Judgment of the General Court of 12 September 2013 –Besselink v Council
(Case T-331/11) 1
(Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Draft Council Decision authorising the Commission to negotiate the Accession Agreement of the European Union to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms – Exception relating to the protection of the public interest as regards international relations – Partial access – Obligation to state reasons – Application for measures of organisation of procedure or inquiry – Inadmissible)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Leonard Besselink (Utrecht, Netherlands) (represented by: O. Brouwer, J. Blockx and E. Raedts, lawyers)
Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented: initially by C. Fekete, P. Plaza García and J. Herrmann, and subsequently by P. Plaza García, J. Herrmann and B. Driessen, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: European Commission (represented by: E. Paasivirta and P. Costa de Oliveira, acting as Agents)
Re:
Application for annulment of the Council Decision of 1 April 2011 refusing access in full to document 9689/10, containing a draft Council Decision authorising the Commission to negotiate the Accession Agreement of the European Union to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls the Council Decision of 1 April 2011 refusing full access to document 9689/10 in that it refuses access to Negotiating Directive No 5 and to the undisclosed parts of the requested document, which set out the principles laid down in the EU Treaty that should govern negotiations for the accession of the European Union to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, or which only set out the questions to be addressed in the negotiations;
Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
Orders the parties to bear their own costs.
____________1 OJ C 238, 13.8.2011.