Expenses MINDSHIFT project

Peter made this access to documents request to Education, Youth, Sport and Culture Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

Waiting for an internal review by Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of their handling of this request.

Dear Madam, Sir,

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:

- All documents related to the participation of the Recess College in the MINDSHIFT project (Horizon 2020, Grant agreement ID: 954798), including but not limited to copies of receipts and invoices submitted for approval

(According to the project's website, The Recess College (RC) is one of the project's nine "Partner Organisations": https://www.eumindshift.eu/consortium )

Only digital copies are required, please consider the environment by not sending me any physical mail.

I am of course available to clarify my request further if needed.

Sincerely
Peter Teffer

Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands

[1]AoR - Initial request access to documents request - 954798-MINDSHIFT
project - Ares(2025)7109296 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares
user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur
d’Ares)

Dear Mr Teffer,

We refer to your Access to Documents request submitted to the European
Commission on 16 July 2025 via the website AskTheEU.org. regarding the
MINDSHIFT project. We apologize for the delay in responding to your
message as your request has been just transmitted to the European Research
Executive Agency (REA) services which is the granting authority of the
project you mentioned in your request. This unfortunately explains the
delay in acknowledging of receipt of your message. Your request has been
consequently registered on 2 September 2025 under reference number
Ares(2025)7108815.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days. The time limit will expire on 23
September 2025. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.

Kindly note that the AsktheEU.org website is a private third-party website
which has no link with any institution of the European Union. Therefore,
the European Commission or REA cannot be held accountable for any
technical issues or problems linked to the use of this system.

Please also note that the private third party running the AsktheEU.org
website is responsible and accountable for the processing of your personal
data via that website, and not the European Commission or REA. For further
information on your rights, please refer to the third party’s privacy
policy.

We understand that the third party running that website usually publishes
the content of applicants’ correspondence with the European Commission or
REA on that website. This includes the personal data that you may have
communicated to the European Commission or REA (e.g. your private postal
address). Similarly, the third party publishes on that website any reply
that REA will send to the email address of the applicants generated by the
AsktheEU.org website.

If you do not wish your correspondence with REA to be published on the
AsktheEU.org website, you can provide us with an alternative, private
e-mail address for further correspondence. In that case, REA will send all
future electronic correspondence addressed to you only to that private
address.

Yours faithfully,

REA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

For information related to the processing of your personal data by REA,
you may consult the relevant [2]Data Protection Notice

show quoted sections

[1]Extension of time limit- Initial Request for Access to documents –
954798-MINDSHIFT project - Ares(2025)7928341 (Please use this link only
if you are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes
un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)

Dear Mr Teffer,

We refer to your request in subject, registered by the European Research
Executive Agency on 02/09/2025 under reference number Ares(2025)7108815.

Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expires on 23/09/2025. An extended time
limit is needed as part of the documents requested originate from third
parties which have been consulted.

Therefore, we have to extend the time limit with 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents. The new time limit expires on 14/10/2025.

We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.

Yours faithfully,

REA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

For information related to the processing of your personal data by REA,
you may consult the relevant [2]Data Protection Notice

References

Visible links
1. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
2. https://rea.ec.europa.eu/system/files/20...

Dear Mr Teffer,

Please disregard our previous message. Due to a technical problem an
accidental disclosure of parts of some documents of your request
originating from third parties have not ben disclosed lawfully to you.

We ask you to please, not to use or disseminate the documents sent to you.
Also, please DELETE the previous message and all the documents attached
and confirm this deletion to us by replying to this email?

A new updated message with the necessary documents will be sent to you
shortly

We apologise for the inconveniences this might have caused you

Yours faithfully,

REA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

From: REA ACCESS DOCUMENTS <[email address]>
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2025 3:53 PM
To: ask+[email address]
Cc: REA ACCESS DOCUMENTS <[email address]>
Subject: REA Reply to your initial request for Access to Documents on
MINDSHIFT project nº 954798 - Ares(2025)8117315

[1]REA Reply to your initial request for Access to Documents on MINDSHIFT
project nº 954798 - Ares(2025)8117315 (Please use this link only if you
are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e)
utilisateur d’Ares)

Dear Mr Teffer,

Please find attached the REA reply, registered under registration number
Ares(2025)8115508 to your request for access to documents registered under
registration number Ares(2025)7108815.

Due to the size of the documents, some documents (numbered 1; 3 to 11; and
13 to 15) are attached to this email whilst the rest (numbered 2 and 12)
can be found in the below links:

Document 2: [2]https://circabc.europa.eu/share/fs/ghamb...

Document 12: [3]https://circabc.europa.eu/share/fs/s3spr...

Please acknowledge receipt of this message by return email to [4][email
address].

