Ref. Ares(2022)8024521 - 21/11/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
The Director-General
Brussels
INTPA/KD
Maximilian Henning
Eendrachtskade 12-35
9726 CW Groningen
The Netherlands
Subject:
Your application for access to documents EASE 2022/5761
Dear Mr Henning,
We refer to your request for access to European Commission documents registered on
10/10/2022 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to
all minutes, agendas, summaries, notes or memos issued before or
after; documents prepared for, issued in preparation for, or exchanged during; as well
as all correspondence including attachments by either of the meeting parties related to
the 14.07.2022 meeting between TFE Energy GmbH and Arto Virtanen.
The following documents fall within the scope of your application:
E-mail: Flash report: Subject: EU Partnership with Africa / developing
countries - European
Technology, author: Village Data Analytics, addressee: CAB
URPILAINEN CONTACT, 24/05/2022, reference Ares(2022)3931881
(hereafter ‘document 1’),
E-mail: Meeting request: Subject: RE: EU Partnership with Africa /
developing countries - European Technology, author: CAB URPILAINEN,
addressee: Village Data Analytics, 23/06/2022, reference
Ares(2022)4622592 (hereafter ‘document 2’),
E-mail: Meeting request: Subject: Report Village Analytics, author: Arto
Virtanen, addressee: CAB UPRILAINEN, 15/09/2022, reference
Ares(2022)6921460 (hereafter ‘document 3’).
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, we have come to the conclusion
that the documents may be partially disclosed. Some parts of the documents have been
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
Office: L-41 12/012 – Tel. direct line +32 229-81566
xxxx.xxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
blanked out as their disclosure is prevented by the exceptions to the right of access laid
down in Article 4(1) b) and first indent of Article 4(2) of this Regulation.
With regard to the document 1-3 listed above, a complete disclosure of the identified
documents is prevented by the exception concerning the protection of privacy and the
integrity of the individual outlined in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
because they contain the following personal data:
-
the names/initials and contact information of Commission staff members not
pertaining to the senior management;
-
the names/initials and contact details of other natural persons;
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation does not allow the transmission of these
personal data, except if you prove that it is necessary to have the data transmitted to you for
a specific purpose in the public interest and where there is no reason to assume that the
legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced. In your request, you do not
express any particular interest to have access to these personal data nor do you put forward
any arguments to establish the necessity to have the data transmitted for a specific purpose
in the public interest.
Consequently, we conclude that, pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001, access cannot be granted to the personal data contained in the
requested documents, as the need to obtain access thereto for a purpose in the public interest
has not been substantiated and there is no reason to think that the legitimate interests of the
individuals concerned would not be prejudiced by disclosure of the personal data concerned.
In addition, the redacted parts of the documents contain commercially sensitive business
information of the company that submitted it.
Disclosure of these parts can pose a real and non-hypothetical risk that would undermine the
protection of the commercial interests of the entities involved by disclosing potentially
sensitive information or giving an unfair advantage to competitors.
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply unless
there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the documents.
In your application, you do not put forward any reasoning pointing to an overriding public
interest in disclosing the documents requested. We have examined whether there could be
an overriding public interest in disclosure, but we have not been able to identify such an
interest. We conclude, therefore, that the protection of commercial interests prevails.
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, you are entitled to make
a confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
2
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed to the Secretariat-General of the
Commission within 15 working days upon receipt of this letter. You can submit it in one of
the following ways:
by asking for a review via your portal1 account (available only for initial requests
submitted via the portal account),
or by mail:
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Koen DOENS
Director-General
1
https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
3
Electronically signed on 21/11/2022 11:12 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121