Ref. Ares(2017)5887976 - 01/12/2017
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Director-General
Brussels,
Grow E1/VS/gc
grow.ddg2.e.1(2017)5946291
By registered letter with
acknowledgment of receipt Mr Kenneth Haar
Overgaden oven Vandet 12
1415 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Advance copy by email:
ask+request-4629-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject: Request for access to documents – GESTDEM No. 2017/5510
Dear Mr Haar,
Thank you for your e-mail of 19 September 2017 which was registered at the Secretariat-General
of the European Commission on 19 September 2017, requesting access to documents under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents (OJ L145, 31 May 2001, page 43 and following).
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR REQUEST
Your e-mail requested access to documents as follows:
"1) a list of meetings (from 1. January 2015 till today) of Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska,
members of her cabinet or representatives of DG GROW and representatives of the European
Internet Forum, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, and Uber.
2) minutes and other reports of these meetings;
3) all correspondence with entities listed above, including emails from 1. January 2015 till
today). [19.09.2017]."
2.
DESCRIPTION OF DOCUMENTS IDENTIFIED
We have identified 33 documents that match the scope of your request. The lists of these
documents are in annex.
12 documents relate to point 2) of your request, and 21 documents to point 3) of your request.
Please note that the content of the reports of meetings with the third parties were drafted by the
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: BREY - 14/110 - Tel. direct line +32 229-66379
Commission; therefore they represent the Commission’s interpretation of what was discussed in the
meetings and were not verified by the third parties.
3.
FULL DISCLOSURE OF 23 DOCUMENTS
23 documents are fully disclosed1. 4 from those relate to the meetings held and 19 to correspondence
with those associations and companies.
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 data2.
When access is requested to documents containing personal data, Regulation (EC) No 45/2001
becomes fully applicable3.
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.
In case you would disagree with the assessment that the expunged data are personal data which can
only be disclosed if such disclosure is legitimate under the rules of personal data protection, 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:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/327
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
4.
PARTIAL DISCLOSURE OF 9 DOCUMENTS
9 documents have been partially disclosed. Out of these, 7 relate to reports of meetings and 2 to
correspondence with the requested associations and companies.
1 Except for redaction of personal data. Please see reference below.
2 Official Journal L 8 of 12.1.2001, p. 1
3 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
Following an examination of the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, I regret to inform you that access to 9
documents can only be provided partially based on a) the exception of Art.4 (2) first indent (‘The
institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of
commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property’), since the full
disclosure of these documents would affect the competitive position of the relevant companies on
the market or would disclose business secrets, b) the exception of Art.4 (2) third indent (‘The
institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of
the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits’), since the Commission is in the process of
assessing regulatory situations related to these documents' content in some Member States and
disclosure of some documents or information at this point in time would affect this ongoing
process, and/or c) the exception of Art.4 (3) (Access to a document, drawn up by an institution
for internal use or received by an institution, which relates to a matter where the decision has not
been taken by the institution, shall be refused), which is closely linked to the second exception.
Disclosure of these documents would undermine the decision-making process of the
Commission, as it would reveal views and elements which are currently under consideration.
Please note that regarding those documents originating from third parties, in particular those for
which an exception under Regulation 1049/2001 would apply, DG Internal Market, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and SMEs has consulted them according to Article 4, paragraph 4 of Regulation
1049/2001 and has obtained their permission to release these documents partially invoking the above
exceptions.
Please note that the documents received from third parties are disclosed for information only and
cannot be re-used without the agreement of the originators, who hold a copyright on them. They do
not reflect the position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
According to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, an exception to the right of access must be waived
if there is an overriding public interest in disclosing the document concerned, which outweighs
the interest protected by the exception to the right of access. In this case the Commission has
reached the conclusion that there appears to be no overriding public interest in their disclosure in
the sense of the Regulation.
5.
NON-DISCLOSURE OF ONE DOCUMENT
The DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs has identified one document to
which access cannot be granted. Access to this document cannot be granted, as disclosure is
prevented by exception to the right of access laid down in Article 4(2), third indent of this
Regulation ("The institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would
undermine the protection of […] - the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits") and
Art.4 (3) (Access to a document, drawn up by an institution for internal use or received by an
institution, which relates to a matter where the decision has not been taken by the institution,
shall be refused). The same considerations as above apply to the exceptions invoked for the non-
disclosure of this document.
According to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, an exception to the right of access must be waived
if there is an overriding public interest in disclosing the document concerned, which outweighs
the interest protected by the exception to the right of access. In this case the Commission has
reached the conclusion that there appears to be no overriding public interest in their disclosure in
the sense of the Regulation.
The possibility of granting partial access in accordance with Article 4(6) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 has also been examined. However, this is not considered possible since the document
in question is covered in its entirety by the above-mentioned exceptions.
3
6.
MEANS OF REDRESS
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, you are entitled to make a confirmatory
application requesting the Commission to review its 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 5/327
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely
Lowri EVANS
Director General
Annexes: Document register
List of meetings with the requested associations and companies
Zipped files
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Electronically signed on 01/12/2017 10:56 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563
Document Outline