Ref. Ares(2019)5332022 - 21/08/2019
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR RESEARCH & INNOVATION
The Director-General
Brussels,
Β1/RS/JCV
rtd.b.1.002(2019)5720341
By registered letter with
acknowledgment of receipt
Mr Joerg Stahl
Praça Ilha do Faial 7
1º Dto. 1000-168
Lisboa
Portugal
Advance copy by e-mail: ask+request-6982-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Request for access to documents
Ref.:
Your request of 18 June 2019 registered under reference GestDem 2019/3491
Dear Mr Stahl,
We refer to your request for access to documents within the framework of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/20011, addressed to the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.
You requested the following:
“–
all documents related to the 23-01-2015 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Qualcomm Inc., including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes,
audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 23-01-2015 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Johnson & Johnson, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes,
audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 28-04-2015 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and General Electric Company, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written)
notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 18-05-2015 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and MSD (Europe) Inc. (Merck Sharp & Dohme), including but not limited to
minutes, (hand-written) notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and
presentations
1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43)
hereinafter referred to as “Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001”.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
–
all documents related to the 23-09-2015 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Google, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes, audio
recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 03-12-2015 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Google, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes, audio
recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 03-12-2015 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Procter & Gamble, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes,
audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 25-02-2016 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and DuPont de Nemours International SARL, including but not limited to minutes,
(hand-written) notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 25-05-2016 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and PepsiCo, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes, audio
recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 25-05-2016 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Intel Corporation, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes,
audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 18-01-2017 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Microsoft Corporation, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written)
notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 19-04-2017 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and General Electric Company, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written)
notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 10-10-2017 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and IBM Corporation, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes,
audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 24-01-2018 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and AT&T, Inc., including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes, audio
recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 25-01-2018 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-
written) notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 25-01-2018 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Facebook Ireland Limited, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written)
notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 08-03-2018 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Cisco Systems Inc., including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes,
audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
–
all documents related to the 23-01-2019 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Microsoft Corporation, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written)
notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations
2
–
all documents related to the 24-01-2019 meeting between Commissioner Carlos
Moedas and Facebook Ireland Limited, including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written)
notes, audio recordings, verbatim reports, e-mails, and presentations”.
I.
SCOPE OF THE REQUEST
The following documents have been identified as corresponding to your request:
1. Briefing on the bilateral between Commissioner Carlos Moedas and a representative
of
Qualcomm on 23-01-2015.
2. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Carlos Moedas and representatives
of
Johnson and Johnson (J&J) on 23-01-2015.
3. Email of 14-04-2015 from
General Electric Global Growth to the Cabinet of
Commissioner Moedas asking for a meeting between the latter and a representative
of General Electric Company on 29-04-2015.
4. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Carlos Moedas and a representative
of General Electric Company on 28-04-2015.
5. Email of 31-03-2015 from the
Merck Group to the Cabinet of Commissioner
Moedas asking for a meeting between the latter and representatives of General
Electric Company on 18-05-2015.
6. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Carlos Moedas and representatives
of Merck on 18-05-2015.
7. Email of 22-05-2015 from Merck Group to the Cabinet of Commissioner Moedas,
including an attachment:
a. Letter from Merck to Commissioner Moedas concerning the meeting held on
18-05-2019.
8. Email of 08-06-2015 from
Google to the Cabinet of Commissioner Moedas asking
for a meeting between the latter and a representative of Google on 23-09-2015.
9. Email of 09-07-2015 from the Cabinet of Commissioner to Google accepting the
suggested meeting on 25-09-2019.
10. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Carlos Moedas and a representative
of Google on 23-09-2015.
11. Email of 25-9-2015 from Google to the Cabinet of Commissioner concerning the
meeting held on 25-09-2019,
12. Email of 23-07-2015 from Business Europe to Commissioner Moedas, enclosing an
invitation to the Advisory and Support Group on 03-12-2019, where
Google and
Procter & Gamble were also represented.
13. Email of 12-08-2015 from the Cabinet of Commissioner to Business Europe on the
availability of the Commissioner for a meeting.
14. Email of 02-12-2015 from the Secretariat General to the Cabinets, including the
Programme of the meeting of Advisory and Support Group and three enclosures:
a. List of the participants
b. Photos of the participants
c. Final programme of the event.
15. Briefing on the Advisory and Support Group on 03-12-2015.
3
16. Letter of 18-12-2015 from Business Europe to Commissioner Moedas, on the
Advisory and Support Group.
17. Note on the key messages related to the meeting between Commissioner Moedas
with representatives of European Advanced Biofuel Companies.
18. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and representatives of
European Companies committed to the development of the low carbon transport
fuels held on 25-02-2016, where representatives from
DuPont were also invited.
19. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of
Pepsico held on 25-05-2016.
20. Letter of 01-06-2016 from a representative of Pepsico to Commissioner Moedas,
concerning the meeting held on 25-05-2016.
21. Exchange of emails between 26 and 01-12-2015 between the European Commission
and a representative of
Intel Corp. on the possibility of a meeting with Commission
Moedas.
22. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of Intel
held on 25-05-2016.
23. Exchange of emails between 13-11-2016 and 09-0108-2017 between the Cabinet of
Commissioner Moedas and
Microsoft on the availability of the Commissioner for a
meeting.
24. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of
Microsoft held on 18-01-2017.
25. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and representatives of the
General Electric Company held on 19-04-2017.
