Robert McCoy COCOBO correspondence
Dear European Parliament,
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:
All correspondence between the Committee of the Regions and COCOBO (CONT) committee relating to the case of Financial
Controller/Internal Auditor of the Committee of the Regions, Robert McCoy.
Yours faithfully,
James Panichi
Thank you for your message.Please note that the European Parliament's
offices will be closed from 23 December 2015 to 3 January 2016. Any
document access requests received during that period will not be recorded
until 4 January 2016. The 15-working-day time limit placed on replies to
document requests (in accordance with Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001) will therefore run from that date.
*************************************************
Merci pour votre message. Veuillez noter que les bureaux du Parlement
européen seront fermés du 23 décembre 2015 au 3 janvier 2016. Les demandes
d'accès aux documents ne seront enregistrées que le 4 janvier 2016. Par
conséquent, le délai de 15 jours ouvrables pour répondre à vos demandes
(conformément à l’article 7.1 du Règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001) courra à
partir de cette même date.
OUR REF. A(2015)16151
Dear Mr Panichi,
European Parliament acknowledges receipt of your request, which will be processed as quickly as possible. You will receive a reply within 15 working days. We would like to put your attention on the fact that the European Parliament's offices were closed from 23 December 2015 to 03 January 2016.
Best regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services
Directorate for the Library
[email address]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
OUR REF. A(2015)16151
Dear Mr Panichi,
With regards to your request concerning correspondence between the Committee of the Regions and the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament related to the case of former internal auditor of the Committee of the Regions, Mr Robert McCoy, please find below the following information:
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 29 April 2015 "with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general
budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013, Section VII – Committee of the Regions (2014/2083(DEC))" (https://polcms.secure.europarl.europa.eu...), in which it voiced concern over "the way in which the Committee has been dealing with the same whistle-blower case since 2013."
At a meeting of 14 December 2015, coordinators of the Budgetary Control Committee decided that any follow-up of this case should take place within the discharge procedure of the Committee of the Regions and/or by individual Members.
A confidential letter was sent by the Committee of the Region's Secretary-General to the chair of the Budgetary Control Committee. For reasons of personal data protection, the letter cannot be made public.
Kind regards,
Marjory VAN DEN BROEKE
Head of Unit
European Parliament
Directorate-General for Communication
Directorate for Media
Press Unit
Dear European Parliament,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of European Parliament's handling of my FOI request 'Robert McCoy COCOBO correspondence'.
I regret to say that I find the explanation that the correspondence in question cannot be released as a result of data protection rules most unsatisfactory. The issue of whistle-blower protection is important enough to warrant full transparency and I am politely but firmly requesting a review of your decision.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/rober...
Yours faithfully,
James Panichi
Politico
Rue de la Loi 62
1040 Brussels
Belgium
OUR REF: A(2015)16151
Dear Mr Panichi,
Thank you for your message. Parliament will handle your request within 15 working days
Your sincerely,
TRANSPARENCY – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
Directorate for the Library
[email address]
OUR REFERENCE: A(2015)16151
Dear Mr Panichi,
The European Parliament is examining the different elements relevant to
the application you submitted under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Please note that, due to the complex procedure regarding the disclosure of
the requested document and the need of carrying out consultations,
Parliament is obliged to extend the time limit for processing your
application by further 15 working days, in accordance with Article 7(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Therefore, the deadline will expire on 1 March 2015.
We thank you for your understanding and apologise for any inconvenience.
Kind regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services
Directorate for the Library
[1][email address]
[2]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Robert McCoy left an annotation ()
Brussels, 4 February 2016
European Parliament
Directorate-General for Communication
Directorate for Media
Press Unit
For the kind attention of Ms Marjory VAN DEN BROEKE
Dear Ms Van Den Broeke
Re : « asktheeu » - your letter ref A(2015) 16151 dated 15.01.2016 to Mr James Panichi on the Robert McCoy bona fide whistleblower harassment case
I have received, via the “AsktheEu” website, automatic notification of the above-mentioned letter which you sent to Mr James Panichi, in reply to his request for copies of correspondence between the CoR and CONT in relation to my long-proven case of whistleblower harassment.
In this regard, there can be no conceivable grounds on the part of my former CoR employers for qualifying as “confidential” any so-called “information” it considers in its interest to supply to Parliament with regard to “my case”.
All the relevant facts in relation to this particular bona fide whistleblower harassment case are henceforth in the public domain where they belong.
I am sure that your refusal “for reasons of personal data protection” has been made with the very best of intentions.
However, it cannot possibly be in anyone’s interest - least of all the general public’s – for Parliament to decline to release a so-called “confidential letter” from the CoR Secretary General to the Chair of CONT which concerns the problem of whistleblower harassment in general and myself in particular as the long-proven victim of what the Civil Service Tribunal has described as the Committee’s “illegal behaviour”.
There can and must be absolutely nothing to hide in such cases.
Nothing can justify any of the facts from not being available for public scrutiny.
Nothing can, and must, remain confidential with regard to cases of “individual (and) institutional harassment” of a bone fide whistleblower such as this as described by Parliament itself.
Consequently, I hereby waive unconditionally any personal data protection rights you consider I may have with regard to the contents of this so-called “confidential” document. In so doing, I also hereby give my unconditional permission for the above-mentioned “confidential” document to be made available to Mr Panichi and indeed to any other journalist or member of the general public who may request a copy.
Finally, I would also ask you, as the plaintive and aggrieved party in this long-running dispute with my former CoR employers, to forward to me a copy of this document.
Thanks you in advance for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely
Robert McCoy,
Mobile: +32 (0)475 51 51 08
E-mail: robertmccoy@skynet.be