Ref. Ares(2020)1469395 - 10/03/2020
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR ENERGY
Director-General
Brussels,
ENER/B2/El/el D(2020) 1410029
Mrs Belen Balanya
CEO
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels
by registered mail and by email:
ask+request-7528-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem 2020/7349
Dear Mrs Balanya,
We refer to your email, dated 19 December 2019 in which you make a request for access
to documents, registered under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to:
1- all correspondence (including email) between 1st January 2018 and 19 December
2019 between the Commissioner for Energy and/or his cabinet and/or officials and
representatives of DG Energy on the one hand and representatives from CEFIC,
Hydrogen Europe and FTI Consulting on the other, in which the gas market reform was
addressed;
2 - list of meetings between 1st January 2018 and 19 December 2019 between officials
and representatives of DG Energy on the one hand and representatives from CEFIC,
Hydrogen Europe and FTI Consulting on the other, in which the gas market reform was
addressed;
3 - minutes of the meetings mentioned above.
Following our research, we found one document corresponding to your request under
point 1:
- Paper “Hydrogen Europe’s Vision on the role of hydrogen and gas infrastructure
on the road towards a climate neutral economy” from Hydrogen Europe and its
covering email from Hydrogen Europe of 24 April 2019.
I am glad that this document can be disclosed, subject only to the redaction of personal
data, for the following reasons:
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: DM24 08/084 - Tel. direct line +32 229-62496
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 European Union legislation regarding
the protection of personal data.
The applicable legislation in this field is Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 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 and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC)
No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (‘Regulation 2018/1725’).
One of the documents to which you request access contains personal data, in particular
names, email addresses and phone numbers of the third parties.
Indeed, Article 3(1) of Regulation 2018/1725 provides that personal data ‘means any
information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person […]’. The Court of
Justice has specified that any information, which by reason of its content, purpose or
effect, is linked to a particular person is to be considered as personal data.
In its judgment in Case C-28/08 P (
Bavarian Lager)1, the Court of Justice ruled that
when a request is made for access to documents containing personal data, the Data
Protection Regulation becomes fully applicable.2
Pursuant to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 2018/1725, ‘personal data shall only be
transmitted to recipients established in the Union other than Union institutions and bodies
if ‘[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’. Only if these conditions are
fulfilled and the processing constitutes lawful processing in accordance with the
requirements of Article 5 of Regulation 2018/1725, can the transmission of personal data
occur.
According to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 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. It is only in this case that
the European Commission has to examine whether there is a reason to assume that the
data subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced and, in the affirmative, establish
the proportionality of the transmission of the personal data for that specific purpose after
having demonstrably weighed the various competing interests.
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. Therefore, the European
Commission does not have to examine whether there is a reason to assume that the data
subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced.
1 Judgment of 29 June 2010 in Case C-28/08 P,
European Commission v The Bavarian Lager Co. Ltd,
EU:C:2010:378, paragraph 59.
2 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.
2
Notwithstanding the above, please note that there are reasons to assume that the
legitimate interests of the data subjects concerned would be prejudiced by disclosure of
the personal data reflected in the document, as there is a real and non-hypothetical risk
that such public disclosure would harm their privacy and subject them to unsolicited
external contacts.
Consequently, I conclude that, pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001, access cannot be granted to the personal data, 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.
Please find enclosed the redacted copy of the document in question.
Concerning point 2 of your request "list of meetings", as we have already informed you,
the Commission does not hold such lists of meetings for officials below Director-General
level. Notwithstanding, information on the meetings with the participation of the
Commissioner or his Cabinet, or our Director-General is available in the public domain:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2019-2024/simson_en#calendar
http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiative/meetings/meeting.do?host=61569260-525e-
42f8-aa52-51d7bfc30d4f
In relation to point 3 of your request, we regret to inform you that no documents were
found that would correspond to the description given in your application.
Indeed, as specified in Article 2(3) of Regulation 1049/2001, the right of access as
defined in that regulation applies only to existing documents in the possession of the
institution.
In case you would disagree with this assessment, you are entitled, in accordance with
Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, to submit 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 Secretariat-General of the Commission at the following
address:
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Unit C.1. ‘Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents’
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Brussels
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
[e-signed]
Ditte Juul Jørgensen
Enclosures: 2
Electronically signed on 05/03/2020 15:43 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563
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