Case T-649/17: Judgment of the General Court of 28 May 2020 — ViaSat v Commission (Access to documents — Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 — Document on measures required to ensure compliance by authorised operators of mobile satellite systems with the common conditions referred to in Decision No 626/2008/EC — Implied and express refusal of access — Exception relating to the protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits — Overriding public interest — Partial refusal of access)
Date: 2020-05-28
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: access to EU information, confidentiality, satellite communications, trans-European network, transmission network








C_2020230EN.01002301.xml










13.7.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 230/23






Judgment of the General Court of 28 May 2020 — ViaSat v Commission
(Case T-649/17) (1)

(Access to documents - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Document on measures required to ensure compliance by authorised operators of mobile satellite systems with the common conditions referred to in Decision No 626/2008/EC - Implied and express refusal of access - Exception relating to the protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits - Overriding public interest - Partial refusal of access)
(2020/C 230/28)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: ViaSat, Inc. (Carlsbad, California, United States) (represented by: J. Ruiz Calzado, L. Marco Perpiñà, P. de Bandt and M. Gherghinaru, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: C. Ehrbar and S. Delaude, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the defendant: Inmarsat Ventures Ltd (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: C. Spontoni, B. Amory, É. Barbier de La Serre, lawyers, and A. Howard, Barrister)

Re:

Application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of the Commission’s implied decision rejecting the applicant’s confirmatory application of 31 May 2017 for access to the ‘Roadmap of Measures Toward the Compliance of Selected and Authorised Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) Operators with Common Conditions of Decision No 626/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2008, Including Intermediate New Steps and Corresponding Time Limits’, and, subsequently, an application for the annulment of Commission Decision C(2017) 8219 final of 1 December 2017 refusing access to that roadmap.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Declares that it is no longer necessary to rule on the legality of the European Commission’s implied decision rejecting the confirmatory application for access by ViaSat, Inc. of 31 May 2017 to the ‘Roadmap of Measures Towards the Compliance of Selected and Authorised Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) Operators with Common Conditions of Decision No 626/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2008, Including Intermediate New Steps and Corresponding Time Limits’;










2.


Dismisses the action as to the remainder;










3.


Orders ViaSat to pay, in addition to three quarters of its own costs, three quarters of the costs incurred by the Commission and by Inmarsat Ventures Ltd;










4.


Orders the Commission to pay, in addition to one quarter of its own costs, one quarter of the costs incurred by ViaSat and by Inmarsat Ventures Ltd.






(1)  OJ C 402, 27.11.2017.