Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) 19 December 2013, C‑279/12 (Fish Legal and Emily Shirley v Information Commissioner and Others.)

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The Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) ruled on the interpretation of Article 2(2) of Directive 2003/4/EC concerning the classification of privatised water and sewerage undertakers in England and Wales as 'public authorities' for the purposes of public access to environmental information. The Court held that an entity falls within Article 2(2)(b) if it is vested under national law with special powers beyond those applicable in normal private-law relations, and falls within Article 2(2)(c) if it does not determine in a genuinely autonomous manner the way it provides public environmental services because a body within Article 2(2)(a) or (b) can exert decisive influence over its actions. An entity qualifying under Article 2(2)(b) must disclose all environmental information it holds, whereas one qualifying solely under Article 2(2)(c) is only required to disclose environmental information relating to the provision of those public services.AI