Case T-233/05: Action brought on 23 June 2005 by Nomura Principal Investment Plc and Nomura International Plc against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2005-09-03
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, State aid, access to EU information, action for annulment (EU)

C 217/46

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

3.9.2005

Action brought on 23 June 2005 by Nomura Principal
Investment Plc and Nomura International Plc against the
Commission of the European Communities

The applicants moreover submit that the Commission erred in
refusing to grant partial access to the requested documents
under Article 4(6) of the Regulation and that the Commission
failed to provide sufficient reasoning in accordance with Article
253 EC.

(Case T-233/05)

(2005/C 217/100)

(Language of the case: English)

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 23 June 2005 by Nomura Principal
Investment Plc and Nomura International Plc, established in
London (United Kingdom), represented by C.-D. Ehlermann, F.
Louis, A. Vallery and G. Axel Gutermuth, lawyers.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Finally, the applicants are of the opinion that the exceptions in
third indent, and Article 4(3),
Article 4(2),
second sub-
paragraph, of
the Regulation should be set aside and that
access to the documents should be granted for the benefit of
the overriding public interest in the protection of the integrity
of the European Union's State aid and enlargement policies.

(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).

— annul the Commission Decision D(2005) 3507 of 13 April

2005 in its entirety;

Action brought on 4 July 2005 by The Black & Decker
Corporation against the Office for Harmonisation in the
Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs)

— order the Commission to bear the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Commission has, in the contested decision, confirmed its
refusal to grant the applicants access to a copy of the non-
confidential version of all documents collected during the
proceedings and investigations leading to the adoption of the
Commission's decision of 14 July 2004 in State Aid case No.
CZ 46/2003 — Czech Republic — Investicní a postovní banka,
a.s. (IPB)/Ceskoslovenská obchodní banka, a.s. (CSOB).

The applicants submit that the Commission wrongly applied
the exception in Article 4(2),
third indent, of Regulation
1049/2001 (1) to all the documents in question and that the
Commission, amongst other things, failed to carry out an indi-
vidual assessment of the content of the documents.

(Case T-245/05)

(2005/C 217/101)

(Language in which the application was lodged: English)

An action against the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
Market (Trade Marks and Designs) was brought before the
Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 4 July
2005 by The Black & Decker Corporation, established in
Townson, Maryland (USA), represented by P. Harris, Solicitor.

With regard to the documents originating from the Czech
authorities and the Commission's internal documents, the appli-
cants claim that the Commission misapplied the exceptions laid
down in Article 4(3), second subparagraph, and Article 4(5) of
the Regulation.

Atlas Copco Aktiebolag, established in Stockholm (Sweden),
was also a party to the proceedings before the Board of
Appeal.