Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: Euopean Union' Court of Justice

Date: 07/03/2014

Subject: The Court dismissed the appeal affirming that if an institution decides to refuse access to a document which it has been asked to disclose, it must, in principle, first explain how disclosure of that document could specifically and actually undermine the interest protected by the exception provided for in Article 4 of Regulation No 1049/2001. Moreover, if the institution applies one of the exceptions, it is for that institution to weigh the particular interest to be protected through non-disclosure of the document concerned against, inter alia, the public interest in the document being made accessible. Finally the Court concluded that the case-law invoked by the Council does not reveal any general rule under which disclosure of the existence of a divergence of views among the institutions as to the legal basis on which one of them is empowered to open negotiations to conclude an international agreement and, therefore, the determination of the appropriate EU act for that purpose, would in itself undermine the public interest as regards the European Union’s international relations.

Parties: Consiglio c. In ’t Veld

Classification: Citizens’ rights - Art. 42 Right to access documents of EU institutions

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