CJEU - C 293/12 and 594/12 / Opinion

Digital Rights Ireland
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
ADVOCATE GENERAL Cruz Villalón
Type
Opinion
Decision date
12/12/2013
  • CJEU - C 293/12 and 594/12 / Opinion
    Key facts of the case:
     
    (Electronic communications – Directive 2006/24/EC – Retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of electronic communications services – Validity – Article 5(4) TEU – Proportionality of action of the European Union – Charter of Fundamental Rights – Article 7 – Respect for privacy – Article 8 – Protection of personal data – Article 52(1) – Interference – Quality of the law – Proportionality of limits on the exercise of fundamental rights)
     
    Results (sanctions) and key consequences of the case:
     
    159. In light of the foregoing considerations, I propose that the Court should answer the questions referred by the High Court in Case C‑293/12 and the Verfassungsgerichtshof in Case C‑594/12 as follows:
    1. Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks and amending Directive 2002/58/EC is as a whole incompatible with Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, since the limitations on the exercise of fundamental rights which that directive contains because of the obligation to retain data which it imposes are not accompanied by the necessary principles for governing the guarantees needed to regulate access to the data and their use.
    2. Article 6 of Directive 2006/24 is incompatible with Articles 7 and 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in that it requires Member States to ensure that the data specified in Article 5 of that directive are retained for a period whose upper limit is set at two years.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

     

    49-67, 106-152