Judgment of the General Court of 26 October 2011 - Dufour v ECB
(Case T-436/09)
(Access to documents - Decision 2004/258/EC - ECB's databases used for the preparation of reports on staff recruitment and mobility - Refusal of access - Action for annulment - Interest in bringing proceedings - Admissibility - Meaning of 'document' - Action for damages − Premature)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Applicant: Julien Dufour (Jolivet, France) (represented by: I. Schoenacker Rossi and H. Djeyaramane, lawyers)
Defendant: European Central Bank (ECB) (represented by: initially K. Laurinavicius and S. Lambrinoc, then S. Lambrinoc and P. Embley, Agents)
Interveners in support of the applicant: Kingdom of Denmark (represented by: B. Weis Fogh and S. Juul Jørgensen, Agents); Republic of Finland (represented by: initially J. Heliskoski, H. Leppo and M. Pere, then J. Heliskoski and H. Leppo, Agents); and Kingdom of Sweden (represented by: A. Falk, K. Petkovska and S. Johannesson, Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: European Commission (represented by : J.-P. Keppenne and C. ten Dam, Agents)
Re:
Application for, first, annulment of the decision of the Board of Directors of the European Central Bank, notified to the applicant by letter of the President of the ECB of 2 September 2009, refusing to grant the applicant access to the databases used for the compilation of reports on its staff recruitment and mobility and, second, delivery up to the applicant of the databases in question, and, finally, a claim for damages for the loss allegedly suffered by the applicant as a result of the refusal of his application for access
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls the decision of the Board of Directors of the European Central Bank (ECB) notified to Mr Julien Dufour by letter of the President of the ECB of 2 September 2009;
Dismisses the remainder of the action;
Orders the ECB to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Mr Dufour;
Orders the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to bear their own costs.
____________1 - OJ C 11, 16.1.2010.