Case T-146/25: Action brought on 28 February 2025 – De Capitani a.o. v Commission
Date: 2025-02-28
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: access to EU information, access to information, disclosure of information, powers of the institutions (EU), protection of privacy, provision of documents, right to information, rules of procedure








C_202502410EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/2410


28.4.2025






Action brought on 28 February 2025 – De Capitani a.o. v Commission


(Case T-146/25)

(C/2025/2410)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicants: Emilio De Capitani (Brussels, Belgium), Päivi Leino-Sandberg (Helsinki, Finland), Access Info Europe (Madrid, Spain) (represented by: O. Brouwer, A. Pliego Selie, M. Lawton and R. Hable, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicants claim that the Court should:






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in primary order: annul Articles 2(3), 2(5), 3, 4, and/or 5 of the Annex, entitled ‘Detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents’, to Decision (EU) 2024/3080 of 4 December 2024 establishing the Rules of Procedure of the Commission and amending Decision C(2000) 3614 (1), insofar as they breach Articles 42, 51 and 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, Article 15 (3) TFEU and Regulation 1049/2001 (2) (including Article 18 thereof) and established case-law of the EU Courts;










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in subsidiary order: annul the Annex, entitled ‘Detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents’, to Decision (EU) 2024/3080 of 4 December 2024 establishing the Rules of Procedure of the Commission and amending Decision C(2000) 3614; and,










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order the defendant to pay the applicants’ costs pursuant to Article 134 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, including the costs relating to any intervening parties.





Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on a single plea in law:
Breach of Articles 42, 51 and 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, Article 15(3) TFEU and Regulation 1049/2001 (including Article 18 thereof) and established case-law of the EU Courts:






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first limb: breach concerning Definitions of ‘documents held by the Commission’, ‘documents drawn up by the Commission’ and ‘documents received by the Commission’ (Article 2(3), 2(4) and 2(5) of Regulation 1049/2001 and Articles 2, 5 and 10 of the New Rules on access);










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second limb: breach concerning Exceptions to the obligation to register documents (Article 5(2) of the New Rules);










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third limb: breach concerning Obligation to delete text messages (Article 5(4) of the New Rules);










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fourth limb: breach concerning Limiting the definition of ‘legislative documents’ to be made ‘directly accessible’(Article 3 of the New Rules);










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fifth limb: breach concerning the extension of the period of validity of general presumptions (Article 4(2) of the New Rules);










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sixth limb: breach concerning Introduction and extension of general presumptions of non-disclosure for certain (categories of) documents (Article 4(2) of the New Rules); and,










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seventh limb: breach concerning General presumption regarding pending authorisation procedures (Article 4(2)(f) of the New Rules).






(1)  OJ 2024, L 3080.

(2)  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).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/2410/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)