European Business Law, the fourth volume in our series, shows how the European authorities simultaneously abolish all restrictions on access to and exercise of economic activities and support the growth of domestic markets, through the harmonization the internal legislation or the enactment of genuinely unified regulations.

European Business Law


According to Article 19(1) of the regulation, the Commission is bound to treat as such an information which is by nature confidential - in particular because its disclosure would be of significant advantage to a competitor or would have a significant adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from which he has acquired the information  - or which is provided on a conf …

Confidential information

According to Article 19(1) of the regulation, the Commission is bound to treat as such an information which is by nature confidential - in particular because its disclosure would be of significant advantage to a competitor or would have a significant adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from which he has acquired the information  - or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation. The name of Union producers forming the sample may thus be kept secret where they are under a threat of commercial retaliation . Given the applicants' thorough knowledge of the market, information which enables them to work out with relatively accuracy the elements, the structure and, ultimately, the amount of the Union producer's costs  , or the European undertakings' costs of production  , are also confidential information. Lastly, unless disclosure is imposed by the regulation, information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 15, or any internal documents prepared by the Union authorities or the Member States are not divulged.

The confidentiality obligation is also imposed on Member States or their officials who must not reveal any information received pursuant to the anti-dumping regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by a party.

An undertaking which requests that certain documents or parts of documents be treated as confidential information must, except in exceptional circumstances, furnish non-confidential summaries thereof in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence (Art. 19(2)) . In the event of confidential treatment being refused, the undertaking must have the opportunity, if it desires, to withdraw any documents and parts of documents concerned. All the material whose confidential nature has been recognized by the Court of Justice is placed in a special file, which will only be disclosed to the principal parties and the officers of the Court . In all events, reasons for rejecting a request for confidential treatment must be given  . The use of confidential information of which no non-confidential summary was supplied cannot be relied upon as a ground for annulment of an anti-dumping measure unless the use of that information constituted an infringement of the parties' defense rights  . Furthermore, the fact that information may be used only for the purpose for which it was requested does not preclude its use in the context of one investigation for the purpose of initiating other investigations within the same proceeding in relation to the product concerned (Art. 19(6).

Regulation No 1339/2002 of 22 July 2002,  on imports of sulphanilic acid originating in  the People's Republic of China and India, LawLex200900002564JBJ, given the relatively small number of producers of the product concerned worldwide, confidentiality reasons prevent the disclosure of detailed information concerning imports of the product concerned into the Union, especially for countries with only one exporting producer.

Regulation No 1567/97 of 1 August 1997, imports of leather or plastic handbags, LawLex200900002437JBJ.

Case T-159/94 Ajinomoto, Judgment of 18 December 1997, LawLex200900001263JBJ.

Case 250/85 Brother Industries, Judgment of 5 October 1985, LawLex200900001739JBJ.

Council Regulation No 1522/2000 of 10 July 2000, LawLex200900002567JBJ, imports of synthetic staple fibers of polyester originating in Australia,  Indonesia and Thailand,finding that an exporting producer cannot rely on the incomplete or insufficiently detailed character of non-confidential summaries of submissions made by some European producers insofar as the general information and the detailed evidence relied on by the Commission for its findings have been disclosed in accordance with Article 19(4) of the anti-dumping regulation.

Case 236/81 Celanese Chemical Company Inc., Judgment of 30 March1982, LawLex201100000269JBJ.

Regulation No 2016/1036, Art. 19(3) : "Requests for confidentiality shall not be arbitrarily rejected".

Case T-249/06 Interpipe Nikopolsky Seamless Tubes Plant Niko Tube ZAT, Interpipe Nizhnedneprovsky Tube Rolling Plant VAT, Judgment of 10 March 2009, LawLex200900001937JBJ.

European Business Law

445. Confidential information

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445. Confidential information

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Sous parties

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise