70Due to the particular circumstances of this case, the Commission was entitled to consider, first, that all the studies at issue fell within the same category of documents and, secondly, that access to that category of documents had to be refused on the basis of the exception invoked (see, to that effect, Case T-29/08 LPN v Commission [2011] ECR II-6021, paragraph 121). As the applicant states, it is true that the studies at issue were not produced by the Commission, do not reflect its position, and do not cause the Commission to incur any liability. Nonetheless, the studies were ordered by the Commission as part of the preliminary stage of infringement proceedings and they examine in depth the compatibility of the legislation of the Member States concerned with European Union law. Those studies constitute therefore material which may have an effect on the extent to which the Commission can commence negotiations with those Member States, free from external pressure, with the objective that the Member States comply voluntarily with European Union law.
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