Ref. Ares(2022)5524024 - 02/08/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
SECRETARIAT-GENERAL
Directorate G - External Relations
The Director
Brussels
SG.G/MK
Mr Yasha MACCANICO
15 Langton Court Road
Bristol BS4 4EH
United Kingdom
Dear Mr Yasha MACCANICO,
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2022/4180
We refer to your e-mail dated 07/07/2022 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 20/07/2022 under the above mentioned reference number.
You request access to
“Agendas and documents on the outcomes and contents of discussion of the following
meetings: […]
j. - President von der Leyen’s visit to Morocco, 8 February 2022.”
Please note that due to the wide scope of your request, covering also areas falling under the
responsibility of other Directorates-General, parts of your request have been attributed to
other Directorates-General1. This reply relates only to the documents held by the Cabinet of
the President of the European Commission. You have received the replies from the other
respective Directorates-General in parallel.
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, we regret to inform you that your
application cannot be granted, as disclosure is prevented by exception to the right of
access laid down in Article 4 of this Regulation.
The third indent of Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 provides that ʻ[t]he
institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the
protection of […] the public interest as regards […] international relations […]ʼ.
1 GESTDEM 2022/3948 – DG HOME, 2022/4179 – DG NEAR and 2022/4180 – SG
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: BERL 07/356 - Tel. direct line +32 229-96066
xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
The documents which you seek to obtain contain very sensitive information about the
EU’s relations to an important partner country in a number of key policy areas and
include also assessments of the country’s policies in this respect as well as the relations
between the country concerned and its relations with other international partners.
Disclosure of the documents requested and the assessments, analysis and
recommendations they contain would risk undermining the relations between the EU and
the country concerned as it would affect the atmosphere of mutual trust between the EU
and the country concerned. Also, public access to this information would reveal strategic
objectives of the Union that are relevant in the framework of the EU’s relations with the
country in question. It would further undermine the protection of the public interest as
regards international relations because it would reveal information that can be used by
third countries to bring an undue pressure on the Commission and unduly limit the room
for manoeuvre of the European Union on the international stage. Disclosure would
therefore jeopardise the European Union's international position.
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, you are entitled to make
a confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon receipt
of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Transparency,
Document
Management
&
Access
to
Documents
(SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Electronically signed
Michael KARNITSCHNIG
2
Electronically signed on 01/08/2022 10:26 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121