Requesting Minutes, Protocols, Emails etc. on Meetings with Google and Meta on the DSA
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:
All documents—including but not limited to correspondence, emails, minutes, notes (hand written or electronic), audio or video recordings, verbatim reports, operational conclusions, lines to take, briefings, and presentations—related to the following meetings
with Google on:
- 17.06.2020 with Didier Reynders (Commissioner),Geneviève Tuts (Cabinet member),Lucrezia Busa (Cabinet member) Google
- 12.11.2020 with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet member),Thierry Breton (Commissioner)- 16.12.2020 with Daniel Braun (Cabinet member),Renate Nikolay (Cabinet member)
- 25.01.2021 with Margrethe Vestager (Executive Vice-President),Werner Stengg (Cabinet member)
- 09.03.2021 with Penelope Papandropoulos (Cabinet member),Werner Stengg (Cabinet member)
- 11.01.2022 with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet member)
with Meta on:
- 16.11.2020 with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet member)
- 16.12.2020 with Daniel Braun (Cabinet member),Renate Nikolay (Cabinet member)
- 23.07.2021 with Werner Stengg (Cabinet member)
- 26.08.2021 with Michele Piergiovanni (Cabinet member),Penelope Papandropoulos (Cabinet member)
- 29.09.2021 with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet member)
- 01.12.2021 with Roberto Viola (Director-General)
- 08.06.2022 with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet member)
In consideration of the environment and the current circumstances with the COVID pandemic I would prefer to receive documents electronically.
I would like to make clear I prefer you produce the documents on a rolling basis. At no point should the Commission's search for—or deliberations concerning—certain documents delay the production of others that the Commission has already retrieved and elected to produce.
Should my request be denied wholly or partially, please explain the denial or all deletions referring to specific exemptions in the regulation. Also I would expect the partial release of documents in case of partial exemption according to article 4.6. I reserve the right to appeal.
Please confirm having received this application. I look forward to your reply within 15 business days, according to the regulation.
Yours faithfully,
Katharina Kausche
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 29/09/2023 and registered on 02/10/2023 under case number 2023/5735.
Since you have not indicated your postal address, we are not able to start
handling your request. The 15 working days to reply to your request will
start running only when you send us your postal address.
You can send your postal address by replying to this e-mail. If we do not
receive your reply we may close this case.
Please note that you can submit a request for access to Commission
documents via the portal [1]'Request a Commission document', which does
not require you to indicate your postal address.
Why do we need your personal postal address?
Since 1 April 2014, the submission of a postal address became a mandatory
feature when submitting an application for access to Commission documents
via an e-mail. We would like to explain why we need your postal address in
order to register and handle your application for access to documents when
submitted via e-mail:
• Firstly, to obtain legal certainty as regards the date you received
the European Commission reply to your application for public access to
documents. Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU) states that 'decisions which specify to whom
they are addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are
addressed and shall take effect upon such notification.' In line with
this provision, if the Commission does not grant full access to the
requested documents, it notifies the reply to the applicant via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt or via delivery
service. This requires an indication of a valid postal address by the
applicant;
• Secondly, to apply correctly the [2]Data Protection Regulation (EU)
2018/1725. Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident (or not) is
necessary for deciding which conditions shall apply for the
transmissions of personal data to applicants for access to documents.
These conditions are not the same for recipients established in the
Union and for recipients in third countries. As the vast majority of
the documents requested contain personal data, the Commission cannot
ensure the correct application of the data protection rules in the
absence of a postal address;
• Thirdly, to apply correctly [3]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Article
4(1)(b) of that Regulation refers to the protection of the privacy and
integrity of the individual and has to be applied in line with the
Data Protection Regulation;
• Fourthly, to protect the interest of other citizens and safeguard the
principle of good administration. The Commission has to treat all
citizens equally by ensuring that the legal framework for public
access to documents is respected. For example, it has to verify
whether Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is being evaded
by introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in
its Ryanair judgment ([4]EU:T:2010:511), the General Court confirmed
that Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 cannot be evaded by
splitting an application into several, seemingly separate, parts. In
addition, the Commission has to make sure that the legal framework is
respected and the right of access to documents is not abused by making
requests under an invented identity.
The considerations above show that the request for and the consequent
processing of the applicant's postal address is not only appropriate, but
also strictly necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the
public interest within the meaning of Article 5(1)(a) of Data Protection
Regulation, namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Competition - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/do...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Competition,
Thank you very much for your quick response. My postal address:
[ADDRESS]
I politely ask to confirm that you have received the address and start handling my request.
Yours faithfully,
Katharina Kausche
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 29/09/2023 and registered on 02/10/2023 under the case number
2023/5735.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 23/10/2023. 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...
Dear Mrs Kausche,
Please note that your request was split between several DGs and registered
under several numbers.
EASE 2023/5735: DG COMP
EASE 2023/5761: DG JUST
EASE 2023/5764: SG.D.1
EASE 2023/5775: DG CNECT
DG COMP is not involved in the Digital Services Act, and it was therefore
by mistake that part of your request was allocated to DG COMP. We will
therefore administratively close EASE 2023/5735. This administrative
closure won’t affect the other parts of your request which will be
processed by the colleagues from the DGs dealing with the Digital Services
Act.
Best regards,
COMP ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
Dear Ms KAUSCHE,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 02/10/2023 under case number 2023/5761.
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 23/10/2023.
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 15/11/2023.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
JUST ATD team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Ms Kausche,
We refer to your request for access to documents, registered under the
reference number EASE 2023/5775.
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 expired yesterday. An extended time limit
is needed, as different consultations need to be done.
Therefore, we had 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 15 November
2023.
We apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
DG CONNECT Access to Documents Team
European Commission
Rue de la Loi, 51
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
Dear Ms Kausche,
We regret to inform you that we ran into some technical difficulties when
dealing with your access to documents request, and our response will be
delayed for a couple of days.
We are sorry for this inconvenience, please accept our sincere apologies.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Dear Ms Kausche,
We refer to your request for access to documents, registered under the
reference number EASE 2023/5775.
Unfortunately, we are not able to send the reply to your application
within the given time limit, which expires today.
You will receive the answer to your application as soon as possible.
We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
DG CONNECT Access to Documents Team
Dear Ms Kausche,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/5764.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
SG D Secretariat
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/5775.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
DG CONNECT Access to documents Team
Dear Ms KAUSCHE,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2023/5761.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
JUST ACCESS DOCUMENTS team