Dear DG ENER,
under Regulation 1049, I would like to ask for any documents connected to a meeting between DH Ditte Juul-Joergensen and industry stakeholders regarding the energy market held on 14 March 2024 in Washington DC. That is meant to include minutes, briefing notes or any other documents.
I also wish to request documents on any meetings between the Brookings Institute and DG ENER regarding the energy market or the CSDDD within in last five years. That is meant to include minutes, briefing notes or any other documents.
Thanks in advance!
Kind regards,
Alexander Fanta
Follow the Money
Rue Auguste Orts 2
1000 Bruxelles
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
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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 05/11/2025 and registered on 05/11/2025 under the case number
2025/5743.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 26/11/2025. 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 Mr Fanta,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 05/11/2025 under case number EASE 2025/5743
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 26/11/2025.
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 17/12/2025.
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/...
Dear DG Ener A2D team,
the deadline for my request has run out. I just wanted to inquire whether you could estimate when I can expect a reply?
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Dear Mr Fanta,
We are finalising the reply to your request for access to documents (case 2025/5743). We can confirm that it will be sent as soon as possible.
Thank you for your understanding.
I take this opportunity to wish you happy holidays.
Kind regards,
DG ENER Access to Documents Team
Dear Mr Fanta,
Please find attached a message concerning your request for access to
Commission documents registered under the above case number 2025/5743.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
Kind regards,
DG ENER Access to Documents Team
Dear Secretariat-General,
Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, I hereby submit a confirmatory application concerning access to documents request 2025/5743.
In its reply of 13 January 2026, DG ENER granted only partial access and relied, in addition to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation 1049/2001, on Article 4(1)(a), third indent, arguing that full disclosure “would undermine the protection of the public interest of the EU as regards international relations in the context of our relationship with the United States of America”. This reasoning remains purely abstract and is unaccompanied by any concrete, document‑specific explanation as to how disclosure of the redacted passages would in fact undermine that protected interest.
Under Article 4(1)(a), third indent of Regulation 1049/2001, the institution must show that disclosure would specifically and actually undermine the public interest as regards international relations, and that the risk of such harm is reasonably foreseeable and not purely hypothetical, as confirmed by the case law of the EU Courts. In the contested reply, DG ENER merely invokes the EU’s relationship with the United States in general terms, without identifying:
- which specific passages are said to be sensitive in international relations;
- which concrete third-country positions, negotiation strategies or strategic objectives would be revealed; or
- how disclosure of the redacted information would damage mutual trust or hinder any ongoing or foreseeable diplomatic process.
This does not meet the requirement of a specific and individual assessment of the documents at issue, even taking into account the margin of discretion recognised to institutions in the field of international relations.
From the subject matter as described (“Samantha Gross, Brookings”; “Building a Transatlantic Clean Energy Economy”) and the context of a stakeholder meeting and exchanges with a think‑tank, the documents appear to concern policy discussion, briefing material and stakeholder input, not confidential diplomatic cables or negotiating directives. The reply does not explain why such stakeholder‑oriented material, prepared around an already‑held meeting, should be treated as if it contained highly sensitive negotiating strategies capable of seriously undermining international relations.
Even if the documents touch upon external energy policy, Regulation 1049/2001 requires the institutions to distinguish genuinely sensitive information (e.g. specific negotiation lines, red lines or strategic instructions) from more general background or policy analysis, and to limit any redactions strictly to the former. The blanket reference to “sensitive information” falls short of this duty.
The Courts have held that an institution relying on Article 4(1)(a) must (a) identify the exception applied, and (b) explain how it is relevant to the document and which aspects of the content would be harmful if disclosed, so that the applicant can understand and, where appropriate, contest the reasoning. In the present case, DG ENER only reproduces the legal label of the exception and asserts that full access “cannot be granted” because it “would undermine” the international‑relations public interest, without any further elaboration. This does not allow verification of whether all non‑sensitive parts have been disclosed and whether the exception has been interpreted narrowly, as required by Regulation 1049/2001 and the principle of the widest possible access.
In light of the above, the redactions based on Article 4(1)(a), third indent, are not adequately justified and appear not to be warranted by the actual content and context of the documents. The reliance on the international relations exception should therefore be reconsidered.
In the alternative, if any genuinely sensitive elements exist, provide a more precise and detailed statement of reasons identifying those specific fragments and explaining concretely how their disclosure would pose a reasonably foreseeable and non‑hypothetical risk to the EU’s international relations with the United States, while granting access to all remaining content.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Fanta
Follow the Money
Rue Auguste Orts 2
1000 Bruxelles
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 confirmatory request for case
2025/5743, sent on 21/01/2026 and registered on 21/01/2026.
We will handle your confirmatory request within 15 working days as of the
date of registration. The time-limit expires on 11/02/2026. We will let
you know if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working
days.
Yours faithfully,
Secretariat-General - Access to Documents
European Commission
Dear Mr Fanta,
We are writing concerning your confirmatory request for access to
Commission documents for case EASE 2025/5743 registered on 21 January
2026.
We are currently working on your confirmatory request. However, we have
not yet been able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full
analysis of your request due to the need to conduct further services
consultations, that are still ongoing. We will thus not be able to send
you the reply within the prescribed time limit expiring today.
Therefore, in line with Article 8(2) 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 4 March 2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SG.A.2 Access to Documents Team
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear FANTA , Alexander,
Please find attached the electronic version of European Commission
Decision C(2026) 1293 as adopted by the European Commission on 19/02/2026
concerning the request 2025/5743.
In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of this portal, please note
that this decision is being formally notified pursuant to article 297 TFEU
through this electronic platform only.
Yours sincerely,
Access to documents team - SG.A.2