202300363570 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Minutes and briefing pack for Ms. Gougeon’s roundtable on farming in Brussels: EIR release
Information requested
Minutes of, and briefing pack for, Ms. Gougeon’s roundtable on farming in Brussels.
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Response
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested as this includes the names and contact details of Scottish Government staff. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.
An exception under regulation 10 (4) (e) of the EIRs (Internal communications) applies to the information you have requested.
This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception for a small amount of the material requested where it covers confidential discussions. We recognise that there is some public interest in release in the interests of transparency. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining a private space for confidential discussions.
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Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. An exception under regulation 10 (4) (e) of the EIRs (Internal communications) applies to the information you have requested.