Ref. Ares(2021)505610 - 21/01/2021
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR INTERNAL MARKET, INDUSTRY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP
AND SMES
SME Internationalisation
Brussels, 21 January 2021
GROW.H.2/AK-jl
grow.ddg2.h.2(20201)7232696
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2020/ 7934
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail of 21 December 2020 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 22 December 2020 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to:
“- all reports (and other notes) from meetings with representatives of
companies, lobby groups (such as BusinessEurope, Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie, CSR
Europe and others), consultancies and think-tanks about the European Commission's initiative on
sustainable corporate governance and issues around EU corporate due diligence legislation more
generally (since May 1st 2020).
- all correspondence (including emails and their attachments) with representatives of companies,
lobby groups , consultancies and think-tanks about the European Commission's initiative on
sustainable corporate governance and issues around EU corporate due diligence legislation more
generally (since May 1stl 2020).
-
a
list
of
all
the
above-mentioned
documents
(including
dates,
names
of
participants/senders/recipients and their affiliation, subject of meeting/correspondence).”
Please note that this reply relates only to the documents held by the Directorate-General for DG
Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW).
Your application concerns the following documents:
The first document with reference number Ares(2021)396609 of Directorate-General for DG Internal
Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs virtual meeting with CSR Europe on broader
Corporate responsibility policy and sustainability contain one point on Sustainable corporate
governance and mandatory due diligence.
This document was drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the relevant service of the
Directorate-General for DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. 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 was not consulted on its content. It does not reflect
the position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
The second document with reference number Ares(2021)396452 refers to submission of proposal for
an EU system establishing incentives for continuous, global improvements in the field of human
rights, including implementation of due diligence in practice, sent by REWE Group. Please note that
this document originates from third party and is 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 document without the agreement of the
originator, who may hold an intellectual property right on it. The European Commission does not
assume any responsibility from their reuse.
With regard to both documents listed above, 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 and contact information of Commission staff members not pertaining to the
senior management;
-
the names/initials and contact details of other natural persons;
-
other information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person
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 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.
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 faithfully,
(e-signed)
Giacomo Mattinò
Head of Unit
Annexes: 1. List of documents submitted
2. Ares(2021)396609 Internal minutes from the call GROW-CSR European Commission
3. Ares(2021)396452 REWE Group proposal on the due diligence
2
Annex 1
Entity
Type
of subject
Date
DG GROW participants/receivers
document
CSR
Internal
SDG summit and 9 Oct 2020
DG GROW H2 SME
Europe minutes
CSR policy update
Internationalization Unit
REWE Email
Due Diligence: Ideas 18 Nov 2020
Kristin Schreiber (Director of SME
Group
exchange
of REWE Group for
policy directorate)
29 Dec 2020
an incentive system+
DG GROW H2 SME
Due Diligence
Replies :
Internationalization Unit
24 Nov 2020
3 Dec 2020
3
Electronically signed on 21/01/2021 14:58 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482