Reality Checks and Implementation Dialogues (Digital Omnibus)
Access Info Europe made this access to documents request to Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Dear Communications Networks, Content and Technology,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain informations regarding the Reality Checks conducted by the European Commission in preparation of the Digital Omnibus package (November 2025) including: (i) the full list of participants invited to and/or attending each Reality Check; (ii) meeting reports, minutes or summaries not published on the Commission's website.
We consider there is a specific public interest in disclosure in order to assess whether the Reality Checks were unduly influenced by large tech stakeholders, to verify which interests were taken into account in the preparation of the Digital Omnibus package, and to ensure public scrutiny of whether the Commission’s simplification process was conducted in a transparent and balanced.
Yours faithfully,
This request is submitted by Access Info Europe, a Spanish Association, operating on a not-for-profit basis, with registration number 587828.
Access Info Europe
Doña Juana I de Castilla,
60 Bajo B 28027 Madrid, Spain
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
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
Thank you for your initial request for access to documents.
Please note that in order to be able to register your request in our database, we will need your name and surname.
Yours faithfully,
Access to documents team - SG.A.2
Dear Madam/Sir,
Please note that this request is submitted by Access Info Europe, a Spanish Association, operating on a not-for-profit basis, with registration number 587828. The employee acting on its behalf is Beatriz Macho, Legal Officer. If you require the contact details of a legal representative, please let us know.
Kind regards
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
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 02/07/2026 and registered on 02/07/2026 under the case number
2026/3359.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 24/07/2026. 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,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We refer to your requests for access to documents, registered under the
reference numbers EASE 2026/3359 and EASE 2026/3360.
Your applications are currently being handled.
However, we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your
applications within the time limit of 15 working days, which expires
today.
An extended time limit is needed as different services need to be
consulted.
Therefore we have to extend the time limit with 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 regarding public
access to documents. The new time limit expires on 14 August 2026.
We apologise for this delay and any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
DG CONNECT Access to Documents Team
Dear Sir or Madam,
We refer to your requests for access to documents, registered under the
reference numbers EASE 2026/3359 and EASE 2026/3360.
Your applications are currently being handled.
However, we will not be in a position to complete the handling of your
applications within the time limit of 15 working days, which expires
today.
An extended time limit is needed as different services need to be
consulted.
Therefore we have to extend the time limit with 15 working days in
accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 regarding public
access to documents. The new time limit expires on 14 August 2026.
We apologise for this delay and any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours faithfully,
DG CONNECT Access to Documents Team
Dear Communications Networks, Content and Technology,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
Dear Sir or Madam,
We refer to our application of 2 July 2026, registered under reference EASE 2026/3359, concerning the Reality Checks conducted by the Commission in preparation for the Digital Omnibus package. By letters dated 24 July 2026, the Commission extended the deadline for replying until 14 August 2026 pursuant to Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. That deadline has now expired, and we have received no reply, whether granting or refusing access.
Since the institution has failed to reply within the prescribed time limit, we are entitled, under Article 7(4) of the Regulation, to lodge a confirmatory application. We hereby do so and ask the Commission to reconsider its position and grant full access to the documents originally requested, namely:
- the complete list of participants invited to and attending each Reality Check; and
- the meeting reports, minutes or summaries of those Reality Checks that have not been published on the Commission’s website.
We note, first, a failure to comply with the time limits laid down in Article 7, that is difficult to reconcile with the right to good administration guaranteed by Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. We recall that, under Article 1 of the Regulation and the settled case-law of the Court of Justice, the widest possible public access to documents is the general principle, and any limitation must be interpreted strictly. Administrative silence cannot replace the reasoned decision required by the Regulation. Also, the Court has made it clear that the timeframes cannot be varied by the parties (C-127/13 P Strack v Commission) and the EU Ombudsman has also considered that significant systemic delays and failure to comply with the timeframes amount to maladministration (Case OI/2/2022/OAM).
We also wish to emphasise the substantial and specific public interest in disclosure. As explained in that application, access to these documents is necessary to assess whether the Reality Checks were unduly influenced by large technology stakeholders, to establish which interests were taken into account in preparing the Digital Omnibus, and to enable public scrutiny of whether the Commission’s simplification process was conducted transparently and in a balanced manner.
That public interest is reinforced by the fact that, on 8 July 2026, the European Ombudsman opened an inquiry into the transparency of Reality Checks as a practice, following a complaint by Corporate Europe Observatory. In that inquiry, the Ombudsman has requested from the Commission a complete list of every Reality Check held in 2025 and 2026 and is examining, among other matters, whether civil society organisations receive timely information about the issues discussed.
