Meetings regarding HADEA/2022/OP/0011
Dear European Health and Digital Executive Agency,
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:
Records of any meetings or correspondence between HADEA and any contractor or sub contractor responsible for the fulfilment of framework contract HADEA/2022/OP/0011.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Beckett
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Dear Mr Beckett,
Thank you for your e-mail of 15 October. We hereby acknowledge receipt of
your application for access to documents, which has been registered today
21/10, under reference number: [5]Ares(2024)7473724.
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
08/11/2024. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due time.
We remain at your disposal for any further information you might need.
For information on how we process your personal data you can visit our
page: [6]HaDEA Data Protection (europa.eu)
Yours faithfully,
HaDEA access to documents team
.
Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
Established by the European Commission
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communication in error, please notify us immediately by return of this
e-mail. This communication does not constitute any formal commitment on
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Commission
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Dear Mr Beckett,
We are writing in reference to your request for access to documents
concerning documents related to the procurement procedure:
HADEA/2022/OP/0011.
In this regard, we would like to inform you that the 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 8 November. An extended time limit is needed as some of
the documents falling in the scope of your request, are requiring
consultation of third parties, in accordance with Article 4(4) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Therefore, we would need to extend the time limit by 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 29 November.
We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause and
we would like to reassure you that we are handling your request as a
matter of priority and we are doing our utmost in order to provide you
with a reply as quickly as possible.
Thank you so much for your understanding.
Yours faithfully,
HaDEA Access to documents team
Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
Established by the European Commission
This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may contain
information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination of this
communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by return of this
e-mail. This communication does not constitute any formal commitment on
behalf of the Health and Digital Executive Agency or the European
Commission
Dear Mr Beckett,
Please find enclosed the reply to your request for access to documents
related to the procurement procedure: HADEA/2022/OP/0011.
Yours faithfully,
HaDEA access to documents team
Dear European Health and Digital Executive Agency,
I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'Meetings regarding HADEA/2022/OP/0011'.
This confirmatory application relates to the redacted sections of pages 3-4 of the file entitled “Document 2 - FWC_Open Evidence reply to HaDEA letter of 20-06-2024_Ares(2024)7651948 _Redacted” (hereafter “Document 2”). These sections appear to have been redacted based on Article 4(2) (protection of commercial interests of natural or legal persons).
Your letter dated 28/11/2024 asserts that redactions under Article 4(2), including this one, are justified because they provide information on “the functioning of the framework contract (responsibilities, timelines, specific prices, etc.), on detailed operational aspects of the tender submitted (methodology, strengths, weaknesses, etc.) as well as other commercially sensitive information related to the execution of the service to be procured”. I disagree.
The document in question is a reply from Open Evidence to a letter from HADEA which has also been disclosed to me under the filename “Document 1 - FWC_HaDEA Letter to Open evidence 20-06-2024_Ares(2024)4464017_Redacted” (hereafter “Document 1”). In Document 1, the Commission mentions two specific cases:
First, a staff member attended COP 9 in Panama and made public statements against the tobacco industry.
Second, a representative of ENSP declared in the media that rules on conflicts of interest do not apply to it as a not for profit body.
The Commission goes on to ask for three specific clarifications in writing.
In its reply in Document 2, Open Evidence sets out the content of its letter in the third paragraph. It reads:
“...I will certainly address the concrete cases mentioned in your letter and I will reply to your final requests, but I will also make some additional, general considerations regarding the need to be protected from the pressure from the tobacco industry”
Given that Open Evidence’s responses to the cases made in Document 1 are not redacted, nor are the replies to the final requests, then the redacted section can only be these “general considerations”, which do not appear anywhere in the unredacted text.
“General considerations” are not, and cannot be, commercially sensitive within the meaning of the Regulation or the relevant case law. The commercial interests exception does not cover any information concerning a company and its business. According to the relevant case law, if all information relating to a company and its business relations were regarded as being covered by the protection which must be given to commercial interests, effect would not be given to the general principle of giving the public the widest possible access to documents held by the institutions (T-380/04 and T-344/08).
The courts have held that the exception can only be used to protect business strategies, commercial relations, expertise, prices, financing, sales etc (T-718/15 and T-448/21). “General considerations” - essentially the opinion of the author - of their need to be “protected from the tobacco” industry do not fall within any of these categories.
Nor can they be said to provide details on the “functioning of the framework contract (responsibilities, timelines, specific prices, etc.)” or “detailed operational aspects of the tender submitted” as you state in your letter, because they are the “general considerations” of the author of the letter. As to the possibility that it contains “other commercially sensitive information related to the execution of the service to be procured”, the courts have held that a mere unsubstantiated claim relating to a general risk of misuse does not trigger the exception (C-175/18 P).
As such, please provide Document 2 without the redactions on pages 3 and 4.
Moreover, I believe HADEA’s list of documents relevant to my request is incomplete. Document 2 contained five attachments, none of which were disclosed as part of my original requests, but should have been because they constitute part of correspondence between HADEA and the relevant contractor, which was what I asked for. Please also provide these documents.
I look forward to your response within 15 working days.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/meet...
Yours faithfully,
Peter Beckett
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
Dear Mr Beckett,
Thank you for your e-mail. We hereby acknowledge receipt of your
confirmatory application for reviewing the decision on your request for
access to documents, which we have registered on 17 December under the
reference number: Ares(2024)9028943.
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, taking into
account the Commission end of the year holidays (from 23/12/2024 to
02/01/2025), will expire on 20/01/2025. In case this time limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due time.
We remain at your disposal for any further information you might need.
Yours sincerely,
HaDEA Access to documents team
Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
Established by the European Commission
This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may contain
information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination of this
communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by return of this
e-mail. This communication does not constitute any formal commitment on
behalf of the Health and Digital Executive Agency or the European
Commission
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
Dear Mr Beckett,
We refer to your confirmatory application for reviewing the decision on
your request for access to document, which was registered on 17 December
under the reference number: Ares(2024)9028943.
Your confirmatory 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 20/01/2025. When
assessing a confirmatory application for access to documents, a fresh
review of the reply given at the initial stage is conducted. In this
context, we are performing further consultations of third parties
(originator of the documents) and the relevant services regarding the
requested documents.
Therefore, we have to extend the time limit by 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public
access to documents. The new time limit expires on 10/02/2025.
We are doing our utmost in order to provide you with a reply as quickly as
possible and we apologize for the delay and for any inconvenience this may
cause.
Yours sincerely,
HaDEA Access to documents team
.
Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
Established by the European Commission
This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may contain
information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination of this
communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by return of this
e-mail. This communication does not constitute any formal commitment on
behalf of the Health and Digital Executive Agency or the European
Commission
Dear Mr Beckett,
Please find attached the reply to your confirmatory application related to
the access to documents request 'Meetings regarding HADEA/2022/OP/0011'.
Yours sincerely,
HaDEA Access to documents team
Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
Established by the European Commission
This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may contain
information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination of this
communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by return of this
e-mail. This communication does not constitute any formal commitment on
behalf of the Health and Digital Executive Agency or the European
Commission