Ref. Ares(2024)3071784 - 26/04/2024
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, CONTENT AND
TECHNOLOGY
The Director-General
Brussels,
CNECT.R.4
Lora VERHEECKE,
9 rue du Bronze
1070 Brussels
Belgium
By email:
ask+request-14008-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – EASE 2024/0087
Dear Madam,
We refer to your email dated 7 January 2024 wherein you make a request for access to
documents pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents (hereinafter ‘Regulation 1049/2001’), registered on the same date
under the abovementioned reference number. We also refer to our holding reply, dated 29
January 2024, our reference Ares(2024)639844 whereby we informed you that the time
limit for handling your application was extended by 15 working days pursuant to Article
7(3) of Regulation 1049/2001.
We apologise for the delay in our response.
1.
SCOPE OF THE APPLICATION
Your application reads as follows:
΄΄Dear Communications Networks, Content and Technology,
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
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 documentation (including but not limited to all email correspondence, attendance
lists, agendas, background papers, transcripts and recordings) AND the meeting
minutes/notes relating to the meetings between Roberto Viola and Mistral AI on 13th
July 2023.[…]΄΄
2.
DOCUMENTS FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE APPLICATION
- Back To Office (BTO) Report, Meeting with Mistral AI, 13 July 2023, (
‘Document
1’)
- Email exchange dated 24 April and 5 May 2023 (
‘Document 2’)
- Emails to DG CONNECT, dated 14 and 20 July 2023 (
‘Document 3’)
3.
ASSESSMENT UNDER REGULATION 1049/2001
Following an examination of the identified documents under the provisions of Regulation
1049/2001, we have arrived at the conclusion that partial access can be granted to one
document, whilst access is denied for the remaining documents, as disclosure is prevented
by exceptions to the right of access laid down in Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001.
A. Partial disclosure -
Protection of privacy and integrity of individuals
Full disclosure of Document 1 is prevented by the exception concerning the protection of
privacy and integrity of the individual outlined in Article 4(1)(b) Regulation 1049/2001,
since they contain the following personal data:
- Names and functions of Commission staff members not pertaining to the senior
management
- Names and functions of other natural persons
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation (1) does not allow the transmission of
these personal data, except if you prove that it is necessary to have the data transmitted to
you for a specific purpose in the public interest and where there is no reason to assume that
the legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced. In your request, you do not
express any particular interest to have access to these personal data nor do you put forward
any arguments to establish the necessity to have the data transmitted for a specific purpose
in the public interest.
Consequently, we have concluded that, pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) Regulation 1049/2001,
access cannot be granted to the personal data contained in the document, as the need to
obtain access thereto for a purpose in the public interest has not been substantiated and
(1)Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies,
offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and
Decision No 1247/2002/EC, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.
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there is no reason to think that the legitimate interests of the individuals concerned would
not be prejudiced by disclosure of the personal data concerned
.
B. Non-disclosure
We regret to inform you that access to Documents 2 and 3 cannot be granted as their
disclosure is prevented by the exceptions laid down in Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001.
(i) Protection of commercial interests
Article 4(2) first indent of Regulation 1049/2001 provides that the institutions shall refuse
access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of commercial
interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property, unless there is an
overriding public interest in disclosure.
This provision must be interpreted in light of Article 339 of the Treaty of the Functioning
of the European Union (TFEU), which requires staff members of the EU institutions to
refrain from disclosing information of the kind covered by the obligation of professional
secrecy, in particular information about undertakings, their business relations or their cost
components.
Parts of Document 2 and Document 3 are covered by the abovementioned exception. They
originate from a third party and contain business sensitive information relating to the third
party’s positions, view and activities. After assessment we have come to the conclusion
that a disclosure of these parts could seriously affect the third party’s relations and position
in the market and could undermine the commercial interests of the third party.
Therefore, access cannot be granted as disclosure is prevented by the exception to the right
of access laid down in Article 4(2), first indent of Regulation 1049/2001.
(ii) Protection of the decision-making process
The first subparagraph of Article 4(3) of Regulation 1049/2001 provides that ‘[a]ccess to
a document, drawn up by an institution for internal use or received by an institution, which
relates to a matter where the decision has not been taken by the institution, shall be refused
if disclosure of the document would seriously undermine the institution’s decision-making
process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.’
The decision-making processes must remain protected until the decision-making process
is fully completed, i.e. until the decision/legislation is adopted and published. Parts of these
documents are covered by the abovementioned exception as they contain preliminary
views, considerations, reflections of the Commission services and of other parties in
relation to the Artificial Intelligence Act for which the decision-making process is not
finalized yet. The risk of disclosing information and reflections related to ongoing
procedures, would deter the Commission and its interlocutors from freely expressing their
views and conducting frank discussions. Speculations and misinterpretations of the public
on the views and reflections put forward in an earlier stage of the process would affect the
exploration of different policy options and unduly restrict the Commission’s internal space
to think exposing the services to external pressure. Disclosure of these parts of the
documents would therefore seriously undermine the ongoing decision-making process.
That risk is also reasonably foreseeable and not purely hypothetical. Therefore, access to
these parts of the documents should be refused as their disclosure is prevented by the
exception of Article 4(3) first subparagraph of Regulation 1049/2001.
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Moreover, parts of these documents contain personal data, in particular the contact details
of Commission staff members and names and contact details of other natural persons, thus
their disclosure is prevented by the exception of Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001
for the reasons set out in Section 3A.
We have considered whether partial access could be granted to these documents. However,
partial access is not possible considering that these documents are covered in their entirety
by the abovementioned exception of Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001.
4.
OVERRIDING PUBLIC INTEREST IN DISCLOSURE
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) and Article 4(3) of Regulation 1049/2001 apply,
unless there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of documents. Such an interest
must, firstly, be a public interest and, secondly, outweigh the harm caused by disclosure.
We have examined whether there could be an overriding public interest in the disclosure
of the parts of the documents which are being withheld but we have not been able to
identify such an interest.
5.
REUSE OF DOCUMENTS
You may reuse public documents which have been produced by the European Commission
or by public and private entities on its behalf based on
the Commission Decision on the
reuse of the Commission documents. You may reuse the disclosed document free of charge
and for non-commercial and commercial purposes provided that the source is
acknowledged and that you do not distort the original meaning or message of the
documents. Please note that the Commission does not assume liability stemming from the
reuse.
Please note that this document was drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of
the relevant service of DG CONNECT. It solely reflects the service’s interpretation of the
interventions made and does not set out any official position of the third parties to which
the documents refer, which were not consulted on their content. It does not reflect the
position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
6.
CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a
confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon receipt
of this letter to the Secretariat-General of the Commission. You can submit it in one of the
following ways:
by asking for a review via your portal (2) account (available only for initial requests
submitted via the portal account),
(2
)https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
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or by mail:
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Electronically signed
Roberto Viola
Enclosures:
(2)
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Electronically signed on 25/04/2024 17:25 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
Document Outline
