Luxembourg, January 20, 2026 — The EU General Court has rejected a request by Member of the European Parliament Tiemo Wölken to urgently halt the European Commission’s automatic deletion of unregistered emails and text messages linked to the Commission’s July 2025 withdrawal of its proposal on standard essential patents (SEPs), finding the applicant failed to show urgency.
Wölken sought interim measures requiring the Commission to immediately suspend “automatic deletions” under its 2024 implementing provisions for Regulation 1049/2001 on public access to documents. He argued that deletions would permanently destroy relevant records — including emails and texts — concerning the Commission’s decision on July 16, 2025, to withdraw the SEP legislative proposal, and would undermine both his parliamentary work and the effectiveness of access-to-documents rights.
No Urgency Shown
The Court held interim relief requires proof of urgency — meaning a risk of serious and irreparable harm before a final judgment — and found Wölken had not met that standard.
The president noted that Commission rules require the registration and retention of “substantial non-ephemeral” information. Under those rules, emails and texts containing important information, requiring follow-up or potentially needed as evidence must be registered in the Commission’s Ares document management system and retained.
By contrast, only unregistered emails are subject to automatic deletion after six months, and professional messaging apps are not to be used for substantive non-ephemeral information.
The Commission also confirmed it would preserve all documents covered by Wölken’s September 23, 2025, access request and said processing was ongoing due to the volume of records. On that basis, the Court found the feared disappearance of documents remained hypothetical.
Earlier Freeze Lifted
Because urgency was not established, the Court rejected the application without examining the merits. It also lifted a prior November 19, 2025, order that had temporarily required the Commission to suspend automatic deletions pending the outcome of the interim proceedings. Costs were reserved.
The underlying case challenges the Commission’s implied refusal of Wölken’s confirmatory request for access to documents tied to the SEP proposal withdrawal.
The case is T-784/25 R Wölken v Commission before the General Court.
Source: https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/affair?lang=EN&searchTerm=%22T-784%2F25+R%22
