General Court (European Union), judgement of 27 november 2019, Izuzquiza and Semsrott v. Frontex, T-31/18, EU:T:2019:815

Sailing through transparent waters? A comparison between cases concerning public access to information related to Search and Rescue operations in the Mediterranean.

Abstract

With the ruling Izuzquiza and Semsrott v. Frontex (T-31/18), the General Court dismisses the action for annulment of a decision of Frontex concerning the refusal to access information related to naval operations in the Mediterranean brought by EU citizens. The General Court power to review the legality of Frontex’ decision is limited to the assessment of the credibility of Frontex explanation. The Agency enjoys great discretion in using the exception of the protection of European public security to justify non-disclosure of such information, but what are the limits of EU transparency legislation?