40It argues that the right of access to the documents of the institutions may be restricted only by a refusal justified by one of the limited number of exceptions listed in Article 4(1) or (2) of the Regulation. Where the exceptions might be applicable, they must be construed narrowly and with prudence, as is the case with respect to any exception to a fundamental general principle (Joined Cases C-174/98 P and C-189/98 P Netherlands and Van der Wal v Commission [2000] ECR I-1, paragraph 27; Case T-309/97 Bavarian Lager v Commission [1999] ECR II-3217, paragraph 39; Case T-111/00 British American Tobacco International (Investments) v Commission [2001] ECR II-2997, paragraph 40; and Case T-191/99 Petrie and Others v Commission [2001] ECR II-3677, paragraph 66). It adds that the exceptions must be interpreted in the light of Article 4(6) of the Regulation, which provides that ‘if only parts of the requested document are covered by any of the exceptions, the remaining parts of the document shall be released’. A different interpretation would defeat the wording and structure of Article 4 of the Regulation and of the Regulation as a whole. Article 4(5) of the Regulation does not form part of the list of exceptions to the ‘fundamental right of access’. That interpretation is supported by the fact that Article 4(7) of the Regulation does not refer to any exception other than those in paragraphs 1 to 3 of that article and the case of sensitive documents.
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