TRADE SECRETS LAW
Term ‘environmental information’ includes information submitted for the authorisation f a plant protection product.
Interest of protection of industrial or commercial secret may be outweighed public interest served by disclosure.
• In those circumstances, where a request is made to the competent authorities for access to environmental information that has been supplied by an applicant for an authorisation to place plant protection products on the market, and the request for protection of that information as industrial or commercial secrets within the meaning of Article 14 of Directive 91/414 appears to them to be justified, those authorities are nevertheless obliged to allow the request for access to that information if it relates to emissions into the environment or if, in other cases, the public interest served by disclosure appears to outweigh the interest served by the refusal to disclose.
Balancing exercise on a case by case basis
IPPT20101216, CJEU, Natuur en Milieu v Ctgb
