ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT
13 December 2016 (*)
(Intervention at first instance — Confidentiality)
In Case C‑591/16 P,
APPEAL under Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, brought on 18 November 2016,
H. Lundbeck A/S, established in Valby (Denmark),
Lundbeck Limited, established in Milton Keynes (United Kingdom),
represented by R. Subiotto QC, and T. Kuhn, Rechtsanwalt,
appellants,
the other parties to the proceedings being:
European Commission,
defendant at first instance,
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), established in Geneva (Switzerland),
intervener at first instance,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT,
after hearing the First Advocate General, M. Wathelet,
makes the following
Order
1 By their appeal, H. Lundbeck A/S and Lundbeck Limited ask the Court of Justice to set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 8 September 2016, Lundbeck v Commission (T‑472/13, EU:T:2016:449), by which the General Court dismissed their action for annulment, in part, of Commission Decision C(2013) 3803 final of 19 June 2013 relating to a proceeding under Article [101 TFEU] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case AT/39226 — Lundbeck).
2 By document lodged at the Registry on 24 November 2016, H. Lundbeck and Lundbeck request that the Court treat as confidential in relation to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), intervener at first instance, Annex 2 to their appeal, namely the confidential version of the abovementioned decision, precisely as the General Court treated that same document, contained in Annex A.I.1 to their application at first instance, as confidential in the proceedings in Case T‑472/13. To that end, H. Lundbeck and Lundbeck have produced, in the annex to their application for confidential treatment before the Court of Justice, a non-confidential version of the aforementioned Annex 2.
3 By order of 25 September 2014, the President of the Ninth Chamber of the General Court decided, pursuant to Article 116(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, that only a non-confidential version of each of the documents in respect of which confidential treatment was sought, which included the document in Annex A.I.1 to the application at first instance, would be provided to EFPIA, without prejudice to the latter’s ability to contest that application for confidential treatment. It is apparent from the case file communicated to the Court of Justice by the General Court that there were no objections to that application, so that the confidential treatment which the General Court ordered on a provisional basis in that order became definitive on 15 October 2014.
4 Article 171(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice provides that the appeal is to be served on the other parties to the relevant case before the General Court. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 172 of those rules, any party to the relevant case before the General Court having an interest in the appeal being allowed or dismissed may submit a response within two months after such service on him of the appeal. It follows from those provisions that the appeal, and the other procedural documents lodged before the Court of Justice, are also to be served, in principle, on the parties given leave to intervene in the General Court.
5 However, it must be held, in a case such as this one, in which a party is requesting, in relation to a party that intervened before the General Court, confidential treatment in respect of material produced before the Court of Justice which has already been treated as confidential in relation to that same party in the proceedings at first instance, that the same confidential treatment must, in principle, be maintained for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court of Justice.
6 It follows from the foregoing that the application by H. Lundbeck and Lundbeck for confidential treatment, in relation to EFPIA, intervener at first instance, in respect of Annex 2 to their appeal must be granted. Accordingly, only the non-confidential version of that annex shall be disclosed to EFPIA.
On those grounds, the President of the Court of Justice hereby orders:
1) The document contained in Annex 2 to the appeal of H. Lundbeck A/S and Lundbeck Ltd shall be treated as confidential in relation to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), and only the non-confidential version of that annex shall be required to be served by the Registrar on EFPIA.
2) The costs are reserved.
Luxembourg, 13 December 2016.
A. Calot Escobar | | K. Lenaerts |