Judgment_paragraph 153 · Changmao Biochemical Engineering Co. Ltd v Council of the European Union (T-442/12)

153According to the case-law, the legality of an EU measure must be assessed on the basis of the facts and the law as they stood at the time when the measure was adopted, with the result that the General Court cannot substitute other grounds relied on for the first time before it for the grounds relied on during the investigation procedure (see, to that effect, judgment of 30 June 2016, Jinan Meide Casting v Council, T‑424/13, EU:T:2016:378, paragraph 150). Accordingly, the refusal to disclose the information in question cannot be justified by a ground relied on during the oral procedure before the Court, namely the protection of the commercial interests of a competitor of the applicant, as the applicant rightly asserted at the hearing.