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EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Competition DG
The Director General
Brussels, 17.08.2022
COMP/B.2/IP/mp
Dominic Eagleton
c/o Barnaby Pace
Global Witness
Rue Belliard 53
1000, Bruxelles, Belgique
ask+request-11525-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
By e-mail and registered mail
Subject: Your application for access to documents – GESTDEM 2022/3794
Dear Mr. Eagleton,
Thank you for your message of 4 July 2022, registered on 4 July 2022 under GESTDEM
number 2022/3794, concerning exchanges between the Cabinet of EVP Vestager & other
Commission cabinets on the RFNBO Delegated Acts, in which you request access to
documents in the Commission's case file in accordance with Regulation (EC) No.
1049/2001
1 ("Regulation 1049/2001").
In your message you request access to:
All documents—including but not limited to correspondence, emails, minutes,
notes (hand written or electronic), audio or video recordings, verbatim reports,
operational conclusions, lines to take, briefings, and presentations—related to
exchanges or meetings on the Delegated Acts for renewable fuels of non-
biological origin (RFNBOs) between DG COMP cabinet staff and any other
cabinet staff members within the European Commission, including but not limited
to the Secretariat-General, DG ENER, DG GROW and DG CLIMA cabinets from
1st September 2021 until […], 4th July 2022.
Having examined the documents requested under the provisions of Regulation 1049/2001
regarding public access to documents, I regret to inform you that your application cannot
be granted, as disclosure is prevented by an exception to the right of access laid down in
Article 4 of this Regulation.
1 Regulation (EC) N° 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents, OJ L145 of 31.5.2001, p. 43
Commission européenne, B-1049 Bruxelles / Europese Commissie, B-1049 Brussel - Belgium
The granting access to the documents which you seek to obtain would undermine the
decision-making process of the Commission, as it would reveal preliminary views which
are currently under consideration. The Delegated Acts are is still under development, and
the Commission's services must be able to explore all possible options in their
preparation.
More specifically, access to the requested documents, which contain the views expressed
by the different services in the process of preparing the Delegated Acts still to be
adopted, would undermine the free exchange of views within the Commission and carry a
risk of self-censorship (see, in this regards, T-403/05,
MyTravel v Commission, at
paragraphs 50-52).
Therefore, the exception laid down in Article 4(3) first subparagraph of Regulation
1049/2001 applies to these documents.
Pursuant to Article 4(3) of Regulation 1049/2001, the exception to the right of access
contained in that Article must be waived if there is an overriding public interest in
disclosing the documents requested. In order for an overriding public interest in
disclosure to exist, this interest, firstly, has to be public (as opposed to private interests of
the applicant) and, secondly, overriding, i.e. in this case it must outweigh the interest
protected under Article 4 (3) of Regulation 1049/2001.
In your application you have not established arguments that would present an overriding
public interest to disclose the documents to which access has been hereby denied.
Consequently, the prevailing interest in this case lies in protecting the Commission’s
decision-making process.
I have also considered the possibility of granting partial access to the documents for
which access has been denied in accordance with Article 4 (6) of Regulation 1049/2001.
This is however not possible in this case since they are either entirely covered by the
exception or the remaining parts after expunging the confidential information would be
meaningless or illegible.
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.
This 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
Transparency, Document Management & Access to Documents (SG.C.1)
BERL 7/076
B-1049 Bruxelles
2
or by email to
: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx.
Yours faithfully,
[e-signed]
Olivier GUERSENT
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