj Nielsen
Our reference: 2024-0959C
Dear Mr Nielsen,
In response to your query below, we, after having checked the information
at our disposal, kindly inform you that the response of the Parliament was
delivered last Friday, April 4, 2025 at 1:44 pm.
In order for us to be able to provide more information, if needed, please
be as kind as to share your private (non-public) e-mail address with us.
Kind regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Directorate-General for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative
Coordination
[1][European Parliament request email]
[2]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb