HLEG on Access to Data
Alexander Fanta made this access to documents request to Migration and Home Affairs Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.
Dear Migration and Home Affairs,
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 documents produced by the High Level Expert Group on access to data. This is meant to include minutes of meetings, working papers and any other document produced by the HLEG.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Follow the Money
Rue Auguste Orts 2
1000 Bruxelles
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 06/10/2023 and registered on 09/10/2023 under the case number
2023/5899.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 30/10/2023. 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,
Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Mr Alexander Fanta
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 9 October 2023 under case number 2023/5899
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 30 October 2023 as the application
concerns a very large number of documents and part of the documents
requested originate from third parties, which have been consulted.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 22 November 2023.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
Secretariat
High-Level Group on Access to Data for Effective Law Enforcement
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Mr Fanta,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under case number 2023/5899.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
Leandro Pereira Mendes
HLG Secretariat
Dear Migration and Home Affairs,
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 'HLEG on Access to Data'.
I would like to ask for the disclosure of the documents withheld under the Article 4 exceptions for public security, the protections of investigations and for the protection of ongoing decision making.
As regards the protection of the ongoing decision-making process, I believe the reasons for non-disclosure were not sufficiently reasoned and indeed quite vague. I believe these documents have been drawn up in preparation of possible legislative action, therefore necessitating particular chance for public scrutiny under Article 2 (4) of the Regulation. As regards the argument made in the reply that "these internal reports do not constitute the reports and minutes of the meetings, as referred in article 5 of the Commission Decision setting up the HLG", I believe the distinction between different types of "reports" and "minutes" is entirely virtual and would not hold up to scrutiny in front of the Ombudsman or the European Court.
As regards the documents withheld under the public security and under the investigations and audits exception, I find these to be reasoned very vaguely. Insofar as the Commission thinks that "disclosure is likely to compromise law enforcement operations in progress", as it states in its reply, I ask for details to be redacted and the documents to be made available at least partially.
Furthermore, I would like to argue for an overriding public interest in disclosure in regard to the application of the exceptions for ongoing decision-making and for investigations/audits. The Commission and member states have put forward measures to ensure "access to data" time and again, only to have data retention and mass surveillance struck down by the European Court. I think having this debate behind closed doors, as the Commission apparently intends, is depriving the public of a possibility to participate and will only increase public resistance once new proposals are presented. Please be reasonable and make these documents available to the public now to ensure proper debate, as foreseen in the Lisbon Treaty.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2023/5899, sent on 01/12/2023 and registered on 01/12/2023.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 22/12/2023. 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 applicant,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2023/5899 registered on 01/12/2023.
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. We will not be able to send you the reply within
the prescribed time limit expiring on 22/12/2023.
A new deadline is required since we are still gathering all the elements
to conduct our assessment.
Therefore, in line with Article 8(2) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 we
need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new time
limit expires on 23/01/2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.C1 - Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear applicant,
We are writing to you concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case 2023/5899, registered on 01/12/2023.
On 20/12/2023, we extended the time-limit for replying to your
confirmatory request to 23/01/2024.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to send you the reply within this
extended time limit since internal consultations are still ongoing.
However, we assure you that we are doing our best to send a reply to your
confirmatory request as soon as possible.
We regret this additional delay and sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.C1 - Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents