Ref. Ares(2023)5013243 - 19/07/2023
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
CLIMATE ACTION
The Director-General
Brussels
CLIMA
Venetia Roxburgh
1 Temple Avenue, Temple
London EC4Y 0HA
United Kingdom
Advance copy by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Your application for access to documents EASE 2023/3495
Dear Ms Roxburgh,
We refer to your requests for access to European Commission documents EASE
2023/3495 registered on 20 June 2023.
You request access to:
“All documentation (including but not limited to all email correspondence, attendance
lists, agendas, background papers, transcripts, recordings and minutes/notes) relating to
the meeting listed below:
1. Between Thyssenkrupp and Kurt Vandenberghe, Director-General of Climate Action
(CLIMA) on the 31st March 2023“
Your application concerns the following documents:
Title
Registration
Reference
1. Short minutes_DG Vandenberghe
05/04/2023
Ares(2023)2473259
with Thyssenkrupp Steel
Europe_31.03.2023_Redacted
2. Briefing_DG Vandenberghe and
10/04/2023
Ares(2023)2540231
ThyssenKrupp_31.03.2023_Redacted
3. Follow-up non-paper on auction
12/04/2023
Ares(2023)2585819
design - competitive bidding for H2
production_Redacted
4. 20230411_Hydrogen Bank non paper
12/04/2023
Ares(2023)2585819
make it work for the climate
5. Assessment HBI Make vs.
12/04/2023
Ares(2023)2585819
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111
Office: BRE2 13/534 – Tel. direct line +32 229-69207
Import_31.03.2023_Redacted
With regard to documents 1, 2, 3 and 5 mentioned above a complete disclosure of the
identified 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 (EC) No 1049/2001,
because they contain the following personal data:
– the names/initials and contact information of Commission staff members not pertaining
to the senior management;
– the names/initials/handwritten signatures and contact details of other natural persons.
Article 9(1)(b) of the Data Protection Regulation 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 (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.
Documents 1 and 2 were drawn up for internal use under the responsibility of the relevant
service of the Directorate-General for Climate Action. They solely reflect the service’s
interpretation of the interventions made and do not set out any official position of the third
parties to which the document refers, which was not consulted on its content. They do not
reflect the position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
As regards document 2, following its examination under the provisions of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001, I regret to inform you that access cannot be granted as disclosure is
prevented by Article 4(2) first indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Point 1 of the
defensive section in the briefing contains information from the Innovation Fund (IF)
evaluation report of a previous application. The information in these reports is strictly
confidential as they contain commercially sensitive business information, linked to the
projects proposed in the specific application.
Please note that documents originating from third parties are disclosed to you based on
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. However, this disclosure 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 their reuse.
Since documents 3, 4 and 5 originate from third parties, the originators of the documents
have been consulted. Following an examination of the documents under the provisions of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents and taking into
account the opinion of the third parties, I regret to inform you that document 5 cannot be
fully disclosed, as disclosure is prevented by exception to the right of access laid down in
2
Article 4(2), first indent of this Regulation. The author of document 5 “Assessment HBI
Make vs. Import_31.03.2023_Redacted” has objected to the full disclosure of the
document that it sent to the Commission, since it contains commercially sensitive
business information.
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 to the Secretariat-General of the
Commission within 15 working days upon receipt of this letter. You can submit it in one of
the following ways:
by asking for a review via your portal (1) account (available only for initial requests
submitted via the portal account),
or by mail:
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 sincerely,
Kurt Vandenberghe
Director General
(1)
https://www.ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-request
3
Electronically signed on 19/07/2023 09:15 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121
