Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2019:445
Date: 2019-05-23
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Thüringer Oberlandesgericht (Germany) lodged on 3 April 2018 — Saatgut-Treuhandverwaltungs GmbH v Freistaat Thüringen (Case C-239/18) Language of the case: German Referring court Thüringer Oberlandesgericht Parties to the main proceedings Applicant: Saatgut-Treuhandverwaltungs GmbH Defendant: Freistaat Thüringen Questions referred Does a right to information from official bodies under Article 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1768/95 1 exist in a situation where a request relates solely to information concerning species of plants, without the request for information also seeking information on a protected variety? If the answer to Question 1 is that such a right to information can exist: (a) Is a body which monitors subsidies for farmers from EU funds and, in that respect, stores data which relate to (plant) species obtained from farmers who apply for those subsidies to be regarded as an official body involved in the monitoring of agricultural production within the meaning of the first indent of Article 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1768/95? (b) Is an official body justified in withholding the requested information if the provision of that information requires the data which it holds to be processed and catalogued by a third party and if doing so would require financial expense in the region of EUR 6 000? In that regard, is it relevant whether the person making the request is prepared to meet the costs incurred? ____________ 1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1768/95 of 24 July 1995 implementing rules on the agricultural exemption provided for in Article 14 (3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights (OJ 1995 L 173, p. 14).