Ref. Ares(2016)4918173 - 01/09/2016
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Directorate A. International bilateral relations
A.1. The Americas
Brussels,
R.6/RW D(2016) 5400806
By registered letter with acknowledgment of
receipt:
Hans WETZELS
Van Spilbergenstraat 84-3
1057RL, Amsterdam
Advance copy by email: ask+request-3209-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2016/4520
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail dated 10/08/2016 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 10/08/2016 under the above mentioned reference number.
You request access to:
on the topic of TTIP; all correspondence (including emails), the list of meetings
with detailed minutes and any other reports of such meetings between DG AGRI's
officials (including the Commissioner and his Cabinet members) and
representatives and/or officials of DG TRADE between January 2013 and
January 2014.
on the topic of TTIP; all correspondence (including emails), a list of meetings
with detailed minutes and any other reports of such meetings between DG AGRI's
officials (including the Commissioner and his Cabinet members) and farmers'
organisations and/or representatives from all farming sectors from any EU
member state between January 2013 and January 2014.
on the topic of TTIP; a list of meetings with detailed minutes and any other
reports of such meetings between DG AGRI's officials (including the
Commissioner and his Cabinet members) and representatives of the following
companies and industry associations: FoodDrinkEurope, Coceral, EuropaBio,
Business Europe, European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) between
January 2013 and January 2014.
Your application is currently being handled. However, we will not be in a position to
complete the handling of it within the time limit of 15 working days, which expires on
1 September 2015.
An extended time limit is needed as part of the documents requested originate from third
parties who have to be consulted. In addition, in order to retrieve other documents
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: L130 7/79 - Tel. direct line +32 229-98770
requested, large files have to be examined. We apologise for this delay and for any
inconvenience this may cause.
However, as a preliminary reply, we have identified 9 documents falling within the scope of
your request. These documents pertain to meetings with farmers' organisations and/or
representatives from all farming sectors as well as meetings with companies or industry
associations identified in your request. The list of documents is detailed in the table below.
No
Title/kind
Author of the
Ares number
Decision
Comment or
(email, note) of
document
of the
justification in
document
document
case of refusal
1
FoodDrink
AGRI A1
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (b)
Europe
2661838
access
privacy
(23/04/2013)
2
COCERAL
AGRI C4
Ares(2013)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (a)
(19/06/2013)
2439865
access
international
relations and
Art. 4.1 (b)
3
COPA-COGECA
AGRI A1
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (a) and
(1/07/2013)
2466701
access
Art. 4.1 (b)
4
FoodDrink
AGRI B2
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (a) and
Europe and
2516086
access
Art. 4.1 (b)
COPA-COGECA
(10/07/2013)
5
French Bureau
AGRI A1
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (a) and
Interprofessionnel
2646513
access
Art. 4.1 (b)
du Pruneau
(12/09/2013)
6
CIBE
AGRI A1
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (a) and
(International
2648130
access
Art. 4.1 (b)
Confederation of
European Beet
Growers)
(13/09/2013)
7
COCERAL
AGRI A1
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (a) and
(23/09/2013)
2648713
access
Art. 4.1 (b)
8
COPA-COGECA
AGRI A1
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (b)
and FoodDrink
2661127
access
Europe
(7/11/2013)
9
CIVC (Comité
AGRI A1
Ares(2015)
Partial
Art. 4.1 (a) and
Interprofessionnel
2652236
access
Art. 4.1 (b)
du vin de
Champagne)
(29/01/2014)
2
Please note that the list does not include the minutes of the meetings of the Civil Dialogue
Group to which some of the organisations covered by your request participate. The minutes
of these meetings are publicly available at
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/civil-dialogue-
groups/index_en.htm.
Having examined documents number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 requested under the provisions of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, 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 exception to the right of access laid down in
Article 4 of this Regulation.
The redacted parts of the documents cannot be released as their disclosure would undermine
the protection of the public interest as regards international relations insofar as they include
information and opinions on strategic approaches related to the TTIP negotiations with the
United States. Therefore the exceptions laid down in Article 4(1) (a) third indent of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply to these documents.
The exception laid down in Article 4(1) (a) third indent is applied to refuse access to parts or
entire documents for the information contained in them cannot be disclosed as the success
of the negotiations depends to a large extent on the protection of objectives, tactics and
fallback positions of the parties involved. While the Commission is highly committed to the
principle of transparency, a certain level of discretion and special care in handling its
negotiating documents is essential. Only by safeguarding this discretion can the
Commission preserve the room for manoeuvre required to lead the negotiations to a
conclusion which promotes the EU interest.
Disclosing these documents poses a real and concrete risk of undermining the chance of
success for the on-going negotiations, and would, more generally, have detrimental effects
on the Commission's position in similar international negotiations.
Please note that the 9 documents contain personal data which have been redacted. 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 Community legislation regarding the protection
of personal data. The applicable legislation in this field is 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 data1.
When access is requested to documents containing personal data, Regulation (EC)
No 45/2001 becomes fully applicable2.
According to Article 8(b) of this Regulation, personal data shall only be transferred to
recipients if they establish the necessity of having the data transferred to them and if there is
no reason to assume that the legitimate rights of the persons concerned might be prejudiced.
We consider that, with the information available, the necessity of disclosing the
aforementioned personal data to you has not been established and/or that it cannot be
assumed that such disclosure would not prejudice the legitimate rights of the persons
1
Official Journal L 8 of 12.1.2001, p. 1.
2
Judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 29 June 2010 in case 28/08 P, Commission/The
Bavarian Lager Co. Ltd, ECR 2010 I-06055.
3
concerned. Therefore, we are disclosing the documents requested expunged from these
personal data.
Please note that documents 2, 3 and 6 contain elements which do not relate to TTIP
negotiations and which are therefore outside the scope of your request. These elements have
also been redacted from the 3 documents.
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 Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission,
Secretary-General, Transparency unit SG-B-4
BERL 5/282
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
e-signed
Jean-Marc Trarieux
Head of Unit
4
Electronically signed on 01/09/2016 17:26 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563