Exchanges on spyware
Alexander Fanta made this access to documents request to Trade This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear DG Trade,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents mentioned in a recent reply to parliament by the Commission (E-000713/2022). The documents in question concern a possible blacklisting of Israeli manufacturer NSO Group and the spyware Pegasus. The reply by Commissioner Breton mentions that the Commission "has raised the issue with the export control authorities of the Member States and with Israel, with a view to mitigating the risks associated with trade in these sensitive products."
I want to request all exchanges with Member States as well as with Israel on the issue. My request is also meant to cover all internal communication within the Commission (such as e-mails, legal analysis) related to said exchanges.
I would like to point out that I makes this request in my role as journalist, which the European Court of Human Rights has recognized to have a special "social watchdog" function. I ask you to take this into account when dealing with my request, as well as the public interest in disclosure.
Kind regards,
Alexander Fanta
netzpolitik.org e.V.
Schönhauser Allee 6-7
10119 Berlin
Germany
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your e-mail of 3 June 2022 initially sent to DG TRADE. We
hereby acknowledge receipt of your application for access to documents,
which was registered on 8 June 2022 under reference number GESTDEM
2022/3316.
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days. The time limit will expire on 29
June 2022. In case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
You have lodged your application via a private third-party website, which
has no link with any institution of the European Union. Therefore, the
European Commission cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or
problems linked to the use of this system.
Please note that the private third party running the website is
responsible and accountable for the processing of your personal data via
that website, and not the Commission. For further information on your
rights, please refer to the third party’s privacy policy.
We understand that the third party running the AsktheEU.org website
usually publishes the content of applicants’ correspondence with the
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Similarly, the third party publishes on that website any reply that the
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If you do not wish that your correspondence with the Commission is
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For information on how we process your personal data visit our page
Privacy statement – access to documents.
DG GROW – Access to documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/B1 – Planning and Briefings
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 3 June 2022 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 8 June 2022 under the above-mentioned
reference number.
The description given in your application does not enable us to identify
concrete documents which would correspond to your request. We therefore
invite you, pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
regarding public access to documents, to provide us with more detailed
information on the documents that you seek to obtain.
In particular: please specify the temporal scope for the search of
documents (from…to…).
If you need assistance in clarifying or specifying your application,
please let us know.
In accordance with Article 2, third paragraph of the Implementing Rules to
Regulation 1049/2001, the 15 working days time limit for handling your
application will start running when we receive the requested
clarifications.
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Kind regards,
DG GROW – Access to documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/B1 – Planning and Briefings
Dear DG GROW – Access to documents team,
I would like to clarify that my request refers specifically to the documents mentioned in this reply by the Commission to the European Parliament, E-000713/2022, namely in this sentence: "The Commission has raised the issue with the export control authorities of the Member States and with Israel, with a view to mitigating the risks associated with trade in these sensitive products."
As temporal scope I meant all documents registered since January 1, 2019.
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your precision, it is noted.
Kind regards,
DG GROW – Access to documents team
Dear Sir,
Please find attached the reply to your initial requests for access to
documents registered under reference number GESTDEM 2022/1721 & 2364 -
Part I.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
[1]cid:image004.gif@01D4F9CD.7B22B0F0
References
Visible links
Dear Sir,
Please find attached the reply to your initial requests for access to
documents registered under reference number GESTDEM 2022/1721 & 2364 -
Part II.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
[1]cid:image004.gif@01D4F9CD.7B22B0F0
References
Visible links
Dear Sir,
We refer to your request for access to documents, registered on 08/06/2022
under the above mentioned reference number.
Your application is currently being handled. However, are not in a
position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit of 15 working days, which expired yesterday.
An extended time limit is needed as the application concerns documents
held by different Services which must be consulted.
Therefore, we have to extend the time limit with 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents. The new time limit expires on 20/07/2022.
We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
DG GROW – Access to documents team
European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
DG GROW/B1 – Planning and Briefings
Dear Mr. Fanta,
please find here enclosed the reply to your access to documents request registered under the number GESTDEM 2022/3316.
Kindly
GROW ATD TEAM
Dear DG Grow access to documents team,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'Exchanges on spyware'.
You state that DG Grow does not hold any documents that would correspond to the description given in your application. First, I note that my request initially was filed with DG Trade and then transferred without any notice to DG Grow. I assumed that this was because the document or documents in question were held by DG Grow. So I would like a clarification on why my request was transferred from Trade to Grow.