Yours faithfully,

REA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

For information related to the processing of your personal data by REA,
you may consult the relevant Data Protection Notice.

[5]Data Protection Notice

References

Visible links
1. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
2. https://circabc.europa.eu/share/fs/ghamb...
3. https://circabc.europa.eu/share/fs/s3spr...
4. mailto:[email%20address]
5. https://rea.ec.europa.eu/system/files/20...

1 Declaration accompanying letter pers data docs erroneously sent out en.pdf

270K View Download
1a Declaration applicant to sign docs erroneously sent out en.pdf

154K View Download

[1]Erroneously released of personal data and commercial interests of a
natural or legal person following a request for access to documents under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Ref Ares 2025/7108815 - follow up -
Ares(2025)8168197 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)

Dear Mr Teffer,

As follow-up of our previous message (from Friday 26/09/2025), please find
attached a letter regarding the erroneous released of personal data and
commercial interest of a natural or legal person following your request
for access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/20011 - Ref Ares
2025/71008815.

Please follow the instructions mentioned in the letter and return us back
via email the related paragraph undersigned with your name included in the
letter. Alternatively, you can send us back duly filled, dated and signed
the attached declaration (document 1a)

Regarding the request for access to documents and as mentioned in the
letter, please find the REA reply and the correct versions of the
documents in the below links:

• REA reply to your request Ref Ares 2025/7108815. :
[2]https://circabc.europa.eu/share/fs/j709p...
• Annex I to REA reply: [3]https://circabc.europa.eu/share/fs/vxjxk...
• Documents :

Please acknowledge receipt of this message by return email to [19][email
address].

Yours faithfully,

REA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

References

Dear Madam, Sir,

I write to you regarding your reply to my access to documents request registered under reference number Ares(2025)7108815, and your request to sign a declaration regarding the erroneously released version of the documents.

I can assure you that I have not shared the documents and/or made them public. While I have used the AsktheEU platform to request them, the correspondence is currently still in "private mode". I can ask the AsktheEU technical staff to delete the message with the erroneously released versions before I change the page to public mode.

However, I have to inform you that I have made the request in my capacity as a journalist. I am doing an investigation that I believe is in the public interest. Some of the information I deem relevant in that context, and cannot be "unseen".

My duty as a journalist is to the citizens of the EU, who have a right to know how public EU funds are spent. I cannot sign a declaration in which I promise not to use information I believe to be in the public interest.

In this category falls mostly the information which the REA wanted to redact to protect commercial interests, but where in my opinion the public interest overrides the protection of those commercial interests.

I would like to point out that a portion of the personal data that was meant to be redacted, is in fact already public, like names of coordinators and participants. In those cases, the risk of damage to the privacy and integrity is non-existent.

Also redacted: VAT numbers, the amount of pre-financing payment, and names of authors of published scientific articles. None of these are personal or commercial data that are not already public.

However, I do acknowledge that some information, like telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, should not be disseminated, shared, duplicate, printed or processed in any way, without consent from the data subjects involved. I will not do so.

Sincerely,
Peter Teffer

Dear Mr Teffer,

Thank you for your message.

We thank you for confirming that you have not shared or made public the
erroneously released version of the documents, and for offering to request
the AsktheEU technical staff to delete the version uploaded erroneously.
Please note that REA has also formally notified AsktheEU.org of this
erroneous disclosure and has requested that the documents are not
published.

As previously mentioned to you in REA letter dated 29 September 2025, any
use, dissemination, sharing, printing, or processing of the erroneously
disclosed version of those documents may entail personal liability,
including potential compensation for damages.

As regards your position of the use of the erroneously disclosed data,
please note that under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, REA is responsible
for assessing your request, the documents concerned, and whether an
overriding public interest justifies disclosure despite applicable
exceptions. In our reply to your initial request for access to documents
(Ref. Ares (2025)8115508), we explained that you had not provided
arguments demonstrating such an overriding public interest when requesting
the documents at initial stage.

Please also note that the fact that you requested these documents as an
investigative journalist does not constitute, per se, an overriding public
interest. Should you wish to pursue this point, you may submit a
confirmatory application to the Director of REA, as indicated in REA’s
reply previously mentioned.

We reiterate therefore our position and request for you to either sign a
declaration or include the statement included in REA’s letter dated 29
September 2025 within an e-mail to [email address].

We thank you in advance for your understanding.
REA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

show quoted sections

Dear Madam, Sir,

I will submit a confirmatory application to the director via the email address you have provided.

Once I have received a confirmatory decision and can assess which information has been made public in second instance, I will reconsider signing the declaration.

Sincerely
Peter Teffer

AsktheEU.org

Expenses MINDSHIFT project

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