Ref. Ares(2021)5758262 - 21/09/2021
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL MIGRATION and HOME AFFAIRS
The Director-General
Brussels,
HOME/C5
By registered letter with
acknowledgment of receipt
Mrs Esther Bijl
Avenue Molière, 25B-1190 Brussels
Advance copy by email:
ask+request-9795-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2021/
4721
Dear Madam,
I refer to your e-mail dated 24/07/2021 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 27/07/2021 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to following documents for the period between 1st January 2012 and
31 December 2015:
1. List of all meetings between DG HOME officials related to the visa
waiver agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and agendas,
minutes, reports and other documentation of these meetings;
2. List of all meetings between DG HOME officials and the Offices of
Members of the European Parliament related to the visa waiver agreement
with the UAE and agendas, minutes, reports and other documentation of
these meetings;
3. List of all meetings between DG HOME officials and European External
Action Service (EEAS) officials related to the visa waiver agreement with
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
the UAE and agendas, minutes, reports and other documentation of these
meetings;
4. All correspondence between DG HOME officials on related to the visa
waiver agreement with the UAE including, but not limited to, e-mails, text
messages, basis documents, memos or drafts;
5. All correspondence between DG HOME officials and Offices of Members
of the European Parliament related to the visa waiver agreement with the
UAE including, but not limited to, e-mails, text messages, basis
documents, memos or drafts.
Regarding your request for lists of meetings, we regret to inform you that the Commission
does not hold any documents that would correspond to the description given in your
application. 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 lists are held by the Commission, the Commission
is not in a position to fulfil your request.
However you also request agendas, minutes, reports and other documentation of these
meetings.
As far as
point 1 and 4 of your request are concerned, we identified eight documents as
relevant for the sake of your request. Document n° 1-8 are listed in the annex to this
letter.
Regarding your request under
point 2, we identified nine documents as relevant for the
sake of your request. Documents n° 9-17 are listed in the annex to this letter.
Please be informed that the European Parliament has set up a Public Register on its
website with the view to enhancing transparency on its activities and facilitating access to
documents by individuals. This register makes directly available to the public a large
number of documents produced and held by the Parliament. Filter function tools are
available on the webpage to facilitate the sorting of documents by year and category.
Documents n°9 and n°11 are available on the following link:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/LIBE-OJ-2014-02-12-1_FR.pdf
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/LIBE-OJ-2015-07-15-1_EN.pdf
We identified one document as relevant for the sake of your request under
point 3.
Document n° 18 is listed in the annex to this letter.
Following an examination of the requested documents (except the above mentioned
documents n°9 and n°11 which are publicly available) under the provisions of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, I regret to inform you that the
disclosure of the documents which you seek to obtain would undermine the protection of
the public interest as regards international relations,
as provided in Article 4(1)(a), third
indent of the Regulation and would seriously undermine the decision-making process
under Article 4(3) second subparagraph of the Regulation. As far as the protection of
international relations is concerned, the EU Court has acknowledged that the institutions
2
enjoy a wide discretion when considering whether access to a document may undermine
that public interest1.
Indeed, the information contained in these documents relates to the negotiations for the
adoption of an act legally binding for the parties, the Visa Waiver Agreement with the
United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On 6 May 2015, the EU and the UAE signed a short-stay visa waiver
agreement. The agreement will be provisionally applied until its final ratification. To
date, the agreement is ratified by the European Parliament and but not yet by the UAE’s
authorities. The documents which you seek to obtain relate to negotiations and
conclusion of an international agreement which have not come to a full ratification by
UAE. The disclosure of such information which reveal views and policy options in
sensitive matter could prejudice the conclusion of the ratification process between the two
parties, and negatively affect the position of the EU in the context of future similar
negotiations with other partners.
Disclosure of documents under point 1, 2, 3 and 4 to the general public would be
detrimental to the Union’s relations with the UAE and harm the possibility to maintain
the environment of mutual trust, thus negatively affecting the possibility of holding such
dialogues in the future, or their substance. A public release of such information could
jeopardise both the EU's relations with the UAE and the aims of the bilateral dialogue.
The General Court has acknowledged in a recent judgment that the way in which the
authorities of a third country perceive the decisions of the European Union is a
component of the relations established with that third country. Indeed, the pursuit and the
quality of those relations depend on that perception2.
