Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 October 2012 - European Commission v Republic of Austria
(Case C-614/10)
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Directive 95/46/EC - Processing of personal data and free movement of such data - Protection of natural persons - Article 28(1) - National supervisory authority - Independence - Supervisory authority and the Federal Chancellery - Personal and organisational links)
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented by: B. Martenczuk and B.R. Killmann, Agents,)
Intervener in support of the applicant: European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) (represented by: H. Kranenborg, I. Chatelier and H. Hijmans, Agents)
Defendant: Republic of Austria (represented by: G. Hesse, Agent)
Intervener in support of the defendant: Federal Republic of Germany (represented by: T. Henze and J. Möller, Agents)
Re:
Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations - Infringement of the second subparagraph of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ 1995 L 281, p. 31) - Obligation for the Member States to ensure that the national supervisory authorities responsible for supervising the processing of personal data exercise their duties entirely independently - Close personal and organisational connections between the supervisory authority and the Federal Chancellor's Office (Bundeskanzleramt) - Subjection of the supervisory authority to the supervision of the Federal Chancellor
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
1. Declares that, by failing to take all of the measures necessary to ensure that the legislation in force in Austria meets the requirement of independence with regard to the Datenschutzkommission (Data Protection Commission), more specifically by laying down a regulatory framework under which
- the managing member of the Datenschutzkommission is a federal official subject to supervision,
- the office of the Datenschutzkommission is integrated with the departments of the Federal Chancellery, and
- the Federal Chancellor has an unconditional right to information covering all aspects of the work of the Datenschutzkommission,
the Republic of Austria has failed to fulfil its obligations under the second subparagraph of Article 28(1) of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data;
2. Orders the Republic of Austria to pay the costs incurred by the European Commission;
3. Orders the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Data Protection Supervisor to bear their own respective costs.
____________1 - OJ C 72, 5.3.2011.