Ref. Ares(2024)4004250 - 04/06/2024
SG.LD.ATD
Access to Documents Correspondent
Brussels, 4 June 2024
eeas.sg.ld (2024) 3557310
To
Mr Luis Miguel Hurtado Coronado
by electronic mail
Subject: Your request for access to documents of 24 April 2024
EEAS reference: 2024/093
Dear Mr Hurtado Coronado,
I would like to thank you for your request for access to documents, which the EEAS has
examined in the framework of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.1
Following your application, we have searched in the EEAS filing systems and document
management databases, for the requested “
documents regarding the February 2024 trip that
a delegation led by the director for Peace, Partnerships and Crisis Management at the
European External Action Service (EEAS) Cosmin Dobran paid to Rwanda, documents
containing the following information:
- A list of the delegation members, their advisors, and press secretaries on the trip.
- All the trip preparatory correspondence, including emails and call transcripts between the
delegation members and Rwandan officials.
- A copy of the preparatory report was shared with the delegation members before the visit.
- The complete schedule of the visit, including all the places visited by the delegation in
Rwanda.
1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, of 31.5.2001, p. 43, hereafter the "Regulation "), as applied
by the EEAS pursuant to Article 11(1) of the Council Decision 2010/427/EU of 26 July 2010 establishing the organisation
and functioning of the European External Action Service (OJ L 201, of 3.8.2010, p. 30).
European External Action Service – B-1046 Brussels – Belgium – Tel.: (32-2) 584 11 11
Office: EEAS 02/356 – e-
mail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxxxxx.xx
- A list of all the Rwandan officials the delegation met during the trip, with full names and
positions.
- A copy of all the working documents shared with or within the delegation members and all
the available meeting notes taken during the visit.
- A copy of the final report, the conclusions document and/or any conclusive notes shared by
the delegation members with the EEAS or other EU instances during or after the visit.”
After this search, the EEAS has identified the following documents matching your
application, as referenced hereafter:
1. List of the delegation members (document 1);
2. Correspondence between the EEAS and the EU-delegation in preparation of the
mission (document 2);
3. Briefing (document 3);
4. Briefing background material (document 4);
5. Draft program dated 7 Feb 2024 from EU-Delegation in Kigali (document 5);
6. EU Draft
Aide Mémoire dated 6 May (document 6);
7. Terms of Reference EU-Rwanda Security and Defence Consultations
Ares(2024)3333688 (document 7).
Document 1 contains elements regarding personal data of the participants. The disclosure of
this document to the general public would therefore undermine the privacy and integrity of
individuals, as per Article 4(1)(b) of the Regulation.
As regards documents 2 to 7, they contain sensitive elements regarding EU positions,
expectations and assessments of the relations with Rwanda. More precisely, they include
internal assessments of the broad security situation and security threats, both in Rwanda and
other non-EU countries, of the EU political relations with them and on ongoing multilateral
discussions and negotiations with international organisations. This includes a variety of
sensitive issues, such as the ongoing efforts on the implementation of the United Nations
Security Council Resolution 2719, the transition of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in DRC
(MONUSCO), ongoing conflict prevention and de-escalation efforts undertaken by the EU
and other international actors in conflicts on the African continent and assessments of ongoing
reform of the African Union. These documents also contain assessments of the strategic
security situation and of ongoing CSDP missions and operations on the African continent.
Our assessment concluded that the disclosure of this information to the general public would
undermine the public interest as regards international relations and the institution decision
making process, as per Articles 4(1)(a), third indent, and Article 4(3), first sub-paragraph, of
the Regulation. In fact, the disclosure of assessments and opinions of the EU concerning the
political posture of Rwanda and other countries mentioned in the documents would be
negatively perceived by such countries and therefore compromise their willingness to
cooperate and share information with the EU in relation to peace, security and defence.
Likewise, the disclosure of information provided in confidence by other international actors
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and concerning the negotiation process would affect the climate of trust and cooperation with
the EU on those matters.
Furthermore, the disclosure of the above mentioned documents would unveil details about
the internal proceedings and decision making processes within the institution and thereby
undermine the EU ability to conduct autonomous engagement with Rwanda and other African
countries in the area of peace, security and defence. Notably, since the information contained
in the documents relate to matters on which the EU side is in the process of taking decisions,
the disclosure of these documents would undermine the internal decision making process as
it would pre-empt the EU scenarios and negotiating options to the counterparts and expose
the political considerations at stake to the public debate before official decisions are taken.
We have considered whether partial access could be granted to documents 1 to 7. However,
since the substantive parts of the documents are covered by the invoked exceptions, the
release of the marginal and accessory information in the documents not covered by the
exceptions would deprive them from any useful effect.
Therefore, I regret to inform you that we are not in a position to disclose these documents at
this point in time, neither as a whole or partially, since it would undermine the protection of
the public interest as regards international relations, the privacy and integrity of individuals
and the institution decision-making process, as per Article 4(1) (a), third indent, Article 4(1)
(b) and Article 4(3), first sub-paragraph, of the Regulation.
Should you wish this position to be reviewed, you may make a confirmatory application
within 15 working days in accordance with Article 7(2) of the Regulation.
Yours sincerely,
[e-signed]
Ludovic Promelle
Electronically signed on 04/06/2024 11:22 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
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