Ref. Ares(2022)917223 - 08/02/2022
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR MARITIME AFFAIRS AND FISHERIES
Brussels,
Mare.E.4 (2022)
Mr Barnaby Pace
Global Witness
Rue Belliard 53
1000 Bruxelles
Belgium
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2021/8202
Dear Sir,
We refer to your e-mail of 15 December 2021, in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered on 17 December 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
October 28 between Arunas Ribokas and Equinor ASA.
Your application concerns the following documents:
- Email ‘Request for meeting Equinor’
- Email ‘RE_Request for meeting Equinor’
- Email ‘Follow-up to the meeting’
- Document ‘2021 10 28 Short debrief equinor’
With regard to the four listed above, 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 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
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office: J-99 05/014 ‐ Tel. direct line +32 229-50483
xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
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.
Therefore, the redacted version of the requested documents is attached to this letter.
The document ‘2021 10 28 Short debrief equinor’ was drawn up for internal use under the
responsibility of the relevant services of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries. It solely reflects the author's 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.
You may reuse public documents, which have been produced by the European Commission or by
public and private entities on its behalf based on t
he Commission Decision on the reuse of
Commission documents. You may reuse the documents disclosed free of charge and for non-
commercial and commercial purposes provided that the source is acknowledged and that you do
not distort the original meaning or message of the documents. Please note that the Commission
does not assume liability stemming from the reuse.
Please note that documents originating from third parties are 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 documents
without the agreement of the originator, who may hold an intellectual property right on them. The
European Commission does not assume any responsibility from their 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 its 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
Yours sincerely,
[e-signed]
Martina DOPPELHAMMER
Annexes:
- Email ‘Request for meeting Equinor_Redacted’
- Email ‘RE_Request for meeting Equinor_Redacted’
- Email ‘Follow-up to the meeting_Redacted’
- Document ‘2021 10 28 Short debrief equinor_Redacted’
2
Electronically signed on 08/02/2022 17:07 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482
