Ref. Ares(2023)5026489 - 19/07/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, CONTENT AND
TECHNOLOGY


The Director-General
Brussels
CNECT.R.4
Maximilian Henning
Aquamarijnstraat 1-11
9743 PA Groningen
Netherlands

Email:
ask+request-12972-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – EASE 2023/2856
Dear Mr Henning,
We refer to your request for access to documents of 12 May 2023 pursuant to 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
(hereinafter  ‘Regulation  1049/2001’),  registered  on  the  same  day  under  the
abovementioned reference number. We also refer to our holding reply, dated 6 June 2023,
our  reference  Ares(2023)3915747,  whereby  we  informed  you  that  the  time  limit  for
handling  your application was extended by 15 working days pursuant to  Article 7(3) of
Regulation 1049/2001.
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR APPLICATION
Your application reads as follows:
‘(…)  Under  the  right  of  access  to  documents  in  the  EU  treaties,  as  developed  in
Regulation  1049/2001,  I  am  requesting  documents  which  contain  the  following
information:
All  minutes,  agendas,  summaries,  notes  or  memos  issued  before  or  after;  documents
prepared  for,  issued  in  preparation  for,  or  exchanged  during;  as  well  as  all
correspondence including attachments by either of the meeting parties related to the
12.06.2020 meeting between The App Association and Filomena Chirico. (…)’

Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx

2.
DOCUMENTS FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REQUEST
We have identified the following documents as falling within the scope of your application:
-  Email  exchange  May/June  2020  –  Meeting  request  (our  reference
Ares(2020)2700024) (Document 1)
-  Email of 12 June 2020 sent to Cabinet Breton (our reference Ares(2023)3759394)
(Document 2)
3.
ASSESSMENT UNDER REGULATION 1049/2001
Following an examination of the identified documents under the provisions of Regulation
1049/2001,  we  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  partial  access  can  be  granted  to
Document 1,  whilst  disclosure is  refused for  Document 2.  Full and partial  disclosure is
prevented  by  exceptions  to  the  right  of  access  laid  down  in  Article  4  of  Regulation
1049/2001.
A. Partial disclosure
(i) Protection of privacy and integrity of the individual
Full disclosure of Document 1 is prevented by the exception concerning the protection of
privacy and integrity of the individual outlined in Article 4(1)(b) Regulation 1049/2001,
since they contain the following personal data:
- Names, functions and contact details of Commission staff members not pertaining
to the senior management
- Names, functions and contact details of other natural persons.
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation1 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 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) Regulation 1049/2001, access
cannot be granted to the personal data contained in the requested document, 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.
(ii) Protection of commercial interests
Article 4(2) first indent of Regulation 1049/2001 provides that the institutions shall refuse
access  to  a  document  where  disclosure  would  undermine  the  protection  of  commercial

1Regulation  (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

interests  of  a  natural  or  legal  person,  including  intellectual  property,  unless  there  is  an
overriding public interest in disclosure.
This provision must be interpreted in light of Article 339 of the Treaty of the Functioning
of the European Union (TFEU), which  requires staff members of the EU  institutions to
refrain from disclosing information of the kind covered by the obligation of professional
secrecy, in particular information about undertakings, their business relations or their cost
components.
Disclosure of parts of Document 1 is prevented by the exception of Article 4(2) first indent
of Regulation 1049/2001 with regard to the protection of commercial interests of a natural
or legal person, including intellectual property. The abovementioned parts originate from
a third party and contain business information relating to the third party’s positions, views,
strategies and activities. After assessment we have come to the conclusion that a disclosure
could  undermine  the  commercial  interests  of  the  third  party.  Therefore,  access  to  these
parts of the document cannot be granted as their disclosure is prevented by the exception
to the right of access laid down in Article 4(2), first indent of Regulation 1049/2001.
B. Non-disclosure
We  regret  to  inform  you  that  access  to  Document  2  cannot  be  granted  as  disclosure  is
prevented  by  exceptions  to  the  right  of  access  laid  down  in  Article  4  of  Regulation
1049/2001.
Disclosure  of  Document  2  is  prevented  by  the  exception  of  Article  4(2)  first  indent  of
Regulation 1049/2001 with regard to the protection of commercial interests of a natural or
legal person, including intellectual property. Document 2 originates from a third party and
contains business information relating to the third party’s positions, views, strategies and
activities.  Therefore,  access  to  these  documents  cannot  be  granted  as  their  disclosure  is
prevented by the exception to the right of access laid down in Article 4(2), first indent of
Regulation 1049/2001.
Moreover, parts of Document 2 contain personal data, in particular the names, functions,
and contact details of Commission staff members not pertaining to the senior management
and names, functions and contact details of other natural persons, thus their disclosure is
prevented by the exception of Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001 for the reasons set
out in Section 3A(i).
We  have  considered  whether  partial  access  could  be  granted  to  Document  2.  However,
partial access is not possible considering that these documents are covered in their entirety
by the abovementioned exceptions of Article 4 of Regulation 1049/2001.
4.
OVERRIDING PUBLIC INTEREST IN DISCLOSURE
The exceptions laid down in Article 4(2) and Article 4(3) of Regulation 1049/2001 apply,
unless there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of documents. Such an interest
must, firstly, be a public interest and, secondly, outweigh the harm caused by disclosure.
We have examined whether there could be an overriding public interest in the disclosure
of  the  parts  of  the  documents  which  are  being  withheld  but  we  have  not  been  able  to
identify such an interest.
3

5.
REUSE OF DOCUMENTS
You may reuse public documents which have been produced by the European Commission
or by public and private entities on its behalf based on the Commission Decision on the
reuse  of  the  Commission  documents.  You  may  reuse  Document  1  originating  from  the
Commission 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.
6.
CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION
In  accordance  with  Article  7(2)  of  Regulation  1049/2001,  you  are  entitled  to  make  a
confirmatory application requesting the Commission to review this position.
Such confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon receipt
of this letter to the Secretariat-General of the Commission by asking for a review via your
portal[1] account (available only for initial requests submitted via the portal account),
or via at the following address:
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 faithfully,
Electronically signed
Roberto Viola
Enclosure:
(1)


[1] https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
4
Electronically signed on 19/07/2023 11:17 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121

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