CELEX: C2000/247/23
Language: en
Date: 2000-08-26 00:00:00
Title: Case C-234/00: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the High Court of Justice (England & Wales), Queen's Bench Division (Crown Office), by order of that court of 25 May 2000, in the case of The Queen against the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, ex parte: F. Machin & Sons Ltd

C 247/18              EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                      26.8.2000
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the High Court of                     joint missions or reports of missions undertaken by the
Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s Bench Division                           Member States sent to the Centre, and to the list of
(Crown Office), by order of that court of 25 May 2000, in                   contact persons in the Member States involved with
the case of The Queen against the Minister of Agriculture,                  asylum cases; orders the Council to pay the Applicant’s
     Fisheries and Food, ex parte: F. Machin & Sons Ltd                     costs and to bear its own costs.
                        (Case C-234/00)                               —     to decide to give final judgment in the matter, to dismiss
                                                                            the Application at First Instance as unfounded and to
                        (2000/C 247/23)                                     order the Applicant at First Instance to pay the costs of
                                                                            the proceedings before the Court of First Instance;
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by an order of the High Court of
Justice (England & Wales) Queen’s Bench Division (Crown               —     to decide on the costs of this Appeal as it sees fit.
office) of 25 May 2000, which was received at the Court
Registry on 13 June 2000, for a preliminary ruling in the case
of The Queen against the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food, ex parte: F. Machin & Sons Ltd, on the following question:      Pleas in law and main arguments
‘Is a transporter allowed to rely on point 8 of Chapter VII of
the Annex to Council Directive 91/628/EEC on the protection           The Council appeals to the Court of Justice against the decision
of animals during transport (OJ 1991 L 340, p. 17), as                of the Court of First Instance on the grounds that it considers,
amended by Council Directive 95/29/EC (OJ 1995 L 148,                 as it has already asserted in its appeal (Case C-353/99 P)
p. 52), in planning a journey and when submitting a route             against the judgment of the Court of First Instance of 18 July
plan for that journey, or may point 8 only be relied on if an         1999 in Case T-14/98 (Heidi Hautala v. Council of the
unexpected delay has arisen during the course of the journey?’        European Union), that the former committed a fundamental
                                                                      error of law in interpreting, in this judgment, Article 4(1) of
                                                                      the decision on public access to Council documents as legally
                                                                      requiring the Council to consider whether access should be
                                                                      given to parts of a document to which access is requested.
                                                                      That judgment was confirmed and applied by the Court of
                                                                      First Instance in the present case. The Council therefore
                                                                      contests the Court’s findings as regards the Applicant’s plea of
Appeal brought on 13 June 2000 by the Council of                      breach of Decision 93/731/EC (1) in that the Council did not
the European Union against the judgment delivered on                  grant partial access to the document, on grounds that they are
6 April 2000 by the Fourth Chamber of the Court of First              based on legally erroneous assumptions.
Instance of the European Communities in case T-188/98
between Aldo Kuijer and the Council of the European
                             Union
                                                                      The arguments on which the Council relies are that the Court
                                                                      of First Instance, in its judgment of 19 July 1999 in Case
                       (Case C-239/00 P)                              T-14/98, and consequently in the present case,
                        (2000/C 247/24)
                                                                      (a)   incorrectly construed the legal effect of the decision on
                                                                            public access to Council documents,
An appeal against the judgment delivered on 6 April 2000 by
the Fourth Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities in case T-188/98 between Aldo Kuijer             (b) misconstrued the objective of the decision on public
and the Council of the European Union, was brought before                   access to Council documents,
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 13 June
2000 by the Council of the European Union, represented by
Mrs Jill Aussant and Mr Martin Bauer, respectively, Director          (c)   misapplied the principal of proportionality,
and Legal Adviser in the Council Legal Service, with an address
for service in Luxembourg care of Mr Alessandro Morbilli,
European Investment Bank, 100 Boulevard Konrad Adenauer,              which led it to an erroneous interpretation of Article 4(1) of
L-2925 Luxembourg.                                                    Decision 93/731/EC.
The Appellant claims that the Court should:
                                                                      (1) Council decision 93/731/EC of 20 December 1993 on public
—     set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of            access to Council documents, OJ L 340, 31.12.1993, p. 43-44.
      6 April 2000 by which it annuls the Council’s decision
      of 28 September 1998, as amended by the decision of
      18 May 1999, refusing the Applicant access to certain
      reports drawn up by the centre for Information, Dis-
      cussion and Exchange on Asylum, to certain reports of