Ref. Ares(2017)706406 - 08/02/2017
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The Director-General
Brussels,
DG/JP/I.3/VA D(2017) 415002
Ms. Myriam Douo
Friends of the Earth Europe
Mundo B Building Rue
D'Edimbourg 26 1050 Brussels
By registered letter with acknowledgment of
receipt
Advance copy by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2016/7156
Dear Madam,
We refer to your e-mail dated 20/12/2016 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 20/12/2016 under the above mentioned reference number.
You request access to all types of document (email, letters, minutes, date and attendees
list of meetings) constituting bilateral or multilateral interactions between DG Agri and
Dow Chemicals, Dupont, Syngenta, Bayer and Monsanto during the past year.
We have identified 6 documents related to your request of which a list is attached as well as
the documents identified.
You may reuse the documents requested free of charge for non-commercial and commercial
purposes provided that the source is acknowledged, that you do not distort the original
meaning or message of the documents. Please note that the Commission does not assume
liability stemming from the reuse.
Having examined the phrase in page 1, paragraph 4 of the document 6, under the provisions
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, I regret to inform
you that it cannot be granted, as disclosure is prevented by exception to the right of access
laid down in Article 4 of this Regulation.
This part of the document which you seek to obtain contains commercially sensitive
business information of the company that submitted it; Its disclosure would undermine the
protection of the commercial interests of the company that submitted it, as putting this
information in the public domain would affect its competitive position on the market.
Therefore the exception laid down in Article 4(2) first indent of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 applies to this document.
The exception laid down in Article 4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001 apply unless there is an
overriding public interest in disclosure of the document which is not demonstrated in this
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
case. Moreover, the last paragraph of the document no 6 is out of scope and for this reason it
was redacted.
The documents to which you have requested access contain personal data. 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 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.
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled 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:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/282
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Jerzy PLEWA
Encl. 6 doc. + 1 list
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
Electronically signed on 08/02/2017 17:29 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563