Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:C:2020:223
Date: 2020-03-19
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Tenth Chamber
Subject matter: Provisions governing the Institutions;Access to documents
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 19 March 2020 — ClientEarth v Commission (Case C‑612/18 P)(1) (Appeal — Access to documents of the institutions — Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 — Article 4(1)(a), third indent, and (6) — Exceptions to the right of access — Protection of the public interest as regards international relations — Documents drawn up by the European Commission’s legal service concerning Investor-State Dispute Settlement and the Investment Court System in EU trade agreements — Partial refusal of access) 1. Appeal — Grounds — Plea submitted for the first time in the context of the appeal — Inadmissibility — Plea seeking solely to contest the merits of the judgment under appeal — Plea arising from the judgment under appeal — Admissibility (see paras 14-17) 2. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Protection of the public interest — International relations — Scope — Refusal to divulge documents serving as a basis for the Commission’s proposal in the context of current negotiations on an international agreement — Whether permissible (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(1)(a), 3rd indent) (see paras 20, 21, 50, 61, 68) 3. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Obligation to state reasons — Scope (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(1)(a), 3rd indent) (see paras 30-33, 39, 44) 4. Appeal — Grounds — Grounds of a judgment vitiated by an infringement of EU law — Operative part well founded for other legal reasons — Rejection (see paras 40, 45) Operative part 1. Dismisses the appeal. 2. Orders ClientEarth to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission. 1 OJ C 93, 11.3.2019.