Order of the General Court of 20 August 2025 – APEDA and O’Connor v Commission

(Case T-458/24)  (1)

(Action for annulment - Access to documents - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Implied refusal of access - Express decision adopted after the action was brought - No need to adjudicate - Modification of the form of order sought - Article 86(2) of the Rules of Procedure - Failure to observe the time limit for instituting proceedings - No separate document - Manifest inadmissibility - Application for a direction to be issued - Manifest lack of jurisdiction)

(C/2025/5583)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicants: Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) (New Delhi, India), Bernard O’Connor (Brussels, Belgium) (represented by: M. Hommé and B. O’Connor, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: K. Herrmann and M. Burón Pérez, acting as Agents)

Re:

By their action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicants seek the annulment of the implied decision of the European Commission of 1 July 2024 by which it refused the confirmatory application for access to documents that was registered under EASE 2024/1869 and, after modification of the form of order sought by them, of Commission Decision C(2024) 8058 final of 13 November 2024, by which the Commission granted the applicants partial or full access to some of the requested documents.

Operative part of the order

1.	There is no longer any need to adjudicate on the claim for annulment of the implied decision of the European Commission of 1 July 2024 rejecting the confirmatory application for access to certain documents with reference EASE 2024/1869.

2.	The action is dismissed as to the remainder, in part, as having been brought before a court which manifestly has no jurisdiction to hear it and, in part, as manifestly inadmissible.

3.	Each party shall bear its own costs.

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(1)   OJ C, C/2024/6942, 25.11.2024.