Request for documents on the inclusion, postponement or removal of the TTD/TPD revisions from the Commission Work Programme
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:
I request access to all documents (including memos, emails, meeting notes, draft agendas, and interservice consultation documents) from 1 January 2021 to the present, concerning:
– The inclusion, postponement, or removal of the revision of the Tobacco Tax Directive (TTD) and the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) from the Commission Work Programme.
– Communications with Member States or Commissioners’ Cabinets regarding these revisions.
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
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 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 2025/4895.
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,
Secretariat-General - 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 Secretariat General of the European Commission,
Please find below my postal address as requested:
Linker Rottekade 292, unit 1.7
3034 CV Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Yours faithfully,
Irene van den Berg
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 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
2025/4895.
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,
Secretariat-General - 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 26/09/2025 under case number EASE 2025/4986.
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 17/10/2025.
The application concerns documents held by 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 07/11/2025.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG SANTE, Unit B4
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Hello,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 26/09/2025 under case number 2025/4895.
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 17/10/2025.
An extended time limit for more in-depth investigations is needed in order
to complete our assessment on the possibility for the public disclosure of
the documents requested.
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 07/11/2025.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
TAXUD Access to documents
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Hello,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 26/09/2025 under case number 2025/4895.
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 7/11/2025.
An extended time limit for more in-depth investigations is needed in order
to complete our assessment on the possibility for the public disclosure of
the documents requested.
Therefore, we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working
days. The new time limit expires on 28/11/2025.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
TAXUD Access to documents
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/4895.
Could you please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
TAXUD Access to Documents
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/5478.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards.
Dear Mr Thomas,
Thank you for your detailed reply and for confirming that DG TAXUD has identified 30 documents relevant to my request. I appreciate the overview provided in the annex.
Before deciding whether to submit a confirmatory application, I would like to request clarification on several points in your decision.
First, the reasoning based on Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation 1049/2001 suggests that disclosure would undermine the Union’s financial and economic interests. However, the documents listed in the annex (letters, briefings, meeting notes and interservice consultation papers) appear to concern the legislative preparation of the revision of Directive 2011/64/EU, not sensitive budgetary forecasts or financial modelling. I would be grateful if you could clarify which specific elements in these documents would jeopardise economic policy if disclosed.
Second, your reference to Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control seems to imply that transparency towards the public could expose decision-makers to commercial pressure. Article 5.3, however, is generally interpreted as requiring more transparency in interactions around tobacco policy, not less. I would welcome clarification on how this provision justifies withholding documents from public scrutiny.
Third, I note that no partial access was granted. Since many of the documents in the annex concern high-level exchanges (for example, letters to national ministers and briefing materials), I would appreciate information on whether any of these contain sections that would not fall under the cited exceptions.
Finally, I would be grateful if you could confirm whether DG TAXUD considered redacting only those passages that relate to ongoing Council negotiations, while releasing the remainder of the documents.
As the deadline for submitting a confirmatory application is 15 working days, I would be grateful if you could reply at your earliest convenience.
Thank you in advance for your assistance and for any further clarification you can provide.
Kind regards,
Irene van den Berg
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 Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2025/5478, sent on 03/12/2025 and registered on 03/12/2025.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 05/01/2026. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear applicant,
Please note that we will close case 2025/5478 due to encoding error
following the erroneous reference to the present case.
DG TAXUD will handle your request for clarifications noting that you
remain entitled to submit a new confirmatory application in accordance
with the Regulation.
Kind regards,
Secretariat-General - Access to documents
European Commission
Dear Madam,
We have given your e-mail our full attention.
Firstly, as noted in our reply, although not legally linked to the
proposal for the revision of Directive 2011/64/EU, the Proposal for
Council Decision on the system of own resources (COM/2025/574 final)
foresees a new Tobacco Excise Duty Own Resource calling a share of the
minimum rate for tobacco and tobacco related products. Since the proposal
for the revision of Directive 2011/64/EU envisages an increase in the
excise duty rates on traditional tobacco products and the taxation of new
tobacco-related products, it undoubtedly concerns the financial and
economic policy of the Union and of the Member States by its impact on the
revenues of the Member States.
