EuGD supports appeal proceedings against the European Commission before the ECJ – clarification of fundamental data protection issues sought
19. March 2025: EuGD Europäische Gesellschaft für Datenschutz mbH (https://eugd.org) continues to support Bindl’s data protection proceedings against the European Commission before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In Case C-211/25 P (formerly T-354/22), the plaintiff, like the European Commission before it (C-206/25 P), has filed an appeal seeking clarification of fundamental data protection issues by the highest court. The General Court of the European Union had previously ordered the Commission to pay damages. The EuGD continues to support the proceedings to actively promote the enforcement of citizens‘ fundamental data protection rights.
The plaintiff is being represented by the law firm SPIRIT LEGAL Rechtsanwälte with the lawyers Tilman Herbrich, Christian Däuble , LL.M. and Peter Hense.
Three central grounds for appeal in focus
1.Inadmissible rejection of the application for annulment of the data transfer:
The General Court rejected the application for annulment of the transfer of personal data to third countries as inadmissible. Bindl argues that this violates his right to effective legal protection under Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR). The data transfer without appropriate safeguards constitutes a clear interference with the fundamental right to data protection (Article 8 CFR).
2. Incorrect assumption that the request for information had been resolved:
The Court assumed that the request for a declaration of the Commission’s failure to act had been resolved. Bindl, however, argues that the Commission fulfilled its information obligations incompletely, late, and incorrectly. For example, important recipients such as Amazon Web Services Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. were not correctly identified.
3. Inadequate consideration of the incorrect information and violations of transparency:
The General Court did not sufficiently consider the violations of the information obligations and the principle of transparency alleged by Bindl. These failures led to a loss of control over the company’s own data and thus to non-material damage.
Demand for complete legal protection
Thomas Bindl, plaintiff and founder of EuGD , explains: „I am confident because the protection of fundamental rights and the right to compensation following data protection violations would otherwise be almost impossible to enforce in practice. Especially when even institutions like the European Commission violate data protection regulations, it must be clear: fundamental rights apply without exception. This is what we are committed to.“
Attorney Tilman Herbrich, SPIRIT LEGAL Rechtsanwälte , adds: „Our appeal underscores that data protection violations cannot be assessed solely on formal grounds. The unlawful transfer of personal data to third countries without adequate safeguards constitutes a direct infringement on the fundamental rights of those affected.
Equally unacceptable, in our view, is unacceptable the European Commission’s failure to meet its transparency obligations by providing incomplete information and disregarding constitutionally enshrined legal positions. Such actions undermine the rule of law and trust in EU institutions. The ECJ now has the opportunity to provide groundbreaking clarifications regarding the protection of fundamental rights and the accountability of EU institutions in the appeal proceedings.“
Photo material (Usage free of charge when mentioning source: https://eugd.org):
Thomas Bindl, Founder EuGD.org
Tilman Herbrich, SPIRIT LEGAL
