Ref. Ares(2020)4848054 - 16/09/2020
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR MIGRATION AND HOME AFFAIRS
The Director-General
Brussels
By registered letter with acknowledgment of
receipt
HOME.B1/ID
Mr Peter Burt
19 Paradise Street,
Oxford, OX1 1LD,
United Kingdom
Advance copy by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2020/4816
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 11/08/2020 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 13/8/2020 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to “copy of all reports held by the Directorate General Migration and
Home Affairs (DG HOME) on the evaluation of operations conducted by DG HOME
using drones for border control / monitoring of illegal immigration.”.
We regret to inform you that the Commission does not hold any documents that would
correspond to the description given in your application.
Neither our Directorate General nor other services of the Commission have competence
to conduct border surveillance operations or other tasks related to border control as
defined by the Schengen Borders Code1 or set out by other relevant binding act of Union
1 Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union
Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code)
(codification) OJ L 77, 23.3.2016, p. 1.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
law, notably Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 on the European Border and Coast Guard2,
(hereinafter: the EBCG Regulation).
As specified in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the right of access as
defined in that Regulation applies only to existing documents in the possession of the
institution.
Given that no such documents, corresponding to the description given in your
application, are held by the Commission, the Commission is not in a position to fulfil
your request.
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 Secretariat-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 Brussels
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
(e-signed)
Monique PARIAT
2 OJ L 295 of 14.11.2019
2
Electronically signed on 15/09/2020 15:32 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563