Ref. Ares(2023)1799490 - 13/03/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate R - Resources, Inter-Institutional Relations, Communications and Civil Society
R.3 Transparency, Civil Society and Communications
The Head of Unit
Brussels,
R3/ML/JT
Mr Barnaby Pace
Rue de Commerce 31
1000 Bruxelles
Belgium
By email only –with request for
explicit acknowledgment of receipt by
email reply:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject: Your application for access to documents – EASE 2023/1273
Dear Mr Pace,
I refer to your application dated 23 February 2023, in which you make a request for
access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/20011 (‘Regulation 1049/2001’),
registered on the same date under the above-mentioned reference number.
1. SCOPE OF YOUR REQUEST
In your request, you asked for 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
February 16 between Valdis Dombrovskis and TotalEnergies SE, Eni S.p.A., OMV
Aktiengesellschaft, ENGIE and ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical.”
1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145,
31.5.2001, p. 43).
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
2. ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSIONS UNDER REGULATION 1049/2001
In accordance with settled case law2, when an institution is asked to disclose a document,
it must assess, in each individual case, whether that document falls within the exceptions
to the right of public access to documents set out in Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001.
In view of the objectives pursued by Regulation 1049/2001, notably to give the public the
widest possible right of access to documents3, ‘
the exceptions to that right […] must be
interpreted and applied strictly’ 4.
In reply to your request, I can inform you that we have identified
two documents that fall
within the scope of your request:
- Meeting minutes – Ares (2023) 1224824
- Meeting speech – Ares (2023) 1224824
Having examined the requested documents under the applicable legal framework, I am
pleased to grant you partial access to
document 1 and full access to
document 2. Copies
of the accessible documents are enclosed to this letter.
A complete disclosure of
document 1 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 it contains the names of Commission staff
members not pertaining to the senior management.
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.
Furthermore,
document 1 was drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the
relevant officials of the Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis. It solely
reflects the authors’ interpretation of the interventions made and does not set out any
2 Judgment in
Sweden and Maurizio Turco v Council, Joined cases C-39/05 P and C-52/05 P,
EU:C:2008:374, paragraph 35.
3 See Regulation 1049/2001, recital (4).
4 Judgment in
Sweden v Commission, C-64/05 P, EU:C:2007:802, paragraph 66.
2
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.
3. MEANS OF REDRESS
In case you would disagree with this position, 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,
Maud Labat
Encl.:
Two documents (partially released)
3
Electronically signed on 10/03/2023 14:28 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121