Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 25 October 2013 —
Beninca v Commission
(Case T‑561/12)
Access to documents — Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 — Document drawn up by the Commission in the context of the merger between Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext — Refusal to grant access — Exception relating to protection of the decision-making process
1. Institutions of the European Union — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Protection of the decision-making process — Refusal of access to internal documents of the Commission relating to a procedure for review of concentration operations — Decision to close the procedure forming the subject-matter of legal proceedings — Admissibility of the refusal — Parties abandoning the concentration project — No effect (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Art. 4(2) and (3), second para.; Council Regulation No 139/2004, Arts 6(1), and 10(5)) (see paras 30-32, 36-39, 45)
2. Institutions of the European Union — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Overriding public interest justifying the disclosure of documents — Concept — Subjective interest of the person concerned to defend himself — Not included (Art. 255 EC; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, first and second recitals and Arts 2(1), and 4(3), second para.) (see paras 52, 58, 59)
3. Institutions of the European Union — Right of public access to documents — Regulation No 1049/2001 — Exceptions to the right of access to documents — Protection of the decision-making process — Scope concerning documents underlying the legislative process — Application to documents relating to a procedure for reviewing concentration operations (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, second and sixth recitals and Art. 4; Council Regulation No 139/2004) (see para. 64)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of the Commission’s decision of 9 October 2012 refusing access to a memorandum from the head of the unit responsible for competition matters at the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Mr. Jürgen Beninca to pay the costs. |