Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 8 February 2018 — POA v Commission

(Case T‑74/16)

(Access to documents — Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 — Documents concerning an application for the registration of a name under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 — Documents originating from the Commission — Documents originating from a Member State — Article 4(5) of Regulation No 1049/2001 — Refusal to grant access — Obligation to state reasons — Exception relating to the protection of the decision-making process — Exception relating to the protection of court proceedings — Extent of review by the institution and the EU Courts of the Member State’s grounds for objection)

1. Actions for annulment—Actionable measures—Meaning—Measures producing binding legal effects—Preparatory measures—Not included—Decision to publish in the Official Journal an application for registration of a protected designation of origin—Act not intended to produce legal effects—Inadmissibility (Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1151/2012, Arts 50(2), 51 and 52) (see para. 23)

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—No obligation on the Member State to submit a specific formal application to bring an opposition (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(5)) (see paras 33, 34)

3. 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, Art. 4(5)) (see paras 36, 37, 41)

4. 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 (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(1) (3) and (5)) (see paras 55-58, 62, 66, 67)

5. 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—No obligation to carry out a specific and individual examination (European Parliament and Council Regulation No1049/2001, Art. 4(1) (3) and (5)) (see paras 61, 100, 101)

6. European Union—Institutions—Right of public access to documents—Regulation No 1049/2001—Exceptions to the right of access to documents—Obligation to state reasons—Scope (Art. 296 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001) (see paras 71-73, 75-78)

Re:

ACTION brought under Article 263 TFEU, seeking annulment of the decision Ares(2015) 5632670 of the Secretary-General of the Commission of 7 December 2015 rejecting the confirmatory application made by letter of 15 September 2015, in which the applicant sought, 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), access to documents relating, first, to the application for registration CY/PDO/0005/01243 of ‘Halloumi’ as a protected designation of origin (PDO), in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs (OJ 2012 L 343, p. 1), and, second, to the earlier application for registration CY/PDO/0005/00766 of ‘Halloumi’ as a PDO.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;