Guus Houttuin post-EEAS occupational activities
Dear Madam, Sir,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, and article 11 of Council Decision 2010/427/EU, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
- All notifications of Guus Houttuin, retired senior trade advisor to the European External Action Service, of any intention to engage in an occupational activity, as required by Article 16 of the Staff Regulation
- All authorisations to Mr Houttuin to engage in occupational activities
- All e-mails, letters, and other forms of communication between between Mr Houttuin and EEAS regarding any post-EEAS occupational activities
- All documents related to the assessment(s) whether Mr Houttuin's occupational activities can be approved, including but not limited to discussions in the Appointing Authority and/or the Joint Committee, including but not limited to the discussion of any conditions/restrictions put in place.
While I acknowledge that the requested information may contain personal data, I would like to demonstrate the necessity of the transmission of this data for a specific purpose in the public interest.
Article 16 of the Staff Regulation stipulates that officials intending to engage in an occupational activity, whether gainful or not, within two years of leaving the service shall inform their institution thereof using a specific form. If that activity is related to the work carried out by the official during the last three years of service and could lead to a conflict with the legitimate interests of the institution, the appointing authority may, having regard to the interests of the service, either forbid him from undertaking it or give its approval subject to any conditions it thinks fit.
In the past years we have seen several cases of EU agency offiicals leaving their jobs to become lobbyists for corporate interests which are related to the work they carried out before they left the agency (the former director of the European Banking Authority joing AFME, and the former director of the European Defence Agency joining Airbus are two of the most prominent examples).
These cases were the subject of investigations by the European Ombudsman (2168/2019/KR and OI/3/2021/KR ). The Ombudsman concluded these "revolving door" moves were not properly handled by the respective agencies and it is in the public interest that journalists such as myself are able to investigate whether the assessment of EEAS of Mr Houttuin's new job(s) is/are in line with the Staff Regulations or not. There is no other way for me as a journalist to assess this but to have access to the documents in question.
I would like to remind the EEAS of the possibility of granting partial access. Of course I am not interested in personal data like Mr Houttuin's address or phone number, and have no objection to such personal data being redacted.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Dear Mr Teffer,
This message is an acknowledgement of receipt for your request for access
to documents under Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (which the EEAS is
also respecting).
Your request for access to document have been registered under reference
number: 2023/045. Please refer to this number in any further
correspondence.
In accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15
working days at the latest: 20/04/2023. In case this time-limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS (AD)
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
References
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1. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Mr Teffer,
Your application is currently being handled.
However, we are not in a position to complete the handling of your
application within the time limit of 15 working days.
We therefore, exceptionally, need to extend the deadline for reply by an
additional 15 working days: 12/5/2023.
Thank you for your understanding.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS (SBR)
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
From: EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS <[EEAS request email]>
Sent: 24 March 2023 13:56
To: [FOI #12782 email]
Subject: Request for documents - acknowledgment of receipt - 045
Dear Mr Teffer,
This message is an acknowledgement of receipt for your request for access
to documents under Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (which the EEAS is
also respecting).
Your request for access to document have been registered under reference
number: 2023/045. Please refer to this number in any further
correspondence.
In accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15
working days at the latest: 20/04/2023. In case this time-limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS (AD)
[2][EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[EEAS request email]
2. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Mr Teffer,
On behalf of Mr Penalver Garcia please find attached the reply to your
request for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS (AD)
[1][EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Madam, Sir,
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 EEAS ref: 2023/045.
The EEAS has decided that any disclosure, either full or partial, of these documents is not possible because "they contain personal data".
Considering the arguments I provided in the initial application (I assume I do not need to copy them here) , I would like to ask a review of the position.
I also take note that you say that Mr Houttuin "was not a senior EEAS official in the meaning of Article 16, third subparagraph, of the Staff Regulations of the EU Officials", which is curious, considering that he was Principal Trade Adviser. However, whether he was a senior official or not is irrelevant, since the second subparagraph of Article 16 applies to all officials. It is in the context of that subparagraph that my request should be read.
I also would like to ask that in any event I would appreciate if you can send a list of documents that the EEAS holds which correspond to my request.
Sincerely
Peter Teffer
Dear Mr Teffer,
This message is an acknowledgement of receipt for your confirmatory application requesting for a review of our reply, dated 12 May 2023, under Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (which the EEAS is also respecting).
Your confirmatory application has the same reference number 2023/45 as the initial one. Please refer to this number in any further correspondence.
In accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15 working days: 22/6/2023. In case this time-limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due course.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS Access to Documents
[EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
Dear Mr Teffer,
Your application is currently being handled.
However, we are not in a position to complete the handling of your application within the time limit of 15 working days.
Exceptionally, we need to extend the deadline. We therefore, exceptionally, need to extend the deadline for reply by an additional 15 working days: 13/7/2023
Thank you for your understanding,
Yours sincerely,
EEAS Access to Documents (AD)
[EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
Dear Mr Teffer,
Could you please send us your personal email address to which we could send you a reply with the annexes?
Yours sincerely,
EEAS Access to Documents
[EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
Dear Mr Teffer,
Our email address is: ACCESS-TO-DOCUMENTS(at)eeas.europa.eu
Yours sincerely,
EEAS Access to Documents
[EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs
Dear Mr Teffer,
Please note that the email address can be disclosed on the AskTheEU website.
Our email address is: ACCESS-TO-DOCUMENTS(at)eeas.europa.eu
Yours sincerely,
EEAS Access to Documents
[EEAS request email]
SG.2 – Parliamentary Affairs