In a ruling handed down on Wednesday 24 April (Case T-205/22), the General Court of the European Union partially annulled a decision by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to refuse a request for access to documents submitted by the German organisation Sea-Watch, which carries out rescue operations in the central Mediterranean.
Under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents held by EU institutions and bodies, Sea-Watch is challenging Frontex’s refusal to grant it access to a series of documents (reports, minutes, photographs and videos) relating to an aerial operation carried out by the European agency in July 2021. Sea-Watch wants to ensure that Frontex and Member State authorities have not violated the principle of non-pushback of migrants attempting to enter the European Union.
Frontex, which has refused access to 73 documents, considers that the documents in question fall under several exceptions to EU law, in particular the need to protect public security. It refused to make a partial disclosure of these same documents on the grounds that the amount of information to be censored would be disproportionate to the information that would be disclosed.
In its judgment, the General Court largely rejected Sea-Watch’s arguments. It notes, however, that Frontex failed to mention the existence of photographs covered by Sea-Watch’s request and, therefore, that the agency did not justify its refusal of access to the photographs. The General Court partially annulled Frontex’s decision insofar as it refused access to all the photographs and videos relating to the air operation in the central Mediterranean at the end of July 2021.
To see the Court’s judgment, go to https://aeur.eu/f/bxg (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)