all text messages sent between Frontex officers and officers of the Libyan coast guard, as well as the transcripts of text message groups chats shared between Frontex officers and the Libyan Coast Guard, from 1 April 2020 to 1 April 2021. Today an investigation has published in multiple media in Europe that, in part, includes screenshots of some of these messages. In terms of definitions, when I refer to text messages, I mean all messages (i.e., SMS messages) and other mobile-phone-based text communications (e.g., WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage, Facebook Chat, SnapChat, Slack, Facebook and Twitter "direct messages," Signal Messenger, Wire, etc.). For further context on this request, I would like to call your attention to European Council confirmatory application decision 39/c/01/19. In that decision, the Council specifically addressed whether or not text messages can be considered ¨documents¨ per EU transparency regulations. It held that they can, assuming that the a message meets two criteria ¨if it relates to the policies, activities and decisions¨ falling within an agency’s ¨sphere of responsibility.¨ Secondarily, the text messages in question must not be ¨ephemeral or short- lived¨ and must contain ¨substantial information.¨ In this case, I argue that text messages sent between Frontex officers and Libyan Coast Guard officers certainly relate to activities that fall within Frontex’s sphere of responsibility, that is to say, border management. Similarly, given that these messages are used to convey operational information, I argue that they also meet the standard for ¨substantial information.¨ Now, whether or not these messages fall under the relevant exclusions laid out in Regulation 1049/2001, I believe is for your office to decide, but I did want to send over this information to establish at the outset that these messages are indeed documents held by Frontex, in that they contain substantial information related to the agency’s operational activities. Lastly, I would like to emphasize the public interest in these documents. Frontex has often and repeatedly stated that the agency maintains no direct contact with the Libyan Coast Guard. In fact, just days ago, a Frontex press officer, Chris Borowski, denied the existence of such communications, saying that ¨Frontex does not have any direct relationship with Libya.¨ Given, now, the existence of Frontex documents that contradict these accounts, I believe it is firmly in the public interest that said documents be released. Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01

Further to your clarification of the scope: - SMS messages - WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage, Facebook Chat, SnapChat, Slack, Facebook and Twitter "direct messages," Signal Messenger, Wire. your application was registered Please be informed that Frontex does not hold such messages from                    instant messaging applications. Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/20011, within 15 working days of the receipt of this letter, you may submit a confirmatory application to Frontex to reconsider its position. Based on Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, Frontex will reply to you within 15 working days from the registration of such application. You can submit your confirmatory application by post or electronically. 1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).