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‑210/21 P,
APPEAL under Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, brought on 2 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,
intervener 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‑259/20, EU:T:2021:92), by which the General Court dismissed its application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 2097 final of 31 March 2020 on State Aid SA.56765 (2020/N) – France – COVID-19 – Deferral of the payment of airline taxes in favour of public air transport undertakings.
2 By document lodged at the Court Registry on 15 April 2021, Ryanair requests the Court to grant confidential treatment, in relation to the French Republic, intervener at first instance, in respect of information relating to reservation numbers and expected passenger targets, as set out in paragraph 40 of the abridged version of its application at first instance, which is annexed to its appeal (Annex P. 3). To that end, Ryanair submits, as an annex to its request to the Court for confidential treatment, a non-confidential version of that application.
3 Confidential treatment had already been granted on a provisional basis, in relation to the French Republic, in respect of the information which is the subject of the present request, in connection with the proceedings at first instance, by order of the President of the Tenth Chamber (Extended Composition) of the General Court of 14 August 2020, and, as that Member State 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‑259/20, EU:T:2021:92).
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 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 party 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 that the Court grant confidential treatment, in relation to the French Republic, in respect of the information relating to reservation numbers and expected passenger targets, as set out in paragraph 40 of the abridged version of its application at first instance, annexed to its appeal (Annex P. 3), must be granted. Only the non-confidential version of that application at first instance, with that information redacted in the paragraph in question, will be served on that Member State by the Registrar.
On those grounds, the President of the Court hereby orders:
1. Confidential treatment is granted, in relation to the French Republic, in respect of the information relating to reservation numbers and expected passenger targets, as set out in paragraph 40 of the abridged version of the application at first instance, annexed to Ryanair DAC’s appeal (Annex P. 3), 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‑259/20, EU:T:2021:92), and only a non-confidential version of that application, with that information redacted in the paragraph in question, is required to be served by the Registrar on that Member State.
2. The costs are reserved.
Luxembourg, 4 June 2021.
A. Calot Escobar | | K. Lenaerts |