Case T-237/02: Action brought on 8 August 2002 by Technische Glaswerke Ilmenau GmbH against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2002-09-28
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: access to information, action for annulment (EU), document, glass industry, provision of documents

28.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 233/35

Pleas in law and main arguments

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant in the present case is contesting the decision to
transfer him from the Commission’s delegation in Luanda to
the Directorate-General for Development in Brussels. That
decision is allegedly connected with illness caused by personal
conflicts in which he was involved within the said delegation
in Luanda.

In support of his claims, the applicant pleads:

— failure to provide a statement of reasons, inasmuch as the
mere reference to the interests of the service cannot be
regarded as satisfactory in that respect;

— infringement of the principle of proper administration,
alternatively failure to discharge the duty to have regard
for the welfare and interests of officials;

— non-compliance with the principle that the interested
party should be heard in advance of the adoption of a
decision, inasmuch as the contested decision was taken
without any prior notice to the person concerned;

— the decision at issue is indicative in several respects of a
misuse of powers, since it is apparent from the overall
circumstances of the case that the objective actually
pursued was not of a merely organisational nature but
was to distance the applicant from Angola and from the
functions which he was responsible for performing there.

By application of 15 April 2002 the applicant, a manufacturer
of special glass, requested, pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of
the Council (1), access to documents relating to various State
those procedures concerned the
aid procedures. Two of
applicant itself as a presumed recipient of State aid; the others
concerned one of its competitors on the special glass markets,
the firm Schott Glass. The applicant’s action is directed at the
Commission’s decision of 28 May 2002 in so far as it refuses
to grant access to the documents in the aid procedures
concerning the applicant itself and in procedures concerning
Schott Glass and are already completed.

The applicant submits that the Commission’s refusal manifestly
infringes Article 2(1) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/
2001. The applicant had a right to access which was not
restricted by Article 4 of the regulation. In particular, the
Commission had not proved the existence of any specific
impairment of the protected interests set out in Article 4(2) of
the regulation.

the applicant submits that the Commission
Furthermore,
wrongly relied on the exception relating to the protection of
the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits. Referring
to Article 4(7) of the regulation, the applicant submits that it
has at the very least the right to access to documents in
examination procedures which have already been completed.
Moreover, it ought to have been possible for the Commission
to grant the applicant access to a document in which business
secrets had been obscured and thus to grant partial access in
accordance with Article 4(6) of the regulation.

Action brought on 8 August 2002 by Technische Glaswer-
ke Ilmenau GmbH against the Commission of the Euro-
pean Communities

Finally,
the Commission infringed its obligation to state
reasons in accordance with Article 253 EC, since it had merely
given a general statement of reasons.

(Case T-237/02)

(2002/C 233/61)

(Language of the case: German)

(1) 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).

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 8 August 2002 by Technische
Glaswerke Ilmenau GmbH, whose registered office is at
Ilmenau (Germany), represented by G. Schohe and Ch. Arhold,
lawyers, acting as agents, with an address for service in
Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should

— annul

the Commission’s decision of 28 May 2002
concerning the applicant’s application for access to
documents — D(2002) 330168 — except for the part in
which access is refused to documents directly connected
with the pending aid procedure concerning Schott;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Action brought on 9 August 2002 by José Barbosa
Gonçalves against Commission of the European Com-
munities

(Case T-238/02)

(2002/C 233/62)

(Language of the case: Portuguese)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 9 August 2002 by José Barbosa