Order — ECLI:EU:T:2018:291
Date: 2018-05-15
Language of the case: French
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Provisions governing the Institutions;Access to documents
Procedure: Action for annulment - inadmissible;Application to intervene - decision unnecessary
Origin: France

Order of the General Court (First Chamber) of 15 May 2018 – Commune de Fessenheim and Others v Commission (Case T‑726/17) (Action for annulment — Access to documents — Letter sent by the Commission to the French authorities regarding the protocol for the compensation of the EDF Group in respect of the repeal of the permit to operate the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant — Implied refusal of access — Time limit for commencing proceedings — Delay — Inadmissibility) 1. Actions for annulment — Time-limits — Mandatory — Examination by the EU judicature of its own motion — Undertakings made by an institution — Irrelevant (Art. 263, sixth para., TFEU) (see paras 20, 28) 2. Actions for annulment — Actionable measures — Meaning — Measures producing binding legal effects — Silence or inaction of an institution — Assimilation to an implied decision of refusal — Not included — Limits — Lack of a response to a request confirming access to documents within the prescribed period (Art. 263 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 8(3)) (see paras 21, 22) Re: Action based on Article 263 TFEU and seeking annulment of the implied decision of 10 August 2017, by which the Commission refused to grant the applicants access to the letter sent on 22 March 2017 by the Commission to the French authorities regarding the protocol for the compensation of the Électricité de France (EDF) Group in respect of the repeal of the permit to operate the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant. Operative part 1. The action is dismissed as being inadmissible. 2. There is no longer any need to adjudicate on the French Republic’s application for leave to intervene. 3. TheCommune de Fessenheim, the Communauté de communes Pays Rhin-Brisach, the Conseil départemental du Haut-Rhin and the Conseil régional Grand Est Alsace Champagne-Ardenne Lorraine shall bear their own costs and those incurred by the European Commission. 2. There is no longer any need to adjudicate on the French Republic’s application for leave to intervene. 3. TheCommune de Fessenheim, the Communauté de communes Pays Rhin-Brisach, the Conseil départemental du Haut-Rhin and the Conseil régional Grand Est Alsace Champagne-Ardenne Lorraine shall bear their own costs and those incurred by the European Commission. 4. The French Republic shall bear its own costs. 3. TheCommune de Fessenheim, the Communauté de communes Pays Rhin-Brisach, the Conseil départemental du Haut-Rhin and the Conseil régional Grand Est Alsace Champagne-Ardenne Lorraine shall bear their own costs and those incurred by the European Commission. 4. The French Republic shall bear its own costs. 4. The French Republic shall bear its own costs.