Communication on the EU-US Trade & Technology Council
Dear Competition,
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:
1) All incoming or outgoing correspondence of any DG COMP official (including the Commissioner and Cabinet members and including emails, sent or received) mentioning or concerning the EU-US Trade & Technology Council, between June 15th 2021 and April 1st 2023.
2) A list of meetings, including detailed minutes and any other reports of such meetings, by DG COMP officials (including the Commissioner and Cabinet members and including emails, sent or received) mentioning or concerning the EU-US Trade & Technology Council, between June 15th 2021 and April 1st 2023.
Should my request be denied wholly or partially, please explain the denial or all deletions referring to specific exemptions in the regulation. Also I expect the partial release of documents, in case of partial exemption according to article 4.6.
Do not hesitate to get back to me should you need any further information which could facilitate your research. My postal address hereby:
Hans Wetzels
Naarderstraat 153
2574PG, Den Haag
The Netherlands
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Hans Wetzels / FTM
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 12/05/2023 and registered on 15/05/2023 under the case number
2023/2882.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 07/06/2023. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Competition - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Hello,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on15/05/2023 under case number 2023/2882.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 07/06/2023.
• in order to retrieve the documents requested, large files have to be
examined;
• the application concerns documents held by different Services, which
must be consulted.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 28/06/2023.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
DG Competition
DG COMP.I.1 (Registry and Transparency)
[2][email address]
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Wetzels,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 15/05/2023 under case number 2023/2882.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 28/06/2023.
In order to retrieve the documents requested, large files have to be
examined, which is causing the delay.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, we
need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new time
limit expires on 19/07/2023.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sr,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/2882.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail application dated 12/05/2023 in which you make a
request for access to documents, registered on 15/05/2023 under the above
mentioned reference number.
Please find attached a scan of the reply to your request for access to
documents, signed by the Director General.
You are kindly requested to reply to the present email acknowledging
receipt thereof.
Kind regards,
International Relations unit
Dear Competition,
This confirmatory application has also been sent to you by e-mail.
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Unit C.1. ‘Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents’
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Brussels
Subject: Confirmatory application for access to documents – EASE 2023/2882
Dear reader,
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 'Communication on the EU-US Trade & Technology Council' (EASE 2023/2882) based on the three objections outlined below:
1. Harm test under Article 4(1)(a), international relations, has not been explicitly proven
Full access to the requested documents has been refused under Article 4(1)(a), on the grounds of the protection of international relations. It was stated:
'disclosure of such documents would negatively affect both the ability of the European Commission to establish and maintain efficient and trust-based negotiating relations with the United States in the context of the Trade and Technology Council and to effectively defend EU interests in the context of the ongoing discussions within the Trade and Technology Council. We consider that risk as reasonably foreseeable and non-hypothetical, as it would reveal the institution's approaches and preferences, as well as political analysis, thus weakening its negotiation position towards its United States counterparts.'
Simply stating that the release of the documents would ‘negatively affect’ negotiations is not sufficient to demonstrate the harm that might be caused by granting access to said documents is of such a level that it would compensate denying a citizen his fundamental right of access to documents.
I thus stress that a mere ‘negative’ impact does not meet the level of test required. In Case T 233/09 Access Info Europe v Council, the General Court confirmed that the mere fact that a document concerns an interest protected by an exception to disclosure is not sufficient to justify the application of that exception.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has also stated that an EU body ‘remains obliged (...) to explain how disclosure of that document could specifically and actually undermine the interest protected by an exception provided for in that provision, and the risk of the interest being undermined must be reasonably foreseeable and must not be purely hypothetical.’ (Judgment of 3 July 2014. Council of the European Union v Sophie in 't Veld.C-350/12P para. 64)
2. Partial access was not considered
The granting of partial access to the documents was not considered.
It is unlikely that the entirety of every document listed is covered by the protected interest. Should the Commission be able to identify and persuasively argue that some part of the information in these documents meets the standard of being information that should be reserved in order to protect international relations, there will nevertheless be some other parts of the documents that can be released, and hence that partial access is possible.
