Starlink for Ukraine
Alexander Fanta made this access to documents request to Council of the European Union
Dear Council of the European Union,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting any document held by the Council regarding the use of Starlink by the Ukrainian government. This is meant to include working papers, working group meeting minutes, submissions by member states or any other document held by the Council in regard to Starlink. This is meant to cover, in particular, any document mentioning the financing of Starlink terminals for Ukraine by the European Union and/or its member states.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Follow the Money
Rue August Orts 2
1000 Bruxelles
Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.
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L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au 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 l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.
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Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.
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Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.
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Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[1]www.consilium.europa.eu | [2][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
References
Visible links
1. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Fanta,
Due to some technical constraints, unfortunately our Transparency service
could not finalise the reply to your request within today's deadline. We
apologise for this inconvenience.
We should be able to provide you with the General Secretariat's reply
before the coming weekend.
Thank you very much for your comprehension.
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[1]www.consilium.europa.eu | [2][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
References
Visible links
1. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
2. mailto:[email address]
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access under Regulation 1049/2001.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
Council of the European Union
General Secretariat
Communication and Information
Knowledge Management
Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[1]www.consilium.europa.eu | [2][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
Dear Council of the European Union,
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 'Starlink for Ukraine'.
I find the reasoning behind withholding the documents in question insufficient. Just because the content of the documents it deems sensitive, this does not create a general presumption of non-disclosure. Reasons for withholding access must be given for each document, and it must be argued specifically why disclosure would undermine the protected interests. That has not been the case in the reply I received.
As regards the documents and parts of documents withheld under the exceptions for international relations, the Court of Justice of the EU has said that the risk of jeopardizing international relations must be reasonably foreseeable and not purely hypothetical (see CJEU, 21 July 2011 Case C-506/08 P, Sweden v MyTravel and Commission) and that the institution must show that the document requested specifically and actually undermines the interest protected by the exception (see CJEU, 28 November 2013, Case C-576/12 P, Ivan Jurasinovic v Council of the European Union, paragraph 45.)
I contend that it is necessary to show that disclosure would undermine the public interest as regards international relations based explicitly on a specific reasoning regarding the content of the document or documents in question. The mere fact that a document concerns an interest protected by an exception is not of itself sufficient to justify application of that exception (Case T-2/03 Verein für Konsumenteninformation v Commission [2005] ECR II-1121, paragraph 69). In principle, such an application can be justified only if the institution has previously determined, first, that access to the document was likely, specifically and actually, to undermine the protected interest.
In In ‘t Veld v Council, the ECJ agreed with the General Court that not all internal debates could reveal strategic objectives or be exploited by negotiating partners, and in Besselink v Council, the General Court found that disclosing positions already known by negotiating partners, drafted before any actual negotiation took place, can also not reasonably be said to undermine the EU’s international relations.
Likewise, as regards the invoked exception for public security, the General Court ruled in the Evropaïki Dynamiki case (T-167/10) in regard to a matter of public security that the Commission had to show how disclosure „could specifically and actually undermine that objective in a way that is reasonably foreseeable and not purely hypothetical“. In the Steinberg case (T-17/10), the General Court established that there was a concrete risk of disclosure as the documents might be used to exert pressure on the relevant persons, even to make threats to their physical or moral integrity. I would like to contend that in the present case, the Council must examine whether this high standard of the exception is met, namely that disclosure would result into an actual threat. General considerations you give in your reply do not, according to the case law, suffice to deny access.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Follow the Money
Rue Auguste Orts 2
1000 Bruxelles
Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.
***
This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.
***
To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.
***
L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au 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 l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.
***
S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.
***
Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.
***
Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.
***
Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch generiert. Bitte nicht antworten.
***
Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.
***
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council concerning your request for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de l'UE
Dear Mr Fanta,
On 23.09.2024, the time-limit for replying to your confirmatory application was extended by 15 working days, until 14.10.2024.
The draft reply to your confirmatory application was on the agenda of the Council meeting on 10 October 2024 and we are completing final procedural steps linked to it. Therefore, you will receive your reply on 21 October 2024.
We apologise for the delay in replying to your confirmatory application.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de l'UE
Dear Mr Fanta,
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council in reply to your confirmatory application for public access under Regulation 1049/2001.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
www.consilium.europa.eu | [email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de l'UE