Ref. Ares(2023)1026802 - 13/02/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR MOBILITY AND TRANSPORT
Directorate B - Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport
B.4 - Sustainable & Intelligent Transport
Brussels
MOVE.DDG1.B.4/
Agathe Bounfour
VOLUMES Coworking
78 Rue Compans
75019 Paris
France
ask+request-12446-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Ms Bounfour,
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – EASE 2023/0363
We refer to your request for access to European Commission documents registered on 19
January 2023 under the above-mentioned reference number.
You request access to the following documents:
- 1. All briefings, minutes of meetings, and correspondence (including
email, SMS, private twitter and WhatsApp) since January 1st 2021 between
representatives of TotalEnergies SE, or PR companies or law firms
representing TotalEnergies SE, and Commissioner Adina Vălean, and/or
members of her cabinet and/or officials from DG Move, in which the Euro
VII OR OR CO2 regulation for light vehicles OR CO2 regulation for heavy-
duty vehicles OR the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) OR ReFuelEU
Aviation, OR FuelEU Maritime, OR AFIR directive were discussed.
- 2. All documentation (including but not limited to all email
correspondence, attendance lists, agendas, background papers, transcripts
and recordings) AND the meeting minutes/notes relating to the meeting
between members of cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean and
TotalEnergies SE on 16 March 2021.
I consider your request to cover documents held up to the date of your initial
application, i.e. 19 January 2023.
We have identified the following documents as falling within the scope of your application:
Annex 1:E-mail exchange between representatives of TOTAL S.E., staff and
Members of the Cabinet of Commissioner Vălean between 11 and 12 March 2021,
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
with the subject matter “
Sustainable Aviation Fuels - Joint position of Neste, Eni,
Repsol and Total”;
Annex 2: Thank you letter from the Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Adina
Vălean to a representative of Total S. E. dated on 21 April 2021.
Concerning the documents listed above, we have come to the conclusion that they may be
partially disclosed. 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 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (1) (hereinafter ‘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;
-
other information relating to identified or identifiable natural persons, in particular
references to their functions, to the extent that these would enable their identification.
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
and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (2) (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 data (3).
(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(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 (OC L 205 of 21.11.2018, p. 39).
(3) 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.
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In its judgment in Case C-28/08 P (Bavarian Lager) (4), the Court of Justice ruled that when
a request is made for access to documents containing personal data, the Data Protection
Regulation becomes fully applicable (5).
Pursuant to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 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’.
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 for a specific purpose in the public interest. It is only in this case that
the European Commission has to examine whether there is a reason to assume that the data
subject’s legitimate interests 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 the requested
documents, as the need to obtain access thereto for a purpose in the public interest has not
(4) Judgment of 29 June 2010 in Case C-28/08 P,
Commission v Bavarian Lager, ECLI:EU:C:2010:378,
paragraph 63.
(5) 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.
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been substantiated and there is no reason to think that the legitimate interests of the
individuals concerned would not be prejudiced by the disclosure of their personal data.
Please note that the 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 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 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 portal (6) account (available only for initial requests
submitted via the portal account),
or by mail:
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
Yours sincerely,
Kristian HEDBERG
Head of Unit
(6)
https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
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Enclosure: 2 annexes
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Electronically signed on 13/02/2023 09:18 (UTC+01) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