Secondly, the purpose of Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (FCTC) is to protect the Parties’ public health policies
from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. To
ensure the proper application of this provision, the WHO Guidelines for
its implementation establish that ‘Parties should interact with the
tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary’’. DG
TAXUD implements these provisions by limiting meetings with the tobacco
industry and its representatives to those which are strictly necessary and
publishes minutes of meetings with the tobacco industry. In light of this,
we would also note that once the specified documents are made public, they
become accessible to everyone. Considering that the discussions and
exchanges take place in a specific context and the proposal is politically
sensitive, disclosure of the documents could increase the risk of exposing
the decision-making process to external pressure from actors representing
various - potentially conflicting - interests which could seriously
undermine the process.
Finally, as mentioned in our reply, we have considered whether partial
access could be granted. In any case, for that part of the documents
requested, partial access would be meaningless in our view, and hence of
no use to you.
For your information, as regards this point relating the partial access,
the following has been stated in a court case:
Judgment of the Court of first Instance of 12 July 2001 in case T-204/99,
Mattila v Council and Commission
69. (...) whilst, in accordance with Hautala v Council, the Council and
the Commission are required to consider whether access ought to be granted
to information not covered by the exceptions, the principle of sound
administration requires that the duty to grant partial access should not
result in an administrative burden which is disproportionate to the
applicant's interest in obtaining that information. In light of this, it
is clear that the Council and the Commission are in any event entitled to
refuse partial access in cases where examination of the documents in
question shows that partial access would be meaningless because the parts
of the documents that could be disclosed would be of no use to the
applicant.
Note as well that you can find a lot of information already on the
Commission’s website:
[1]https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/ta...
and Tobacco taxation – excise duties for manufactured tobacco products
(updated rules)
Your sincerely,
DG TAXUD Access to documents - team
Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,
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 documents on the inclusion, postponement or removal of the TTD/TPD revisions from the Commission Work Programme'.
I hereby submit a confirmatory application under Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 requesting a review of DG TAXUD’s decision of 26 November 2025 refusing access to 30 documents identified as falling within the scope of my request.
DG TAXUD’s decision relies on Article 4(1)(a), Article 4(3) first and second subparagraphs, and an interpretation of Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). For the reasons set out below, the refusal is not compliant with Regulation 1049/2001 or the relevant case law of the Court of Justice.
1. DG TAXUD has not demonstrated the concrete and foreseeable harm required under Article 4(1)(a)
DG TAXUD claims that releasing the documents would undermine the Union’s financial and economic interests due to the revenue importance of tobacco taxation. However:
The documents listed in the annex (letters to ministers, briefings, minutes, interservice consultation notes) concern legislative preparation, not budgetary projections nor fiscal operations.
The exception in Article 4(1)(a) requires a specific, precise and non-hypothetical showing of harm, as consistently required by the Court (e.g., Sweden v Commission, C-64/05 P; API v Commission, C-280/11 P).
DG TAXUD provides no document-specific reasoning, nor an explanation why disclosure of factual or procedural information would undermine economic policy.
It is also contradictory to suggest that transparency regarding tobacco excise policy could harm financial interests, while EU tobacco taxation is expressly designed to reduce consumption for public health reasons—something that inherently reduces revenue. No attempt is made to reconcile this logic.
2. The invocation of WHO FCTC Article 5.3 is legally flawed
DG TAXUD cites Article 5.3 FCTC to justify withholding documents by arguing that transparency could expose policymakers to pressure. This reverses the meaning of the provision.
Article 5.3 and its implementation guidelines require enhanced transparency in relation to tobacco-related decision-making. They do not authorise secrecy from the public; they prohibit privileged access for the tobacco industry.
Using Article 5.3 to restrict public access contradicts its object and purpose and disregards the obligation to conduct policymaking “in a transparent manner” (Guideline 1.2).
3. Blanket reliance on Article 4(3) is incompatible with the strict interpretation required by the Court
DG TAXUD invokes both subparagraphs of Article 4(3), claiming disclosure would undermine ongoing decision-making and relates to internal opinions. However: Regulation 1049/2001 requires a specific assessment for each document (Cases Technische Glaswerke, C-139/07 P; LPN, C-514/11 P). Even where internal opinions are protected, factual information must be disclosed (Case T-14/98 Hautala). The exception for ongoing decision-making cannot justify withholding entire categories of documents (Access Info Europe, C-280/11 P). DG TAXUD does not explain why every line of all 30 documents - many of which are external letters -would be covered.
