Ref. Ares(2022)7851869 - 14/11/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR MOBILITY AND TRANSPORT
Directorate D – Waterborne
D.1 – Maritime Transport and Logistics
Brussels
MOVE.DDG2.D.1
Ms Lucca Ewbank
1 Long Ln,
London
United Kingdom
By email with request for
acknowledgement of receipt:
ask+request-11881-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – EASE Case 2022/5557
Dear Ms Ewbank,
We refer to your request for access to European Commission documents registered on 29
September 2022 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request 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 of the cabinet members of Commissioner Adina-
Ioana Vălean with multiple organisations. (…) 2. European Community of Shipowners
Association with Cabinet members of Commissioner Adina-Ioana Valean on 30/06/2022
and 08/06/2022.”
Please note that due to the wide scope of your request, covering areas falling under the
responsibility of different units of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport
(DG MOVE), your application has been attributed to multiple units1. This reply relates
only to the documents concerning the meetings listed above.
I consider your request to cover documents held up to the date of your initial application,
i.e. 27 September 2022.
1
In particular, the request registered under the reference number EASE 2022/5554, which concerns
the meetings of “
Airlines for America with Cabinet members of Commissioner Adina-Ioana Valean
on 31/08/2022 and 08/06/2022 ”, for which a reply was sent by DG MOVE on 18 October 2022.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
We have identified the following documents as falling within the scope of your application:
Flash note from the meeting held between members of the Cabinet of
Commissioner Vălean and the European Community of Shipowners
Association (ECSA) on 8 June 2022, with the reference Ares(2022)4267978
(hereafter
‘document 1’);
Email exchange from 10 to 19 May 2022, between members of the Cabinet
of Commissioner Vălean and ECSA, for arranging the meeting of 8 June
2022 (hereafter
‘document 2’);
Joint Statement of ECSA and Transport & Environment (T&E) on FuelEU
Maritime (hereafter
‘document 3’);
Note to the file on the points discussed in the meeting between members of
the Cabinet of Commissioner Vălean and the European Community of
Shipowners Association (ECSA) Board on 30 June 2022, with the reference
Ares(2022)7698643 (hereafter
‘document 4’).
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents2 (hereinafter ‘Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001’), I have come to the conclusion that document 3 may be fully disclosed. Please
find enclosed a copy of this document.
As regards documents 1, 2 and 4, I have come to the conclusion that they may be partially
disclosed. Some parts of these documents have been blanked out as their disclosure is
prevented by the exception to the right of access laid down in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001, because they contain the following personal data:
the names and contact information of Commission staff members not pertaining
to the senior management;
the names and contact details of other natural persons;
other information relating to identified or identifiable natural persons, in
particular references to functions of natural persons, to the extent that these would
enable their identification.
A complete disclosure of these documents is prevented by the exception concerning the
protection of privacy and the integrity of individuals outlined in Article 4(1)(b) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
Pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, access to a document has to
be refused if its disclosure would undermine the protection of privacy and the integrity of
the individual, in particular in accordance with European Union legislation regarding the
protection of personal data.
The applicable legislation in this field is Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and
agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001
2 OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
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and Decision No 1247/2002/EC3 (hereinafter ‘Regulation (EU) 2018/1725’, or ‘Data
Protection Regulation’).
In particular, Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 provides that personal data
“means
any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person […]”. The Court of
Justice has specified that any information, which by reason of its content, purpose or effect,
is linked to a particular person is to be considered as personal data4.
In its judgment in Case C-28/08 P (Bavarian Lager)5, the Court of Justice ruled that when a
request is made for access to documents containing personal data, the Data Protection
Regulation becomes fully applicable6.
In your application, you indicate that your address is in the United Kingdom. Transfers of
personal data from the Commission to countries that are not members of the European
Economic Area (EEA) are regulated under Chapter V of the Data Protection Regulation.
According to Article 47(1) of this Regulation, a transfer of personal data to a third country
or to an international organisation may take place where the Commission has decided that
the third country, a territory or one or more specified sectors within that country, or the
international organisation in question, ensures an adequate level of protection, and where
the personal data are transferred solely to allow tasks within the competence of the
controller to be carried out.
Based on the information available, the country of your residence is recognised by the
Commission as ensuring an adequate level of protection. However, we would further like to
inform you that pursuant to Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation, personal data
shall only be transmitted to recipients established in the Union other than Union institutions
and bodies if
“[t]he recipient establishes that it is necessary to have the data transmitted for
a specific purpose in the public interest and the controller, where there is any reason to
assume that the data subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced, establishes that it is
proportionate to transmit the personal data for that specific purpose after having
demonstrably weighed the various competing interests”.
Only if these conditions are fulfilled and the processing constitutes lawful handling, in
accordance with the requirements of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, can the
transmission of personal data occur.
According to Article 9(1)(b) of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, the European Commission
has to examine the further conditions for a lawful processing of personal data only if the
first condition is fulfilled, namely if the recipient has established that it is necessary to have
the data transmitted to you for a specific purpose in the public interest. It is only in that case
the European Commission has to examine whether there is a reason to assume that the
3 Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of
natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies
and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC
(OC L 205 of 21.11.2018, p. 39).
4 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 20 December 2017 in Case C-434/16,
Peter Nowak v Data
Protection Commissioner, ECLI:EU:C:2017:994, paragraphs 33-35.
5 Judgment of 29 June 2010 in Case C-28/08 P,
Commission v Bavarian Lager, ECLI:EU:C:2010:378, paragraph 63.
6 Whereas this judgment specifically related to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community
institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data, the principles set out therein are also applicable under the
new data protection regime established by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
3
legitimate interests of the data subject might be prejudiced and, in the affirmative, establish
the proportionality of the transmission of the personal data for that specific purpose after
having demonstrably weighed the various competing interests.
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. Therefore, the European
Commission does not have to examine whether there is a reason to assume that the data
subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced.
Notwithstanding the above, please note that there are reasons to assume that the legitimate
interests of the data subjects concerned would be prejudiced by disclosure of the personal
data reflected in these documents, as there is a real and non-hypothetical risk that such
public disclosure would harm their privacy and subject them to unsolicited external
contacts.
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 these 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.
Additionally, Documents 1 and 4 were drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of
the relevant services of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport. They solely
reflect the authors’ interpretations of the interventions made and do not set out any official
positions of the third parties to which the documents refer, which were not consulted on its
content. They also do not reflect any position of the Commission, and cannot be quoted as
such.
Furthermore, please note that Document 3 originating from third parties is 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 document without the agreement of the originator, who may hold an intellectual
property right on it. The European Commission does not assume any responsibility from its
reuse.
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 to the Secretariat-General of the
Commission within 15 working days upon receipt of this letter. You can submit it in one of
the following ways:
by asking for a review via your portal7 account (available only for initial requests
submitted via the portal account),
or by mail:
European Commission
Secretariat-General
7
https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
4
Transparency,
Document
Management
&
Access
to
Documents
(SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours faithfully,
(e-signed)
Annika KROON
Head of Unit
Enclosure:
Annex(es): Documents 1, 2, 3 and 4, better described above.
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Electronically signed on 14/11/2022 15:50 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121