Judgment of the General Court of 13 September 2013 – ClientEarth v Commission
(Case T-111/11) 1
(Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Studies received by the Commission concerning the transposition of directives on the environment – Partial refusal of access – Exception relating to protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits – Specific and individual assessment – Compatibility with the Aarhus Convention – Overriding public interest – Consequences of exceeding the period for the adoption of an express decision – Extent of the obligation actively to disseminate environmental information)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: ClientEarth (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: P. Kirch, lawyer)
Defendant: European Commission (represented: initially by P. Oliver and C. ten Dam, and subsequently by P. Oliver and C. Zadra, Agents)
Re:
Application, initially, for annulment of the Commission’s implied decision refusing to grant the applicant access to certain documents on the conformity of the Member States’ legislation with European Union environmental law and then for annulment of the Commission’s subsequent express decision of 30 May 2011 refusing in part access to some of those documents.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders ClientEarth and the European Commission each to bear their own costs.
____________1 OJ C 130, 30.4.2011.