Judgments in Cases C-673/13 P Commission v Stichting Greenpeace Nederland and PAN Europe and C-442/14 Bayer CropScience and Stichting De Bijenstichting v College voor de toelating van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en biociden

The European Court of Justice decided on 23 November 2016 that when a person requests access to environmental documents, the concept of 'information on emissions into the environment' covers, inter alia, information concerning the nature and effects of the release of a pesticide into air, water or soil, or onto plants.

The Court considered that the confidentiality of commercial and industrial information may not be invoked to preclude the disclosure of such information.

• Primary Source

Politico, 23.11.16: Court sides with NGOs over pesticides http://www.politico.eu/article/ecj-favors-access-to-confidential-industry-studies-on-pesticides/

EurActiv, 25.11.16: Pesticide studies must be made public, EU court rules http://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/pesticide-studies-must-be-made-public-eu-court-rules/

Politico, 23.11.16: ECJ ruling on document access rattles chemical, pesticide industries http://www.politico.eu/article/ecj-ruling-on-document-access-rattles-chemical-pesticide-industries/

---