Request for documents on industry contacts, innovation claims, and internal analyses regarding harm reduction products.
Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,
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:
I request access to all documents (including correspondence, briefings, meeting notes, and impact assessments) from 1 January 2021 to the present, held by DG GROW, concerning:
– Meetings or exchanges with tobacco companies or their representatives in which “harm reduction products” were discussed in relation to innovation, internal market, or economic opportunities.
– References to industry-funded platforms such as “Omni” in the context of scientific or innovation policy.
– Internal notes, briefings, or draft papers analysing the economic arguments made by industry representatives for favourable treatment of alternative nicotine products.
I would like the search to cover the period from 1 January 2021 to the present.
If parts of the requested documents are covered by exceptions under Regulation 1049/2001, I kindly ask for partial access to be granted to the remaining parts. I am also open to receiving the documents in electronic format.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Yours faithfully,
Irene van den Berg
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 26/09/2025 and registered on 26/09/2025 under case number 2025/4905.
Since you have not indicated your postal address, we are not able to start
handling your request. The 15 working days to reply to your request will
start running only when you send us your postal address.
You can send your postal address by replying to this e-mail. If we do not
receive your reply we may close this case.
Please note that you can submit a request for access to Commission
documents via the portal [1]'Request a Commission document', which does
not require you to indicate your postal address.
Why do we need your personal postal address?
Since 1 April 2014, the submission of a postal address became a mandatory
feature when submitting an application for access to Commission documents
via an e-mail. We would like to explain why we need your postal address in
order to register and handle your application for access to documents when
submitted via e-mail:
• Firstly, to obtain legal certainty as regards the date you received
the European Commission reply to your application for public access to
documents. Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU) states that 'decisions which specify to whom
they are addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are
addressed and shall take effect upon such notification.' In line with
this provision, if the Commission does not grant full access to the
requested documents, it notifies the reply to the applicant via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt or via delivery
service. This requires an indication of a valid postal address by the
applicant;
• Secondly, to apply correctly the [2]Data Protection Regulation (EU)
2018/1725. Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident (or not) is
necessary for deciding which conditions shall apply for the
transmissions of personal data to applicants for access to documents.
These conditions are not the same for recipients established in the
Union and for recipients in third countries. As the vast majority of
the documents requested contain personal data, the Commission cannot
ensure the correct application of the data protection rules in the
absence of a postal address;
• Thirdly, to apply correctly [3]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Article
4(1)(b) of that Regulation refers to the protection of the privacy and
integrity of the individual and has to be applied in line with the
Data Protection Regulation;
• Fourthly, to protect the interest of other citizens and safeguard the
principle of good administration. The Commission has to treat all
citizens equally by ensuring that the legal framework for public
access to documents is respected. For example, it has to verify
whether Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is being evaded
by introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in
its Ryanair judgment ([4]EU:T:2010:511), the General Court confirmed
that Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 cannot be evaded by
splitting an application into several, seemingly separate, parts. In
addition, the Commission has to make sure that the legal framework is
respected and the right of access to documents is not abused by making
requests under an invented identity.
The considerations above show that the request for and the consequent
processing of the applicant's postal address is not only appropriate, but
also strictly necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the
public interest within the meaning of Article 5(1)(a) of Data Protection
Regulation, namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/do...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,
Please find below my postal address as requested:
Linker Rottekade 292, unit 1.7
3034 CV Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Yours sincerely,
Irene van den Berg
Yours faithfully,
Irene van den Berg
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 26/09/2025 and registered on 26/09/2025 under the case number
2025/4905.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 17/10/2025. 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 Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Ms. Van Den Berg
We refer to your request for access to documents, registered on 26/09/2025
under the above mentioned reference number.
Your application is currently being handled. However, we were not in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expired on 17/10/2025.
An extended time limit is needed as in order to retrieve the documents
requested, large files have to be examined;
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 07/11/2025.
We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
DG GROW – Access to documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/B1 – Planning and Simplification
Dear Ms. Van Den Berg
We refer to your request for access to documents, registered on 26/09/2025
under the above mentioned reference number.
Your application is currently being handled. However, we were not in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expired on 17/10/2025.
An extended time limit is needed as in order to retrieve the documents
requested, large files have to be examined.
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 07/11/2025.
We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
DG GROW – Access to documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/B1 – Planning and Simplification
Dear Madam,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/4905.
We would appreciate if you could acknowledge the receipt of this message
by return email within 5 working days.
Kind regards,
DG GROW - Access to Documents
Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,
Thank you for your reply regarding my access to documents request.
After reviewing your response, I would kindly ask DG GROW to verify once more whether the search covered the full range of units that may handle files related to:
– contacts or meetings with tobacco industry representatives (BAT, PMI, JTI, Imperial Brands, Tobacco Europe, IEVA);
– discussions involving “harm reduction products” in the context of innovation, industrial policy or the internal market;
– references to the industry-funded platform “Omni”;
– briefing notes or internal papers examining economic or competitiveness arguments linked to alternative nicotine products.
Given DG GROW’s role in internal market and industrial policy, it would be unexpected that no correspondence, no meeting notes, and no internal briefings exist at all on these topics for the period 2021–present.
Before submitting a confirmatory application, I would appreciate confirmation of:
Which units within DG GROW were tasked with the search, and
What search terms and document categories were used.
This information will allow me to determine whether a confirmatory application is necessary.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Irene van den Berg
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 13/11/2025 and registered on 17/11/2025 under the case number
2025/5978.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 08/12/2025. 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 Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Ms Van der Berg,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/5978.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
Secretariat of Unit GROW F3
DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs