Ref. Ares(2021)4439627 - 08/07/2021
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
CLIMATE ACTION
Legal Affairs, Inter-Institutional Relations & Communication
Brussels
Belen Balanya
Corporate Europe Observatory
Rue d’Edimbourg 26
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Email: ask+request-9433-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2021/3066
Dear Ms Balanya ,
We refer to your e-mail dated in 6 May 2021 which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 10 May 2021 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You requested access to:
i)
“All correspondence (including email) between 1st December 2020 and 6th
May 2021 between Commissioner Simson, Commissioner Timmermans,
Commissioner Breton, President van der Leyen, Commissioner Vălean,
Commissioner Vestager, and/or their cabinets and/or officials from DG
Energy, DG Clima, DG Grow, DG Move, DG Competition and Secretariat
General and representatives of Hydrogen Europe on the other.
ii)
List of meetings/videocalls/calls between 1st December 2020 and 6th May
2021 between officials and representatives of the European Commission and
representatives of Hydrogen Europe.
iii)
Minutes of the meetings/videocalls/calls mentioned above”.
Your submitted an application for access to documents, which covers topics falling under
the responsibility of different Commission services. In that regard, your request has been
split into separate requests, whereby each part is attributed to the respective Commission
service under a separate Gestdem reference number. Each Director-General service
provides its own, separate reply which relates only to the documents held by that service.
The scope of this reply covers only the documents from DG CLIMA and EVP
Timmermans and his Cabinet.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
DG CLIMA has identified the following documents:
Author
Date
Reference
1
Hydrogen Europe
17 February 2021
Ares(2021)1344401
2
Hydrogen Europe
17 February 2021
Ares(2021)1344401
3
Hydrogen Europe
24 February 2021
Ares(2021)1577409
4
European
3 March 2021
Commission/Hydrogen Europe
Ares(2021)1604108
5
European
2 March 2021
Commission/Hydrogen Europe
Ares(2021)1577696
6
Hydrogen Europe
14 April 2021
Ares(2021)2349449
7
Hydrogen Europe
14 April 2021
Ares(2021)2349449
8
Hydrogen Europe
14 April 2021
Ares(2021)2349449
9
TNO
30 November 2020
Ares(2020)7200333
10 TNO
30 November 2020
Ares(2020)7200333
11 European Commission
10 December 2020
Ares(2020)7512139
12 European
14 December 2020
Commission/Hydrogen Europe
Ares(2021)491605
13 European
5 January 2021
Commission/Hydrogen Europe
Ares(2021)491605
14 European
30 April 2021
Commission/Hydrogen Europe
Ares(2021)2891171
15
30 April 2021
Ares(2021)2891171
European
2
Commission/Hydrogen Europe
Following an examination of identified documents under the provisions of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents and taking into account the opinion of
the third party, I regret to inform you that a complete disclosure of the documents 1-6 and 8-
15 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 and contact details 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 1-6,
and 8- 15, 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 sincerely,
(e-signed)
p.o. Anna JOHANSSON
3
Electronically signed on 07/07/2021 11:38 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482