Request TTD and ECON
Dear Economic and Financial Affairs,
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, meeting minutes, notes, draft texts, impact assessments, and internal evaluations) from 1 January 2021 to the present, held by The Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, concerning:
– Contacts with tobacco companies (including but not limited to BAT and PMI) or their representatives regarding “tobacco harm reduction” and so-called "harm reduced products" such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches.
– References to or use of research from the “Omni” platform, or other industry-funded platforms, in policy preparation, consultations, or internal evaluations of harm reduction.
– Internal assessments, literature reviews, or scientific notes referring to studies by national institutes such as RIVM in the context of evaluating the health impact of alternative nicotine products.
– Drafts and internal versions of the planned revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and the Tobacco Tax Directive (TTD) including interservice consultations and related comments.
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,
Marcel Hobma
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 08/12/2025 and registered on 11/12/2025 under case number 2025/6554.
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 Economic and Financial Affairs - 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 Economic and Financial Affairs,
Thank you for your response, here is my postal address:
Adenauerlaan 155
3527RD, Utrecht
The Netherlands
I look forward to your response
Yours faithfully,
Marcel Hobma
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 08/12/2025 and registered on 11/12/2025 under the case number
2025/6554.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 13/01/2026. 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,
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs - Access to
Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Mr Hobma,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/6554.
Yours sincerely,
DG ECFIN, Access to Documents Team
Dear Economic and Financial Affairs,
Thank you. I confirm that I would appreciate receiving a formal reply letter stating that DG ECFIN holds no documents within the scope of my request.
Yours faithfully,
Marcel Hobma
Dear Mr Hobma,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 11/12/2025 under case number EASE 2025/6554.
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 02/02/2026.
Due to the subject matter of your application being interrelated with
other services of the European Commission, heightened internal
coordination is required to ensure the accurate validation of the response
letter.
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 23/02/2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG ECFIN, Access to Documents Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Mr. Hobma,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/6554.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Yours sincerely,
DG ECFIN; UNIT B2