Documents Regarding Data Centres’ Consumption
Dear Sir/Madam,
Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and, specifically, Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 (Aarhus Regulation) regarding public access to environmental information, I am submitting a new request for access to datasets held within the European database for data centres, established under Directive (EU) 2023/1791 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364.
To address the Commission’s previous concerns regarding commercial confidentiality (Ref: Ares(2025)7003195), I have narrowed the scope to anonymised, facility-level datasets for the 2023 and 2024 reporting periods. Specifically, I request:
- The technical indicators listed in Annex VII of Directive 2023/1791 (including energy consumption, PUE, water usage, and waste heat reuse) for all reporting facilities in Greece (and the wider EU, if available).
- Data should be provided in a format where the identity of the operator/facility is redacted or replaced with a unique numerical ID to ensure non-traceability to specific market actors.
The requested data on energy and water consumption constitutes “environmental information” under Article 2(1)(d) of Regulation 1367/2006. As established by the Court of Justice in Case C-673/13 P (Commission v Stichting Greenpeace Nederland and PAN Europe), the concept of “information on emissions into the environment” must be interpreted broadly (Paras 80-81). Moreover, under Article 6(1) of Regulation 1367/2006, there is a legal presumption that the disclosure of such information is in the overriding public interest. The Court explicitly noted that this provision “derogates from the rule requiring the weighing up of interests” typically found in Article 4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. Consequently, the protection of commercial interests "may not be invoked to preclude the disclosure of that information” and “that the public should have the widest possible access to information held by the institutions and bodies of the European Union” (C-673/13 P Para 54). Last, if the Commission intends to rely on Article 5(5) of Delegated Regulation 2024/1364 to maintain a blanket confidentiality, as invoked in your previous response to my request, I must remind the institution of the principle of the hierarchy of norms.
There is a real public interest incentive and imperative in monitoring the impact of digital infrastructure on natural resources. Greece is categorised as facing "Extremely High Water Stress" according to the World Resources Institute’s 2023 report. In that sense, public oversight of Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) and energy demand is essential for the democratic assessment of the Energy Efficiency Directive's objectives.
I look forward to receiving the documents in a machine-readable format (e.g., .csv or .xlsx).
Yours faithfully,
Charis Papaevangelou, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute for Information Law (IViR)
University of Amsterdam
Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Postbus 15514
1001 NA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 22/02/2026 and registered on 22/02/2026 under the case number
2026/1150.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 16/03/2026. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 22/02/2026 under case number EASE 2026/1150.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 16/03/2026.
The application concerns documents held by different Services, which must
be consulted.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 09/04/2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
DG ENER Access to Documents Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Hello,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2026/1150.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
ENER B2 Secretariat
Hello,
Thank you very much for the detailed response to my request. I will take some time to consider the information presented and decide whether to seek further action.
Yours faithfully,
Charis Papaevangelou
Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...