A scandal in Brussels. EC hid papers to destruct the Polish company from the market

The Polish Smart Kids company won the fight before the EU Court of Justice to disclose secret papers that the European Commission exchanged with the chair industry. The judgement reveals the disturbing practices of the EC, which, according to the company, acted under the influence of the corporate lobby.

KE v. Polish company. The case came out.

Smart Kids, a maker of innovative kid safety devices in cars, has been competing with the car seats manufacture for years. Its product – Smart kid Belt – these are peculiar buckles for matching the seat belts to the child’s height. For about PLN 100 it is simply a cheaper alternate to costly seats, while being approved throughout the EU.

However, the European Commission is working on amendments to the rules that Smart Kids say have intentionally exclude its product from the market. “The fresh evidence says that the kid must be raised to a certain height. This has nothing to do with security," said the company representative.

EC secret conversations with seat manufacturers

While working on fresh regulations Directorate-General for the interior marketplace (DG GROW) she was in correspondence with representatives of the car seats industry. According to Smart Kids, emails afraid actions to prohibit the sale of Polish product.

“Manufacturers of seats attacked us from the beginning. They had 1 goal: they wanted to ban our product," said Smart Kids president in 2023, Krzysztof Markowski, at the EP petition committee.

The company applied for these documents, but the EC refused, citing Protection of the commercial interests of companies. In consequence Smart Kids challenged the decision of the EC to EU Court of Justice.

TEU: EC acted unlawfully

Tuesday TEU has accepted a complaint from a Polish companystating that the EC did not prove that disclosure of papers would undermine commercial interests. The Court stressed that limiting access to papers must be justified, otherwise the rule of transparency in the EU is undermined.

‘Since the Commission has lost the case, the Court of First Instance has held that, as requested by the applicant, costs must be charged to the EC.’

Is the fight over?

The judgement of the CJEU is an crucial precedent that may affect increased transparency of the activities of the EU institutions. For Smart Kids, though, that's what it is. The beginning of the fight – the company fears that the EC will proceed to search changes to the rules that will destruct its product from the market.

Is the European Commission acting in the interests of consumers or influenced by the lobby? The case of the Polish company sheds fresh light on the practices of EU officials.