Order of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 25 March 2022 –
Saure v Commission

(Case T‑151/21) ( 1 )

(Action for annulment – Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Commission correspondence concerning the quantity and delivery timings of BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccines – Initial refusal – Act not open to challenge – Application to modify the form of order sought – Assessing the admissibility of an action at the time it was brought – Manifest inadmissibility)

1. 

Action for annulment – Actionable measures – Concept – Measures producing binding legal effects – Initial statement of position on a request for access to Commission documents – Not included

(Art. 263 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1049/2001, Arts 7 and 8)

(see paras 26, 28-32)

2. 

Judicial proceedings – Admissibility of actions – Judged by reference to the situation when the application was lodged – New factor – Adaptation of initial forms of order sought and pleas in law – Possibility subject to the admissibility of the initial application

(Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 86)

(see paras 33, 34)

Operative part

1. 

The action is dismissed as being manifestly inadmissible.

2. 

M. Hans-Wilhelm Saure shall bear his own costs and pay those incurred by the European Commission and those relating to the requests to modify the application and the European Commission shall bear its own costs related to the application.


( 1 ) OJ C 189, 17.5.2021.