Ref. Ares(2020)968630 - 14/02/2020
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, CONTENT AND TECHNOLOGY

The Director- General

Brussels, 14th February 2020
CONNECT/R4
Mr Samuel Stolton
EURACTIV Brussels
International Press Centre
Boulevard Charlemagne 1, 1041 Brussels
Belgium

Advance copy via email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx

REGISTERED LETTER WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT
Subject: Your application for access to documents - Ref GestDem 2020/0346
Dear Mr Stolton,
We  refer  to  your  email,  dated  17  January  2020  wherein  you  make  a  request  for  access  to
documents,  pursuant  to  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 (hereinafter ‘Regulation 1049/2001’), registered on the same day under
the abovementioned reference number.

1.
SCOPE OF YOUR APPLICATION
By  way  of  your  application  to  DG  CONNECT,  you  request  documents,  which  contain  the
following information:
(i).    Detailed  minutes  of  the  meeting  held  on  January  16th  2019  between  Gen.  John
Shanahan,  Director  of  the  Joint  Artificial  Intelligence  Center  at  the  U.S.  Department  of
Defense  and  DG  CONNECT  representatives.  You  also  request  a  list  of  the  individuals
present, as well as a breakdown of the issues discussed.

Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx

(ii) Detailed minutes of any meeting held in the month of January 2019 between Gen. John
Shanahan,  Director  of  the  Joint  Artificial  Intelligence  Center  at  the  U.S.  Department  of
Defense and European Commission officials from other DGs.
(iii)  All  correspondence  (i.e.  any  emails,  correspondence,  telephone  call  notes,  and/or  text
messages  including  WhatsApp  exchanges)  between  DG  CONNECT  (including
Commissioners  Vestager,  Breton,  or  Jourova,  and  any  Cabinet  representatives)  and  Mr.
Shanahan or a representative of his, over the past year.
In this regard reference is made to your email dated 19 January 2020, our reference Ares(2020)
346621, to our clarification request dated 23 January 2020, our reference Ares(2020)425370 and
to  your  reply,  dated  27  January  2020,  our  reference,  Ares(2020)496153,  wherein  you  clarified
that:
- Regarding the abovementioned points (i) and (ii) of your request you meant ‘January 2020’
and not 2019.
-  With  regard  to  point  (iii)  of  your  request  you  refer  to  all  correspondence  between  DG
CONNECT (and any relevant Commissioners, they being incumbent or not), with the office
of Mr. Shanahan, over the year between 17 January 2019 and 17 January 2020.
2.
DOCUMENTS FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REQUEST
We have identified the following document which falls within the scope of your request:
-  Back  to  Office  Report  (BTO)  of  the  meeting  held  by  Khalil  Rouhana,  Deputy  Director
General, DG Connect and  Lieutenant General Shanahan.
Please  note  that  this  meeting  took  place  on  15  January  2020  and  not  on  16  January  2020,  as
mentioned in your application.
No other documents falling within the scope of your request have been identified.
3.
ASSESSMENT UNDER REGULATION 1049/2001
Having  assessed  the  identified  document,  under  the  provisions  of  Regulation  1049/2001
regarding  public  access  to  documents,  I  regret  to  inform  you  that  access  to  the  identified
document cannot be granted as it is covered by the exception to the right of access laid down in
Article  4(1)(a),  third  indent  of  Regulation  1049/2001  which  refers  to  ‘protection  of  the  public
interest as regards international relations’.
According  to  settled  case-law,  "the  particularly  sensitive  and  essential  nature  of  the  interests
protected by Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation No 1049/2001, [….] calls for the exercise of particular
care. Such a decision therefore requires a margin of appreciation"1. In this context, the Court of
Justice  has  acknowledged  that  the  institutions  enjoy  "a  wide  discretion  for  the  purpose  of

1 Judgment in Sison v Council, C-266/05 P, EU:C:2007:75, paragraph 36.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx

determining  whether  the  disclosure  of  documents  relating  to  the  fields  covered  by  [the]
exceptions [under Article 4(1)(a)] could undermine the public interest"2
The identified document is the back to office report of the meeting held on 15 January 2020 and
it contains the positions and comments made by the participants. There is a concrete risk that the
public disclosure of this report would affect the mutual trust between the EU and the USA and
thus  undermine  their  relations.  As  the  Court  recognised  in  Case  T-301/10  in’t  Veld  v
Commission,  "[…]  establishing  and  protecting  a  sphere  of  mutual  trust  in  the  context  of
international relations is a very delicate exercise"3.Consequently, access to the abovementioned
document has to be denied.
4.
PARTIAL ACCESS
We  have  considered  whether  partial  access  could  be  granted  to  the  identified  document.
However, partial access is not possible considering that the document concerned is covered in its
entirety by the exception under Article 4(1)(a), third indent of Regulation 1049/2001.
5.
CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION
In  accordance  with  Article  7(2)  of  Regulation  1049/2001,  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 Secretariat-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 to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,

(e-Signed)
Roberto Viola


2 Judgment in Council v Sophie in’t Veld, C-350/12 P, EU:C:2014:2039, paragraph 63.
3 Judgment in Sophie in’t Veld v Commission, T-301/10, EU:T:2013:135, paragraph 126.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx

Electronically signed on 14/02/2020 12:25 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563

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