Ref. Ares(2022)859297 - 07/02/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR FINANCIAL STABILITY, FINANCIAL SERVICES AND CAPITAL
MARKETS UNION
Director General
Brussels,
FISMA.A2
Ms Paula Castro
1 Long Ln,
London SE1 4PG
UNITED KINGDOM
ask+request-10250-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Ms Castro,
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2021/7222
We refer to your e-mail of 22 November 2021, in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on the next day under the above-mentioned reference number. We
apologise for the delay in dealing with your request and thank you for your patience.
You request access to
“All documentation, including, but not limited to, attendance lists,
agendas, background papers, minutes/notes and email correspondence about or
summarising, the following meetings of the Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and
Cabinet with multiple organisations.
1. Meeting of BNP PARIBAS (BNPP) with Commissioner Mairead McGuinness on the
09/10/2021 on economic outlook, Basel III, Banking Union
2. Meeting of Deutsche Bank AG (DB) with Commissioner Mairead McGuinness on the
14/10/2021 on Basel III, Banking Union, Clearing, Financial education
3. Meeting of Deutsche Bank AG (DB) with Tommy De Temmerman on the 14/10/2021
on Basel III, Banking Union, Clearing, Financial education
4. Meeting of Asociación Española de Banca (AEB) Banco Santander, S.A. BANCO
BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA (BBVA) with Tommy De Temmerman on the
20/10/2021 on Basel III (The meeting was shared with the Cabinet Dombrovskis)
5. Meeting of BUSINESSEUROPE with Katherine Power on the 09/11/2021 on
Sustainable finance”
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Documents and exceptions
We have found 10 documents falling under the scope of your request. They are listed on the
last page of this letter, and those which can be released are attached to this letter. Documents
1 and 3 are fully released.
Following an examination under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding
public access to documents, we have concluded that full disclosure of the rest of the
documents is prevented by exceptions to the right of access laid down in Article 4 of this
Regulation.
A complete disclosure of the identified documents is prevented by the
exception
concerning the protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual outlined in
Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, because they contain the names and
contact information of Commission staff members not pertaining to the senior management,
the names and contact details of other natural persons and other information relating to
identified or identifiable natural persons.
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation does not allow the transmission of these
personal data, except if you prove that it is necessary to have the data transmitted to you for
a specific purpose in the public interest and where there is no reason to assume that the
legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced. In your request, you do not
express any particular interest to have access to these personal data nor do you put forward
arguments to establish the necessity to have the data transmitted for a specific purpose in the
public interest.
Consequently, I conclude that, pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001, access cannot be granted to the personal data contained in the requested
documents, as the need to obtain access thereto for a purpose in the public interest has not
been substantiated. This exception applies partially to documents 2, 6, 7 and 10, and covers
entirely document 9, which can therefore not be released at all.
Documents 4 and 5 are also covered by the exceptions
protecting the decision-making
process of the Commission. These documents are drafted for internal purposes in the
framework of internal exchanges and deliberations. Disclosure of such content would
seriously undermine the institution's decision-making process, as it would deter
Commission officials from freely exchanging in writing information and opinions, which
is essential for the Commission to take informed decisions.
Furthermore, parts of them reveal policy options for upcoming proposals that are still under
internal analysis, consideration and reflection. Pursuant to settled case law, the exception
of the protection of ongoing decision-making process may be applied where disclosure of
preparatory documents would result in a serious, non-hypothetical and objectively
justified risk of self-censorship. In addition, the redacted parts refer to a pending
initiative and contain preliminary views, opinions and speculations, the disclosure of
which would be misleading and would seriously undermine the related ongoing decision-
making process. Therefore, the exceptions laid down in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 cover documents 4 and 5.
Documents 4, 5, 8 and 10 contain information the release of which could potentially harm
the
commercial interests of companies or stakeholders, as putting this information in the
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public domain would affect their competitive position on the market by revealing details on
their know-how or business plans to the public at large. Consequently, the exception laid
down in Article 4(2) first indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies to these
documents.
As a consequence, documents 4, 5 and 8 are covered in their entirety by the exceptions in
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and cannot be disclosed to you.
Final remarks
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) and 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply
unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure. Such an interest must, firstly, be
public and, secondly, outweigh the harm caused by disclosure. We note that you do not
put forward any elements to demonstrate the existence of an overriding public interest in
disclosure of the documents requested. Nor have we, based on our own analysis, been
able to identify any elements capable of demonstrating the existence of a public interest
that would override the need to protect the interests under Article 4(2) and (3) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Please note that the disclosure of documents originating from third parties is without
prejudice to the rules on intellectual property, which may limit your right to reproduce or
exploit the released documents without the agreement of the originator, who may hold an
intellectual property right on them. The European Commission does not assume any
responsibility from their reuse.
As regards the minutes of meetings, please note that they are drawn up for internal use
and they solely reflect the authors’ interpretation of the interventions made and do not set
out any official position of the third parties to which the document refers, which were not
consulted on its content. It does not reflect the position of the Commission and cannot be
quoted as such.
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
Secretariat-General
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by e-mail to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
John BERRIGAN
Director-General
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List of documents:
1. Ares 2021 6452136 Minutes Meeting with Spanish Banks (fully released)
2. Ares 2021 6307975 Minutes meeting Deutsche Bank (partially released)
3. Ares 2021 6046173 Minutes meeting with BNPP (fully released)
4. Briefing meeting with Deutsche Bank (not released)
5. Briefing meeting with BNP Paribas (not released)
6. Ares 2022 179675 Minutes meeting BusinessEurope (partially released)
7. Ares 2021 4059501 BusinessEurope invitation (partially released)
8. Ares 2022 179367 Correspondence BusinessEurope (not released)
9. Ares 2022 179367 CV profiles (not released)
10. Ares 2022 179367 Advisory group BusinessEurope (partially released)
Attachments: 6 documents (2 fully and 4 partially released)
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Electronically signed on 06/02/2022 20:28 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482
