Meeting on 19/05/2022
Alexander Fanta made this acceso a documentos request to Mercado Interno, Industria, Emprendimiento y PYMEs
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Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,
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 meeting between Commissioner Breton and cabinet with Meta on 19/05/2022. This includes meeting minutes, e-mails and other relevant documents.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
netzpolitik.org e.V.
Schönhauser Allee 6-7
10119 Berlin
Germany
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your e-mail of 31 May 2022. We hereby acknowledge receipt of your application for access to documents, which was registered on 2 June 2022 under reference number GESTDEM 2022/3211.
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 24 June 2022. 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 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 Privacy statement – access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
Access to Documents Team
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
[5]Holding reply – Your application for access to documents GestDem
2022/3211 - Ares(2022)4644090 (Please use this link only if you are an
Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e)
utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Fanta,
We refer to your request for access to documents, registered under the
abovementioned reference number.
Your application is currently being handled. However, we are not in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expires today.
An extended time limit is needed as different services need to be
consulted.
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 is 15 July 2022.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
DG CONNECT Access to Documents Team
European Commission
DG Connect – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
BU25 – Avenue de Beaulieu 25
B-1160 Brussels/Belgium
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D88571.78329850
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
*** By email only ***
Dear Mr Fanta,
Please find attached document Ares(2022)5170554 regarding "Gestdem 2022/3211" sent by sent by Mr Roberto Viola, Director General of DG CONNECT on 15/07/2022.
Best regards,
European Commission
DG CONNECT — ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
Avenue de Beaulieu, 25
B-1160 Brussels/Belgium
Dear Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,
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 on 19/05/2022'.
My appeal concerns the redactions of the documents in question. In Document 1 and Document 2, you redacted the name of the Meta representative. While this is understandable in theory, I deduce from Nick Clegg's Twitter account that it is indeed him who had the meeting in question. Clegg is a former vice-prime minister of the UK and a highly prominent person, so I can hardly see how disclosure of his professional conduct would infringe upon his privacy. Saying so is, in my view, a misreading both of Regulation 1049/2001 and Regulation 2018/1725 concerning data protection of EU institutions. I would also like to point out the relevant case law in the matter. In the case Commission vs. Bavarian Lager (C‑28/08 P), the matter at stake was that the Commission redacted five names of people following two express refusals by persons to consent to the disclosure of their identity and the Commission’s failure to contact the remaining three attendees. In this case, I wonder whether the Commission has attempted to reach Mr. Clegg? I contend that this should happen in this case and his name de-redacted if he does not specifically object.
In Document 3, extended parts of the text are redacted citing different exceptions to regulation 1049/2001. Regarding those based on the international relations exception, I would like to point out that the General Court of the European Union in the Evropaïki Dynamiki case (T-167/10) and in in Council v Sophie in’t Veld, C-350/12 P has clearly set out that the authority denying access must establish how access to the documents requested would specifically and actually undermine that objective in a way that was reasonably foreseeable and not purely hypothetical. In your reply, you state that the redacted texts "contain[s] sensitive information concerning the state of disinformation in Ukraine and the possible impact on third countries." You go on to state that there is a "concrete risk", but do not spell out what it actually is. I believe that the European Commission has been quite outspoken in the Ukraine war and has specifically named Russia as bad actor. I do not believe the Commission would tell Meta things in this respect that could not also be disclosed to the public.
Other redactions in the text are based on the protection of commercial interest. The European Ombudsman has
found that not all information about a company is commercially sensitive, so a test should be performed each time to conclude whether the exception applies (European Ombudsman Case: 1701/2011/ANA 24 June 2013; Case: 676/2008/RT 07 July 2010). I note that your reply speaks of a real and non-hypothetical risk of disclosure to the commercial interests and intellectual property of Meta, but you do not indicate whether a test has been performed as to the real impact of disclosure. I ask you to do so and de-redact as much of the text as possible.
On the redactions regarding ongoing decision-making, these appear to concern sections of the text dealing with the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. I note that on both files, a political agreement has been reached by the institutions in the meanwhile, and the DMA has been approved by the Council only this week. Therefore it can not be argued that decision-making is in any way ongoing. I ask you therefore to re-redact the entire text.
Kind regards,
Alexander Fanta
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email.
In order to be able to register you confirmatory application could you please provide us with the reference Gestdem of this case?
Many thanks in advance and kind regards,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Dear [email address],
The reference number in question for my confirmatory application is 2022/3211.
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Fanta
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]themeData
Link: [3]colorSchemeMapping
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email dated 19/07/2022 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 DG
GRCNECTOW in reply to your initial application GESTDEM 2022/3211.
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 22/07/2022 (Ares(2022)5311385).
Your application will be handled within 15 working days (12/08/2022). 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 (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
Dear Mr Fanta,
I refer to your email of 22 July 2022, 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 12 August 2022.
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 5 September 2022.
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,
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (GD)
European Commission
Secretariat-General
SG C.1
[5][email address]
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D8AE68.020CE160
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
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5. mailto:[email address]
From: SG ACCES DOCUMENTS <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, September 5, 2022 4:58 PM
To: [email address]
Subject: Your confirmatory application for access to documents under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3211 - 2nd holding letter -
Ares(2022)6138134
[1]Your confirmatory application for access to documents under Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3211 - 2nd holding letter -
Ares(2022)6138134 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Fanta,
I refer to your email of 22 July 2022, 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.
I also refer to our holding reply of 12 August 2022, by which the time
limit for replying to your confirmatory application was extended by 15
working days, pursuant to Article 8(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. This
extended time limit expires on 5 September 2011.
I regret to inform you that we are still not in a position to reply to
your confirmatory request within the prescribed time limit, as we have not
yet finalized the internal consultations related to your request.
However, I can assure you that we are doing our utmost to provide you with
a final reply as soon as possible. I regret this additional delay and
sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Mariusz Daca, Ph.D.
Deputy Head of Unit
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
References
Visible links
1. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
Dear Dariusz,
it has been nearly 3 months since I last heard from you on this matter. Is there any news?
Yours sincerely,
Alexander
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
[1]Your confirmatory application for access to documents under Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3211 - 2nd holding letter -
Ares(2022)6138134 - Ares(2022)8244018 (Please use this link only if you
are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e)
utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Fanta,
We acknowledge receipt of your email. The Secretariat-General is still
working on your request and we are still conducting internal
consultations.
We hope to be able to finalise your decision soon, but at this time we
cannot give you an estimate of when it will be ready.
Please accept our apologies for the time taken to issue our decision.
Best regards,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Dear Access to documents team,
it has been another three months waiting on a reply to my confirmatory application on request 2022/3211. Can you please confirm you are still working on it?
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Fanta
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Mr Fanta,
Thank you for your message. We confirm that we are still working on your
case. Please accept our apologies for the delay in the handling of your
request, registered under the reference number GESTDEM 2022/3211, which
has been caused by the need to hold various internal consultations between
the Commission services concerned by the subject matter.
We thank you for your patience and we apologise again for the
inconvenience caused.
With kind regards,
SG Access to Documents Team (cr)