At the outset, I must underline that the refused documents were drawn up for purely
internal purposes within the Commission in the context of consultations in view of the
negotiation of the Visa Waiver Agreement with the UAE. More precisely, it makes a
detailed analysis of the different options the Commission might consider when
negotiating the Visa Waiver Agreement and it also contains references to individual
positions or comments of Member States on some sensitive questions. Moreover, in its
nature, briefings reflect the opinions of the authors, destined for internal use, do not
reflect an official position by the Commission or the EU and do not necessarily
correspond to the positions taken by the Commission.
We have considered whether partial access could be granted to the documents requested and
came to the conclusion that access to an expunged version of the documents is not possible,
as the abovementioned exceptions apply to the entire document and the documents would
be meaningless after expunging the sensitive information.
The exception laid down in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies unless
there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the document. I have examined
whether there could be an overriding public interest in disclosure, but that I have not been
able to identify such an interest.
1 Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 25 April 2007, in Case T-264/04, WWF European Policy
Programme v Council, EU:T:2007:114, paragraph 40.
2 Judgment of the General Court of 27 February 2018, Case T-307/16, CEE Bankwatch Network v
European Commission, EU:T:2018:97, paragraph 90.
3
Regarding your request under
point 5 we inform you that the Commission does not hold
any relevant documents that would correspond to the description given in your application.
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 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
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/288
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email t
o: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Monique Pariat
Annex: List of 18 documents requested
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List of documents:
1. Briefing for the Director General Mr Stefano MANSERVISI for Meeting 26 June
2012 with H.E. Mr Sulaiman Hamid Almazroui Ambassador of the United Arab
Emirates (Ares(2012)759320)
2. Meeting report of informal lunch briefing with UAE
(Ares(2021)5025686)
3. Briefing for the Director General Mr Stefano MANSERVISI for Meeting 11
February 2013 with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs,
(Ares(2021)4961195)
4. E-mail dated 12 February 2012 - Meeting report of Meeting 11 February 2013
(Ares(2021)5025686)
5. Briefing for Mrs Asenius. Meeting with UAE on 13 February 2013
(Ares(2021)5025686)
6. Briefing for the Director General Mr Stefano MANSERVISI for Meeting 26 July
2013 with UEA civil aviati
on (Ares(2021)5025686)
7. E-mail dated 5 November 2014 – Flash report negotiation meeting with UEA
(Ares(2021)5025686)
8. Briefing for the Director Belinda Pyke for Signing of visa waiver agreement with
the United Arab Emirates
(Ares(2021)5025686)
9. 12 February 2014_Agenda of the European Parliament Committee on Civil
Liberties, Justice Home Affairs
(Ares(2021)4958696)
10. 12 February 2014_DG HOME email flash report from the meeting
(Ares(2021)4958696)
11. 16 July 2015_Agenda of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties,
Justice and Home Affairs
(Ares(2021)4958696)
12. 16 July 2014_DG HOME e-mail flash report from the meeting
(Ares(2021)4958696)
13. 19 September 2015_DG HOME e-mail flash report from the meeting of the
European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
(Ares(2021)4958696)
14. 8 January 2014_DG HOME e-mail flash report of trilogue of the Parliament, the
Council and the Commission meeting dated 08/01/2014 to discuss the amendment
to Regulation 539/2001 concerning the lists of countries
(Ares(2021)4958696)
5
15. 28 January 2014_DG HOME e-mail flash report of trilogue of the Parliament,
the Council and the Commission dated 28/01/2014 to discuss the amendment to
Regulation 539/2001 concerning the lists of countries
(Ares(2021)4958696)
16. 04 February 2014 DG HOME e-mail flash report of trilogue of the Parliament,
the Council and the Commission dated 04/02/2014 to discuss the amendment to
Regulation 539/2001 concerning the lists of countr
ies (Ares(2021)4958696)
17. 15 March 2013 E-mail Report form Meeting DG HOME with EP rapporteur
18. Briefing for EEAS for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the EU Joint
Cooperation Committee, Regional Directors meeting, Brussels, 24-25 April 2013
(Ares(2013)716599)
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Electronically signed on 20/09/2021 19:12 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482