Ref. Ares(2022)3404712 - 03/05/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR INTERNAL MARKET, INDUSTRY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP
AND SMES
The Director-General
Brussels
GROW.B.1
Ms Lora Verheecke
Rue du Bronze 9
1070 Brussels
Belgium
By email: ask+request-10782-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2022/1302
Dear Ms Verheecke,
We refer to your e-mail of 2 March 2022 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 4 March 2022 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to:
“All documentation (including but not limited to all email correspondence, attendance
lists, agendas, background papers, transcripts and recordings) AND the meeting
minutes/notes relating to the meeting between Thierry Breton and BusinessEurope on
11th January 2022.”
We have identified the 3 enclosed documents that fall within the scope of your request.
Personal data protection
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 following personal
data:
- the names/initials, contact information and functions of Commission staff members not
pertaining to the senior management;
- the names/initials, contact details and functions of other 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
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
forward any 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 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.
Protection of commercial interests
Concerning document 2, and taking into account the position of the consulted third party,
I have also come to the conclusion that its full disclosure is prevented by the exception of
protection of commercial interests laid down in Article 4(2) first indent of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001.
This document contains sensitive business information related to Business Europe.
Disclosure of this information would undermine the organisation’s competitiveness and
commercial interests, as well as those of the companies it represents, in the context of the
competitive market environment in which they operate.
The exception laid down in Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies unless
there is an overriding public interest, but we did not identify any such overriding public
interests in the document. Therefore, the parts covered by the exception laid down in
Article 4(2) first indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 are redacted in the document.
Disclaimers
Please note that documents originating from third parties are disclosed to you based on
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. However, this disclosure 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.
The minutes were drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the relevant
services of the Cabinet of Commissioner Thierry Breton. They solely reflect the services’
interpretation of the interventions made and does not set out any official position of the
third parties to which the document refer. They do not reflect the position of the
Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
2
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
Secretariat-General
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Brussels
or by email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
Electronically signed
Kerstin Jorna
Director-General
Enclosure: 3
3
Electronically signed on 03/05/2022 13:53 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121