Orders nº T-255/20 of Tribunal General de la Unión Europea, December 14, 2020

• Resolution Date: December 14, 2020
• Issuing Organization: Tribunal General de la Unión Europea
• Decision Number: T-255/20

(Action for annulment - Access to documents - Comitology - Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles - Agenda for the 79th meeting of the committee - Right to information applicable in the Member States of the European Union as regards emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles - Implied refusal of access - Express decision adopted after the action was brought - No need to adjudicate)

In Case T-255/20,

ClientEarth AISBL, established in Brussels (Belgium), represented by F. Logue, Solicitor, and J. Kenny, Barrister,

applicant,

v

European Commission, represented by S. Delaude, C. Ehrbar and G. Gattinara, acting as Agents,

defendant,

APPLICATION under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of the implied decision of the Commission of 26 February 2020 refusing to grant access to certain parts of the minutes of the 79th meeting of the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles of 12 February 2019,

THE GENERAL COURT (Second Chamber),

composed of V. Tomljenović, President, F. Schalin (Rapporteur) and P. Škvařilová-Pelzl, Judges,

Registrar: E. Coulon,

makes the following

Order

Background to the dispute

1 ClientEarth AISBL is a charitable association whose mission is, inter alia, to promote the enhancement, conservation and protection of the environment as well as to provide information on all matters relating to the law, to practice and to the administration of justice in connection with the environment.

2 Under the rules applicable in the European Union, vehicle manufacturers are obliged, before bringing a product to market, to provide the approval authorities with a package of specific documentation giving information on the use of defeat devices or auxiliary emission control systems. In that context, the Commission, at the request of some of the Member States, produced guidance that set out generally how Member States should deal with requests for public access to such packages. That guidance was discussed at the 79th meeting of the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles, held in Brussels (Belgium) on 12 February 2019.

3 By letter of 22 November 2019, the applicant submitted an application to the European Commission, on the basis of 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), for access to ‘any guidance or drafts thereof prepared by [that institution] on how national authorities should handle access...