Ref. Ares(2022)291937 - 14/01/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL JUSTICE AND CONSUMERS
Director-General
Brussels,
JUST.01.002(2022)243456
Ms Rachel COX
By e-mail:
ask+request-9830-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2021/5338
Dear Ms COX,
We refer to your e-mail of 4 August 2021 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 1 September 2021 under the above mentioned reference
number.
You request access to:
“
All documents – including but not limited to correspondence, emails, minutes, notes
(hand written or electronic), audio or video recordings, verbatim reports, operational
conclusions, lines to take, briefings, and presentations—related to the meeting on 2021-
06-29 between Didier Reynders and Deutsche Telekom”.
Your application concerns the following documents:
- briefing for the meeting with Deutsche Telekom representative;
- the minutes of the meeting with Deutsche Telekom representative held on
29/06/2021.
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, we would like to inform you that
disclosure of some parts of the documents is prevented by exceptions to the right of access
laid down in:
- Article 4(1)(a) third indent (protection of the public interest as regards
international relations);
- Article 4(1)(b) (protection of the privacy and integrity of the individual);
- Article 4(2) first intend (protection of commercial interests);
- Article 4(3) (protection of decision-making process).
The justifications are as follow:
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË
Protection of the public interest as regards international relations (briefing)
Article 4(1)(a), third indent, of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 provides that the
'institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the
protection of […] the public interest as regards […] international relations […]'.
Disclosing the text on
page 12 of the briefing would seriously prejudice the mutual trust
between the European Union and the United States, both as regards the ongoing talks on a
new transatlantic data transfer framework after the invalidation of the EU-U.S. Privacy
Shield by the Court of Justice of the European Union and other transatlantic files. After the
invalidation of the European Commission’s adequacy decision 2016/1250 regarding the
EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce
are in negotiations on a strengthened transatlantic data transfer framework to comply with
the judgement of the Court of Justice.
In light of these ongoing talks, it is important to protect the credibility of the European
Commission as a negotiating partner. Establishing and protecting an atmosphere of mutual
trust is a delicate exercise and any breach of that trust can have a serious adverse effect on
the ongoing talks as well as future cooperation.
Protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual (briefing and minutes)
A complete disclosure of the both identified documents is also 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 the following personal data:
-
the names/initials and contact information of Commission staff members not
pertaining to the senior management;
-
the names/initials and contact details of other natural persons.
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 requested
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
Protection of commercial interests
Page 11 of the briefing contains commercially sensitive business information of the
company that submitted it.
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Disclosure of this part of the document would undermine the protection of the commercial
interests of the company that submitted it, as putting this information in the public domain
would affect its competitive position on the market.
Protection of the institution's decision-making process (briefing)
Article 4(3) first subparagraph of Regulation (EC)No 1049/2001 provides that: “
Access to
a document, drawn up by an institution for internal use or received by an institution,
which relates to a matter where the decision has not been taken by the institution, shall
be refused if disclosure of the document would seriously undermine the institution's
decision-making process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure”.
Pages
10-11
of
the
briefing
were
drafted
for
internal
use
for
reflections/deliberations/consultations on which a decision has not been taken by the
Commission. Disclosure of the content would undermine the protection of the decision-
making process of the Commission, as it would reveal preliminary views and policy options
which are currently under consideration; the Commission's services must be free to explore
all possible options in preparation of a decision free from external pressure. Therefore the
exception laid down in Article 4(3) first subparagraph of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
applies to this document
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) and 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply
unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the documents. We have
examined whether there could be an overriding public interest in disclosure, but that you
have not been able to identify such an interest.
The documents were drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the relevant
services of the Commission. They solely reflect the services’ interpretation of the
interventions made and does not set out any official position of the third parties to which
the document refers, which was not consulted on its content. It does not reflect the
position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such
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
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
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According to standard operational procedure, the reply to a request for access to documents
is usually sent by registered post. Please note, however, that due to the extraordinary health
and security measures currently in force during the COVID-19 pandemic, which include the
requirement for all Commission non-critical staff to telework, we are unfortunately not in a
position to follow this procedure until further notice.
We would therefore appreciate if you could confirm receipt of the present e-mail by
replying to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx. Yours faithfully,
(e-signed)
Anna GALLEGO
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Electronically signed on 14/01/2022 15:14 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482
