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REPLY ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON 9 December 2021
TO CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION 41/c/02/21,
made by email on 18 November 2021
for public access to documents
pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
The Council of the EU has considered this confirmatory application under Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public
access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43)
(hereafter referred to as "Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001") and Article 10(2) of its Rules of
Procedure (European Council Decision No 2009/882/EU, OJ L 315, 2.12.2009, p. 51) and has come
to the following conclusion:
1. On 3 October 2021, the Applicant made an initial application for access to “
all
notes/files/folders/letters/emails/correspondence / documents on the subject of UAP/UFO/
radar UCT and incursions into European Airspace by unknown craft”, addressing the
"
European Union Political and Security Committee".
2. In its reply on 17 November 2021, the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) informed the
Applicant that it does not hold any document related to the matter.
3. On 17 November 2021, the Applicant made a confirmatory application stating: "
My request is for
the European Political and Security Committee and NOT the European Council". The same
Applicant had already introduced a confirmatory application addressed to the European
Council
1.
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See confirmatory application 35\c\01\21, document 10388/21.
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4. On 17 November 2021, the GSC informed the applicant that the Political and Security
Committee (PSC) is a preparatory body of the Council of the EU
(https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/political_security_committee.html). It had therefore
examined his request consulting specifically with the services responsible for the Political and
Security Committee and also with other services of the General Secretariat. It concluded more
comprehensively that there are no documents held by the Council on the subject of his
request.
5. The Council has reassessed the application in full consideration of the principle of
transparency underlying Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and in light of the Applicant's
comments.
6. The right of access to documents held by the institutions within the meaning of Article 2(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies only to existing documents in the possession of the
institution concerned. The Regulation does not oblige an institution to create a document for
which it has been asked to grant access but which does not exist.
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7. Therefore, the competent services of the GSC have conducted a new thorough investigation in
order to ensure that the initial research had been exhaustive. It has again concluded that, apart
from the applications for access to documents from the Applicant and the replies, the Council
does not hold any documents on the topic covered by the request of the Applicant.
8. The Applicant claims that he has "evidence that they (our note: members of the PSC) are in
possession of documents sent to them earlier this year on the subject of UAPs/UFOs. It should
be pointed out that even if the Applicant had addressed such letters to representatives of
Member States in the PSC, that does not mean that the Council of the EU as an institution
currently holds such letters.
Conclusion
9. In light of the above, the Council confirms the General Secretariat's information provided in
reply to the Applicant's initial request that it does not hold any documents containing
information on UAP/UFO/ radar UCT and incursions into European Airspace by unknown
craft.
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Judgment of 2 October 2014, Case C-127/13 P, Strack v Commission, ECLI:EU:C:2014:2250, paragraphs 38
and 46.