80The appellant submits that, according to the case-law of the Court of Justice, the person concerned must receive, as of the administrative procedure, all the information necessary to defend his interests. It adds, citing Case C-49/88 Al-Jubail Fertilizer v Council [1991] ECR I-3187, paragraphs 17 and 18), that that person must be enabled to make known his views on the truth and relevance of the facts and circumstances alleged and the evidence held against him. In accordance with Case C-51/92 P Hercules Chemicals v Commission [1999] ECR I-4235, paragraphs 76 and 78, the infringement of that right cannot be remedied by the mere fact that access was made possible at a later stage, during an action in which annulment of the contested decision is sought. A fortiori, on the basis of that case-law, the rights of the defence and the right to effective legal protection are not respected where access was never granted to the file, even during the annulment proceedings.
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