Judgment of the General Court of 26 March 2020 — ViaSat v Commission

(Case T-734/17) (1)

(Access to documents - Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 - Mobile satellite system operator - Documents provided to the Commission by a candidate selected in a call for tenders - Implied and express refusal of access - Exception relating to the protection of the commercial interests of a third party - Overriding public interest - Refusal of partial access)

(2020/C 175/12)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: ViaSat, Inc. (Carlsbad, California, United States) (represented by: J. Ruiz Calzado, L. Marco Perpiñà, P. de Bandt and M. Gherghinaru, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: S. Delaude and C. Ehrbar, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the defendant: Inmarsat Ventures Ltd (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: C. Spontoni, B. Amory, É. Barbier de La Serre, lawyers, and A. Howard, Barrister)

Re:

Application under Article 263 TFEU, first, for annulment of the Commission’s implied decision rejecting the applicant’s confirmatory application of 10 July 2017 for access to any information provided by Inmarsat plc, Inmarsat Ventures or its subsidiaries on the occasion of their participation in the European Union call for tenders which led to the adoption of Commission Decision 2009/449/EC of 13 May 2009 on the selection of operators of pan-European systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) (OJ 2009 L 149, p. 65) and to any exchange of information in that regard between Inmarsat and the Commission, and, secondly, for annulment of Commission Decision C(2018) 180 final of 11 January 2018 refusing access to that information.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.

Declares that there is no need to rule on the lawfulness of the European Commission’s implied decision rejecting the applicant’s confirmatory application of 10 July 2017 for access to all the information provided by Inmarsat plc, Inmarsat Ventures Ltd or its subsidiaries on the occasion of their participation in the European Union call for tenders which led to the adoption of Commission Decision 2009/449/EC of 13 May 2009 on the selection of operators of pan-European systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) and to any exchange of information in that regard between Inmarsat and the Commission;

2.	Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3.	Orders ViaSat, Inc., to bear three quarters of its own costs and to pay three quarters of the costs incurred by the Commission and by Inmarsat Ventures;

4.	Orders the Commission to bear a quarter of its own costs and to pay a quarter of the costs incurred by ViaSat and by Inmarsat Ventures.

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(1)  OJ C 22, 22.1.2018.