Izuzquiza and Others v Parliament

Mr Lagos had earlier, in October 2020, been convicted by the Court of Appeal in Athens for membership and leadership of a criminal organisation, Golden Dawn. Despite his conviction and imprisonment, Mr Lagos did not resign as a Member of the European Parliament.

Three EU citizens requested that the European Parliament provide them with documents relating to the allowances and expenses granted to Mr Lagos, to enable them to understand whether the sums allocated to him had contributed to the financing or perpetuation of criminal or unlawful activities. The European Parliament decided to refuse that request, relying on Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 on access to documents and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the processing of personal data by Union institutions.

The General Court has annulled that decision. It held, in summary, that:

1. Ascertaining the amounts allocated by the European Parliament to Mr Lagos contributed to public scrutiny, accountability,
   and transparency about how taxpayers’ money was spent. That was a specific purpose in the public interest within the
   meaning of Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 2018/1725 (§44).
2. Disclosure of the amounts relating to Mr Lagos’ travel expenses and allowance, and that of his assistants, was necessary to
   attain that purpose (§§65, 78).
3. The European Parliament was wrong to conclude that transmission of the information would not be proportionate (§96).

Jason Pobjoy acted for the successful applicants.

The judgment can be found here.

The General Court’s press release can be found here.