Ref. Ares(2023)4103776 - 14/06/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR TRADE

Directorate R – Resources, Interinstitutional Relations, Communications and Civil Society
  Transparency, Civil Society and Communication
Brussels,
TRADE.R.3/(2023)6136511
Mr Maximilian Henning
Aquamarijnstraat 1-11
9743 PA Groningen
The Netherlands
By email only – with request for
explicit acknowledgment of receipt:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents – EASE 2023/3183
Dear Mr Henning,
I refer to your application dated 2 June 2023, registered on the same date under the above
mentioned  EASE  reference  number,  in  which  you  make  a  request  for  access  to
documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/20011 (‘Regulation 1049/2001’).
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR REQUEST
You have been requesting public access to documents as follows:

‘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:

1  –  the  27.04.2023  meeting  between  the  European  Association  of  Co-operative  Banks
and Commissioner Dombrovskis;
2  –  the  27.04.2023  meeting  between  the  European  Savings  and  Retail  Banking  Group
and Commissioner Dombrovskis’.


1   Regulation  (EC)  No 1049/2001  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20 May 2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (Official Journal
OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111

We  have  identified  five  documents  falling  within  the  scope  of  your  request
(documents 01, 02 and 03 with regard to point 1 of your request, and documents 04 and
05 with regard to point 2 of your request):
01 – Ares(2023)2357829 – Meeting Request;
02 – Ares(2023)896745 – Letter to Vice-President Dombrovskis – Meeting Request;
03 – Ares(2023)3799261 – Meeting Minutes;
04 – Ares(2023)2357658 – Meeting Request;
05 – Ares(2023)3799544 – Meeting Minutes.
Kindly  note  that  in  document 04  the  reference  to  ‘Ares(2023)924775’  in  the  subject
heading in the redacted email on page 1 refers to the incoming email displayed below on
pages 1  and  2  of  document 04,  which  was  registered  separately  under  the  before
mentioned Ares reference. Since this Ares(2023)924775 document is fully comprised in
document 04 as its second displayed part – under reference Ares(2023)2357658 –, adding
it to the present reply (in identical redacted version) would appear as redundant and not
have  any  meaningful  added  value  in  response  to  your  application  for  public  access  to
documents.
2.
ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSIONS UNDER REGULATION 1049/2001
Having  examined  the  requested  documents  under  the  applicable  legal  framework,  I  am
pleased  to  grant  you  partial  access  to  all  the  identified  documents,  with  only  personal
data redacted.
A  complete  disclosure  of  the  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 1049/2001 (for details please see below).
Copies of the accessible documents in their redacted version are enclosed to the present
letter.
2.1.
Protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual – Article 4(1)(b) of
Regulation 1049/2001
2.1.1.  ‘Personal data’
We  disclose  the  identified  documents  partially,  as  they  contain  certain  personal  data,
which  must  be  redacted  in  accordance  with  Article 4(1)(b)  of  Regulation 1049/2001,
namely:
–  the names/initials and contact information of Commission staff members not pertaining
to the senior management;
–  the  names/initials  and/or  contact  details  of  other  natural  persons  –  other  than
Commission staff members;
–  handwritten signatures/abbreviated signatures of natural persons;
2

–  other information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.
To  this  regard  Article 4(1)(b)  of  Regulation 1049/2001  provides  that  ‘[t]he  institutions
shall  refuse access  to  a document  where 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’.
The  applicable  legislation  in  this  field  is  Regulation (EU)  No 2018/17252  (hereafter
‘Regulation 2018/1725’ or ‘Data Protection Regulation’).
Article 3(1) of Regulation 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 Please note in this respect that the
names,  signatures,  functions,  email  addresses,  telephone  numbers  etc.,  and/or  initials
pertaining to staff members of an institution are to be considered personal data4, as well
as  those  of  individuals  belonging  to  third  parties.  As  already  indicated  above,  all
documents contain such personal information.
2.1.2.  Question of ‘transfer’ of personal data and conclusion
Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 2018/1725 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) of Regulation 1049/2001, access
cannot be granted to the personal data, 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.
2.2.
Disclaimer(s)
You may reuse public documents, which have been produced by the European Commission
or  by  public  and  private  entities  on  its  behalf,  based  on  Commission
Decision 2011/833/EU  of  12 December 2011  on  the  re-use  of  Commission  documents5.
You  may  reuse  the  documents  disclosed  free  of  charge  for  non-commercial  and

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, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.
3  Judgment  in  Peter  Novak  v  Data  Protection  Commissioner,  case  C-434/16,  points 33-35,
ECLI:EU:T:2018:560.
4  Judgment in Port de Brest v Commission, case T-39/17, points 43-44, ECLI:EU:T:2018:560.
5
OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39.
3

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 any liability stemming from the reuse.
Furthermore,  please  note  that  documents  containing  content  of  third  party  origin,  i.e.
either documents entirely originating from third parties or documents containing parts of
third party origin (like in the present case: documents 01, 02 and 04) are disclosed to you
based  on  Regulation 1049/2001.  However,  disclosure  of  such  third  party  content  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 the reuse of those documents or parts of documents.
Finally,  documents 03  and  05  were  drawn  up  under  the  responsibility  of  the  relevant
Commission  official.  They  solely  reflect  the  author's  interpretation  of  the  interventions
made and do not set out any official position of the third parties to which the documents
refer,  which  were  not  consulted  on  their  content.  They  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the
position of the Commission and, therefore, cannot be quoted as such.
3.  POSSIBILITY OF A 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  a  confirmatory  application  should  be  addressed  within  15 working  days  upon
receipt of this letter to the Secretariat-General of the Commission, either
  by asking for a review via your portal6 account (available only for initial requests
submitted via the portal account), or
  by email to xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx, or
  by letter post to the following address:
European Commission
Secretariat-General
‘Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents’ (unit SG C.1)
BERL 7/76
Rue de la Loi 200/Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
BELGIUM.
Yours sincerely,
[Electronically signed]
Maud LABAT
Head of Unit
Enclosure(s): (6)  List of documents, 5 documents (redacted).

6
https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
4
Electronically signed on 13/06/2023 12:01 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121

Document Outline