Ref. Ares(2022)2546935 - 05/04/2022
Stéphanie Rostren
Mr Malte Wilhelm
Head of Department – Legal & Procurement/
Chief Legal Adviser
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Executive Directorate
Cologne 05.04.2022
Subject: Your request on access to documents
Attachments: Drones operation – answers to questions
Dear Mr Wilhelm,
I refer to your e-mails received on 18th March 2022, in which you submitted an application for access
to documents in accordance with Regulation (EC) 1049/20011, that is applicable to documents held by
the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) under Art. 119(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/11392.
In your e-mails you asked EASA a number of questions related to regulatory framework applicable to
the operation of unmanned aircraft. After reviewing your request EASA has decided that the request
received does not fall under the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 because it concerns access to
information rather than access to documents.
Assessment
Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 describes its scope as “(…) a right of access to documents of the institutions,
subject to the principles, conditions and limits defined in this Regulation“. Furthermore, „document“
is defined in Article 2(3) as „any content whatever its medium (written on paper or stored in electronic
form or as a sound, visual or audiovisual recording) concerning a matter relating to the policies,
activities and decisions falling within the institution's sphere of responsibility“.
In addition, the distinction between the concept of document and information has been extensively
assessed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) establishing that:
1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2001 regarding public
access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145 of 31.3.2001, p. 43).
2 Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on common rules
in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and amending Regulations
(EC) No 2111/2005, (EC) No 1008/2008, (EU) No 996/2010, (EU} No 376/2014 and Directives 2014/30/EU and
2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 552/2004 and
(EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91 (OJ L
212, 22.8.2018, p. 1–122).
Postal address: Postfach 10 12 53
Tel.: +49 221 89990 2213
50452 Cologne, Germany
E-mail: xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx@xxxx.xxxxxx.xx
Visiting address: Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3
Web: www.easa.europa.eu
An agency of the European Union
TE.LEGAL.00014-003
50668 Cologne, Germany
ISO 9001 Certified
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„[n]otwithstanding that broad definition, which implies in particular that there is no limitation as to the
medium of the content in question, it is necessary, according to well-established case-law, to maintain
a distinction between the concept of a document and that of information, for the purposes of applying
Regulation No 1049/2001.
Information may be distinguished from a document, in particular, in so far as it is defined as a data
element that may appear in one or more documents. In that respect, since none of the provisions of
Regulation No 1049/2001 deals with the right of access to information as such, it cannot be inferred
that the public’s right of access to a Commission document, which arises under Article 2(1) of that
regulation, implies a duty on the part of the Commission to reply to any request for information from
an individual.3
Furthermore, CJEU case law has extensively established that there is no obligation for an EU Institution
to create a new document, even if that document were based on information already appearing in
existing documents held by it, falls outside the framework of Regulation No 1049/2001.4 In this sense,
Regulation No 1049/2001 may not be relied upon to oblige an institution to create a document which
does not exist.5
In light of the above, it follows that your request classifies as a request for information and not a
request for access to documents. For this reason, I hereby regret to inform you that we cannot process
further your request as an access to documents request.
Irrespective of the above, for transparency purposes, and with the spirit of facilitating greater
transparency of the conduct of EASA, please find attached general replies to your questions.
Means of redress
You are hereby notified that you have a right to request the Agency to reconsider its decision regarding
the above-mentioned documents by making a confirmatory application. In such case, you should send
your justified confirmatory application in writing to the Executive Director of the Agency (Postfach 10
12 53, 50452 Cologne, Germany). Please note that you have 15 working days from receipt of this letter
in which to make the confirmatory application. Any confirmatory application received beyond this
deadline cannot be accepted.
Yours sincerely,
Stéphanie Rostren
3
Judgment of the General Court of 2 July 2015 in case T-214/13, Typke v Commission 4
Judgment of the Court of 11 January 2017 in case C-491/15 P, Typke v Commission 5
Judgment of 2 October 2014, in case C-127/13 P, Strack v Commission .
Postal address: Postfach 10 12 53
Tel.: +49 221 89990 2213
Electronically signed on 05/04/2022 09:15 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
50452 Cologne, Germany
E-mail: xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx@xxxx.xxxxxx.xx
Visiting address: Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3
Web: www.easa.europa.eu
An agency of the European Union
TE.LEGAL.00014-003
50668 Cologne, Germany
ISO 9001 Certified
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Document Outline
