Ref. Ares(2022)2545681 - 05/04/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
CLIMATE ACTION
Directorate A – Strategy, Analysis and Planning
CLIMA.A.1 – Strategic Coordination, Legal & Institutional
Brussels
Ben YOURIEV
1 Long Lane
SE1 4PG London
United Kingdom
Email
: ask+request-10769-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2022/1234
Dear Mr Youriev,
We refer to your e-mail dated 28 February 2022 in which you make a request for access
to documents, registered on 1 March 2022 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You requested access to
documents, which contain the following information:
1) All correspondence, including emails, sent and received since 01/06/2021,
between the Commissioner for Climate Action, his cabinet, his officials, and any
other representatives of DG CLIMA, and representatives from Airlines for
Europe (A4E).
2) List of meetings, including the meeting’s minutes, since 01/06/2021, between
officials and representatives of DG CLIMA and representatives from Airlines for
Europe (A4E).
DG CLIMA has identified the following documents within the scope of your application:
Author
Date
Reference
Ares(2021)3624655
1
A4E and others
1 June 2021
Ares(2022)1541021
A4E and European
2
11 June 2021
Commission
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Ares(2022)253044
A4E and European
3
13 January 2022
Commission
Ares(2022)1540639
A4E and European
4
18 August 2021
Commission
Ares(2022)1540924
A4E and European
5
16 August 2021
Commission
Ares(2022)1540847
6
A4E
23 September 2021
Ares(2021)7297077
7
European Commission
26 November 2021
Ares(2021)7297077
A4E and European
7a
26 November 2021
Commission
Ares(2022)22547
8
A4E
21 December 2021
Ares(2022)22547
8a
A4E
21 December 2021
Ares(2022)1682812
9
A4E
7 March 2022
Ares(2022)1682812
9a
A4E
7 March 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 and contact details of other natural persons, handwritten
signatures 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.
2
As regards point 2) of your request, please note that the list of meetings of the Director-
General of Directorate-General for Climate Action with organisations and self-employed
individuals is available in the link enclosed below:
http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiative/meetings/meeting.do?host=d41e42be-7ff1-4635-
bb4f-e47d38f886ed
In your application you requested access to a list of meetings of meetings of all staff in
Directorate-General for Climate Action. Please note that officials of the European
Commission having the status of Director-General shall make public information on all
meetings held with organisations or self-employed individuals on issues relating to
policy-making and implementation in the Union in accordance with the Commission
Decision 2104/838/EU, Euratom of 25 November 20141. However, the same obligation
does not apply to lower-ranking officials, such as the remaining members of the
Directorate-General for Climate Action.
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, that is to say, documents drawn up or received by it and in its possession, in
all areas of activity of the European Union.
The Court of Justice held that ‘the right of access to documents of the institutions applies
only to existing documents in the possession of the institution concerned and […]
Regulation No 1049/2001 may not be relied upon to oblige an institution to create a
document which does not exist. It follows that, […], an application for access that would
require the Commission to create a new document, even if that document were based on
information already appearing in existing documents held by it, falls outside the
framework of Regulation No 1049/2001’2.
In the present case, the Directorate-General for Climate Action does not hold any list of
all meetings of its staff with the specific organisations and self-employed individuals
concerned by your request in addition to the publicly available information on meetings
of the Director-General, which is accessible via the abovementioned links. In this
respect, I would like to confirm that compiling the list requested in point 2) of your
request would equal to the creation of a new document, as neither can such a list be
extracted from a database by means of a normal or routine search.
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’
1 OJ L 343, 28.11.2014, p. 19–21
2 Judgment of the Court of Justice of 11 January 2017,
Typke v
European Commission, C-491/15 P,
EU:C:2017:5, paragraph 31.
3
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Brussels, or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
(electronically signed)
Luca DE CARLI
Head of Unit
4
Electronically signed on 01/04/2022 10:13 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121