The concern underlying our request is therefore a genuine matter of public interest, rather than a concern based solely on our own assertions. Our request concerns a single dossier, whereas the Ombudsman’s inquiry addresses the practice systemically. Nevertheless, both concern the same underlying question, and the timely disclosure sought in this application bears directly on the public interest identified by the Ombudsman. In this context, a specific purpose in the public interest is thereby established that justifies access to certain personal data that may be contained in the documents. We therefore respectfully request that the relevant exception be carefully applied.
Should the Commission nevertheless intend to refuse access, in whole or in part, we recall that any refusal must be based on one of the exceptions exhaustively listed in Article 4 of the Regulation and must be specifically reasoned in relation to each document concerned. Where applicable, the Commission must also weigh the relevant exception against the overriding public interest in disclosure set out above. The Commission must show that there is an actual and specific risk that is “reasonably foreseeable” and not hypothetical to the interests they intend to protect. A general or hypothetical reference to an exception would not suffice. Furthermore, where only parts of a document are covered by an exception, partial access must be granted pursuant to Article 4(6).
We therefore ask the Commission to reconsider its position and grant full access to the documents identified above.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/request/reality...
Yours faithfully,
Access Info Europe, Spanish Association, registration number 587828
Doña Juana I de Castilla, 60 Bajo B
28027 Madrid, Spain
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
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2026/3359, sent on 28/08/2026 and registered on 28/08/2026.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 18/09/2026. 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
Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/3359.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
DG CONNECT Access to documents Team
European Commission
DG CONNECT – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
Rue de la Loi, 51
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
References
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1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01DD3B90.A63EDD10
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
Dear applicant,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/3359.
Kind regards,
Secretariat-General - Access to documents
European Commission
Dear Sir or Madam,
We refer to our application of 2 July 2026, registered under reference EASE 2026/3359, concerning the Reality Checks conducted by the Commission in preparation for the Digital Omnibus package.
We received a delayed reply on 3 September 2026, therefore the confirmatory application we submitted on 28 August has been closed. We hereby wish to submit a new confirmatory application in accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 against the decision of 3 September.
First, we would like to note again that failure to comply with the time limits laid down in Article 7 is difficult to reconcile with the right to good administration guaranteed by Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Court has made it clear that the timeframes cannot be varied by the parties (C-127/13 P Strack v Commission) and the EU Ombudsman has also considered that significant systemic delays and failure to comply with the timeframes amount to maladministration (Case OI/2/2022/OAM).
Second, we would like to point out some inconsistencies between the lists of participants you have provided to us and those provided in another request (see other request here: https://www.asktheeu.org/request/reality...). For example, with regard to the list of participants in the E-Privacy reality check, it seems that our list contains fewer participants than the one provided in Document 3 to this other request. In this regard, we respectfully ask the Commission to review the 5 lists of participants provided to us and to please clarify or indicate which lists are the correct ones or the most updated ones, particularly in relation to the lists provided in the other request mentioned above.
Third, we wish to emphasise the substantial and specific public interest with regard to the documents requested. Access to complete and updated lists is necessary to assess whether the Reality Checks were unduly influenced by large technology stakeholders, to establish which interests were taken into account in preparing the Digital Omnibus, and to enable public scrutiny of whether the Commission’s simplification process was conducted transparently and in a balanced manner. That public interest is reinforced by the fact that, on 8 July 2026, the European Ombudsman opened an inquiry into the transparency of Reality Checks as a practice, following a complaint by Corporate Europe Observatory. The Ombudsman is asking the Commission, among other things, to clarify how it ensures that business interests do not dominate the discussions and how it controls conflicts of interest among participants and "practitioners in companies," as the primary target for Reality Checks. In this regard, it might be relevant to know the identities and functions of the practitioners who participated—for example, whether they are CEOs or equivalent legal representatives of companies, experts or other technical staff. We also maintain that identities of CEOs or equivalent legal representatives when acting in the context of their professional duties should be disclosed, unless there is a specific reason to believe disclosure would prejudice their legitimate interests (Article 14(2)(b) of the Detailed Rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, annexed to Commission Decision (EU) 2024/3080).
In light of the above, we ask the Commission to review its decision and the lists of participants provided to us to ensure that they are complete and updated, and to apply any exception (including the privacy exception) as strictly as possible, given the specific public interest in disclosure.
Yours faithfully,
Access Info Europe, Spanish Association, registration number 587828
Doña Juana I de Castilla, 60 Bajo B
28027 Madrid, Spain
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
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your confirmatory request for case
2026/3359, sent on 23/09/2026 and registered on 23/09/2026.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 14/10/2026. 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