Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2023:34
Date: 2023-02-01
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Provisions governing the Institutions;Access to documents
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Belgium

Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 1 February 2023 – ClientEarth v Commission (Case T‑354/21) (1) (Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy – Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 – Documents concerning the implementation of fisheries control in Denmark and France – Partial refusal of access – Exception relating to the protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits – General presumption of confidentiality – Overriding public interest – Aarhus Convention – Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006) 1. Action for annulment – Pleas in law – Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons – Separate plea in law from the one concerning substantive legality (Art. 263 TFEU) (see paragraphs 21, 22, 79, 81, 82) 2. EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Request for access concerning environmental information – Application of Regulation No 1367/2006 as a lex specialis in relation to Regulation No 1049/2001 – Effect – Requirement that exceptions to the right of access be interpreted more strictly – None (European Parliament and Council Regulations No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2), and No 1367/2006, recital 15 and Art. 4(4)) (see paragraphs 38, 39, 58, 59) 3. EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Request for access concerning environmental information – Application of Regulation No 1367/2006 as a lex specialis in relation to Regulation No 1049/2001 – Effect – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Scope – Application to documents relating to a procedure for failure to fulfil obligations – Not included (Art. 258 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1367/2006, Art. 6(1)) (see paragraph 41) 4. EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits – Application to documents concerning a procedure for failure to fulfil obligations during the pre-contentions phase of the latter – General presumption that the exception to the right of access applies – Whether permissible – Environmental information – Irrelevant (Art. 258 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulations No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2), 3rd indent, and No 1367/2006, Art. 6(1)) (see paragraphs 42-45, 64, 65, 74-76) 5. EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits – Application to documents concerning a procedure for failure to fulfil obligations during the pre-contentions phase of the latter – General presumption that the exception applies to the right of access to all the documents on the administrative file – Request concerning only certain documents in the file – Irrelevant (European Parliament and Council Regulations No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2), 3rd indent, and No 1367/2006, Art. 6(1)) (see paragraph 46) 6. EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Strict interpretation and application – Requirement that the institution should examine the documents specifically and individually – Scope – Exclusion from the obligation – Possibility to base reasoning on general presumptions applying to certain categories of documents – Limits (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2)) (see paragraphs 60-63) 7. EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits – Overriding public interest justifying the disclosure of documents – Need to put forward particular considerations in relation to the case (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2), 3rd indent) (see paragraphs 94-97) 8. EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Refusal to grant access – Power of the EU judicature to order production of documents in order to verify whether refusal justified – Scope (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 91(c) and 104; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2)) (see paragraphs 99-102) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders ClientEarth AISBL to pay the costs. 1OJ C 329, 16.8.2021.