Secondly, I was asked to narrow the temporal scope of my request. I specifically asked for all documents registered since January 1, 2019. As you state that no documents that correspond to my description are held, I assume this is meant to refer to the narrow temporal scope I agreed to. For my confirmatory application I would ask to widen the scope to cover the past ten years. Also, I note that the Commission is in the habit of speaking only of registered documents. However, Regulation 1049/2001 states that it "shall apply to all documents held by an institution", not just the ones in the register. I therefore would like to ask you to search for all documents within the initial scope of my request, whether they have been filed in a document register or not.
Third, I note that I intend to file identical request with other DGs for the document or documents in question. If they are held by the Commission, there should be proper public access, regardless of what DG holds them, according to the Regulation and Article 42 of the EU Fundamental Rights Charter.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]themeData
Link: [3]colorSchemeMapping
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email dated 20/07/2022 by which you request, pursuant
to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents, a review of the position taken by DG
GROW in reply to your initial application GESTDEM 2022/3316.
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 22/07/2022 (Ares(2022)5308857).
Your application will be handled within 15 working days (12/08/2022). In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.
Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery. Thank you for providing your contact phone number, so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.
Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your e-mail of 3 June 2022. We hereby acknowledge receipt of
your application for access to documents, which was registered on 22 July
2022 under reference number GestDem 2022/4234.
In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days. The time-limit will expire on 12
August 2022. In case this time-limit needs to be extended, you will be
informed in due course.
For information on how we process your personal data visit our page
[1]Privacy statement – access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
DG TRADE Access to Documents Team
European Commission
Directorate General for Trade
Unit R3 – Transparency, Civil Society and Communications
CHAR
1049 Brussels
Belgium
[2][DG TRADE request email]
[3]cid:image001.png@01D782EC.B996CEC0
Make your voice heard
Conference on the Future of Europe | #TheFutureIsYours |
[4]futureu.europa.eu
References
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1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
2. mailto:[DG TRADE request email]
4. https://futureu.europa.eu/
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
[5]Your confirmatory application for access to documents under Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3316 - 1st holding letter -
Ares(2022)5719855 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr Fanta,
I refer to your email of 22 July 2022, registered on the same day, by
which you submitted a confirmatory application in accordance with Article
7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents ("Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001"), registered under reference number above.
Your confirmatory application is currently being handled. Unfortunately,
we have not yet been able to gather all the elements needed to carry out a
full analysis of your request and to take a final decision. Therefore, we
are not in a position to reply to your confirmatory request within the
prescribed time limit which expires on 12 August 2022. Consequently, we
have to extend this period by another 15 working days in accordance with
Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. The new deadline expires on
5 September 2022. However, I can assure you that we are doing our utmost
to provide you with a final reply within the next 15 working days.
I regret this additional delay and sincerely apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Mariusz Daca, Ph.D.
Deputy Head of Unit
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
References
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1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D8AE39.B2F3F150
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [3]themeData
Link: [4]colorSchemeMapping
[5]Your confirmatory application for access to documents under Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 - GESTDEM 2022/3316 - 2nd holding letter -
Ares(2022)6122307 (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user –
Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)
Dear Mr. Fanta,
I refer to your email of 22 July 2022, registered on the same day, by
which you submitted a confirmatory application in accordance with Article
7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (‘Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001’), registered under reference number above.
I also refer to our holding reply dated 12 August 2022, by which the time
limit for replying to your confirmatory request was extended by 15 working
days, pursuant to Article 8(2) of the Regulation. This extended time limit
expired on 5 September 2022.
Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to provide you with our final
position within this deadline, due to the ongoing internal consultations
within the Commission. However, I can assure you that we are doing our
utmost to provide you with a final reply within the upcoming days.
I regret this additional delay and sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Mariusz Daca, Ph.D.
Deputy Head of Unit
European Commission
Secretariat General
Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D8C103.AD90F2D0
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. file:///tmp/~~themedata~~
4. file:///tmp/~~colorschememapping~~
5. https://webgate.ec.testa.eu/Ares/documen...
Dear Access to documents team,
I haven't heard any news on my confirmatory application 2022/3316 for the past six months. Can you give me an update on its status?
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Fanta
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
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im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
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1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...