Judgments nº T-194/04 of Court of First Instance of the European Communities, November 08, 2007

• Resolution Date: November 08, 2007
• Issuing Organization: Court of First Instance of the European Communities
• Decision Number: T-194/04

In Case T-194/04,

The Bavarian Lager Co. Ltd, established in Clitheroe (United Kingdom), represented initially by J. Pearson and C. Bright, and subsequently by J. Webber and M. Readings, solicitors,

applicant,

supported by

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), represented by H. Hijmans, acting as Agent,

intervener,

v

Commission of the European Communities, represented by C. Docksey and P. Aalto, acting as Agents,

defendant,

APPLICATION for annulment of the Commission-s decision of 18 March 2004, rejecting an application by the applicant for access to the full minutes of a meeting held in the context of proceedings for failure to fulfil obligations and an application for a declaration that the Commission erroneously terminated the proceedings brought against the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland under Article 169 of the EC Treaty (now Article 226 EC),

THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (Third Chamber),

composed of M. Jaeger, President, V. Tiili and O. Czúcz, Judges,

Registrar: C. Kristensen, Administrator,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 13 September 2006,

gives the following

Judgment

Legal background

1 According to Article 6 EU:

-1. The Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles which are common to the Member States.

2. The Union shall respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms signed in Rome on 4 November 1950 and as they result from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, as general principles of Community law.

--

2 According to Article 255 EC:

-1. Any citizen of the Union, and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State, shall have a right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, subject to the principles and the conditions to be defined in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3.

2. General principles and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing this right of access to documents shall be determined by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 [EC] within two years of the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

--

3 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 (OJ 2001 L 145, p. 43), defines the principles, conditions and limits for the right of access to documents of those institutions laid down by Article 255 EC. That regulation has applied since 3 December 2001.

4 Commission Decision 2001/937/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 5 December 2001 amending its rules of procedure (OJ 2001 L 345, p. 94), repealed Commission Decision 94/90/ECSC, EC, Euratom of 8 February 1994 on public access to Commission documents (OJ 2001 L 46, p. 58), which implemented, in relation to the Commission, the Code of conduct concerning public access to Council and Commission documents (OJ 1993 L 340, p. 41; -the Code of Conduct-).

5 Recitals 4 and 11 in the preamble to Regulation No 1049/2001 state:

-(4) The purpose of this Regulation is to give the fullest possible effect to the right of public access to documents and to lay down the general principles and limits on such access in accordance with Article 255(2) ... EC.

-

(11) In principle, all documents of the institutions should be accessible to the public. However, certain public and private interests should be protected by way of exceptions. The institutions should be entitled to protect their internal consultations and deliberations where necessary to safeguard their ability to carry out their tasks. In assessing the exceptions, the institutions should take account of the principles in Community legislation concerning the protection of personal data, in all areas of Union activities.-

6 According to Article 4 of Regulation No 1049/2001, concerning exceptions to the right of access:

-1. The institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of:

-

(b) privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in accordance with Community legislation regarding the protection of personal data.

2. The institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of:

-

- the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits,

unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.

3. Access to a document, drawn up by an institution for internal use or received by an institution, which relates to a matter where the decision has not been taken by the institution, shall be refused if disclosure of the document would seriously undermine the institution-s decision-making process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.

Access to a document containing opinions for internal use as part of deliberations and preliminary consultations within the institution concerned shall be refused even after the decision has been taken if disclosure of the document would seriously undermine the institution-s decision-making process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.

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6. If only parts of the requested document are covered by any of the exceptions, the remaining parts of the document shall be released --

7 Article 6(1) of Regulation No 1049/2001 provides that -[t]he applicant is not obliged to state reasons for the application-.

8 Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ 1995 L 281, p. 31) requires Member States to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their privacy in relation to the handling of personal data, in order to ensure the free movement of personal data in the Community.

9 Article 286 EC provides that Community acts on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data are to apply to Community institutions and bodies.

10 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), was adopted on the basis of Article 286 EC.

11 According to recital 15 in the preamble to Regulation No 45/2001:

-- Access to documents, including conditions for access to documents containing personal data, is governed by the rules adopted on the basis of Article 255 ... EC the scope of which includes Titles V and VI of the [EU] Treaty.-

12 Regulation No 45/2001 provides:

-...

Article 1

Object of the Regulation

1. In accordance with this Regulation, the institutions and bodies set up by, or on the basis of, the Treaties establishing the European Communities, hereinafter referred to as -Community institutions or bodies-, shall protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data and shall neither restrict nor prohibit the free flow of personal data between themselves or to recipients subject to the national law of the Member States implementing Directive 95/46 ...

2. The independent supervisory authority established by this Regulation, hereinafter referred to as the European Data Protection Supervisor, shall monitor the application of the provisions of this Regulation to all processing operations carried out by a Community institution or body.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) -personal data- shall mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ...; an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his or her physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity;

(b) -processing of personal data- ... shall mean any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means, such as collection, recording, organisation, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, blocking, erasure or destruction;

(c) -personal data filing system- ... shall mean any structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis;

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Article 3

Scope

1. This Regulation shall apply to the processing of personal data by all Community institutions and bodies insofar as such processing is carried out in the exercise of activities all or part of which fall within the scope of Community law.

2. This Regulation shall apply to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automatic means, and to the processing otherwise than by automatic means of personal data which form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system.

...

Article 4

Data quality

1. Personal data must be:

(a) processed fairly and lawfully;

(b) collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a way incompatible with those purposes -;

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Article 5

Lawfulness of processing

Personal data may be processed only if:

(a) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest on the basis of the Treaties establishing the European Communities or other legal instruments adopted on the basis thereof or in the legitimate exercise of official authority vested in the...