Mr Lukas Kotkamp
Email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx By email only
Subject: Reply to your request for public access to documents No 13/2022
Dear Mr Kotkamp,
By email dated 16 June 2022 (Annex 1) you requested “
documents which contain the following
information:
-
Any documents and communication, including but not limited to meeting notes, evaluation
reports and internal communication, related to meetings held with employees representing
OBIM of homeland security of the United states since the beginning of 2015.”.
By email dated also 16 June 2022 (Annex 2), the Agency acknowledged receipt of your request
for public access to documents, which was registered under the reference number 13/2022 and
informed you of the time limit of fifteen (15) working days to reply to your request.
With the letter dated 6 July 2022 (Annex 3), the Agency informed you that due to the large number
of the documents falling within the scope of your request, the time-limit of fifteen (15) working
days to reply to your request needs to be extended by additional fifteen (15) working days.
Your request for access to documents was assessed in light of the principles and conditions
defined by the Regulation (EC) No 1049/20011 and the relevant case-law.
Decision
The Agency has identified six (6) documents that fall within the scope of your request, namely:
the power point presentation “
Setting the Scene: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Office of Biometric Identity Management” of 16 June 2022 (Document 1).
the “
EU Joint mission (eu-LISA, Frontex, COM and MS) to USA Meetings Report” of 20
June 2022 (Document 2);
the power point presentation “
U.S. CBP BRIEFING & TECHNICAL OVERVIEW
WORKSHOP” of 2022 (Document 3);
the “
Report on the eu-LISA mission to USA (Washington DC) 17-21 June” of 4 July 2019
(Document 4);
1 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 (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).
European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale
Vesilennuki 5, 10415 Tallinn, Estonia
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IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
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the report “
Follow up meeting and exchanges on state of play of US/EU initiatives and
activities in the area of Biometric data management, related technics/systems and future
developments” of 20 June 2018 (Document 5);
the power point presentation “
eu-LISA and Biometrics: Focus on upcoming projects” of
24 July 2017 (Document 6).
The Agency would like to inform you that Document 1 is publicly available and can be found under
the following link:
https://www.eulisaroundtable.eu/eulisa_content/uploads/2022/06/BRIEF_20220616_eu
LISA_LisaMacDonald_Final.pdf
Additionally, the Agency would like to inform you that Article 4(4) of the Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 specifies that, as regards documents originating from third parties, "
the institution shall
consult the third party with a view to assessing whether an exception in paragraph 1 or 2 is
applicable, unless it is clear that the document shall or shall not be disclosed".
Regarding the remaining documents, namely Documents 2 to 6, following a thorough examination
of their content and taking into account the opinion of the third parties consulted, the Agency has
decided to grant you full access to Document 2, which is hereby attached as Annex 4.
The Agency has also decided to grant you partial access to Documents 3 to 6. The full disclosure
of Documents 3 to 6 is prevented by the exception laid down in Article 4(1)(b). Documents 3 to 6
are hereby attached as Annexes 5 to 8.
Assessment: Reasons for Partial Disclosure
The detailed explanation for partial disclosure of Documents 3 to 6 is provided below.
Protection of privacy and integrity of the individual
Pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of the Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access to a document has to be
refused if its disclosure would undermine the protection of privacy and the integrity of the
individual, in particular in accordance with the European Union legislation regarding the protection
of personal data.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled, in its judgment in the Bavarian Lager case2,
that when a request is made for access to documents containing personal data, the
Regulation
(EC) No 45/2001 (now repealed by Regulation (EU) 2018/17253) becomes fully applicable.
According to Article 3(1) of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, personal data “
means any information
relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person
is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such
as a name, (…)”.
Documents 3 to 6 contain personal data of several individuals within the meaning quoted above,
in particular names, surnames, email addresses, professional functions, pictures and other
2 Judgment of 29 June 2010,
Commission v Bavarian Lager, C-28/08 P, EU C:2010:378, paragraph 63.
3 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.
39-98).
European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale
Vesilennuki 5, 10415 Tallinn, Estonia
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IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
www.eulisa.europa.eu
elements which could serve to identify the individuals concerned. Consequently, this type of data
cannot be disclosed.
For this reason, limited parts of Documents 3 to 6 were redacted.
No overriding public interest in disclosure
The exception laid down in Article 4(1)(b) of the Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 does not need to
be balanced against any possible overriding public interest in disclosure.
Appeal/ Legal Redress
Kindly note that you may file a confirmatory application within 15 (fifteen) working days from
receiving this email.
Yours sincerely,
Qualified electronic signature by:
KRUM EMILOV GARKOV
Date: 2022-07-26 13:47:39 +02:00
Krum Garkov
Executive Director
Annexes:
Annex 1: Your request for public access to documents;
Annex 2: Acknowledgment of receipt of your request;
Annex 3: Extension of the deadline to reply to your request for access to documents No
13/2022;
Annex 4: the “
EU Joint mission (eu-LISA, Frontex, COM and MS) to USA Meetings Report”
of 20 June 2022 (Document 2);
Annex 5: the power point presentation “
U.S. CBP BRIEFING & TECHNICAL OVERVIEW
WORKSHOP” of 2022 (Document 3);
Annex 6: the “
Report on the eu-LISA mission to USA (Washington DC) 17-21 June” of 4
July 2019 (Document 4);
Annex 7: the report “
Follow up meeting and exchanges on state of play of US/EU initiatives
and activities in the area of Biometric data management, related technics/systems and
future developments” of 20 June 2018 (Document 5);
Annex 8: the power point presentation “
eu-LISA and Biometrics: Focus on upcoming
projects” of 24 July 2017 (Document 6).
European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale
Vesilennuki 5, 10415 Tallinn, Estonia
3
IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
www.eulisa.europa.eu
