Meetings McGrath on simplification of data protection or GDPR
Dear Justice and Consumers,
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—including but not limited to correspondence (including WhatsApp and other messaging platforms), emails, minutes, notes (hand written or electronic), audio or video recordings, verbatim reports, operational conclusions, lines to take, briefings, and presentations—related to the following meetings of Commissioner McGrath and/or his staff:
- with Connect Europe on 7 April 2025 ("Exchange of views on consumer protection")
- with Bitkom on 15 April 2025 ("Data protection, e-privacy, simplification)
- with AmCham EU on 20 May 2025 ("Exchange on simplification, consumer and data protection")
- with Snap on 21 May 2025 ("Exchange of views on the Digital Fairness Act")
- with TikTok on 30 May 2025 ("Exchange of views on data protection and the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act")
- with Google on 3 June 2025 ("Exchange of views on consumer protection and the Digital Fairness Act")
- with Eurochambres on 15 July 2025 ("Exchange of views on simplification, CSDDD, GDPR, the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act and third party litigation funding")
In consideration of the environment I would prefer to receive documents electronically.
Please confirm having received this application. I look forward to your reply within 15 business days, according to the regulation.
Camille Schyns
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are writing to you concerning your request for access to documents sent
on 05/08/2025 and registered on 06/08/2025 under case number 2025/4029.
Since you have not indicated your postal address, we are not able to start
handling your request. The 15 working days to reply to your request will
start running only when you send us your postal address.
You can send your postal address by replying to this e-mail. If we do not
receive your reply we may close this case.
Please note that you can submit a request for access to Commission
documents via the portal [1]'Request a Commission document', which does
not require you to indicate your postal address.
Why do we need your personal postal address?
Since 1 April 2014, the submission of a postal address became a mandatory
feature when submitting an application for access to Commission documents
via an e-mail. We would like to explain why we need your postal address in
order to register and handle your application for access to documents when
submitted via e-mail:
• Firstly, to obtain legal certainty as regards the date you received
the European Commission reply to your application for public access to
documents. Article 297 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU) states that 'decisions which specify to whom
they are addressed, shall be notified to those to whom they are
addressed and shall take effect upon such notification.' In line with
this provision, if the Commission does not grant full access to the
requested documents, it notifies the reply to the applicant via
registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt or via delivery
service. This requires an indication of a valid postal address by the
applicant;
• Secondly, to apply correctly the [2]Data Protection Regulation (EU)
2018/1725. Knowing whether the applicant is an EU resident (or not) is
necessary for deciding which conditions shall apply for the
transmissions of personal data to applicants for access to documents.
These conditions are not the same for recipients established in the
Union and for recipients in third countries. As the vast majority of
the documents requested contain personal data, the Commission cannot
ensure the correct application of the data protection rules in the
absence of a postal address;
• Thirdly, to apply correctly [3]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Article
4(1)(b) of that Regulation refers to the protection of the privacy and
integrity of the individual and has to be applied in line with the
Data Protection Regulation;
• Fourthly, to protect the interest of other citizens and safeguard the
principle of good administration. The Commission has to treat all
citizens equally by ensuring that the legal framework for public
access to documents is respected. For example, it has to verify
whether Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is being evaded
by introducing several requests under different identities. Indeed, in
its Ryanair judgment ([4]EU:T:2010:511), the General Court confirmed
that Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 cannot be evaded by
splitting an application into several, seemingly separate, parts. In
addition, the Commission has to make sure that the legal framework is
respected and the right of access to documents is not abused by making
requests under an invented identity.
The considerations above show that the request for and the consequent
processing of the applicant's postal address is not only appropriate, but
also strictly necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the
public interest within the meaning of Article 5(1)(a) of Data Protection
Regulation, namely providing a smooth and effective access to documents.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/do...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Justice and Consumers,
My postal address is [Personally Identifiable Information removed].
I look forward to your reply.
Camille Schyns
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 05/08/2025 and registered on 06/08/2025 under the case number
2025/4029.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 28/08/2025. 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 Justice and Consumers - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Applicant,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 6 August 2025 under case number EASE 2025/4029.
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 28 August 2025.
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 18 September 2025.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
JUST ATD team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Justice and Consumers,
I look forward to receiving a reply at your earliest convenience and no later than 18 September.
Yours faithfully,
Camille Schyns
Dear Justice and Consumers,
When you asked for an extended time limit of 15 days for this request, you noted the time limit would expire on 18 September 2025. It is now 19 September 2025, which means that by law you should have responded to my request. Please provide the requested documentation.
Yours faithfully,
Camille Schyns
[1]RE: access to documents request - Meetings McGrath on simplification of
data protection or GDPR - Ares(2025)7877231 (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 Ms Schyns,
We would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in responding to your
request. We understand how important this matter is to you, and we regret
any inconvenience the wait may have caused.
Please rest assured that we are actively working on your request. The
internal discussions required to process it have taken longer than
expected, but we are making every effort to finalize everything as soon as
possible.
We truly appreciate your patience and understanding.
Kind regards,
JUST ATD team
Dear JUST ACCES DOCUMENTS,
I am following up because this request is now long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, I should have received a reply by 19 September; it is now 22 October.
In further communication please refer to me as Mr. Schyns (Not Ms.) or simply Camille.
Yours sincerely,
Camille Schyns
Dear Mr Schyns,
We sincerely apologize for the error in addressing you in our previous
communications.
Regarding your request, we understand the frustration caused by the delay
and appreciate your patience.
We are currently finalizing the reply, and it will reach you along with
the identified documents next week.
Kind regards,
JUST ATD team
