Ref. Ares(2016)5579867 - 27/09/2016
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Directorate R. Management of resources
R.6. Document management and security
Brussels,
R.6/VK/VA D (2016) 5578159
By registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt
Myriam Douo
Friends of the Earth Europe
Mundo B Building
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels
Advance copy by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GestDem 2016/3615
Dear Ms Douo,
We refer to your request for access to documents dated 29 June 2016, registered on 29
July 2016 under the above mentioned reference number.
In your application you request access to the following information / documents:
1.
A list of or copies of, all invitations received to attend, or speak at, an event organised
by a third party, as received by Commissioner Phil Hogan since 1 November 2014.
2.
A full list of all external speaking engagements made by Commissioner Phil Hogan
since 1November 2014. This list should include the date and venue of the event, the
host(s) and organiser(s) of the event, and the topics discussed.
As regards point 1, an initial search had yielded a considerable number of documents,
and we have requested you by email dated 1 August 2016 to reduce the scope of your
request in order to arrive to a manageable number of documents.
By e-mail of 1 August 2016, you have accepted the reduction of your request's temporal
scope for point 1, from 20 months to three months of your choice. You have chosen April
to June 2016.
A list of all invitations received by Commissioner Hogan does not exist, we have
therefore identified and retrieved copies of invitations of which you will find an overview
table enclosed.
This overview table should not be considered a list as you have requested. It has been
established with the identification of the documents that correspond to the type of
documents that you have requested.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Attached please find 98 documents with 26 annexes identified within the scope of your
request.
The documents to which you have requested access contain personal data, in particular
individuals' names, email addresses and direct phone numbers.
Pursuant to Article 4(1) (b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access to a document has
to be refused if its disclosure would undermine the protection of privacy and the integrity
of the individual, in particular in accordance with Community legislation regarding the
protection of personal data. The applicable legislation in this field is Regulation (EC) No
45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the
protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the
Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data1.
When access is requested to documents containing personal data, Regulation (EC) No
45/2001 becomes fully applicable2.
According to Article 8(b) of this Regulation, personal data shall only be transferred to
recipients if they establish the necessity of having the data transferred to them and if
there is no reason to assume that the legitimate rights of the persons concerned might be
prejudiced.
We consider that, with the information available, the necessity of disclosing the
aforementioned personal data to you has not been established and that it cannot be
assumed that such disclosure would not prejudice the legitimate rights of the persons
concerned. Therefore, we are disclosing the documents requested expunged from this
personal data.
As regards point 2) an overview of the external engagements of Commissioner Hogan in
the form of a list as requested by you does not exist. Information on meetings with the
participation of Commissioner Hogan is available in the public domain:
The link below contains an exhaustive list of all the external meetings and speaking
engagements in which the Commissioner Hogan participated/attended and was also sent
to you by e-mail on 6 June 2016:
http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiative/meetings/meeting.do?host=55ddae5a-33fa-
40b4-87b4-8815e503dc26
You can also consult the Commission's Press Release Database:
http://europa.eu/rapid/search.htm
In case you would disagree with the assessment above, you are entitled, in accordance
with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, to make a confirmatory application
requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon
receipt of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
1 Official Journal L 8 of 12.1.2001, p. 1
2 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 29 June 2010 in case 28/08 P, Commission/The Bavarian Lager Co.
Ltd, ECR 2010 I-06055.
2
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/282
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by emai
l to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Vesselina KOMITSKA
Enclosure:
Table of identified documents
98 documents and 26 annexes
3
Electronically signed on 27/09/2016 09:55 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563