# C_2019172EN.01004401.xml

| 20.5.2019 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 172/44 |
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20.5.2019

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 172/44

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Action brought on 28 March 2019 — Public.Resource.Org and Right to Know v Commission

(Case T-185/19)

(2019/C 172/58)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicants: Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (Sebastopol, California, United States), Right to Know CLG (Dublin, Ireland) (represented by: F. Logue, Solicitor, A. Grünwald, J. Hackl and C. Nüßing, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicants claim that the Court should:

| — | annul decision C(2019) 639 final of the European Commission of 22 January 2019 (including the initial decision of 15 November 2018 with reference GROW/D3/ALR/dr (2018) 5993057); |
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annul decision C(2019) 639 final of the European Commission of 22 January 2019 (including the initial decision of 15 November 2018 with reference GROW/D3/ALR/dr (2018) 5993057);

| — | in the alternative, refer the matter back to the European Commission; and |
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in the alternative, refer the matter back to the European Commission; and

| — | order the European Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings. |
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order the European Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicants rely on two pleas in law.

| 1. | First plea in law, alleging that the European Commission misinterpreted and/or misapplied Article 4(2), first indent, of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, (1) since this provision does not protect the requested harmonised standards:






  — | No copyright protection of the requested harmonised standards is possible because they are part of EU Law; |
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1.

First plea in law, alleging that the European Commission misinterpreted and/or misapplied Article 4(2), first indent, of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, (1) since this provision does not protect the requested harmonised standards:

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No copyright protection of the requested harmonised standards is possible because they are part of EU Law;

| — | The requested harmonised standards lack originality and therefore do not benefit from copyright protection; |
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The requested harmonised standards lack originality and therefore do not benefit from copyright protection;

| — | The defendant did not demonstrate the alleged undermining of the commercial interest of the standardisation organization. |
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The defendant did not demonstrate the alleged undermining of the commercial interest of the standardisation organization.

| 2. | Second plea in law, alleging that the European Commission infringed the last clause of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, since it wrongly denied that the applicants have an overriding public interest in access to the requested harmonised standards:






  — | The concepts of the rule of law and fundamental rights require free access to the laws of the European Union; |
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2.

Second plea in law, alleging that the European Commission infringed the last clause of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, since it wrongly denied that the applicants have an overriding public interest in access to the requested harmonised standards:

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The concepts of the rule of law and fundamental rights require free access to the laws of the European Union;

| — | The requested standards contain environmental information and particularly information on emissions into the environment and therefore must be released according to Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006; (2) |
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The requested standards contain environmental information and particularly information on emissions into the environment and therefore must be released according to Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006; (2)

| — | The defendant did not give adequate reasons for the denial of the overriding public interest. |
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The defendant did not give adequate reasons for the denial of the overriding public interest.

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(1)  Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ 2001 L 145, p.43).

(2)  Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community institutions and bodies (OJ 2006 L 264, p. 13).

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