Ref. Ares(2021)7445583 - 02/12/2021
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Directorate H - Common Implementation Centre
H.1 - Common Legal support service
  Head of Unit

B1/RS

By registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt

Indiano Carlotta
Investigative Reporting Project Italy
Viale Giulio Cesare, 92
00192 ROMA, Italy

Advance copy by e-mail:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:  Your  application  for  public  access  to  documents  –  GestDem  Ref  No
2021/6467
Dear Ms Indiano,
We refer to your letter dated 28 October 2021 in which you submitted an application for
access to documents within the framework of Regulation (EC) 1049/20011.
1.  SCOPE OF YOUR REQUEST

Following your email of clarification of 8 November 2021, your request concerned:
For the period between 1 October 2017 to date:
-  a  list  of  the  meeting  and/or  calls  between  the  European  Automobile  Manufacturers’
Association  and  the  [Commissioner  and  the  team  assisting  him/her],  during  which
“hydrogen vehicles” and/or “electric vehicles ” and/or “batteries” and/or “hydrogen”
were discussed [including] date, individuals attending and organisational affiliation, as
well as the issues discussed;
- all minutes and other reports of these meetings and/or calls;
- all documents prepared for the purpose of the meetings issued both in preparation and
after the meetings took place;
-  all  correspondence,  including  attachments  (i.e.  any  emails,  mail  correspondence  or
telephone  call  notes)  between  the  [Commissioner  and  the  team  assisting  him/her],  and
the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, including any lobby group and/or

1 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx

industry  representative  discussing  “hydrogen  vehicles”  and/or  “electric  vehicles  ”
and/or “batteries” and/or “hydrogen”.
We have identified 5 documents falling under the scope of your request (hereinafter the
'requested documents'), all pertaining to activities of our former Cabinet, namely:
1.  [RE:  letter  to  Commissioner  Moedas  ACEA  Annual  Reception
-
Ares(2017)6348481]  Correspondence  between  ACEA  and  our  former  Cabinet,
from 21 December to 9 January 2017, concerning an invitation of Commissioner
Moedas to ACEA’s event;

2.  ACEA’s letter of invitation attached to document 1;

3.  [RE:  Enquiry  for  a  meeting  about  upcoming  proposal  on  new  CO2  emission
standards  for  heavy-duty  vehicles]  Correspondence  between  ACEA  and  our
former  Cabinet  from  13  May  to  13  April  2018,  confirming  the  meeting  of  27
April on the new CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles;

4.  [Request  for  meeting  with  ACEA  president  June  5  2018]  ACEA’s  request
addressed to Commissioner Moedas dated 25 May 2018 for a meeting on 5 June
2018;

5.  Briefing 673 prepared for Commissioner Moedas for the meeting of 5 June 2018,
proposed by ACEA in document No 4.

2.  EXAMINATION UNDER REGULATION (EC) NO 1049/2001
We  are  pleased  to  inform  you  that  partial  access  can  be  granted  to  the  requested
documents. We have only expunged the personal data, which disclosure is prevented by
Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as explained below.
Protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual
According  to  Article  4(1)(b)  of  Regulation  (EC)  1049/2001,  access  to  documents  is
refused where 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 data2.
The  requested  documents  contain  personal  data  such  as  names,  functions,  telephone
numbers,  electronic  and  professional  addresses,  CV,  handwritten  signatures  etc.  of
Commission’s  officials  not  having  the  function  of  senior  management  staff  and  of  the
third  parties  identified  in  the  documents.  This  information  clearly  constitutes  personal
data in the meaning of Article 3(1) of Regulation 2018/1725.

2 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 (‘Regulation 2018/1725’).
2

Pursuant  to  Article  9(1)(b)  of  Regulation  2018/1725,  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’.
According to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 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 for a specific purpose in the public interest. In your request, you do
not put forward any arguments to establish the necessity to have the data transmitted for a
specific purpose in the public interest.
Therefore, we withheld personal data from the requested documents, except for the name
and function of individuals forming part of senior management staff of the Commission,
disclosed according to the current administrative practice.
3.  DISCLAIMER AND RE-USE OF THE DOCUMENTS
You  may  reuse  document  No  5  free  of  charge  for  non-commercial  and  commercial
purposes,  provided  that  the  source  is  acknowledged,  that  you  do  not  distort  the  original
meaning or message of the document/documents. Please note that the Commission does not
assume liability stemming from  the reuse.  This  document  was  drawn  up  for  internal  use
under  the  responsibility  of  the  relevant  service  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Research
and  Innovation.  It  solely  reflects  the  service’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.
Please note that documents No 1, 2, 3 and 4 contain documents received by the Commission
from  third  parties  and  they  are  disclosed  for  information  only.  They  do  not  reflect  the
position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.

4.  MEANS OF REDRESS
In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) 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
Unit SG C.1 – Transparency, document management & access to documents
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Brussels
3

or by email to: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx

Yours sincerely,
Reinhard Schulte
4
Electronically signed on 02/12/2021 15:18 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482

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