Secretariat‐General Head of Unit - C2 Ethics, Good Administration & Relations with the European Ombudsman European Commission

 

Dear Mr X,

I am coming back to you concerning the above-mentioned inquiry, which we opened on 16 March 2023. We asked the Commission to reply to the complainant’s confirmatory application by 11 April 2023. We understand that the Commission was not in a position to do so due to ongoing external consultations, and that the delay is likely to persist. The statutory deadline to reply to the confirmatory application expired on 28 November 2022.

In order to move this case forward, we have decided to ask the Commission to provide us with the following documents, preferably in electronic format through encrypted email[1]:

1. Copies of the documents identified as falling within the scope of the complainant’s request to which (full) access was refused.

We understand there are 23 documents, which were partially disclosed, and 172 documents to which access was refused in their entirety. For the 23 documents to which partial access was granted, we would be grateful to receive marked copies indicating which parts were disclosed to the complainant and which were not, and the reasoning for the redactions.

2. Any documentation relating to the consultation of the Dutch authorities at initial and confirmatory stage, to the extent that it already exists.

We would be grateful to receive the above-mentioned documents by 17 July 2023.

Information or documents that your institution considers to be confidential will not be disclosed to the complainant or any other person without the prior agreement of the Commission.[2]

The inquiries officer responsible for the case is Ms Oana Marin.

Yours sincerely,

Rosita Hickey
Director of Inquiries

Strasbourg, 07/07/2023

 

[1] Encrypted emails can be sent to our dedicated mailbox.

[2] Please clearly mark such material ‘Confidential’. Information and documents of this kind will be deleted from the European Ombudsman’s files shortly after the inquiry has ended.