Ref. Ares(2022)4911106 - 05/07/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, CONTENT AND
TECHNOLOGY


Resources and Support
Compliance and Planning
Brussels, 5th July 2022
CNECT.R.4
Ms Nienke Palstra
Global Witness
Rue Belliard 53
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Via email:
ask+request-11306-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt
Subject:
Your application for access to documents - RefGestDem 2022/3023
Dear Ms Palstra,
We  refer  to  your  email  of  24  May  2022  wherein  you  make  a  request  for  access  to
documents pursuant to 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 (hereinafter ‘Regulation 1049/2001’), which was registered
on  25  May  2022  under  the  abovementioned  reference  number.  We  also  refer  to  our
email, dated 20 June 2022 (our reference Ares(2022)4530067) whereby we informed you
that  the  time  limit  for  handling  your  applications  was  extended  by  15  working  days
pursuant to Article 7(3) of Regulation 1049/2001.
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR APPLICATION
Your request reads as follows:
“Dear Sir or Madam,
Referring to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 on public access to EU documents and to the
'Aarhus Convention' I would herewith like to ask for access to the following:

Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx

All  documents—including  but  not  limited  to  correspondence,  emails,  minutes,  notes
(hand  written  or  electronic),  audio  or  video  recordings,  verbatim  reports,  operational
conclusions, lines to take, briefings, and presentations—related to the meeting on 2022-
04-27 between Filomena Chirico and Google.
In  consideration  of  the  environment  and  the  current  circumstances  with  the  COVID
pandemic I would prefer to receive documents electronically.
I would like to make clear I prefer you produce the documents on a rolling basis. At no
point  should  the  Commission's  search  for—or  deliberations  concerning—certain
documents delay the production of others that the Commission has already retrieved and
elected to produce.
Should  my  request  be  denied  wholly  or  partially,  please  explain  the  denial  or  all
deletions  referring  to  specific  exemptions  in  the  regulation.  Also  I  would  expect  the
partial  release  of  documents  in  case  of  partial  exemption  according  to  article  4.6.  I
reserve the right to appeal.
Please confirm having received this application. I look forward to  your reply within 15
business days, according to the regulation.
If anything is unclear or would benefit from further discussion please do not hesitate to
contact  me  by  email.  My  address  for  any  written  correspondence  necessary  is  Nienke
Palstra, Global Witness, Rue Belliard 53, 1000, Bruxelles, Belgique.
Thank you for your assistance.”
2.
DOCUMENTS FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REQUEST
The following document has been identified as falling within the scope of your request:
  Minutes  -  Meeting  with  Google  -  27/04/2022,  CAB  Breton,  03-05-2022,
ARES(2022)3412044 (Document 1)
3.
ASSESSMENT UNDER REGULATION 1049/2001
Following an examination of the identified document under the provisions of Regulation
1049/2001,  we  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  partial  access  can  be  granted  to  the
document  identified.  Full  disclosure  is  prevented  by  the  exception  concerning  the
protection of privacy and integrity of the individual outlined in Article 4(1)(b) Regulation
1049/2001, since the document contains the following personal data:
  the  names  and  contact  information  of  Commission  staff  members  not  pertaining  to
the senior management;

  the names and functions of other natural persons.

Article  9(1)(b)  of  the  Data  Protection  Regulation1  does  not  allow  the  transmission  of
these personal data, except if you prove that it is necessary to have the data transmitted to

1 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,
2

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  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) Regulation 1049/2001, access
cannot be granted to the personal data contained in the Document 1, 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.
4.
REUSE OF DOCUMENTS
You may reuse public documents which have been produced by the European Commission
or  by  public  and  private  entities  on  its  behalf  based  on  the  Commission  Decision  on  the
reuse of Commission documents. You may reuse the document disclosed free of charge and
for non-commercial and commercial purposes provided that the source is acknowledged and
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.
The  requested  document  was  drawn  up  for  internal  use  under  the  responsibility  of  the
relevant  service  of  DG  CONNECT.  It  solely  reflects  the  service’s  interpretation  of  the
interventions made and does 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.
5.
CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION
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 Secretariat-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 email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx


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, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.
3

Yours faithfully,

Electronically signed

Head of Unit

Martin Schauer

Enclosure: (1)
4
Electronically signed on 05/07/2022 15:33 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121

Document Outline