Ref. Ares(2020)3454525 - 01/07/2020
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Directorate I. Legal, institutional and procedural matters
I.3. Enforcement of legislation, Relations with the European Ombudsman and Access to documents
Head of Unit
Brussels,
I.3/KVK/VA D (2020)
3900276
Mr. Hans Wetzels
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2020/2806
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail of 12/05/2020 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 13/05/2020 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to:
- Any study, impact assessment, forecast, paper or other document received from (or
representatives from) Bayer AG, Bayer CropScience, the European Chemical Industry
Council Cefic and/or the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) concerning or
mentioning the Green Deal or the EU Biodiversity Strategy between May 2019 and
March 2020.
- a list of meetings including detailed minutes and any other reports of such meetings
between DG TRADE's officials (including the Commissioner and his Cabinet members)
and (or representatives from) Bayer AG, Bayer CropScience, the European Chemical
Industry Council Cefic and/or the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA)
concerning or mentioning the Green Deal or the EU Biodiversity Strategy between May
2019 and March 2020.
- All correspondence (including emails) by DG AGRI's officials (including the
Commissioner and his Cabinet members) sent to or received from (or representatives
from) Bayer AG, Bayer CropScience, the European Chemical Industry Council Cefic
and/or the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) concerning or mentioning the
Green Deal or the EU Biodiversity Strategy between May 2019 and March 2020.
We identified 10 documents which are attached in this letter. With regard to the attached
documents, a complete disclosure of them 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;
-
handwritten signatures/abbreviated signatures of 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
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
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.
Some of the documents, also contain information which is out of scope of your request and
for this reason they have been redacted.
You may reuse the Commission documents 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 documents originating from third parties are 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
documents without the agreement of the originator, who may hold an intellectual
property right on them. The European Commission does not assume any responsibility
from their reuse.
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,
Karl von Kempis
e-signed
Encl.: 10 doc. + 1 list
2
Electronically signed on 01/07/2020 17:00 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563