EU-funded assets demolished by Isreal
Alexander Fanta made this access to documents request to European External Action Service This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear European External Action Service,
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:
- In a reply to the European Parliament (E-001673/2023), High Representative Borrell stated that "on a number of occasions, Israel was requested to return or compensate for EU-funded assets
that have been demolished, dismantled or confiscated by Israel." I wish to request all documents related to these acts, including documentation held by the EU on the assets, exchanges with the Israeli government, etc.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Follow the Money
Rue Auguste Orts 2
1000 Bruxelles
Dear Mr Fanta,
Thank you for your request. Please note that your request falls under the competence of the European Commission (DG ECHO) and was sent to them.
Therefore, you will receive the reply from the European Commission. Your request will be closed in our database.
Yours sincerely,
ACCES TO DOCUMENTS (AD)
[email address]
SG.LD.ATD
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 13/10/2023 and registered on 17/10/2023 under the case number
2023/6135.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 09/11/2023. 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,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
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1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Link: [1]File-List
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Dear Mr Fanta,
We would like to inform you that due to the high workload related to the
provision of humanitarian aid in Gaza (and in the region) in the current
circumstances, we will not be able to reply to your request on time. As DG
ECHO’s role is saving lives and supporting victims of disasters,
colleagues working on support to the affected regions have to constantly
reorganise their work and set the priorities. Nevertheless, the
preparation of the reply is ongoing and we are putting all our effort to
come back to you as soon as possible. Our sincere apologies for this
delay and we hope that this will not cause any inconvenience.
Kind regards,
DG ECHO Access to Documents Cell
European Commission
Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid
Operations (ECHO)
Unit E3 Contracts and Finance
Rue de la Loi 86 (L-86 04/10)
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
Website [5]EN | [6]Blog | [7]YouTube | [8]Flickr | [9]Twitter |
[10]Facebook
References
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3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
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5. http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm
6. http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/echo-action/
7. http://www.youtube.com/user/Humanitarian...
8. http://www.flickr.com/photos/69583224@N05/
9. http://twitter.com/eu_echo/
10. http://www.facebook.com/ec.humanitarian....
Dear Mr Fanta,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/6135.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
DG ECHO Access to Documents Team
European Commission
Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid
Operations (ECHO)
Unit E3 Contracts and Finance
Rue de la Loi 86 (L-86 04/10)
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
Tel. office: +32 (0) 2 29 80193
Dear Access to Documents team,
the reply you sent me appears to be broken - the pdf has 0 kilobyte. Please re-send the reply.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Mr Fanta,
Thank you for informing us about the problem with delivery of the reply to
your request registered as case EASE 2023/6135.
With apologies for the problem with transmission via EASE, please find the
reply attached to this email.
Could you please confirm the reception of the reply as a response to this
email?
Thank you in advance.
Kind regards,
DG ECHO Access to Documents Team
European Commission
Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid
Operations (ECHO)
Unit E3 Contracts and Finance
Rue de la Loi 86 (L-86 04/10)
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
Tel. office: +32 (0) 2 29 80193
Website [1]EN | [2]Blog | [3]YouTube | [4]Flickr | [5]Twitter |
[6]Facebook
References
Visible links
1. http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm
2. http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/echo-action/
3. http://www.youtube.com/user/Humanitarian...
4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/69583224@N05/
5. http://twitter.com/eu_echo/
6. http://www.facebook.com/ec.humanitarian....
Dear Transparency Unit,
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 'EU-funded assets demolished by Israel'.
I would like to object to the refusal to access the document in question under Article 4(1)(a) of the Regulation for the protection of international relations. The reply states that „unilateral“ disclosure of the exchanges by the Commission would „breach the confidentiality, undermine an atmosphere of trust and put at risk the international relations between the European Commission and its international partners“.
As far as I understand, the exchanges deal with the return or compensation for EU-funded assets in the West Bank. In this context, I note that public spending and the financial conduct of the European Union including in the matter of international development assistance is usually subject to public scrutiny and transparency obligations. As a financial matter, any discussion of the return or compensation of assets should fall under the highest standards of disclosure.
As regards the “breach of confidentiality” alleged in the reply, I note that all actors involved – the donors as well as the Israeli side – are well aware of the matter at hand. This includes the governments of 10 EU member states, the Commission, as well as other state parties. It therefore can hardly be argued that confidentiality is necessary to protect the deliberations of state parties, as all those directly affected by the decision are already informed of their content.
As for the implication of confidentiality as the expectation to keep something a secret, I note that Vice-President Borrell has informed the European Parliament in his reply to a parliamentary question (E-001673/2023) of the matter at hand, namely the request for return or compensation for assets. It therefore must be affirmed that the fact is publicly known, hence the details need not be shrouded in secrecy.
As regards the argument that disclosure would “undermine the atmosphere of trust” among international partners, I would argue that public debate about matters of public policy is the norm in democratic societies, among which I would count all those parties involved. Indeed, transparency and decision-making in public is enshrined in the EU Treaty and the Fundamental Rights Charter. I would therefore like to inquire how, specifically, the Commission feels that allowing for public scrutiny of decision-making in this case would “undermine” trust in a specific and non-hypothetical way?
As regards the wider context of the situation in the Middle East, while it certainly can be argued that the sensitivity of the current situations warrants particular care, it also makes necessary a public debate and re-appraisal of European Union policy on the region. The two-state solution has been a central corner stone of EU policy in the region for decades, therefore considerable challenges to its viability, which the West Bank Protection Consortium seeks to address, are of considerable public interest. An opportunity for public scrutiny should therefore not be seen as challenge to the integrity of decision-making, but as way of enhancing its credibility.
Furthermore, insofar as the document in question discusses acts that could be perceived as part of an ongoing violation of international law, the European Commission should be forthcoming with any information to avoid perceptions of complicity.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2023/6135, sent on 13/12/2023 and registered on 13/12/2023.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 12/01/2024. 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 Mr. Fanta,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 13/12/2023 under case number 2023/6135.
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. Due to the need to conduct internal consultations we will
not be able to send you the reply within the prescribed time limit
expiring on 12/01/2024.
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 02/02/2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
SG.C1 - Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents
References
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1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...