Ref. Ares(2022)5302397 - 22/07/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
CLIMATE ACTION
The Director-General
Brussels
CLIMA/A1
Fiza Shoaib
1 Long Ln
London
SE1 4PG
United Kingdom
Email
: ask+request-11145-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2022/2497
Dear Ms Shoaib,
We refer to your e-mail dated 28 April 2022 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 3 May 2022 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You requested access to: “
All documentation, including but not limited to attendance
lists, agendas, background papers, minutes/notes and email correspondence about or
summarising, the following meetings between:
i) GasDistributorsforSustainability(GD4S)
and
Timmermans
Cabinet
on
15/03/2022.
ii) ENELSpA and Petriccione on 30/03/2022.
iii) PGEPolskaGrupaEnergetycznaSA and Timmermans Cabinet on 17/03/2022.
iv)
GasDistributorsforSustainability
(GD4S) and Timmermans Cabinet
on
15/03/2022”.
DG CLIMA has identified several documents that fall under scope of the request:
Author
Date
Reference
Ares(2022)3132517
1
GD4S and European
28 January 2022
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: BU31 07/087 - Tel. direct line +32 229-61666
xxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Commission
Ares 2022 3132517
2
GD4S
28 January 2022
Ares(2022)2560753
3
European Commission
5 April 2022
Ares(2022)3023216
4
European Commission
13 April 2022
Following an examination of the documents under the provisions of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001, I regret to inform you that 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: names and contact information of Commission staff members not pertaining to the
senior management; names of other natural persons and 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 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 addition, document 4 contains commercially sensitive business information concerning
the awarding process under the Innovation Fund. Therefore, these parts are protected under
the exception laid down in Article 4(2), first indent of Regulation 1049/2001, which
stipulates that ‘[t]he institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would
undermine the protection of commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including
intellectual property’. Consequently, the parts covered by this exception have been blanked
out in the copy of document 4 attached to this letter.
The exception 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.
According to settled case-law, it is for the applicant to put forward concrete elements to
demonstrate the existence of an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the requested
documents.
You have not put forward any arguments to demonstrate the existence of an overriding
public interest in disclosure. Nor have I been able to identify any public interest capable of
2
overriding the private interest protected by Article 4(2), first and third indent of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001.
Please note that document 3 was drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the
relevant officials of DG CLIMA. It solely reflects the author'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 the content. It does not reflect the
position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
As regards the third point mentioned in your initial request, which corresponds to a
meeting between PGEPolskaGrupaEnergetycznaSA and Timmermans Cabinet of 17
March 2022, DG CLIMA has not identified any document under the scope of your
request.
As specified in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the right of access as
defined in that regulation applies only to existing documents in the possession of the
institution. Given that no such documents, corresponding to this meeting, are held by the
Commission, we regret to inform you that the Commission is not in a position to fulfil
your request as regards point iii) of your request.
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
Yours sincerely,
(e-signed)
Mauro PETRICCIONE
3
Electronically signed on 21/07/2022 20:32 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121