62021TO0232_INF
Order of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 18 March 2022 –Saure v Commission
(Case T‑232/21)
(Action for annulment – Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Correspondence of the Commission concerning the quantities and delivery times of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines – Implied refusal of access – Express decision adopted after the action was brought – No need to adjudicate – Requests to amend the form of order sought – Lis pendens – Manifest inadmissibility)
1.
Action for annulment – Natural or legal persons – Interest in bringing proceedings – Action brought against an implied decision on the part of the Commission to refuse access to documents – Decision withdrawn as a result of the Commission adopting a subsequent express decision – No longer any legal interest in bringing proceedings – No need to adjudicate
(Art. 263 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 130(2) and (7))
(see paras 23-27)
2.
Judicial proceedings – Pleas in the application – Modification in the course of proceedings – Assimilation to the bringing of an action by means of an application – Objection of lis pendens – Same parties, subject matter and submissions in two actions – Inadmissibility of the second action
(Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 86)
(see paras 30, 33, 34)
Operative part
1.
There is no longer any need to rule on the form of order seeking annulment of the implied decision of the European Commission of 30 April 2021 rejecting the confirmatory request for access to certain documents.
2.
The action as to the remainder is dismissed as being manifestly inadmissible.
3.
The Commission shall bear its own costs and pay those of Mr Hans-Wilhelm Saure pertaining to the application and for the application for a declaration that there is no need to adjudicate.
4.
Mr Saure shall bear his own costs and pay those of the Commission pertaining to the request to amend the application.