Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:877
Date: 2018-12-05
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Provisions governing the Institutions;Access to documents
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful

Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 5 December 2018 – Falcon Technologies International v Commission (Case T‑875/16) (Access to documents — Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 — Assessment report of a notified body within the meaning of the legislation on EC declarations of conformity of medical devices — Refusal of access — Exception relating to protection of commercial interests — Obligation to carry out a specific and individual examination — Overriding public interest — Refusal of partial access) 1. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Interest in bringing proceedings — Action against a decision by an institution refusing access to documents — Admissibility (Art. 263, fourth para. TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 6(1)) (see paras 28, 29) 2. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Strict interpretation and application — Obligation to make a specific and individual examination for documents covered by an exception — Scope (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Recital 11 and Art. 4) (see paras 39, 40, 58-62) 3. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Protection of the commercial interests of a given person — Scope — Assessment report of a notified body within the meaning of the legislation on EC declarations of conformity of medical devices — Possible damage to the notified body’s reputation on account of the details, in the report, regarding the analysis of any non-compliance by the body with the applicable legislation — Included (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2), first indent; Commission Regulation No 920/2013) (see paras 42, 43, 47-54) 4. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Protection of commercial interests — Refusal to grant access — Obligation to state reasons — Scope (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2), first indent) (see paras 68, 69) 5. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Documents originating from the institutions held by national authorities — Applicability of national rules to requests for access (Art. 4(3) TEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Recital 15 and Art. 5) (see para. 76) 6. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Protection of commercial interests — Overriding public interest justifying the disclosure of documents — Concept — Burden of proof (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2)) (see paras 84, 85) 7. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Overriding public interest justifying the disclosure of documents — Concept — Subjective interest of the person concerned in defending himself — Not included (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2)) (see paras 86-89) 8. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the principle of access to documents — Obligation to grant partial access to those parts of the document not covered by exceptions (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(6)) (see paras 96, 97) 9. EU institutions — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Obligation to demonstrate the usefulness of the document to the applicant — Absence (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(6)) (see paras 98, 102) Re: Application based on Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Commission Decision C(2016) 6722 final of 14 October 2016 refusing to grant the applicant access to the document (DG (Santé) 2015-7552. Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls Commission Decision C(2016) 6722 final of 14 October 2016, in so far as it refused partial access to the document DG (Santé) 2015-7552; 2. Dismisses the action as to the remainder; 3. Orders Falcon Technologies International LLC and the European Commission each to bear their own costs.