Ref. Ares(2023)1830990 - 14/03/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR ENERGY
The Director-General
Brussels, 14/03/2023
MP ener.a.1(2023)2330825
Mr Barnaby Pace
Global Witness, c/o WeWork
Rue de Commerce 31
1000 Brussels
By email: ask+request-12419-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – EASE 2023/0246
Dear Mr Pace,
We refer to your e-mail of 13 January 2023 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 13 January 2023 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to
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 January 12 between Barbara GLOWACKA and Vattenfall.
Your application concerns the following documents:
Stakeholder
Ares
Date
Title
Vattenfall
Ares(2023)587607
26/01/2023
MINUTES_Meeting
Vattenfall 120123
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, I have come to the conclusion that the
document listed above may be partially disclosed.
In fact, a complete disclosure of the identified document 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 and contact information of Commission staff members not
pertaining to the senior management;
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
Office: DM24 08/084 – Tel. direct line +32 229-62496
-
the names/initials and contact details 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 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
document, 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.
Access is granted to minutes of a meeting with external parties. This document was
drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the relevant service. 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. It does not reflect the position
of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
Moreover, having examined the document requested under the provisions of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, I have come to the conclusion
that the identified document may be partially disclosed. Some parts of this document have
been blanked out as their disclosure is prevented by exception to the right of access laid
down in Article 4(2) of this Regulation.
The redacted parts of the document contain commercially sensitive business information of
the company that submitted it.
Disclosure of these parts would undermine the protection of commercial interests protected
under this exception.
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply unless
there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the documents. I have examined
whether there could be an overriding public interest in disclosure, but that I have not been
able to identify such an interest.
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 to the Secretariat-General of the
Commission within 15 working days upon receipt of this letter. You can submit it in one of
the following ways:
by asking for a review via your portal1 account (available only for initial requests
submitted via the portal account),
1
https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
2
or by mail:
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
Yours sincerely,
Electronically signed
Ditte Juul Jørgensen
3
Electronically signed on 13/03/2023 17:25 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
