All material relating to interpretation of the DMA, especially Art. 5 (2) (b) DMA
Dear Secretariat General of the European Commission,
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 material relating to interpretation of the DMA, especially Art. 5 (2) (b) DMA. Especially remarks made to Gatekeepers by Commission staff: During the oral proceedings before the Higher Regional Court of Cologne on 22 May 2023 (File: 15 UKl 2/25) regarding AI training by Meta, Meta claimed that it had received information from Commission staff that Art. 5 (2) (b) DMA only applies to combination of personal data relating to one and the same person.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Schmalenberger
Taylor Wessing Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB
Hanseatic Trade Center
Am Sandtorkai 41
20457 Hamburg
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 Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 24/05/2025 and registered on 24/05/2025 under the case number
2025/2834.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 18/06/2025. 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,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Sir,
We refer to your application dated 24 May 2025 in which you make a request
for access to documents, registered on the same day under the above
mentioned reference number.
Please find attached the reply to your request for access to documents,
signed by the Director General.
Kind regards,
Vicky VAN DELSEN
Case Secretary
European Commission
DG Competition
Unit J.3 – Markets and cases VI: Digital Platforms III
MADO 15/32
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
+32 2 298 81 23
[1][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
To:
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
Belgium
From:
Alexander Schmalenberger
Taylor Wessing
Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB,
Hanseatic Trade Center,
Am Sandtorkai 41,
20457 Hamburg
Germany
Date: 17 June 2025
Subject: Confirmatory application pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Refusal of access to documents in case EASE 2025/2834
Dear Sir or Madam,
Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, I hereby submit a confirmatory application for review of the decision of the Director-General for Competition of 17 June 2025. This decision concerns my initial request for access to documents dated 24 May 2025, registered under reference number EASE 2025/2834.
The initial request sought access to documents concerning the interpretation of Article 5(2) of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), particularly in the context of case DMA.100055 - Meta - Art. 5(2). The decision by DG Competition refuses access in full, invoking a general presumption of non-disclosure for documents in DMA case files by analogy to merger, antitrust, and state aid cases. The refusal is based on the protection of commercial interests and the purpose of investigations under Article 4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001.
While we acknowledge the case law on general presumptions of non-disclosure, we respectfully submit that its application in this instance is overly broad and not sufficiently justified.
The subject of our request specifically concerns statements made by the Commission and its staff on the abstract interpretation of the DMA, particularly Article 5(2). These are general statements on the meaning of a legal provision, not documents containing sensitive commercial information or revealing specific investigative strategies.
It is not apparent, and the refusal letter fails to explain, how the disclosure of the Commission's general interpretation of a legal provision could adversely affect the commercial interests of the undertakings involved or undermine the purpose of the investigation. A statement on the abstract meaning of a regulation does not, in principle, constitute a "commercial interest" of a private party or compromise an investigation.
Furthermore, the blanket refusal to grant even partial access under Article 4(6) is unfounded. The Commission should have considered whether parts of the requested documents, specifically those reflecting a general interpretation of the law, could be disclosed without harming any protected interests.
There is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of this information. The DMA is a new and fundamentally important piece of legislation. Transparency in its interpretation and application by the Commission is crucial for legal certainty and for ensuring that all market participants understand their rights and obligations. This public interest in legal transparency outweighs the unsubstantiated claim of harm to commercial or investigative interests in this specific context.
Therefore, I kindly request that the Commission review its decision and grant access to the requested documents, or at the very least, to those parts of the documents that contain statements from the Commission or its staff on the abstract interpretation of the Digital Markets Act.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Schmalenberger
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 Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2025/2834, sent on 17/06/2025 and registered on 17/06/2025.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 08/07/2025. 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 Mr Schmalenberger,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case EASE 2025/2834 registered on 17 June 2025.
We are currently working on your confirmatory request. However, we have
not yet been able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full
analysis of your request due to the need to conduct further services
consultations, which are still ongoing. We will thus not be able to send
you the reply within the prescribed time limit expiring today.
Therefore, in line with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 we
need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new time
limit expires on 29 July 2025.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.A.2 Access to Documents Team