Friends of the Earth, an environmental NGO, had requested the EU executive to release three letters that German carmaker Porsche AG had sent to Günter Verheugen, former Commission Vice-President in charge of enterprise policy.
The letters were sent in 2006 in response to an EU consultation on how to tackle CO2 emissions from cars. But the Commission denied access, "arguing that disclosure of the letters would undermine the protection of the company's commercial interests."
Citing EU transparency rules, the European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, took sides with the environmental group. In September last year, he asked the Commission to disclose the letters saying the commercial confidentiality argument was not justified. But his demand has so far not been met.
"The Commission's uncooperative attitude in this case is detrimental to the public image of the EU," Diamandouros said in a statement, saying "it risks eroding citizens' trust" in the EU institutions.
Paul de Clerck, a campaigner for corporate accountability at Friends of the Earth, told EurActiv that the NGO had less interest in seeing the letters today because the European Commission had since reversed its policy on CO2 emissions from cars and adopted legislation to tackle the issue.
But he says the case was still relevant on accountability grounds. "The fact that the Commission refuses to give the letters starts to raise the question of why they are doing this," De Clerck said. "If it is not for commercial reasons that they are refusing to produce the letters then there must be something else."
"Is there something in there that is compromising for the Commissioner? We don’t know. But so far the Commission’s behaviour has given us reason to be suspicious."
Günter Verheugen, a German socialist, has often been criticised for siding with carmakers during negotiations on CO2 emissions reductions in the sector (EurActiv 02/12/08).
Michael Mann, a spokesperson for the European Commission, said the EU executive had informed Porsche of its intention to release the documents. The company had ten days to appeal to the European Court of Justice from the day of reception of the Commission’s letter, which was sent on 18 February.
"The period is still running," Mann said.
