Ref. Ares(2023)2952866 - 26/04/2023
SG.2
Head of Division
Brussels, 26 April 2023
eeas.sg.2 (2023) 3882495
To
Ms Kelly Bescherer
by electronic mail
Subject: Your application for access to documents of 6 April 2022
EEAS ref: 2023/051
Dear Ms Bescherer,
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 for the “
correspondence between the
Delegation of the EU to Cameroon and the Cameroonian authorities on the topic of visa
sanctions in the last 5 years”, in the EEAS filing systems and document management
databases.
After this search, the EEAS has identified the following documents matching your
application, as referenced hereafter:
1. Note Verbale 0202/2022 from the Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Cameroon
and Equatorial Guinea to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cameroon
Ares(2022)6372295
(document 1);
2. Compte-rendu du sous-comité « Migration » UE-Cameroun du 15 Novembre 2022
(document 2).
Following your request, I am pleased to forward to you document 1 in attachment to this
letter.
I take this opportunity to remind you that the document provided may be reused on condition
that the source is acknowledged and that you do not distort the original meaning or message
1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (hereafter the "Regulation").
European External Action Service – B-1046 Brussels – Belgium – Tel.: (32-2) 584 11 11
Office: EEAS PARC 06/560 – e-
mail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxxxxx.xx
of the document. Please note that the EEAS does not assume liability stemming from its reuse.
In case of doubt on reuse, please do contact the EEAS for prior authorisation.
Concerning document 2, our examination concluded that the document relates to a decision,
which has not yet been taken by the EEAS and Cameroon. The document has been written in
view of an in-depth political discussion at the level of Ministers that will take place in June
2023.
The disclosure of this document to the general public would undermine the protection of
international relations as per Article 4(1)(a), third indent, of the Regulation.
Currently, the relevant discussions with the Cameroonian
authorities are not concluded and
are taking place within a framework of confidentiality, taking into account that the ultimate
decision rests with the government of Cameroon, in accordance to the established principles
of international relations. To this end, an environment of mutual trust with the Cameroonian
interlocutors is a prime requirement for the ongoing discussions to succeed. The disclosure
of this document at this moment in time would hamper the discussion process and will affect
the EU’s international relations with Cameroon.
We have considered whether partial access could be granted to the document 2. However, since
the vast majority of the substantive parts of the document are covered by the invoked exceptions,
granting a partial access, albeit marginal, to the remaining part would entail revealing
information the protection of which is covered by the exception relied on, relating to the
protection of international relations as explained above.2
Therefore, I regret to inform you that we are not in a position to disclose this document 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 as per Article 4(1)(a), third indent, of
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]
Nereo Penalver Garcia
2 See Judgment of 7 February 2018, Access Info Europe v Commission, T-851/16, EU:T:2018:69, paragraphs 122 and
123.
Electronically signed on 26/04/2023 16:02 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
2
