Ref. Ares(2023)882801 - 07/02/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
NEIGHBOURHOOD AND ENLARGEMENT NEGOTIATIONS
R - Resources
R.2 – Legal Issues
Brussels
Subject:
Your application for access to documents
Ref.:
EASE 2022/6666
Dear Ms Pacciardi,
I refer to your application for access to documents1 registered under the above-mentioned
reference number and our subsequent correspondence2.
Your initial request read:
“Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in
Regulation 1049/2001, in relation to the implementation of the project “Recovery,
Stability and socio-economic development in Libya- Phase 2 (T05-EUTF-NOA-LY-
05).
I am requesting documents produced since August 2020 which contain the
following information which:
-
In-depth Guidelines/minutes of meetings on how to carry out the activities
generically indicated in the Action Documents of projects
-
Any agreement signed between the EU (or AICS) and third parties
-
Documents with information concerning detailed activities that have been
implemented by the Italian Cooperation (AICS) and the local partners
1 Ref. Ares(2022)79961196.
2 Refs. Ares(2022)8462107, Ares(2023)67962 and Ares(2023)796044.
Ms Agnese Pacciardi
Hässleholmsgatan 8B
214 43 Malmö
Sweden
By email only to:
ask+request‐12178‐xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
-
Monitoring reports on performed activities
-
Minutes of the meetings of the Operational Committee, as the body
responsible for reviewing and approving the actions financed by the EUTF,
and evaluating reports of the impact of this project on migrants and
refugees
-
Financial reports detailing the expenditure items of the €50,000,000 budget
invested in the project, in particular the €22,000,000, received by the
Italian Cooperation (AICS)”
We asked for clarifications, and you responded3:
Our 1st question: “
In-depth Guidelines/minutes of meetings on how to carry out the
activities generically indicated in the Action Documents of projects”. This question
is extremely vague; could you please specify of which body you are precisely ask
“Guidelines/minutes of meetings?”
Your response: “
In relation to the first point of you clarification request, please
note that I am referring to minutes of the meetings of the Project Steering
Committee (as well as other documents related to the meetings of such Committee),
as well as any other existing minutes of meetings in relation to the project T05-
EUTF-NOA-LY-05”.
Our 2nd question: “
In addition, could you please explain in more detail what “how
to carry out the activities generically indicated in the Action Documents of
projects” exactly mean? Are you referring to contractual procedures, regulating
the contracts between the EU and the Implementing Partners?”
Your response: “
In addition, and concerning the second part of the question you
ask to clarify, I request access to the following documents:
-
Contractual procedures between the EU and the Implementing Partners
-
Documents related to any workshop/meeting on the state of play of the
project implementation and future developments
-
Any existing narrative report on the project (e.g. quarterly narrative
information notes, interim narrative information notes, notes on the
project etc.)
-
Any existing report related to the negotiation, procurement and direct
award grants (and annexes)
-
Any existing letters (or other written exchange) between DG NEAR and
the Italian counterpart of the project (MAECI, AICS)”
Our 3rd question: “
Any agreement signed between the EU (or AICS) and third
parties”. Does this question refer to AICS component of the programme T05-
EUTF-NOA-LY-05 only, or also to those implemented by UNICEF and UNDP?”
3
Ref. Ares(2022)8507192
2
Our 4th question: “
Monitoring reports on performed activities” Does this question
refer specifically to AICS component of the programme T05-EUTF-NOALY-05, or
also to those implemented by UNICEF and UNDP?”
Our 5th question:
“Financial reports detailing the expenditure items of the
€22,000,000 budget invested in the project, in particular the €50,000,000, received
by the Italia Cooperation (AICS).” Could you please clarify if you are interested
in financial reports relating to UNDP and UNICEF components of the programme
as well?”
Your response to our 3rd, 4th and 5th questions: “
As for the other three clarification
requests, I hereby clarify that I am interested only in the AICS component of the
programme T05-EUTF-NOA-LY-05, and not in UNICEF and UNDP.”
I also refer to our correspondence, in which we agreed to narrow down the scope of your
application4.
Your application concerns 30 documents, which you can find listed in Annex I to this letter.
Having examined the documents under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/20015,
I have decided that:
- Full access can be granted to documents 1, 2, 5, 8, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 29.
- Partial access can be granted to documents 3, 4, 6, 7, 18, 19, 21, 23, 28 and 30 as
full disclosure is prevented by the exception to the right of access laid down in
Article 4(1)(b) (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Documents 2, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 contain phrases, which are out of scope of
your request; these phrases have therefore been redacted.
Note that documents 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 are the same as documents 21, 22,
23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 respectively.
The justification regarding the exception laid down in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 is as follows:
Documents 3, 4, 6, 7, 18, 19, 21, 23, 28 and 30 contain the following personal data:
- biometric data such as handwritten signatures;
- the names/initials of Commission staff members not pertaining to the senior
management;
- the names/initials and contact details of other natural persons;
4
Refs. Ares(2023)46032, Ares(2023)129302, Ares(2023)136313 and Ares(2023)184962.
5 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, Official Journal L 145 of
31 May 2001, p. 43.
3
- other information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person
(functions).
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation6 does not allow the transmission of these
personal data, except if you prove that it is necessary to have the data transmitted to you
for a specific purpose in the public interest and where there is no reason to assume that the
legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced. In your application, you do not
express any particular interest to have access to these personal data, nor do you put forward
any arguments to establish the necessity to have the data transmitted for a specific purpose
in the public interest.
I conclude that, pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access
cannot be granted to the personal data contained in the requested documents, as the need
to obtain access thereto for a purpose in the public interest has not been substantiated and
there is no reason to think that the legitimate interests of the individuals concerned would
not be prejudiced by disclosure of the personal data concerned.
I would also like to underline that Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 has an
absolute character and does not envisage the possibility to demonstrate the existence of an
overriding public interest.
Means of Redress
For the sake of good order, I further refer to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Pursuant to this Article, 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 t
o: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
(e-signed)
Christos KOMNINOS
Head of Unit
6 Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data and repealing Regulation (EC) No
45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC, OJ L 295 of 21 November 2018, p. 39.
4
Encl./
Annex I – List of documents
Documents 1-8, 18-30.
5
Electronically signed on 07/02/2023 09:36 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121