4. No meaningful assessment of partial access
DG TAXUD asserts that all documents are “entirely covered” by exceptions, yet the annex includes documents that - by their nature - contain: procedural information, factual background, summaries of stakeholder or Member State input, neutral descriptions of the legislative context. Under Article 4(6) of Regulation 1049/2001, institutions must grant access to any non-sensitive parts. The Court has repeatedly emphasised this obligation (e.g., Hautala, T-14/98; Commission v Éditions Odile Jacob, C-404/10 P). DG TAXUD’s decision contains no analysis of whether partial access is possible, even though it plainly is.
5. Protection of “unity of policy” or Member State positions cannot justify full refusal
DG TAXUD suggests that disclosure might reveal national positions.
If that is the concern: such passages can be redacted to avoid identifying Member States, factual and analytical content can still be released, the Commission cannot withhold all documents simply because Member States disagree (Case T-233/09 Access Info Europe). Nothing in Regulation 1049/2001 supports a refusal of entire documents on the basis that they include Member State views.
6. Overriding public interest in transparency
Even if exceptions applied, there is a strong overriding public interest in disclosure:
- Tobacco taxation is a core public health instrument.
- The revision of Directive 2011/64/EU is of major societal importance.
- Transparency is essential to protect policymaking from undue influence by a historically powerful and disruptive industry.
- The Commission’s interpretation of FCTC obligations further justifies greater transparency, not less.
DG TAXUD did not assess this public interest in any substantive way.
Request
For the reasons above, I respectfully ask the Secretariat-General to:
- Annul the refusal issued by DG TAXUD in case 2025/4895.
- Conduct a document-by-document assessment of the 30 identified documents.
- Order disclosure of the documents in full, or, at minimum, require DG TAXUD to grant partial access in accordance with Article 4(6).
- Correct the misinterpretation of WHO FCTC Article 5.3.
- Ensure that any remaining redactions are justified with specific, concrete reasoning.
I remain available to provide further information if necessary.
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
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 Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2025/4895, sent on 12/12/2025 and registered on 12/12/2025.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 14/01/2026. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear Mrs Van Den Berg,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/4986.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
DG SANTE
Dear Ms Van Den Berg,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2025/4895 registered on 12/12/2025.
We are currently working on your confirmatory request. However, we have
not yet been able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full
analysis of your request. Due to the need to conduct internal
consultations, we will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 14/01/2026.
Therefore, in line with Article 8(2) 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 04/02/2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.A2 - Document Management and Access to Documents
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Ms Van den Berg,
We are writing concerning your email of 12 January 2026 sent to DG TAXUD
in relation to your confirmatory application for access to Commission
documents registered on 12 December 2025 under EASE 2025/4895.
In your email to DG TAXUD, you mentioned that you agree to reduce the
scope of your confirmatory application to documents 5, 6, 28, and 29
listed in the annex to the initial response sent to you by DG TAXUD.
Please note that, as your case is at the confirmatory stage since 12
December 2025, your case is no longer handled by DG TAXUD, but by the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission. Any correspondence in
relation to your case should therefore be addressed to unit SG A2 of the
Secretariat-General either via the EASE messaging option or via email to
[email address] and not to DG TAXUD.
In this context, we would kindly ask you to confirm within 3 working days
whether you still agree for the scope of your confirmatory request to be
reduced to documents 5, 6, 28, and 29 listed in the annex to the initial
response?
We thank you very much in advance for your confirmation,
Best regards,
SG A2 – Document Management and Access to Documents
Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,
Thank you for your message.
I hereby confirm that I agree to reduce the scope of my confirmatory application to documents 5, 6, 28 and 29, as listed in the annex to the initial response from DG TAXUD.
Yours faithfully,
Irene van den Berg
Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,
Thank you for your message.
I hereby confirm that I agree to reduce the scope of my confirmatory application to documents 5, 6, 28 and 29, as listed in the annex to the initial response from DG TAXUD.
I will address any further correspondence regarding this case to unit SG A2, as indicated.
Yours faithfully,
Irene van den Berg
Dear Ms Van den Berg,
We thank you very much for your message and your agreement to reduce the
scope of your confirmatory decision to documents 5, 6, 28 and 29, as
listed in the annex to the initial response from DG TAXUD.
We are doing our utmost to provide you with an answer to your confirmatory
request as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
SG.A2 - Document Management and Access to Documents
Dear VAN DEN BERG, Irene,
Please find attached the electronic version of European Commission
Decision C(2026) 2623 as adopted by the European Commission on 15/04/2026
concerning the request 2025/4895.
In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of this portal, please note
that this decision is being formally notified pursuant to article 297 TFEU
through this electronic platform only.
Yours sincerely,
Access to documents team - SG.A.2