EU/INDIA : COMMISSION IN COURT OVER ACCESS TO TRADE TALK DOCUMENTS.

The European Commission appeared before the Court of Justice of the European Union, on 11 January, to defend its decision to refuse access to a certain number of documents regarding the EU-India free trade negotiations.

Accused by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) of "discriminating in favour of corporate lobby groups" and of "violating the EU's transparency rules," the EU executive claims that withholding certain documents is the normal procedure when they are too sensitive and their content is covered by exemptions in Regulation 1049/2001.

"The European Commission is committed to transparency and openness, including in trade negotiations," trade spokesman John Clancy stated. However, he argued that "transparency sometimes has to be balanced with the broader interest, including not undermining the EU's negotiating position," noting that in this case the Commission was trying to protect its negotiating partner, India.

The case (T-93/11) concerns 17 documents related to the ongoing EU-India FTA negotiations. According to CEO, the Commission shared all these documents in full with corporate lobby groups, such as BusinessEurope. But when asked for the same documents, CEO only received censored versions, the EU executive arguing that public disclosure of these documents would negatively affect relations with India. The Commission referred to Article 4.1(a) of Regulation (EC) 1049/2011, which states that "the institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of international relations".

According to Commission figures, DG Trade's...