Note signed by Stefano Sannino aboutof ESF Funding SERA Foundation Romania
Arun Dohle made this access to documents request to Secretariat General of the European Commission
Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,
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:
The note of 28 May 2013 signed by Stefano Sannino, copied to Secretary-General Catherine Day and Head of Cabinet Simon Mordue about a potential conflict of interest in the ESF SERA Romania contract.
As well as related correspondance to this issue.
Including ARES registration and distribution sheets (pdf)
Yours faithfully,
Arun Dohle
Against Child Trafficking
c/o Easy Start Office
Kraijenhoffstraat 137A
1018 RG Amsterdam
Netherlands
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 05/12/2025 and registered on 08/12/2025 under the case number
2025/6468.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 08/01/2026. 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
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Arun Dohle left an annotation ()
This ESF funding is the ultimate scandal.
The Secretary-General and many others were fully aware of the conflict of interest and other scandals surrounding this contract.
Yet... all turned a blind eye.
Dear Mr Dohle,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 08/12/2025 under case number EASE 2025/6468.
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. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 08/01/2026.
For the following reasons:
• the application concerns different Services, which must be consulted.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) 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 29/01/2026
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
ENEST ACCDOC Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Mr Dohle,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 08 December 2025 under case number EASE 2025/6468.
We are kindly asking you to clarify your request, in particualr, an
element which reads as follows, "As well as related correspondance to this
issue".
In line with Article 6(2) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents, we invite you to send us more detailed
information on the specific documents you request, such as references,
dates or periods during which the documents would have been drawn up,
persons or bodies who drafted the documents etc.
The 15 working days to reply to your request will start running only when
you reply to this message. If you do not reply within 7 working days, we
will close this case in line with our detailed rules for the application
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Kind regards,
ENEST ACCDOC Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Subject: Clarification for Access to Documents Request - EASE 2025/6468
Dear ENEST ACCDOC Team,
Thank you for your message of January 29, 2026, regarding my request for access to documents registered under case number EASE 2025/6468.
To clarify the element "As well as related correspondence to this issue," I am referring to any emails, memos, notes, or other internal communications directly linked to the note of May 28, 2013 (signed by Stefano Sannino and copied to Catherine Day and Simon Mordue) concerning the potential conflict of interest in the ESF contract with SERA Foundation Romania.
This includes:
- Correspondence exchanged between the signatories (Stefano Sannino, Catherine Day, Simon Mordue) or involving relevant Commission services (e.g., DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, or the Secretariat-General) during the period from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2013.
- Any follow-up discussions, assessments, or decisions related to the identified conflict of interest.
- ARES registration and distribution sheets (in PDF format) for the aforementioned note and any directly related documents.
This clarification is intended to narrow the scope to documents specifically tied to the 2013 note and the ESF SERA Romania contract issue, in the interest of transparency regarding EU funding management.
I look forward to your response within the prescribed time limits once this clarification is received.
Yours faithfully,
Arun Dohle
Against Child Trafficking
c/o Easy Start Office
Kraijenhoffstraat 137A
1018 RG Amsterdam
Netherlands
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,
Please confirm receipt and time limit of 23 February 2026.
Yours faithfully,
Arun Dohle
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Applicant,
Please provide the reference of your case that you are referring to.
Kind regards,
European Commission
Access to Documents Team
Dear Mr Dohle,
In response to your email, we confirm receipt of your response and the
time limit.
Kind regards,
ENEST ACCDOC Team
Dear Mr Dohle,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 08 December 2025 under case number EASE 2025/6468.
We thank you for your patience on this request.
As the application concerns documents held by different Services, we are
awaiting their feedback.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
ENEST ACCDOC Team
Arun Dohle left an annotation ()
Time limit 8 January 2026