Judgments nº T-701/18 of Tribunal General de la Unión Europea, May 28, 2020

• Resolution Date: May 28, 2020
• Issuing Organization: Tribunal General de la Unión Europea
• Decision Number: T-701/18

(Access to documents - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Documents in relation to Ireland’s compliance or non-compliance with its obligations under Council Framework Decisions 2008/909/JHA, 2008/947/JHA, 2009/829/JHA - Refusal to grant access - Article 4(2), third indent, of Regulation No 1049/2001 - Exception relating to the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits - General presumption of confidentiality)

In Case T-701/18,

Liam Campbell, residing in Dundalk (Ireland), represented by J. MacGuill, Solicitor, and E. Martin-Vignerte, lawyer,

applicant,

v

European Commission, represented by A. Spina and C. Ehrbar, acting as Agents,

defendant,

APPLICATION under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision C(2018) 6642 final of 4 October 2018 refusing access to documents in relation to Ireland’s compliance or non-compliance with its obligations under Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments in criminal matters imposing custodial sentences or measures involving deprivation of liberty for the purpose of their enforcement in the European Union (OJ 2008 L 327, p. 27), Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments and probation decisions with a view to the supervision of probation measures and alternative sanctions (OJ 2008 L 337, p. 102) and Council Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA of 23 October 2009 on the application, between Member States of the European Union, of the principle of mutual recognition to decisions on supervision measures as an alternative to provisional detention (OJ 2009 L 294, p. 20).

THE GENERAL COURT (Third Chamber, Extended Composition),

composed of S. Papasavvas, President, A.M. Collins, V. Kreuschitz, G. De Baere (Rapporteur) and G. Steinfatt, Judges,

Registrar: P. Cullen, Administrator,

having regard to the written part of the procedure and further to the hearing on 17 December 2019,

gives the following

Judgment

Background to the dispute

1 The applicant, Mr Liam Campbell, is an Irish national who was arrested in Ireland on 2 December 2016 on the basis of a European arrest warrant relating to three criminal offences, issued by the Lithuanian authorities on 26 August 2013. The applicant is contesting before the Irish courts the surrender request made by the Lithuanian authorities.

2 By letter of 9 August 2018, the applicant submitted to the European Commission a request for access to documents pursuant to 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). That request related to all documents held by the European Commission in relation to Ireland’s compliance or non-compliance with its obligations under Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments in criminal matters imposing custodial sentences or measures involving deprivation of liberty for the purpose of their enforcement in the European Union (OJ 2008 L 327, p. 27), Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments and probation decisions with a view to the supervision of probation measures and alternative sanctions (OJ 2008 L 337, p. 102) and Council Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA of 23 October 2009 on the application, between Member States of the European Union, of the principle of mutual recognition to decisions on supervision measures as an alternative to provisional detention (OJ 2009 L 294, p. 20) (together, ‘the Framework Decisions’). As an annex to his request, the applicant enclosed a letter of 18 January 2018 from the member of the Commission with responsibility for justice sent to several members of the European Parliament relating to his personal situation and which mentioned the Framework Decisions.

3 By letter of 21 August 2018, the Commission replied to the applicant that there were no documents in its possession corresponding to his request.

4 By letter of 22 August 2018, the applicant made a confirmatory application requesting that the Commission reconsider its position. The applicant stated that, since the letter from the member of the Commission with responsibility for justice enclosed as an annex to his initial request mentioned that Ireland had still not transposed the Framework Decisions in national law, that meant that the Commission held at least one document relating to the transposition by Ireland of those Framework Decisions.

5 By e-mails of 12 September and 3 October 2018, the Commission twice extended the deadline for replying on the basis of Article 8(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001.

6 By decision of 4 October 2018 (‘the contested decision’), the Commission refused to grant access to the documents requested. The Commission stated that, following a review of the request, it had identified documents relating to Ireland’s transposition of the Framework Decisions falling within the scope of the applicant’s request. The Commission stated as follows:

‘These documents contain exchanges between the responsible services of the European Commission and Ireland and pertain to the files of the three following EU PILOT procedures:

- EU Pilot procedure with the reference number EUP(2015)8138 concerning Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA;

- EU Pilot procedure with the reference number EUP(2015)8140 concerning Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA;

- EU Pilot procedure with the reference number EUP(2015)8147 concerning Council Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA.’

7 The Commission informed the applicant that he was refused access to the documents concerned on the basis of the third indent of Article 4(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001 on the protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits.

8 First, the Commission stated that the EU Pilot procedures had been closed on 16 March 2018 and that no decision had yet been taken concerning the opening of a formal infringement procedure under Article 258 TFEU, but that its services were still discussing the possibility of opening such a procedure. It took the view that, on those grounds, an infringement investigation against Ireland with regard to the transposition of the Framework Decisions was still ongoing. The Commission considered that public access to the documents requested by the applicant would negatively influence the dialogue between it and the Member State, for which a climate of trust is essential, and would also alter the bilateral nature of the informal and formal stages of the infringement procedure, as laid down in Article 258 TFEU, and would hinder it in taking a decision on those three files free from undue outside influence.

9 The Commission therefore found that all the documents in the files were covered by the general presumption of confidentiality based on the exception provided for in the third indent of Article 4(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001 relating to the protection of inspections, investigations and audits, which meant that a specific and individual assessment of the content of each requested document was not necessary.

10 Next, the Commission observed that, in his confirmatory application, the applicant did not refer to any particular overriding public interest that would warrant public disclosure of the specific type of information included in the documents in question and that would outweigh the need to protect that information in the light of the exceptions provided for in Regulation No 1049/2001. The Commission added that it had been unable to establish the existence of an overriding public interest in disclosure of the documents in question.

11 Finally, the Commission took the view that partial access was not possible since the documents requested were covered in their entirety by the exception invoked.

Procedure and forms of order sought

12 By document lodged at the Court Registry on 26 November 2018, the applicant submitted an application for legal aid. By order of 21 March 2019, the President of the Eighth Chamber of the General Court granted the applicant legal aid.

13 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 8 April 2019, the applicant brought the present action.

14 As a result of changes in the composition of the chambers of the General Court pursuant to Article 27(5) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, the Judge-Rapporteur was assigned to the Third Chamber, to which the present case was accordingly allocated.

15 Acting on a proposal from the Third Chamber, the Court decided...