Order of the President of the General Court of 13 February 2014 —
Luxembourg Pamol (Cyprus) and Luxembourg Industries v Commission
(Case T‑578/13 R)
Application for interim measures — Procedure for placing plant protection products on the market — Publication of documents relating to the inclusion of an active substance — Rejection of the request for confidential treatment of certain information — Application for suspension of operation of a measure — Admissibility — Urgency — Prima facie case — Weighing up of the interests involved
1. Application for interim measures — Conditions for admissibility — Application — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Inclusion of a summary with the categories of allegedly confidential data — Reference for the concrete data to the application in the main proceedings annexed to the application for interim relief — Admissibility (Arts 256(1) TFEU, 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 44(1)(c) and 104(2) and (3)) (see paras 26-33)
2. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Community law — Prima facie admissibility of the main action — Summary examination of the main action by the court hearing the application for interim measures — Application for annulment of a Commission decision concerning confidential treatment of information appearing in one of its decisions (Arts 256(1) TFEU and 278 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2) and (3)) (see paras 35-42)
3. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Prima facie case — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Cumulative nature — Balancing of all the interests involved — Order of examination and method of verification — Discretion of the court hearing the application for interim relief (Arts 256(1) TFEU, 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see paras 44, 45, 47)
4. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Conditions for granting — Balancing of all the interests involved — Suspension of Commission decision concerning confidential treatment of information appearing in one of its decisions — Need to maintain the effectiveness of the decision of the General Court in the action in the main proceedings (Arts 256(1) TFEU and 278 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see paras 66-70)
5. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Serious and irreparable damage — Burden of proof borne by the party seeking the interim measure — Risk of fundamental rights being undermined — Not sufficient to constitute serious damage — Assessment according to the circumstances of the case — Damage linked to the disclosure of information covered by business secrecy — Criteria for assessment — Importance of the information for the undertaking concerned and usefulness of it for other undertakings (Arts 256(1) TFEU, 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 104(2)) (see paras 80-94)
Re:
| APPLICATION for suspension of operation of the Commission’s decision communicated to the applicants by letter of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of 8 October 2013 rejecting the request for confidential treatment of certain information contained in the peer review report and final addendum thereto concerning the inclusion of the active substance potassium phosphonates submitted by the applicants pursuant to Article 14 of Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (OJ 1991 L 230, p. 1) and Commission Regulation (EU) No 188/2011 of 25 February 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Directive 91/414 as regards the procedure for the assessment of active substances which were not on the market two years after the date of notification of that Directive (OJ 2011 L 53, p. 1). |
Operative part
1. | | Operation of the Commission’s decision communicated to Luxembourg Pamol (Cyprus) Ltd and Luxembourg Industries Ltd by letter of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of 8 October 2013 rejecting their request for confidential treatment of certain information contained in the peer review report and final addendum thereto concerning the inclusion of the active substance potassium phosphonates is suspended. |
2. | | The European Commission is ordered to ensure that EFSA does not publish a version of the peer review report and final addendum thereto concerning the inclusion of the active substance potassium phosphonates that is more detailed than the redacted version included in the letter of Luxembourg Pamol (Cyprus) Ltd and Luxembourg Industries of 25 February 2013, as set out in Annex A3 to the application in the main proceedings. |