Ref. Ares(2021)49539 - 04/01/2021
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Secretariat-General

Directorate C – Transparency, Efficiency & Resources
  The Director

Brussels
SG.C.1/TB/rc -
By registered mail with AR
Ms Margarida Da Silva
Corporate Europe Observatory
Rue d'Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels-Ixelles
Belgium
Copy by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2020/6201
Dear Ms Da Silva,
I refer to your e-mail/letter of 16 October 2020, registered on the same day, in which you
make  a  request  for  access  to  documents,  under  the  above-mentioned  reference  number.
Please accept our apologies for the late reply to your request.
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR REQUEST
You request access to, I quote:
‘Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation
1049/2001, I am requesting documents related to any guidance or instructions on how to
handle and process access to documents requests.
I  am  particularly  interested  in  guidance  regarding  lobby  meetings’  record-keeping  and
requests regarding interactions with lobbyists’.
2.
ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSIONS UNDER REGULATION (EC) NO 1049/2001
We regret  to  inform  you that the Commission does not  hold  any documents  that would
correspond  to  the part of  your  request  referring to ‘guidance  regarding lobby meetings’
record-keeping and requests regarding interactions with lobbyists’.
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.

Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111

Article  2(3)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1049/2001  provides,  in  particular,  that  ‘[t]his
Regulation shall apply to all documents held by an institution, that is to say, documents
drawn up or received by it and in its possession, in all areas of activity of the European
Union’.
Given  that  no  such  documents,  corresponding  to  the  description  given  in  your
application,  are  held  by  the  Commission,  the  Commission  is  not  in  a  position  to  fulfil
your request.
Indeed, there are two Commission Decisions that provide for the rules relating to lobby
meetings:

2014/838/EU,  Euratom:  Commission  Decision  of  25  November  2014  on
the  publication  of  information  on  meetings  held  between  Directors-
General  of  the  Commission  and  organisations  or  self-employed
individuals1; and

2014/839/EU,  Euratom:  Commission  Decision  of  25  November  2014  on
the publication of information on meetings held between Members of the
Commission and organisations or self-employed individuals2.
If  an  access  to  documents  request  is  submitted  in  relation  to  a  lobby  meeting,  the
Commission applies the rules of  Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. As per Article 1(2) of
both Commission Decisions, the information to be made public shall consist of the date
of the meeting, the location, the name of the Member of the Commission and/or member
of the Cabinet or the name of the Director-General, the name of the organisation or self-
employed  individual  and  the  subject  of  the  meeting.  As  there  are  no  further  record-
keeping  obligation  in  relation  to  lobby  meetings,  the  above  information  is  published  to
the public in the form of a clear and self-explanatory table as a result of a search on the
webpages  of  the  Transparency  Register3.  Therefore,  it  did  not  seem  particularly
necessary to issue any specific guidance on lobby meetings.
Concerning the part of  your request referring to  ‘documents related to  any guidance or
instructions on how to handle and process access to documents requests’, the Secretariat-
General  of the  European Commission  has identified the following documents  as falling
under the scope of your request with regard to your particular interest in getting access to
documents related to lobby meetings:

Fiche 5 –  Access to  documents from  third parties, updated  August  2018,
(hereafter ‘document 1’);

Fiche 9 – Third parties’  personal data (names, signatures, contact details,
etc.), updated 30 March 2020 (hereafter ‘document 2’); and

1   https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?qid=1585562344788&uri=CELEX:32014D0838
2   https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?qid=1585562413431&uri=CELEX:32014D0839
3   https://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/public/homePage.do?redir=false&locale=en
2


Access  to  names  and  functions  of  Commission  staff  –  Guidance  note,
dated  16  December  2020  (hereafter  ‘document  3’;  documents  1  to  3  are
hereafter the ‘requested documents’).
I can inform you that full access is granted to the requested documents.
3.
MEANS OF REDRESS
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

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,
Tatjana Verrier
Director
Enclosures: 3
3
Electronically signed on 04/01/2021 11:15 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482

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