Documents of the Ad hoc Working Party on the MFF January-May 2026
Dear Council of the European Union,
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 following documents that were added in the agenda of the Ad hoc Working Party on the Multiannual Financial Framework (Ahwp Mff):
-20 January 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission letter of 6 January 2026 on CAP and MFF
-23 January 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentations on Third country participation, on EU Preference, on IPCEIs and accelerated support
-3 February 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentations on Interinstitutional Agreement and the Steering Mechanism, on EU Facility, on Instruments over and above the ceilings
-5 February 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentations on Co-financing – Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), on Degressivity and level playing field – CAP (DABIS and capping), on Agricultural prosperity gap, and the Information by the Presidency and by the Commission on CAP provisions in the Regulation on National and Regional Partnership Plans
(NRPP);
-11 February 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentation on Heading 4 - Administration, and Information by the Presidency on Heading 3 – Global Europe;
-27 February 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentation on Heading 2 – European Competitiveness Fund, and Information by the Presidency on Presidency questionnaire: analysis of Member States’ responses;
-14 April 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentation on Common Agricultural Policy – Commission’s letter of 6 January 2026, and Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034: Presidency note on draft Negotiating Box;
-20 April 2026 AHwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentation on Heading 4 - Budgetary savings, additional tasks, redeployments and JL Renovation;
-8 May 2026 Ahwp Mff meeting: Commission's presentation on Single Market in the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034, and European Court of Auditors' presentation on European Court of Auditors opinions on the next MFF.
I also take the opportunity that a similar request of documents for the previous period was already satisfied (see here: https://www.asktheeu.org/request/minutes...) so we expect also this one to be fulfilled.
Yours faithfully,
Matteo Vespa
Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.
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L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au 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 l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.
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Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.
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Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council concerning your request for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de l'UE
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council concerning your request for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de l'UE
Dear Council of the European Union,
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 'Documents of the Ad hoc Working Party on the MFF January-May 2026'.
The motivation given to withhold the publication of the requested documents is that "they concern the future financial framework of the Union. Disclosure of these technical documents, which may contain preliminary views or policy options not formally endorsed by the institutions, could lead to external pressure from interest groups or stakeholders, including those
from third countries. Their content risks being misinterpreted or taken out of context, a particular risk given the interconnected nature of the MFF legal instruments. This could in turn undermine the trust between institutions in the context of ongoing negotiations and thereby hamper the efficient conduct of those negotiations. The exceptions laid down in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply as the public interest in accessing these particular documents does not outweigh the potential harm disclosure could cause to the decision-making process. The institution has mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability, including release of documents post-decision, allowing for public scrutiny at a stage where such access would not impede effective functioning of the Union’s decision-making processes."
Such motivation was used in a previous (and similar) request of mine, where I have detailed the reasons why it does not stand: following that explanation, I received access to all the documents requested (I had already sent in my initial request of mine the link to it, but here it is again: https://www.asktheeu.org/request/minutes...). In that sense, in order to have a different outcome than the previous one, it would be needed to be explained more specifically why those specific documents would constitute a 'higher risk' than those that were released with my previous request, considering that they are similar in nature. Failing to do so would lead to unjustified, discretionary treatment of documents.
As indicated also in my previous request, the value of publication of such presentations remounts to a more in depth explanation of technically complex policy proposals, which is in the interest of the public to understand better before their final approval. We therefore ask you to reverse your decision and publish the identified documents.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/request/documen...
Yours faithfully,
Matteo Vespa
Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.
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L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au 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 l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.
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Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
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Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.
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Dear Mr Vespa,
On Tuesday, June 23, 2026 5:00 PM we received your “Internal review of
access to documents request - Documents of the Ad hoc Working Party on the
MFF January-May 2026” by which you are filing a confirmatory application
with regards to my access to documents request 'Documents of the Ad hoc
Working Party on the MFF January-May 2026'.
In the GSC reply of 23 June 2026 we provided a joint reply regarding your
two initial requests for access to documents:
• “access to documents request - Documents of the Ad hoc Working Party
on the MFF January-May 2026” (registered under No 26/1762)
• “access to documents request - Performance regulation - Council
documents” (registered under No 26/1764)
In your request for “Internal review of access to documents request” you
refer to your access to documents request “Documents of the Ad hoc Working
Party on the MFF January-May 2026” (that is request No 26/1762).
Could you please clarify whether your “Internal review of access to
documents request” sent to us on June 23, 2026 5:00 PM concerns the entire
GSC reply (that is both requests 26/1762 and 26/1764)?
Please note that under your “access to documents request - Performance
regulation - Council documents” (request No 26/1764) the GSC refused
access to document WK 4059/2026 (“Requirements deriving from the
Commission proposal for a Performance Regulation and applying to Member
States, including interplay with the Commission proposal for a Regulation
on the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion,
agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security
(Fiche no. 45)”).
In the absence of the clarification from your side within 5 working days,
your request will be considered as withdrawn. This, however, would not
prevent you from introducing a new request for access to documents in the
future.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency and Access to Documents
General Secretariat of the Council
Communication and Document Management
Document Management
Transparency and Access to Documents
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
Dear TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM),
thank you very much for the email and for the clarification. Indeed, I meant to refer to the entirety of the reply from the GSC, therefore covering both the requests No 26/1762 and No 26/1764; I apologise for not having been clear in my previous email.
Yours sincerely,
Matteo Vespa
Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.
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To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.
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L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au 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 l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.
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S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.
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Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.
***
Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.
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Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.
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Dear Mr Vespa,
Thank you for the clarification of your request. Consequently, your
confirmatory application has been registered today under number
36/c/02/26.
You will receive a reply to your confirmatory application within 15
working days – by 16.07.2026
Yours sincerely,
Transparency and Access to Documents
General Secretariat of the Council
Communication and Document Management
Document Management
Transparency and Access to Documents
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
Dear Mr Vespa,
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
extending the time limit for the Council to reply to your confirmatory
application for public access under Regulation 1049/2001.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency and Access to Documents
General Secretariat of the Council
Communication and Document Management
Document Management
Transparency and Access to Documents
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
Dear Mr Vespa,
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council,
in reply to your confirmatory application for public access under
Regulation 1049/2001.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency and Access to Documents
General Secretariat of the Council
Communication and Document Management
Document Management
Transparency and Access to Documents
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE