Dear Madam, Sir,

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 submitted entries for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 edition of the Youth4Regions Media Programme contest

- The 2017, 2018 and 2019 jury assessments of the Youth4Regions Media Programme contest applications

- Documents about the budget, criteria and goals of the Youth4Regions Media Programme

- Commission e-mail exchanges with the (mentor) journalists involved in the Youth4Regions Media Programme

- Evaluations of the 2017, 2018 and/or 2019 edition of the Youth4Regions Media Programme

Sincerely,
Peter Teffer

postal address:
Peter Teffer
Ekko Voorkamer
Bemuurde Weerd WZ 3
3513 BH Utrecht
The Netherlands

PS Please only send a digital copy. The physical mail always reaches me later than e-mail. Think of the environment.

Dear Madam, Sir,

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 'Youth4regions'. On July 31, 2020 I sent an access to documents request, asking for

- All submitted entries for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 edition of the Youth4Regions Media Programme contest

- The 2017, 2018 and 2019 jury assessments of the Youth4Regions Media Programme contest applications

- Documents about the budget, criteria and goals of the Youth4Regions Media Programme

- Commission e-mail exchanges with the (mentor) journalists involved in the Youth4Regions Media Programme

- Evaluations of the 2017, 2018 and/or 2019 edition of the Youth4Regions Media Programme

Regulation 1049/2001 stipulates that a reply should be sent within 15 working days, i.e. by August 21, 2020. I have not received such a reply - nor in fact a confirmation of receipt. I therefore file this complaint and ask that my request is handled swiftly.

All the best,
Peter Teffer

postal address:
Peter Teffer
Ekko Voorkamer
Bemuurde Weerd WZ 3
3513 BH Utrecht
The Netherlands

PS Please only send a digital copy. The physical mail always reaches me later than e-mail. Think of the environment.

A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/yout...

Dear Madam, Sir,

I have no GESTDEM number because you never even confirmed my request.

Sincerely,
Peter Teffer

Dear Mrs Janssens,

I already copied the content of my initial request in the e-mail to which you replied. In fact, the full content of my request was copied in *your* previous e-mail. But here it is again. On July 31, 2020 I sent an access to documents request, asking for

- All submitted entries for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 edition of the Youth4Regions Media Programme contest

- The 2017, 2018 and 2019 jury assessments of the Youth4Regions Media Programme contest applications

- Documents about the budget, criteria and goals of the Youth4Regions Media Programme

- Commission e-mail exchanges with the (mentor) journalists involved in the Youth4Regions Media Programme

- Evaluations of the 2017, 2018 and/or 2019 edition of the Youth4Regions Media Programme

Peter

Dear Mr Rugina,

I refer to my application for access to documents, which was registered on 09/09/2020 under reference number GESTDEM 2020/5323, after my initial request sent on 31/07/2020 had reportedly never reached your inbox.

Thanks for providing some information under the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour.

However, my request was done in the context of Regulation 1049/2001, and I believe it should be treated as an access to documents request. The description I gave all relate to specific documents, not information in general.

With regards to my request for "...criteria and goals of the Youth4Regions Media Programme", these were two separate categories of documents. The terms and conditions for the 2019 edition of the programme cover the criteria. But the goals of the programme should be covered by internal Commission documents which include the decision to set up the programme.

The Programme did not suddenly appear out of thin air, there must exist some administrative record of proposal, discussion and decision.

I disagree with your assessment that you "cannot provide the entries, jury assessments and e-mail exchanges because of applicable data protection legislation". Under Regulation 1049/2001, data protection would not cover any document in its entirety. See article 4.6 (If only parts of the requested document are covered by any of the exceptions, the remaining parts of the document shall be released.)

Moreover, such exceptions are waived if there is "an overriding public interest in disclosure". I believe there is such overriding public interest. This is a programme paid by public money which invites young participants to join a programme which gives "Trainings on journalism and EU regional policy". In other words, an EU-funded programme is attempting to shape how future journalists view the EU. It is important that the public can see how that programme has been designed and how the participators and trainers are selected.

Please let me know within 48 hours, i.e. by Wednesday 23 September noon, whether you are willing to re-examine my request as an access to documents request. If you are not willing to, I will file a confirmatory application and let the secretariat-general handle the request.

All the best,
Peter Teffer

Dear Mr Rugina,

Thank you for your message. I look forward to the reply.

Sincerely,
Peter Teffer

Dear Madam, Sir,

I refer to my application for access to documents, which was registered on 09/09/2020 under reference number GESTDEM 2020/5323. The time limit to reply was extended by 15 working days and expires on 21 October 2020, today. This is a friendly reminder that the Commission needs to reply today. Any further delay would be a violation of EU law.

All the best,
Peter Teffer