Meeting with Huawei
Alexander Fanta made this Informationsfreiheit request to Generaldirektion Wirtschaft und Finanzen
This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Economic and Financial Affairs,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
All documents related to the video call between Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Huawei on July 23rd, 2020.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your e-mail of 9 October 2020. We hereby acknowledge receipt
of your application for access to documents, which was registered on 9
October 2020 under reference number GESTDEM 2020/6032.
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days. The time limit will expire on 30
October 2020. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
You have lodged your application via a private third-party website, which
has no link with any institution of the European Union. Therefore, the
European Commission cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or
problems linked to the use of this system.
Please note that the private third party running the AsktheEU.org website
is responsible and accountable for the processing of your personal data
via that website, and not the Commission. For further information on your
rights, please refer to the third party’s privacy policy.
We understand that the third party running the AsktheEU.org website
usually publishes the content of applicants’ correspondence with the
Commission on that website. This includes the personal data that you may
have communicated to the Commission (e.g. your private postal address).
Similarly, the third party publishes on that website any reply that the
Commission will send to the email address of the applicants generated by
the AsktheEU.org website.
If you do not wish that your correspondence with the Commission is
published on a private third-party website such as AsktheEU.org, you can
provide us with an alternative, private e-mail address for further
correspondence. In that case, the Commission will send all future
electronic correspondence addressed to you only to that private address,
and it will use only that private address to reply to your request. You
should still remain responsible to inform the private third-party website
about this change of how you wish to communicate with, and receive a reply
from, the Commission.
For information on how we process your personal data visit our page
[1]Privacy statement – access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
ECFIN ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
Unit R.1 – HR, business correspondent, business continuity and control
Dear Mr Fanta,
Thank you for your initial request for access to documents registered under reference Gestdem 2020/6032.
Could you please confirm us that you postal address is:
Netzpolitik.org
Rue de la Loi, 155
1040 Brussels
Belgium
Many thanks in advance.
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
[1]Ares(2020)6085086 - RE: access to documents request - Meeting with
Huawei ---- Gestdem 2020/6032
Sent by ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[email address]>. All responses have
to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[email address]>. Toutes les
réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.
Dear Mr Fanta,
I refer to your request dated 09/10/2020, registered on 09/10/2020, in
which you make a request for access to documents under the above mentioned
reference number.
Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expires on 30/10/2020.
An extended time limit is needed as the handling of your application could
not yet be completed at this stage. Therefore, we have to extend the time
limit with 15 working days in accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents.
The new time limit expires on 23/11/2020.
I apologise for any inconvenience this delay may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Please find attached document Ares(2020)7020386 from WIMMER Michael (SG.DSG1.A) dated 23/11/2020.
Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document Ares(2020)7020386 de WIMMER Michael (SG.DSG1.A) daté du 23/11/2020.
Dear Economic and Financial Affairs,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'Meeting with Huawei'.
First, I would like to point out that I am a journalist accredited with the European Commission and have filed for access because I write about Huawei and European lobbying of technology companies. Therefore, when making this request as part of the exercise of my role as a public watchdog, I am exercising both my right of access to documents (Article 15 of the TFEU and article 42 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union) and also my right to freedom of expression and information, as protected by in Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which is analogous to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Second, I note that the document identified as "document 1" has not been disclosed and no rationale for non-disclosure has been given. As there apparently is no reason to withhold the document I kindly ask to be provided with a copy. Also, I note that there appear to be no minutes of the meeting. As it would be somewhat unusual to keep no minutes of such a high-ranking meeting I ask for check whether there really are none. The same applied to e-mails or other communication in preparation of the meeting.
Third, the redactions under Article 4(3) of 1049/2001 appear quite substantial and I feel I was offered insufficient reasoning for a refusal, as you refer only in the abstract to "internal deliberations and preparation of proposals, in the areas of network and information security, market development and sustainable finance". I ask the Commission to concretely point out which "internal deliberations and preparation of proposals" it refers to, or otherwise provide more access to the documents in question.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Mr Fanta,
Today I have sent to you by e-mail an official reply to your request for
access to documents (registered as GESTDEM 2020/6032)
Could you please confirm the good reception of the message?
Thanks in advance
With kind regards
Hanna Karska-Vandiest
Hanna KARSKA-VANDIEST
[1]cid:image001.gif@01CE4731.3E87A650
European Commission
SECRETARIAT-GENERAL
Unit SG.A4 President's and Vice-Presidents' Briefings
Office: BERL 6/300
Tel. : +32 2 29 90795
@ [2][email address]
References
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2. mailto:[email address]
[1]Ares(2020)7048762 - : Internal review of access to documents request -
Meeting with Huawei - GESTDEM 2020/6032
Sent by ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[email address]>. All responses have
to be sent to this email address.
Envoyé par ve_sg.accessdoc (SG) <[email address]>. Toutes les
réponses doivent être effectuées à cette adresse électronique.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email dated 23/11/2020 by which you request, pursuant
to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by the
Secretariat-General in reply to your initial application GESTDEM
2020/6032.
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 24/11/2020 (Ares(2020)7048594).
Your application will be handled within 15 working days (15/12/2020). In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery. Thank you for providing your contact phone number, so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.
Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team (RC)
Dear Mr Fanta,
I refer to your email of 24 November 2020, registered on the same day, by
which you submit a confirmatory application in accordance with Article
7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents ("Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001"), registered under reference number above.
Your confirmatory application is currently being handled. Unfortunately,
we have not yet been able to gather all the elements needed to carry out a
full analysis of your request and to take a final decision. Therefore, we
are not in a position to reply to your confirmatory request within the
prescribed time limit which expires on 15 December 2020.
Consequently, we have to extend this period by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. The new
deadline expires on 14 January 2020.
However, I can assure you that we are doing our utmost to provide you with
a final reply within the next 15 working days.
I regret this additional delay and sincerely apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
María OLIVÁN AVILÉS
Head of Unit
European Commission
Secretariat General
SG.C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
Dear Mr Alexander Fanta ,
Please find attached the electronic version of Commission Decision C(2021)
542 final as adopted by the European Commission on 26.1.2021.
Given the exceptional circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
formal notification of the decision under Article 297 TFEU is being made
only in electronic form.
Please confirm receipt of the attached document by return e-mail.
Kind regards,
Giovanni VALASTRO
COMMISSION EUROPEENNE
Équipe certification/notification
BERL 05/155
Tél: +32-2-29 61594
Email: [1][email address]
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
Dear MR Alexander Fanta ,
Could you please confirm the receipt of the document sent on the 27.1.2021
Kind regards,
Giovanni VALASTRO
COMMISSION EUROPEENNE
Équipe certification/notification
BERL 05/155
Tél: +32-2-29 61594
Email: [email address]
From: SG GREFFE CERTIFICATION
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2021 4:50 PM
To: '[FOI #8636 email]'
<[FOI #8636 email]>
Cc: PETIT Sandrine (SG) <[email address]>
Subject: C(2021) 542 final addressed to Mr Alexander Fanta -
netzpolitik.org
Dear Mr Alexander Fanta ,
Please find attached the electronic version of Commission Decision C(2021)
542 final as adopted by the European Commission on 26.1.2021.
Given the exceptional circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
formal notification of the decision under Article 297 TFEU is being made
only in electronic form.
Please confirm receipt of the attached document by return e-mail.
Kind regards,
Giovanni VALASTRO
COMMISSION EUROPEENNE
Équipe certification/notification
BERL 05/155
Tél: +32-2-29 61594
Email: [1][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]