Judgments (Information) nº T-561/12 of The General Court, October 25, 2013

• Resolution Date: October 25, 2013
• Issuing Organization: The General Court
• Decision Number: T-561/12

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 —...