Head of Unit - Legal Services Unit Institutional and Horizontal Affairs Centre European Union Agency for Asylum

 

 

Dear Ms X,

The Ombudsman has received a complaint against the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). The complaint concerns the refusal of the EUAA to give public access to several documents containing information about the reception conditions of migrants in Cyprus.

The complainant’s access request of 12 September 2023 was narrowed down on 30 October 2023, following various exchanges with the EUAA. It concerned all documents held by the EUAA, including all correspondence between the EUAA and the European Commission (DG HOME), related to reception conditions in existing or future migration management facilities in Cyprus. The request covered the period 1 February 2023 - 12 September 2023.

On 17 January 2024, following the EUAA’s failure to issue an initial decision within the timeframe prescribed by the EU legislation on public access to documents (Regulation 1049/2001), the complainant submitted a confirmatory application. On 12 February 2024, the EUAA adopted a confirmatory decision, in which it identified 76 documents as falling under the scope of the complainant’s access request and provided wide partial access to two of these. The EUAA refused access to the remaining 74 documents based on three exceptions under Regulation 1049/2001, namely the need to protect the public interest as regards public security, as well as the need to protect personal data and its decision-making process.

The complainant is dissatisfied with the EUAA’s refusal to provide (partial) access to the documents. She considers that partial disclosure has been refused for largely administrative reasons, and that the EUAA has failed to demonstrate the existence of serious and foreseeable risks to public security and its internal decision-making. She does not, however, challenge the redaction of personal data.

We have decided to open an inquiry into the complaint against the EUAA’s decision to refuse access to the 74 documents under Regulation 1049/2001.

Regulation 1049/2001 states that applications for access should be handled promptly. It is in line with this principle that the Ombudsman also seeks to deal with cases such as this as quickly as possible.

As a first step, we consider it necessary to review the documents at issue in the complaint, as well as the third-party consultations[1] conducted by the EUAA in relation to documents to which it refused to give access. We would be grateful if the EUAA could provide these documents, preferably in electronic format through encrypted e-mail,[2] by 25 April 2024.

The documents subject to the public access request will be treated confidentially, along with any other material the EUAA chooses to share with us that it marks confidential. Documents of this kind will be handled and stored in line with this confidential status and will be deleted from the Ombudsman’s files shortly after the inquiry has ended.

The EUAA’s position has been set out in its confirmatory decision of 12 February 2024. However, should the EUAA wish to provide additional views, to be taken into account by the Ombudsman during this inquiry, we would be grateful if they could be provided to us within fifteen working days from the receipt of this letter, that is, by 9 May 2024.

In case the size of the documents poses a problem or for any other question, please feel free to contact the inquiries officer responsible for the case is Amandine Le Bellec.

Yours sincerely,

Rosita Hickey
Director of Inquiries

Strasbourg, 18/04/2024

 

[1] We understand from the confirmatory decision that the EUAA consulted the European Commission, the embassy of the Netherlands in Cyprus, the International Organisation for Migration, the Watershed NGO, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, and the Cypriot authorities.

[2] Encrypted emails can be sent to our dedicated mailbox.