ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT
4 June 2021 (*)
(Appeal – Intervention at first instance – Confidentiality – Information treated as confidential at first instance)
In Case C‑209/21 P,
APPEAL under Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, brought on 1 April 2021,
Ryanair DAC, established in Swords (Ireland), represented by E. Vahida and F.‑C. Laprévote, avocats, S. Rating, abogado, I.‑G. Metaxas-Maranghidis, dikigoros, and V. Blanc, avocate,
appellant,
the other parties to the proceedings being:
European Commission,
defendant at first instance,
French Republic,
Kingdom of Sweden,
interveners at first instance,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT,
having regard to the proposal of S. Rodin, Judge-Rapporteur,
after hearing the Advocate General, G. Pitruzzella,
makes the following
Order
1 By its appeal, Ryanair DAC seeks to have set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 17 February 2021, Ryanair v Commission (T‑238/20, EU:T:2021:91), by which the General Court dismissed its application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 2366 final of 11 April 2020 on State aid SA.56812 (2020/N) – Sweden – COVID-19: Loan guarantee scheme to airlines.
2 By document lodged at the Court Registry on 15 April 2021, Ryanair requests that the Court grant confidential treatment, vis-à-vis the French Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden, interveners at first instance, in respect of information relating to reservation numbers and expected passenger targets, as set out in paragraph 36 of the abridged version of its application at first instance, which is annexed to its appeal (Annex P. 2). To that end, Ryanair submits a non-confidential version of that application as an annex to its request to the Court for confidential treatment.
3 Confidential treatment had already been granted on a provisional basis, vis-à-vis the French Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden, in respect of the information which is the subject of the present request, in connection with the proceedings at first instance, by orders of the President of the Tenth Chamber (Extended Composition) of the General Court of 5 and 21 August 2020 respectively, and, as those two Member States did not raise any objections to that confidential treatment, it was granted on a definitive basis by the judgment of the General Court of 17 February 2021, Ryanair v Commission (T‑238/20, EU:T:2021:91).
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 service of the appeal on that party. 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 before the General Court.
5 However, where a party is requesting, in relation to parties 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 those same parties in the proceedings at first instance, the same confidential treatment must, in principle, be maintained for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court of Justice (order of the President of the Court of 13 December 2016, Lundbeck v Commission, C‑591/16 P, not published, EU:C:2016:967, paragraph 5).
6 It follows from the foregoing that Ryanair’s request for confidential treatment, vis-à-vis the French Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden, in respect of the information relating to reservation numbers and expected passenger targets, as set out in paragraph 36 of the abridged version of its application at first instance, annexed to its appeal (Annex P. 2), must be granted. Only the non-confidential version of that application at first instance, redacting that information in the paragraph in question, will be served on those Member States by the Registrar.
On those grounds, the President of the Court hereby orders:
1. Confidential treatment is granted, vis-à-vis the French Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden, in respect of the information relating to the reservation numbers and expected passenger targets, as set out in paragraph 36 of the abridged version of the application at first instance, annexed to Ryanair DAC’s appeal (Annex P. 2), which had already been granted confidential treatment in the case giving rise to the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 17 February 2021, Ryanair v Commission (T‑238/20, EU:T:2021:91), and only a non-confidential version of that application, redacting that information in the paragraph in question, is required to be served by the Registrar on those two Member States.
2. The costs are reserved.
Luxembourg, 4 June 2021.
A. Calot Escobar | | K. Lenaerts |