62022TJ0077_INF
Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 15 February 2023 –Asesores Comunitarios v Commission
(Case T‑77/22) (
1
)
(Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Documents relating to the recovery and resilience plan submitted by a Member State to the Commission – Documents originating from a Member State – Refusal to grant access – Exception relating to the financial, monetary or economic policy of the European Union or of a Member State)
1.
EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Documents originating from a Member State – Power of the Member State to request the institution not to disclose documents – Scope
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Arts 4(1) to (3) and (5))
(see paragraphs 33, 34)
2.
EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Documents originating from a Member State – Power of the Member State to request the institution not to disclose documents – Procedural implications – Obligation on the Member State and the EU institution to state reasons for the decision refusing access – Scope
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Arts 4(1) to (3) and (5))
(see paragraphs 35-40)
3.
EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Protection of the public interest – Judicial review – Scope – Limits
(Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 91(c), 92 and 104; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(1) to (3))
(see paragraphs 41-43)
4.
EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Protection of the public interest concerning the financial, monetary or economic policy of the EU or a Member State – Assessment in the light of the documents requested in the material and temporal context – Obligation of prima facie verification of the explanations provided – Application to the documents constituting an initial stage of the implementation of the recovery and resilience facility
(European Parliament and Council Regulations No 1049/2001, Art. 4(1)(a) and 2021/241)
(see paragraphs 55, 57, 61-63, 65, 66, 68, 70)
5.
EU institutions – Right of public access to documents – Regulation No 1049/2001 – Exceptions to the right of access to documents – Refusal based on several exceptions – One of the exceptions well-founded – Sufficient to justify the refusal decision
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4)
(see paragraphs 73, 74)
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders Asesores Comunitarios, SL to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;
3.
Orders the Kingdom of Spain to bear its own costs.
(
1
)	OJ C 138, 28.3.2022.