Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:234
Date: 2018-04-26
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Provisions governing the Institutions;Access to documents
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - successful;Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: Portugal

Judgment of the General Court of 26 April 2018 — Espírito Santo Financial (Portugal) v ECB (Case T-251/15) 1 (Access to documents — Decision 2004/258/EC — Documents relating to the ECB’s decision of 1 August 2014 concerning Banco Espírito Santo SA — Implied refusal to grant access — Express refusal to grant access — Partial refusal to grant access — Exception relating to the confidentiality of the proceedings of the ECB’s decision-making bodies — Exception relating to the financial, monetary or economic policy of the European Union or of a Member State — Exception relating to the stability of the financial system in the European Union or in a Member State — Exception relating to the protection of commercial interests — Exception relating to opinions intended for internal use — Obligation to state reasons) Language of the case: English Parties Applicant: Espírito Santo Financial (Portugal), SGPS, SA (Lisbon, Portugal) (represented: initially by R. Oliveira, N. Cunha Barnabé and S. Estima Martins, lawyers, and subsequently by L. Soares Romão, J. Shearman de Macedo and D. Castanheira Pereira, lawyers) Defendant: European Central Bank (represented: initially by F. Malfrère and S. Lambrinoc, and subsequently by F. Malfrère and T. Filipova, acting as Agents, and by H.-G. Kamann and P. Gey, lawyers) Re: Application pursuant to Article 263 TFEU for the annulment, on the one hand, of the ECB’s decision of 1 April 2015 refusing in part to disclose certain documents relating to its decision of 1 August 2014 concerning Banco Espírito Santo SA and, on the other hand, of the implied decision refusing to grant access to those documents. Operative part of the judgment The Court: Annuls the decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) of 1 April 2015 partially refusing to disclose certain documents relating to the ECB’s decision of 1 August 2014 concerning Banco Espírito Santo SA, in so far as it refuses to disclose the amount of credit indicated in the extracts of the minutes recording the decision of the Governing Council of the ECB of 28 July 2014 and the information redacted from the proposals of the Executive Board of the ECB of 28 July and 1 August 2014; Dismisses the action as to the remainder; Orders Espírito Santo Financial (Portugal), SGPS, SA and the ECB to bear their own costs. ____________ 1 OJ C 245, 27.7.2015.