Action brought on 3 April 2009 - Kitou v European Data Protection Supervisor

(Case T-164/09)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Erasmia Kitou (Brussels, Belgium) (represented by: S. Pappas, lawyer)

Defendant: European Data Protection Supervisor

Form of order sought

declare that Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is inapplicable;

in the alternative, declare an error of law in the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 in conjunction with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001;

consequently, annul the Decision of the European Data Protection Supervisor 2008-0600;

declare that the request for access to the document does not satisfy the conditions laid down in Regulation No 45/2001;

order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant seeks the annulment of the decision of the European Data Protection Supervisor by which the latter found that the disclosure during national legal proceedings of certain data concerning the applicant's career in the Commission of the European Communities is not contrary to the provisions of Regulations No 45/2001 ¹ and No 1049/2001. ²

In support of its action, the applicant claims that:

the contested decision is unfounded inasmuch as it is based on Regulation No 1049/2001 which is inapplicable in the present case, since the request for access does not concern a document within the meaning of Regulation No 1049/2001, but exclusively an item of personal data.

even if Regulations No 1049/2001 and No 45/2001 were to apply in conjunction with one another in the present case, the defendant, when applying them, erred in considering that the conditions imposed by Regulation No 45/2001 concerning the processing of personal data apply only where the exception provided for in Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding access to documents is applicable;

the defendant infringed the provisions of Regulation No 45/2001 inasmuch as the request for access did not concern a document and was not based on any of the conditions for permitting the processing of personal data.

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¹ - Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (OJ 2001 L 8, p. 1).

² - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ 2001 L 145, p. 43).