3. Fear of an indefinite extension
In the decision to not grant access to documents it was stated by the Commission that:
‘There is a concrete risk that the public disclosure of documents on this would affect the mutual trust between the EU and the US and thus undercut their relations.’
While:
‘..documents contain information of ongoing international negotiations.’
Considering the fact that the Trade & Technology Council does not seem to have a clear end goal, treaty or final date on which said negotiations would end, the danger looms of an indefinite extension of access to documents concerning the Trade & Technology Council. A position that would be clearly at odds with the principles set out in article 1(a) of Regulation No 1049/2001: ‘to ensure the widest possible access to documents’.
I would also like to point out that in the past, the Commission has partially released documents related to the United States-European Union Energy Council, and the EU-US Energy Council Climate Change Working Group (GESTDEM 2018/0636, GESTDEM 2018/0638, and GESTDEM 2018/0639). The mere fact that the documents relate to an international discussion forum, does not mean that a blanket refusal of access must be given.
A full history of my current request (2023/2882) including all correspondence is available online at this address:
http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/commu...
Yours faithfully,
Hans Wetzels
Journalist
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2023/2882, sent on 24/07/2023 and registered on 24/07/2023.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 14/08/2023. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2023/2882, sent on 24/07/2023 and registered on 24/07/2023.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 14/08/2023. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear Competition,
As yet another deadline for this confirmatory application has come and passed - I am wondering when I can expect an answer from the Commission concerning this matter?
Thank you, merci & yours faithfully,
Hans Wetzels
Dear Mr Wetzels,
In case there was a transmission issue here please find attached a copy of
the reply which was sent on 10/07/2023.
Kind regards,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM
European Commission
DG Competition
DG COMP.I.1 (Registry and Transparency)
[1][email address]
Dear [email address],
I am not referring to your initial reply - against which I have filed an appeal. My question is referring to that confirmatory application, as filed on July 24 2023, and for which the deadline has been extended and is -again- long overdue. Please reply accordingly.
Yours sincerely,
Hans Wetzels
Dear Sir,
We acknowledge receipt of your email of 13/09/2023, in which you request
an update on the state of play in the handling of your confirmatory
request.
Please note that, while we are doing our best to handle confirmatory
requests within the deadlines provided by the Regulation, we are incurring
delays due to the very high volume of requests currently reaching our
services. Considering that the consultations in relation to your
application have not yet been finalised, unfortunately we cannot commit to
a specific time frame within when the final decision will be adopted.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience the delay in
this case may cause to you and thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
Dear Competition,
Are there any updates concerning this confirmatory request I have filed in July?
Yours faithfully,
Hans Wetzels
Dear Competition,
I asknyou again: are there any updates concerning this confirmatory request I have filed in July?
Yours faithfully,
Hans Wetzels
Dear Sir,
We acknowledge receipt of your email of 02/11/2023, in which you request
an update regarding the handling of your confirmatory request in case
2023/2882.
We are working on your request but, as mentioned before, we are incurring
delays due to the high volume of requests reaching our service. We have
not yet finalised the assessment and consultations regarding the numerous
documents initially identified in the scope of your request, so
unfortunately we cannot commit to a specific time frame within when the
final decision will be adopted.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience the delay in
this case may cause to you and thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
Unit SG.C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
Dear Sir,
We are writing to you to offer an update regarding the handling of your
confirmatory request in case 2023/2882.
We are progressing with the work on your request, but we have not yet
finalised the assessment and internal consultations regarding the numerous
documents initially identified in the scope of your request. For that
reason, we cannot yet commit to a specific time frame within when the
final decision will be adopted. Please accept our sincere apologies for
the inconvenience the delay in this case may cause to you and thank you
for your understanding.
Best regards,
Unit SG.C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
Dear WETZELS, Hans,
Please find attached the electronic version of European Commission
Decision C(2024)4506 as adopted by the European Commission on 23/06/2024
concerning the request 2023/2882.
Please note that the annexes corresponding to this confirmatory decision
will be sent to you by USB key via express mail (DHL) to your postal
address.
In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of this portal, please note
that this decision is being formally notified pursuant to article 297 TFEU
through this electronic platform only.
Yours sincerely,
Access to documents team - SG.C.1