EN Official Journal of the European Union C 51/4

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 18 December 2007 — Kingdom of Sweden v IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds gGmbH, formerly Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds (IFAW) GmbH, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of the Netherlands, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Commission of the European Communities

(Case C-64/05 P) (1)

(Appeal - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Public access to documents of the institutions - Documents originating from a Member State - Objection of the Member State to disclosure of the documents - Scope of Article 4(5) of the Regulation)

(2008/C 51/07)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Appellant: Kingdom of Sweden (represented by K. Wistrand, Agent)

Intervener in support of the appellant: Republic of Finland (represented by E. Bygglin and A. Guimaraes-Purokoski, Agents)

Other parties to the proceedings: IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds gGmbH, formerly Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds (IFAW) GmbH (represented by S. Crosby, Solicitor, and R. Lang, avocat), Kingdom of Denmark (represented by B. Weis Fogh, Agent), Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by H.G. Sevenster, C.M. Wissels and M. de Grave, Agents), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (represented by S. Nwaokolo and V. Jackson, Agents, and J. Stratford, Barrister), Commission of the European Communities (represented by C. Docksey and P. Aalto, Agents)

Intervener in support of the respondent: Kingdom of Spain (represented by I. del Cuvillo Contreras and A. Sampol Pucurull, Agents)

Re:

Appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance (Fifth Chamber, Extended Composition) of 30 November 2004 in Case T-168/02 IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds v Commission, dismissing an application for annulment of a decision of the Commission rejecting a request made by IFAW pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ 2001 L 145, p. 43) for access to certain documents of the German authorities claiming the existence of imperative grounds of major public interest for the declassification of a site protected under Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. Sets aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities of 30 November 2004 in Case T-168/02 IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds v Commission;

2. Annuls the decision of the Commission of the European Communities of 26 March 2002 refusing IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds gGmbH access to certain documents received by the Commission in the course of a procedure which ended with the Commission giving an opinion favourable to the carrying out of an industrial project on a site protected under Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora;

3. Orders the Commission of the European Communities to pay the costs incurred by the Kingdom of Sweden in connection with the appeal proceedings and the costs incurred by IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds gGmbH both in the appeal proceedings and in those at first instance in which the Court of First Instance of the European Communities gave judgment on 30 November 2004, IFAW Internationaler Tierschutz-Fonds v Commission;

4. Orders the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Finland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Commission of the European Communities to bear their own costs relating to the appeal;

5. Orders the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Commission of the European Communities to bear their own costs relating to the proceedings at first instance.

(1) OJ C 115, 14.5.2005.