EU grant funding for extension of Prague Metro Line "A"
Dear Mobility and Transport,
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 the grant period 2007-11 the EU provided funding of 8bn CZK to contribute to the cost of the extension fron Dejvice to a new station at Motol. The Czech Ministry of Development has confirmed the details of this grant; however it also recommended me to seek details of questions the EU asked of the City of Prague regarding the implementation of the project (details of which the Ministry does not hold). Their understanding is that the EU requested:
- details of plans to build P&R facilities near a new metro station (submitted 2011)
- details of plans the City may have to extend the metro (or railway) to the Airport.
Please provide documents from this dialogue (request from EU/substantive answers from Prague)
Also please give details of any subsequent request for funding for this line in later years
Yours faithfully,
Richard Hunt
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 18/08/2024 and registered on 21/08/2024 under case number 2024/4336.
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 Mobility and Transport - 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 Mobility and Transport,
In line with your demand I confirm my personal home address as follows:
Nad Jeneralkou 529/1
160 00 Prague 6
Czech Republic
Please note:
While I acknowledge your right to demand this information, I am aware that this platform has frequently engaged with you to find and offer ways to supply this so that the address is not made public. This and other platforms in the global community of such sites have techniques available to easily do this. I know this because I run the equivalent platform in the Czech Republic. That you refuse to accept their proposed solutions suggests that you make this demand as a deterrent to those who may be justifiably concerned about their personal security when asking potentially sensitive questions.
I urge you to prove me wrong by re-opening dialogue with this platform on the issue.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Hunt
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 18/08/2024 and registered on 21/08/2024 under the case number
2024/4336.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 11/09/2024. 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 Mobility and Transport - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Mobility and Transport,
I am writing to politely remind you that by law you should have responded to my request by 6th September at latest.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Hunt
Dear Mr. Hunt,
Thank you very much for your e-mail.
We hereby inform you that your request has been attributed to the
Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) of the
European Commission.
Kind regards,
MOVE Access to Documents Team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport
Unit MOVE A4
Legal Issues & Enforcement
▪ Postal address: Europese Commissie/Commission européenne, B-1049
Brussel/Bruxelles
▪ Office address: Rue de Mot 28, B-1040 Brussels
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2024/4336.
Kind regards,
Secretariat Regio F.4
Dear sir,
please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2024/4336.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
Regio F4
Dear Mobility and Transport,
Thank you for your reply.
I was disappointed, though, by the contents, and am writing to ask you to look again (rather than at this stage requesting an internal review of your response). I recognise that the documents requested are 13 years old.
It may also help to mention why I am making this request. In short ,a relevant local politician has "blamed the EU" for the fact that the metro from Prague city centre has never been extended to the airport. He claimed that "the EU" had said it would refuse a subsidy for an extension which did not join up locations in more than one municipal borough. This politician was still a student at the time and is rational so I am seeking to prove to him that this claim is baseless.
Therefore let me provide you with the most precise description I can give of the information I seek.
In an email to me in response to my request, the director of the department for Funds Management and EU co-ordination of the Czech Ministry fro Regional Development has written the following in respect of the project I refer to:
"Due to the size and complexity of the project, the European Commission (EC) sent a number of questions about its implementation in 2011, asking, among other things, about further extensions of metro line A. Information about these future extensions is to be provided in the "Feasibility Study" document in connection with the construction of the P+R system connecting to the new metro stations. Information on a possible metro (or rail) connection to Ruzyně Airport was also requested by the EC again in 2012. For further information or to obtain the mentioned document, I recommend you to contact MHMP/DPP."
"MHMP" is the City of Prague council. When I requested the information from them, they directed me to the Department of EU funds at the Ministry of Transport. Their response was swift and they asserted that they have never heard of the restriction claimed by the politician (as did the Min. Regional Development) however they failed to provide me with the specific documents. They directed me to a publicly available link on their website and asserted that more detailed information is not "normally" made available.
"DPP " is the Prague public transport authority. It has not replied at all, which is unfortunately typical. I will use FOI to force them to reply but I am not confident that it will produce the information.
I believe though that - assuming my request has been directed to the correct department - you must hold the information. Given my ultimate objective, I hope you may try to look more thoroughly.
Kind regards,
Richard Hunt
Dear Mr. Hunt,
I am contacting further to your previous application for access to documents, registered as GESTDEM 2024/4336 and to your subsequent message below sent to MOVE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS.
Please note that your request needs to be done again as in the previous case via the official system, given the legal framework which is strictly guiding this process.
Thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards,
Jaroslav Straka
Jaroslav Straka|Programme Officer - EU policies
European Commission | DG REGIO - Unit – F4 Czech Republic and Slovakia
E [email address] +32 2 299.82.86 (direct phone)/ CSM1 005/DCS.REGIO
Disclaimer: The views expressed are exclusively those of the author and may not under any circumstances be regarded as an official position of the European Commission services.
Dear STRAKA Jaroslav,
Good day Mr Straka,
Thank you for your reply. May I just clarify my understanding of it? I think you are indicating that you are re-opening the search as a new search, perhaps thanks to the clarifications I sent in my previous response. I understand that this would mean I must wait for a further statutory period of time while you seek to provide the requested information.
If I understand correctly, I believe that you do not require any further information from me and I can wait for a hopefully successful search and reply through this platform. If I have misunderstood, please let me know.
Kind regards,
Richard Hunt
Dear Mr. Hunt,
Thanks you for confirming you have received the message.
I do regret to inform you that the Commission does not the documents matching exactly what you are requesting for, but only rather the correspondence with the Managing Authority/Ministry of Transport concerning the major project in question.
Please note that given the legal framework and the rules in place, we are not supposed to communicate directly, but I wanted to provide you with the explanation nonetheless that you need to ask only via official channel of communication.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Jaroslav Straka
Dear STRAKA Jaroslav,
Good day,
I missed your reply of Oct 29th - I expected an email alert about it but received none.
Anyway, if you read again my original request then it seems to me that the information you say that you do have, " correspondence with the Managing Authority/Ministry of Transport concerning the major project in question."
I am not sure what you mean by "ask only via official channel of communication." As far as i can see, this is what I am doing. It is an FOI request via an established source that makes it easier for both sides to ask for and receive information. Maybe your concern is that I address you by name, I am only doing so because you have provided it. I do not assume that you have taken personal responsibility for the request, so I hope this clarification will help.
If there are any other barriers to receiving the above mentioned information, please let me know, if not, I look forward to receiving it in reasonable time. As I have said, I believe the EU would wish to correct any incorrect information spread by local politicians.
Kind regards
Richard Hunt
Yours sincerely,
Richard Hunt
Thank you for your email. I'm out of office from 20/12/2024 till
03/01/2024. For urgent matters, please contact REGIO F4 CZECH REPUBLIC
<[email address]>; REGIO F4 SLOVAKIA
<[email address]>
Thank you. Jaroslav Straka