Mr/Ms Judith Doleschal
Email: j.doleschal.ae6chgg63m@fragdenstaat.de

Our ref: TO/PAD-2022-00425
Please quote when replying.


                                                                                        Warsaw, 12 December 2022




Your application for access to European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)
documents


Dear Mr/Ms Doleschal,

Further to the consensus reached on 26 January 2022 re your application PAD-2021-00358, your
application is divided into 16 applications with approximately 15 SIRs each to be considered
consecutively with Regulation (EC) No 1049/20011 being applicable to each.

This application was registered on 26 October 2022, for which the time limit has been extended by 15
working days on 21 November 20222, asking for access to



    Application 13 - 15 SIRs

    All Serious Incident Reports (SIRs) filed between August 2020 and now.

Please find five documents herewith attached, with redactions pertaining to:
    -    details of the operational area, which cannot be released. As ongoing operations tend to cover
         similar operational areas as the operations conducted in preceding years, disclosing details of
         previous operational areas would be tantamount to disclosing the current state of play. This
         would provide smuggling and other criminal networks with intelligence, enabling them to
         change their modus operandi, which would ultimately put the life of migrants in danger.
         Consequently, the course of ongoing and future operations of similar nature would be
         hampered by depriving the operations of any strategy and element of surprise, ultimately
         defeating their purpose to counter and prevent cross-border crime and unauthorized border
         crossings. In this light, the disclosure of documents containing such information would
         undermine the protection of the public interest as regards public security within the meaning
         of Article 4(1)(a) first indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001;
    -    reporting tools and methods used by law enforcement officials to conduct border control tasks
         and counter criminal activities. Its disclosure would jeopardize the implementation of ongoing
         and future operations, and thus facilitate irregular migration and trafficking in human beings
         as the effectiveness of law enforcement measures would be significantly reduced. As disclosing
         this information would undermine the protection of the public interest as regards public


1Regulation (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).
2In accordance with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.




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

security, this part is not disclosed pursuant to Article 4(1)(a) first indent of Regulation (EC) No
         1049/2001;
    -    the technical equipment deployed in the operational area by Frontex and Member States.
         Disclosing such information would be tantamount to disclosing the exact type and capabilities
         of the equipment and would enable third parties, e.g. by combining this information with other
         sources, to draw conclusions regarding usual positions and movement patterns. This would
         open way for abuse, as numbers and types of equipment used in previous operations are
         indicative of similar numbers and types for succeeding years. Releasing such information would
         thus benefit criminal networks, enabling them to change their modus operandi and,
         consequently, result in hampering the course of ongoing and future operations of a similar
         nature. This would ultimately obstruct the purpose of such operations: to counter and prevent
         cross-border crime and unauthorized border crossings. In this light, the disclosure of
         information regarding the technical equipment deployed would undermine the protection of
         the public interest as regards public security in the sense of Article 4(1)(a) first indent of
         Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001;
    -    the number and profiles of officers deployed in the operational area. Disclosing such
         information would be tantamount to disclosing the weaknesses and strengths of Frontex
         operations and pose a risk to their effectiveness. As a result, the course of ongoing and future
         similar operations would be hampered, ultimately defeating their purpose to counter and
         prevent cross-border crime and unauthorised border crossings. Consequently, the disclosure of
         such information would undermine the protection of the public interest as regards public
         security as laid down in Article 4(1)(a) first indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001;
    -    personal data, in particular, the name and/or image of an individual. The disclosure would
         undermine the protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in
         accordance with European Union legislation regarding the protection of personal data and
         therefore has to be precluded pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

The remaining documents cannot be released as in addition to all exceptions indicated above, these
documents contain detailed operational information with regard to return-related activities. Disclosing
such information would expose the working methods used in ongoing and future operations, putting at
risk the efforts made by the European Union and its Member States to return third-country nationals
who are subject to national return decisions. This would jeopardize the orderly conduct of Frontex and
Member States’ return operations as well as pose a hazard to the safety of passengers, including
returnees, crew and asset. In this light, the disclosure of such information would undermine the
protection of the public interest as regards public security as laid down in Article 4(1)(a) first indent of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and therefore must be refused. In is thus that no partial release is
possible.

Subject to any intellectual property rights of third parties, the document/s may be reused provided that
the source is acknowledged and that the original meaning or message of the document/s is not distorted.
Frontex is not liable for any consequence resulting from the reuse of this/these document/s.
Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, within 15 working days of the receipt of this
reply, you may submit a confirmatory application.
A confirmatory application, indicating the reference of your initial application, may be submitted
electronically to:    https://pad.frontex.europa.eu/padrequests/create,
by mail to:           European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Transparency Office,
                      pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw/Poland
or by email to:       pad@frontex.europa.eu or frontex@frontex.europa.eu.
Based on Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, Frontex will reply within 15 working days from the
registration of such application.
                                                                               Yours sincerely,
                                                                           [Decision signed electronically]
                                                                         Case Handler of the Transparency Office




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