Judgment_paragraph 154 · Axa Versicherung AG v European Commission (T-677/13)

154Furthermore, the applicant submits that the business dealings which may come to light as a result of disclosing the identity of the legal persons mentioned in the table of contents date from more than five years ago and are therefore too ‘old’ to be regarded as covered by the exception laid down in the first indent of Article 4(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001. This argument, besides being too general to be capable of rebutting the general presumption invoked by the Commission, is not conclusive. Admittedly, it has been held that information falling within the ambit of commercial secrecy or confidential information which is five or more years old must be treated as historic unless, by way of exception, it is proven that such information still constitutes an essential element of the commercial position of the undertaking to which it relates (see order of 22 February 2005 in Hynix Semiconductor v Council, T‑383/03, ECR, EU:T:2005:57, paragraph 60 and the case-law cited). It has also been held, more generally, that the negative effects liable to follow upon the disclosure of commercially sensitive information become less significant the older the information is (see, to that effect, order of 19 June 1996 in NMH Stahlwerke and Others v Commission, T‑134/94, T‑136/94 to T‑138/94, T‑141/94, T‑145/94, T‑147/94, T‑148/94, T‑151/94, T‑156/94 and T‑157/94, EU:T:1996:85, paragraphs 24 and 32). However, that does not prevent such information continuing to be covered by the exception laid down in the first indent of Article 4(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001, as is apparent from the case-law cited in paragraph 63 above.