Case T-716/14: Judgment of the General Court of 7 March 2019 — Tweedale v EFSA (Access to documents — Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 — Documents relating to toxicity studies conducted in connection with the renewal of the approval of the active substance glyphosate — Partial refusal to grant access — Exception relating to the protection of commercial interests — Overriding public interest — Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 — Concept of information relating to emissions into the environment)
Date: 2019-03-07
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: access to EU information, environmental protection, herbicide, market approval, pollution, toxic substance








C_2019148EN.01004001.xml










29.4.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 148/40






Judgment of the General Court of 7 March 2019 — Tweedale v EFSA
(Case T-716/14) (1)

(Access to documents - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Documents relating to toxicity studies conducted in connection with the renewal of the approval of the active substance glyphosate - Partial refusal to grant access - Exception relating to the protection of commercial interests - Overriding public interest - Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 - Concept of information relating to emissions into the environment)
(2019/C 148/36)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: Anthony C. Tweedale (Brussels, Belgium) (represented by: B. Kloostra, lawyer)

Defendant: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (represented by: by D. Detken, J. Tarazona, C. Pintado and B. Vagenende, acting as Agents, assisted initially by R. Van der Hout and A. Köhler, and subsequently by R. Van der Hout and C. Wagner, lawyers)

Intervener in support of the applicant: Kingdom of Sweden (represented initially by A. Falk, C. Meyer-Seitz, U. Persson, N. Otte Widgren, E. Karlsson and L. Swedenborg, and subsequently by A. Falk, C. Meyer-Seitz, H. Shev, L. Swedenborg and F. Bergius, acting as Agents)

Re:

Application pursuant to Article 263 TFEU for the partial annulment of the EFSA decision of 16 October 2017 annulling and replacing the decision of 30 July 2014 and granting partial access to two toxicity studies on the active substance glyphosate, conducted in connection with the procedure to renew approval of that active substance in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC (OJ 2009 L 309, p. 1).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.



Annuls the decision of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of 16 October 2017, annulling and replacing the decision of 30 July 2014 and granting partial access to two toxicity studies on the active substance glyphosate, conducted in connection with the procedure to renew approval of that active substance, in so far as EFSA refuses to disclose the whole of those studies, with the exception of the names and signatures of the persons mentioned therein;











2.



Orders EFSA to bear its own costs and to pay the costs incurred by Mr Anthony Tweedale;











3.



Orders the Kingdom of Sweden to bear its own costs.







(1)  OJ C 448, 15.12.2014.