26. Exchange of emails between 18-07-2017 and 27-07-2017 between the Cabinet of
Commissioner Moedas and
IBM on the availability of the Commissioner for a
meeting with a representative of IBM.
27. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of IBM
held on 10-10-2017.
28. Exchange of emails between 14-07-2017 and 16-01-2018 between the Cabinet of
Commissioner Moedas and
AT&T on the possibility of a meeting between the
Commissioner with a representative of AT&T.
29. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of
AT&T held on 24-01-2018.
30. Exchange of emails between 04-01-2018 and 15-01-2018 between the Cabinet of
Commissioner Moedas and
Hewlett Packard Enterprise on the possibility of a
meeting between the Commissioner with a representative of Hewlett Packard
Enterprise.
31. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of
Hewlett Packard Enterprise held on 25-01-2018.
32. Exchange of emails between 11-01-2018 and 18-01-2018 between the Cabinet of
Commissioner Moedas and
Facebook on the possibility of a meeting between the
Commissioner with a representative of Facebook on 25-01-2018.
33. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of
Facebook held on 25-01-2018.
4
34. Exchange of emails between 02-02-2018 and 14-02-2018 between the Cabinet of
Commissioner Moedas and
Cisco Systems on the possibility of a meeting between
the Commissioner with a representative of Cisco Systems on 08-03-2018.
35. Briefing on the meeting between Commissioner Moedas and a representative of
Cisco Systems held on 08-03-2018.
36. Email of 14-01-2019 from a representative of
Microsoft to the Cabinet of
Commissioner on the availability of the Commissioner for a meeting.
37. Curriculum vitae of the representative of Microsoft,
38. Document containing internal background information.
39. Document containing internal background information.
40. Email of 09-01-2019 from
Facebook to the Cabinet of Commissioner, inviting the
latter to a reception held by Facebook on 24-01-2019.
41. Exchange of emails between 21-01-2019 and 22-01-2019 between the Cabinet of
Commissioner and Facebook on the possibility of a meeting between the
Commissioner and a representative of Facebook.
II.
EXAMINATION UNDER REGULATION (EC) NO 1049/2001
After a concrete assessment of the requested documents, we have reached the conclusion
that:
- Access must be refused to documents under numbers 14a, 14b and 37.
- Partial access can be granted to all the remaining documents.
The refused documents, as well as the expunged parts of the disclosed documents must be
protected in accordance the exception for the protection of the privacy and the integrity of
the individual, as will be explained below:
Partial access
Pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access to a document has to
be refused if disclosure would undermine the protection of privacy and the integrity of the
individual, in particular in accordance with European Union legislation regarding the
protection of personal data2.
All of the disclosed documents contain personal data, which have been expunged, such as
names, functions, telephone numbers, electronic and professional email addresses, office
numbers etc. of Commission’s officials not having the function of senior management staff
and of the third parties identified in the documents. Furthermore, information which could
lead to the identification of the persons concerned, such as details concerning their
professional or academic activities, have been deleted. This information clearly constitutes
personal data in the meaning of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
Pursuant to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2018/17253, personal data shall only be
transmitted to recipients established in the Union other than Union institutions and bodies if
2 Judgment of 29 June 2010 in Case C-28/08 P,
European Commission v
The Bavarian Lager Co. Ltd,
ECLI:EU:C:2010:378, paragraphs 59 and 63. Whereas this judgment specifically related to 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 data, the principles set out therein are also applicable under the new data
protection regime established by Regulation 2018/1725.
3 Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural
persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies
5
‘[t]he recipient establishes that it is necessary to have the data transmitted for a specific
purpose in the public interest and the controller, where there is any reason to assume that
the data subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced, establishes that it is
proportionate to transmit the personal data for that specific purpose after having
demonstrably weighed the various competing interests’.
According to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, the European Commission has
to examine the further conditions for a lawful processing of personal data only if the first
condition is fulfilled, namely if the recipient has established that it is necessary to have the
data transmitted for a specific purpose in the public interest. In your request, you do not put
forward any arguments to establish the necessity to have the data transmitted for a specific
purpose in the public interest.
Please note that the exception of Article 4(1)(b) has an absolute character and does not
envisage the possibility of demonstrating the existence of an overriding public interest.
No access
Access to documents under numbers 14a, 14b and 37 is refused in their entirety, since the
specific documents consist almost exclusively of personal data (biographies and
photographs of third parties), protected under the exception of Article 4(1)(b). We have
considered the possibility of granting partial access to the documents concerned. However,
we have reached the conclusion that no meaningful partial access could be granted.
III.
DISCLAIMER AND RE-USE OF THE DOCUMENTS
The requested documents were drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the
relevant service of the Commission or sent by third parties.
You may reuse the disclosed documents, to the extent that they originate from the European
Commission, 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.
With regards to the parts of the disclosed documents originating from third parties, please
note that these parts are disclosed for information only and cannot be re-used without the
agreement of the originator
The disclosed documents do not reflect the position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as
such.
IV.
MEANS OF REDRESS
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. 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
Unit C.1 – Transparency, document management & access to documents
BERL 7/076
and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No
1247/2002/EC, Official Journal L 205 of 21.11.2018, page 39.
6
B-1049 Brussels
or by emai
l to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Jean-Eric Paquet
Enclosures: The requested documents expunged from personal data, with the exception of
documents 14a, 14b and 37.
7
Electronically signed on 20/08/2019 16:13 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563
Document Outline