Council of the European Union
General Secretariat
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Head of Unit
Brussels, 10 September 2021
Mr Davide Giovannelli
Email: Davide Giovannelli <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx>
Ref. 21/1435-rh/mf
Request made on:
20.08.2021
Dear Mr Giovannelli,
Thank you for your request for access to documents of the Council of the European Union.1
I regret to inform you that access to documents
7677/20 INIT, REV 1 and REV 2 cannot be given
for the reasons set out below.
Documents
7677/20 INIT of 30 April 2020,
REV 1 of 6 May 2020 and
REV 2 of 11 May 2020 are
notes from the European External Action Service and Commission Services to delegations on
Draft Common Position of the EU and its Member States as regards the open-ended ad-hoc
intergovernmental committee of experts to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on
countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes.
The disclosure of the sensitive information contained in these documents would harm the EU
ability to negotiate effectively as it would provide indications regarding specific points where the EU
position is more fragile, hence providing indications to counterparts where to exploit possible
weaknesses in the ongoing and future international negotiations.
1
The General Secretariat of the Council has examined your request on the basis of the applicable rules:
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, 31.5.2001, p. 43) and the specific
provisions concerning public access to Council documents set out in Annex II to the Council's Rules of Procedure
(Council Decision No 2009/937/EU, OJ L 325, 11.12.2009, p. 35).
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
Tel. +32 (0)2 281 67 10 - www.consilium.europa.eu - xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx.xx
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Therefore, having consulted with the originating sources of the documents, the General Secretariat
is of the opinion that the disclosure of the documents would undermine the protection of the public
interest as regards international relations. As a consequence, the General Secretariat has to
refuse access for this reason.2
Having examined the context in which the documents were drafted, on balance the General
Secretariat could not identify any evidence suggesting an overriding public interest in their
disclosure.
We have also looked into the possibility of releasing parts of the documents.3 However, as the
exception to the right of access applies to their entire content, the General Secretariat is unable to
give partial access.
Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, you may ask the Council to review this
decision within 15 working days of receiving this reply. Should you see the need for such a review,
you are invited to indicate the reasons thereof.4
Yours sincerely,
Fernando FLORINDO
2
Article 4(1)(a), third indent, of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
3
Article 4(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
4
Council documents on confirmatory applications are made available to the public. Pursuant to data protection
rules at EU level (Regulation (EU) No 2018/1725, if you make a confirmatory application your name will only
appear in related documents if you have given your explicit consent.
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
Tel. +32 (0)2 281 67 10 - www.consilium.europa.eu - xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx.xx
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