Legal Service: “no documents identified”
The Commission's in-house legal team checked its own files and found no documents matching the request. This is only one of five departmental answers. DG COMP has since confirmed that it holds responsive material in DMA case files and refused access. DG COMM has also replied, and the Secretariat-General has partially released Apple material from the President’s Cabinet files. DG CONNECT has since said that it holds no additional responsive documents beyond DG COMP’s set.
Background: what was asked
On 10 June 2026, a request was filed under the EU transparency law (Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001), which lets anyone ask the European Commission to hand over documents it holds. The request covered documents exchanged between the Commission and Apple about Siri AI / Apple Intelligence and the Digital Markets Act between June 2024 and June 2026.
The Commission split the request across five departments, each of which answers only for its own files. This page covers the Legal Service's answer.
What the Legal Service says
The Legal Service describes itself as an internal department that advises the Commission and represents it before the courts; it does not normally exchange direct correspondence with companies. After examining its own files, it found no document matching the terms of the request and therefore cannot grant access to anything.
The letter notes that the position can be challenged: a “confirmatory application” (a formal request to reconsider) can be sent to the Secretariat-General within 15 working days. It is signed by Alberto de Gregorio Merino, Director-General of the Legal Service.
What it does not mean
This is not the Commission saying it holds no documents about Apple, Siri AI or the Digital Markets Act. It speaks only for the Legal Service's own files.
A “nothing found” here is not surprising: the Legal Service is a team of lawyers, not the part of the Commission that deals directly with companies or enforces the DMA. The departments most likely to hold Apple correspondence are DG COMP (competition and DMA enforcement) and DG CONNECT (digital and tech policy). DG COMP has since stated that responsive documents it holds form part of DMA investigation case files, while DG CONNECT says it holds no additional documents beyond that set. The Legal Service answer says nothing about documents held elsewhere.
What happens next
No confirmatory application is planned against this Legal Service reply for now. DG COMP issued a full refusal on 10 July 2026, which will be challenged separately. On 23 July 2026 DG CONNECT said a reply was about to come after missing its extended deadline. DG COMM has since reported no matching document in its own files. On 27 July the Secretariat-General partially released an Apple email, an attached position paper and links to three public meeting minutes and later supplied the referenced Tim Cook letter. DG CONNECT has now replied, but points back to DG COMP’s document set.
The jargon, briefly
- Access-to-documents request
- A formal request under EU transparency law to obtain documents an EU institution holds.
- Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
- That transparency law, covering documents held by the Parliament, Council and Commission.
- EASE reference
- The file number the Commission assigns to each part of a request (here: 2026/2986).
- Legal Service
- The Commission's in-house lawyers: they advise it and represent it in court.
- DG COMP / DG CONNECT
- Commission departments for competition (and DMA enforcement) and for digital/tech policy.
- Confirmatory application
- A formal request to reconsider a refusal (essentially an appeal), due within 15 working days.