Category: Jurisprudence

News on judgments by the European Court of Justice related to open government in the EU.

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Jurisprudence

Processstukken inzake inbreukprocedures Commissie niet zonder meer uitgesloten van publieke toegang

Cross-post van het Expertisecentrum voor Europees Recht (ECER), Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken.

 

De Commissie mag een verzoek om openbaarmaking van de processtukken van een lidstaat in een infractieprocedure niet automatisch afwijzen omdat het stukken van het EU-Hof zijn. Het besluit om stukken vrij te geven moet worden genomen op basis van de bijzondere regeling in de Eurowob. Dat heeft het EU-Gerecht bepaald.

Het gaat om het arrest van het Gerecht van 27 februari 2015 in de zaak T-188/12, Patrick Breyer tegen de Commissie.

Breyer verzocht de Commissie om vrijgave van de door Oostenrijk bij het EU-Hof ingediende processtukken (memories) in de infractieprocedure die de Commissie tegen Oostenrijk had gevoerd over de implementatie van de dataretentierichtlijn ( zaak C-189/09).

Voor een uitgebreide bespreking van dit arrest zie de ECER-website. -MH

 

 

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Implementation Jurisprudence

Sophie in ‘t Veld MEP writes op-ed on lack of transparency in the EU

Sophie in ‘t Veld, a Dutch member of the European Parliament for the Democrats ’66 / ALDE party, laments the apparent lack of EU transparency in an op-ed on European news website Euractiv.com. “Trust in government and politics, both national and European, is at an all-time low, and the key to restoring trust is transparency.”

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Civil society Jurisprudence

European Court of Justice upholds judgement in Access Info Europe appeal

The Court of Justice of the EU dismisses in full the Council’s appeal against an earlier judgement in the much publicised Access Info Europe case.

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The long awaited judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in the Access Info Europe appeal was finally handed down last week, on 17 October. After losing a case against Access Info Europe (AIE) in front of the lower General Court, the Council appealed. The CJEU now has found that the General Court’s judgement was correct and must therefore be upheld. In total, three separate pleas in law filed by the Council were refuted.

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Jurisprudence

General Court Orders Partial Disclosure in Access to ECHR Accession Negotiation Documents Case

Law professor offers constitutional arguments for the disclosure of important Council documents. The General Court orders the Council to reconsider the scope of partial disclosure, but only on procedural grounds.

By Maarten Hillebrandt

besselink-leonard-fdr-hoogleraar-fotojeroenoerlemansOn Thursday 12 September, the General Court gave its judgment in Besselink v Council (T-331/11). In January 2011, Leonard Besselink (pictured), then Professor of Constitutional Law at Utrecht University, requested access to the documents relating to the EU’s negotiations to accede to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). In these documents, the Council discussed the strategic and substantive instructions to the Commission, which negotiated the accession on the EU’s behalf. The final draft of this draft accession treaty is currently going through the process of ratification. However, the Council refused access to the documents in which it instructed the Commission, on the basis of Article 4(1), third indent, of Regulation 1049/2001 on public access to EU documents. This article states that access must be refused where disclosure would undermine the public interest with regard to international relations. 

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