Case T-264/04: Action brought on 30 June 2004 by World Wide Fund for Nature European Policy Programme against the Council of the European Union
Date: 2004-10-23
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: Council of the European Union, access to information, action for annulment (EU), confidentiality, provision of documents, trade relations

C 262/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.10.2004

Action brought on 30 June 2004 by World Wide Fund for
Nature European Policy Programme against the Council of
the European Union

Action brought on 1 July 2004 by Bic Deutschland GmbH
& Co OHG against the Commission of the European
Communities

(Case T-264/04)

(2004/C 262/58)

(Language of the case: English)

(Case T-270/04)

(2004/C 262/59)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Council of the European Union was
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European
Communities on 30 June 2004 by World Wide Fund for
Nature European Policy Programme, Brussels, Belguim, repre-
sented by Ms R. Haynes, Barrister.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— Annul the contested decision of the Council, of 30 April
2004, maintaining the Council's refusal
to disclose the
document it had identified as relevant to the applicant's
request.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

By a letter dated 23 February 2004 the applicant applied to the
in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation
Council
1049/2001 (1), Official
Journal L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43-48,
and sought information with respect to an item entitled ‘WTO-
Sustainability and Trade after Cancun’ on the agenda of the
its Deputy
‘Article 133 EC’ Committee for a meeting of
Members on 19 December 2003. By letter of 17 March 2004
the Council indicated that, in relation to the applicant's applica-
tion,
it had identified a note of the Commission covering a
wide range of issues concerning the follow-up to the Cancun
conference which, however, it declined to disclose on the basis
that disclosure would undermine
the European Union's
commercial
interests and would be prejudicial to economic
relationships with third countries. It further informed the appli-
cant that no minutes of meetings of the Deputy Members of
the Committee were drawn up.

The applicant made a confirmatory application in accordance
with Article 7 paragraph 2 of Regulation 1049/2001 on 5
April 2004. By the contested decision the Council maintained
its refusal on the grounds it had already indicated.

In support of its application to annul the contested decision the
applicant contends that the Council has erred in its assessment
of the sensitivity of the relevant information, has failed to
provide adequate reasons for its refusal and has failed to apply
properly the principle of proportionality in assessing the possi-
bility of partial disclosure.

(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.

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 1 July 2004 by Bic Deutschland
GmbH & Co OHG, established in Eschborn (Germany), repre-
sented by Dominique Voillemot, lawyer.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

from it of the fine which it

— annul the Commission Decision of 3 May 2004 seeking
payment
imposed on the
company Tipp-Ex by its decision of 10 July 1987 with
interest calculated once and for all to 28 May 2004 and
deciding to put into effect the bank guarantee provided by
Deutsche Bank AG Frankfurt am Main;

— order the defendant to pay all the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

The applicant company is the successor in title to Tipp-Ex
following the repurchase on 1 January 1997 and the subse-
quent internal restructuring of the BIC group. Tipp-Ex was the
addressee of Decision No 87/406/EEC of 10 July 1987, by
which the Commission imposed upon it a fine of ECU
400 000 for breach of Community competition rules.

that decision and
Tipp-Ex had brought an action against
provided the Commission with a bank guarantee payable on
first demand to guarantee payment of the fine plus interest at
8 %. In accordance with usual practice in that regard, that guar-
antee was to be honoured only upon a written demand from
the Commission, with a certified copy of the Court's judgment.
On 8 February 1990, (1) the Court dismissed Tipp-Ex's action
and upheld the decision of 10 July 1987.

payment

It was only by letter of 12 February 2004 that the Commission
of
requested
fine of
EUR 923 747.94,
EUR 400 000 and
interest
(EUR 523 747.94).

the
including the amount of
amount
additional

amount
the
of

from BIC

the

of

Following an exchange of correspondence between the appli-
cant and the Commission, the Commission, by the contested
decision, rejected BIC's arguments, based in particular on the
rule of limitation set out in Article 4(1) of Regulation No
2988/74 (2) and demanded payment of the definitive amount
of the fine (EUR 931 726.02).