Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:1999:257
Date: 1999-10-14
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Provisions governing the Institutions;Free movement of goods;Measures having equivalent effect;Quantitative restrictions;Access to documents
Concepts: Protection of court proceedings and legal advice
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary of the Judgment 
Commission — Right of public access to Commission documents — Decision 94/90 — 
Transparency — Exceptions to the principle of access to documents — Protection of the 
public interest — Court proceedings — A preparatory document relating to the 
investigation stage of an infringement procedure with respect to a Member State 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169 (now Art. 226 EC); Commission Decision 94/90) 
II - 3217 
SUMMARY — CASE T-309/97 
Decision 94/90 on public access to Com­
mission documents, which embodies the 
relevant code of conduct, is a measure 
which grants citizens a right of access to 
documents held by the Commission. It is 
intended to give effect to the principle of 
the widest possible access for citizens to 
information with a view to strengthening 
the democratic character of the institutions 
and the trust of the public in the adminis­
tration. Decision 94/90 applies generally to 
requests for access to documents and any 
person may ask for access to any unpub­
lished Commission document without 
being required to give a reason for the 
request. 
Although the right of access is subject to 
exceptions, which fall into two categories, 
these must be narrowly construed so as not 
to frustrate application of the general 
principle of giving the public the widest 
possible access to documents held by the 
Commission. The first category is framed in 
mandatory terms, to the effect that 'the 
institutions will refuse access to any docu­
ment where disclosure could undermine 
[inter alia] the protection of the public 
interest (public security, international rela­
tions, monetary stability, court proceed­
ings, inspections and investigations)'. 
The confidentiality which the Member 
States are entitled to expect of the Com­
mission warrants, under the heading of 
protection of the public interest, a refusal 
of access to documents relating to investi­
gations which may lead to an infringement 
procedure. The disclosure of documents 
relating to the investigation stage of the 
procedure laid down in Article 169 of the 
Treaty (now Article 226 EC), during the 
negotiations between the Commission and 
the Member State concerned, could under­
mine the proper conduct of the infringe­
ment procedure inasmuch as its purpose — 
to enable the Member State to comply of its 
own accord with the requirements of the 
Treaty or, if appropriate, to justify its 
position — could be jeopardised. Accord­
ingly, a preparatory document relating to 
that stage of the procedure satisfies the 
conditions subject to which the Commis­
sion may rely on the public interest excep­
tion. 
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