The General Court's Judgments in the Cases Access Info Europe v. Commission (T-851/16 and T-852/16): A Transparency Paradox?

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2018 3(2), 961-972 | European Forum Insight of 2 October 2018 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Background. - III. Court's reasoning. - III.1. Transparency and democracy. - III.2. Public interest as regards international relations. - III.3. Protection of Court proceedings and legal advice. - IV. Comments. - IV.1. Public interest as regards international relations. - IV.2. Protection of Court proceedings. - IV.3. Protection of legal advice. - IV.4. Overriding public interest in disclosure. - V. Conclusion. | (Abstract) On 7 February 2018, the General Court issued two twin judgments (T-851/16 and T-852/16) concerning requests for access to documents based on regulation 1049/2001. The two judgments added another piece to the expanding puzzle of case-law concerning access to documents held by institutions of the European Union. They developed a detailed analysis of the scope and nature of several of the exceptions to the principle of the broadest possible access to documents. The Court built largely on precedent. However, some aspects of its reasoning raise concerns on the scope of transparency in the negotiation of international deals, as well as on the rationale of non-disclosure in the name of protection of court proceedings and legal advice.