Ref. Ares(2021)2995034 - 05/05/2021
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL JUSTICE AND CONSUMERS
Acting Director General
Brussels
JUST.DDG.E.3/CD/se
Mr Max Bank
LobbyControl
Am Justizzentrum 7
50939 Köln
Germany
By email: ask+request-9092-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2021/1651
Dear Mr Bank,
We refer to your e-mail of 16 February 2021 in which you made a request for access to
documents, registered on 16 February 2021 under the above-mentioned reference
number.
Your request concerns the following documents:
- all documents - including but not limited to minutes, (hand-written) notes, audio
recordings, verbatim reports, operational conclusions, lines to take, e-mails, and
presentations - related to the meetings members of DG Justice and Consumers
below the level of Commissioner and Cabinet have held with interest representatives
on the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act (including previous
iterations of the proposals such as New Competition Tool and Markets Investigation
Tool) since 01 August 2020 until today;
- all correspondence (i.e. any emails, correspondence, telephone call notes, and/or
text messages including WhatsApp exchanges) between members of DG Justice and
Consumers below the level of Commissioner and Cabinet with interest
representatives on the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act (including
previous iterations of the proposals such as New Competition Tool and Markets
Investigation Tool) since 01 August 2020 until today.
We consider your request to cover documents held up to the date of your initial application,
i.e. 16 February 2021.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
We have identified the documents that match your request. You can find the full list of
those documents in the annex to this reply.
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 regarding public access to documents, I have come to the conclusion that the
documents can be partially disclosed. Please note that some parts of the documents have
been redacted as their disclosure is prevented by exceptions to the right of access laid down
in Article 4 of that Regulation. The redacted parts of documents relate to 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 an identified or identifiable natural person (i.e. job titles
that would allow the identification of natural persons).
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.
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation1 does not allow the transmission of
personal data, except if the applicant for access to documents proves that it is necessary
to have the data transmitted to him or her 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.
The documents listed in the annex to this reply were drawn up for internal use under the
responsibility of the relevant Commission services. They solely reflect the services’
interpretation of the situation and the interventions made and do not set out any official
position of the third parties to which the documents refer, that had not been consulted on
the content of the documents. The documents do not reflect the position of the
Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
Please note that some parts of the documents no. 4, 5 and 6 have also been redacted, as
they do not fall within the scope of your request.
1 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, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.
2
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
Unit C.1. ‘Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents’
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Brussels, or by email to:
xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
According to standard operational procedure, the reply is usually also sent to you by
registered post. Please note, however, that due to the extraordinary health and security
measures currently in force during to the COVID-19 epidemics, 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 xxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
Salla SAASTAMOINEN
(e-signed)
Annex: Documents subject to partial disclosure to the applicant
3
Annex: Documents subject to partial disclosure to the applicant
File
Author
Addressee
Date
Title
Ares no.
no.
1. European
Internal
2/10/2020
Flash report: Call with Ares(2020)5196976
Commission
BEUC on the Digital
Services Act
2. European
Internal
2/10/2020
Flash report: Call with Ares(2020)5196976
Commission
BEUC on the Digital
Services Act - ANNEX
3. European
Internal
29/10/2020 Flash report: Meeting with Ares(2020)6143925
Commission
Federation of European
Sporting Goods Industry
29/10
4. European
Internal
11/11/2020 Flash
report:
Meeting Ares(2020)6591112
Commission
with
IAB
Europe
(European-level
association for the digital
marketing
and
advertising) on Digital
Services
Act
and
European
Democracy
Action Plan
5. European
Internal
23/11/2020 Flash report: Call with Ares(2020)7033787
Commission
BEUC on DSA and […]
6. European
Internal
25/02/2021 Flash report: meeting with Ares(2021)1484782
Commission
BEUC
to
discuss
consumer
protection
issues concerning online
platforms (24.2.2021)
4
Electronically signed on 05/05/2021 08:58 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482
