Request for access to documents – contacts between DG SANTE and Heineken
Dear Health and Food Safety,
Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, I would like to request access to all documents — including correspondence (letters, emails), meeting minutes, briefings, agendas and any other records — related to contacts between officials or representatives of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) and representatives of Heineken.
The scope of the request is limited to documents concerning alcohol and health, and covers the period from 1 January 2019 to the present.
I am an investigative journalist, and this request is part of a broader research project into public health policy and industry influence in the European Union. If possible, I would appreciate receiving the documents in electronic format. If parts of the documents are confidential, I kindly ask for partial access to the non-confidential sections, in accordance with Article 4 of the Regulation.
Please confirm receipt of this request. I look forward to your response within the time limits established by the Regulation.
Yours sincerely,
Irene van den Berg
Investigative journalist
Overhoeksplein 2
1031 KS Amsterdam
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 18/07/2025 and registered on 18/07/2025 under the case number
2025/3640.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 08/08/2025. 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 Health and Food Safety - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Ms Van Den Berg,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 18 July 2025 under case number EASE 2025/3640
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 today 8 August 2025.
The application concerns different Services which have been 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 1 September 2025.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SANTE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Ms Van Den Berg,
We acknowledge that the time limit to replies to your access to documents
requests expires today and we apologize for the delay.
Please be reassured that we are doing our utmost to provide you with the
reply as soon as possible.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
Kind regards,
SANTE B4 Secretariat
[1]cid:940341813@13062012-1C27
European Commission
DG Health and Food Safety
Unit B.4 – Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
References
Visible links
Dear Health and Food Safety,
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 'Request for access to documents – contacts between DG SANTE and Heineken'.
The response to my eequest has been delayed. By law the authority should normally have responded promptly and by August 19, 2025
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/request/request...
Yours faithfully,
Irene van den Berg
