Brussels, 09/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 9 March, the European Commission welcomed the decision of the European Court of Justice made that day in Case C-518/07, which found in favour of the Commission against Germany with regard to the protection of personal data. The ECJ criticises Germany for not having fulfilled obligations incumbent upon it under Directive 95/46/EC (24 October 1995) with regard to the protection of natural persons, the processing of personal data and the free movement of this data, “by submitting it to the tutelage of the state's competent inspection authorities for the monitoring of personal data in the non-public sector in the different German regions and subsequently transposing the demand for ' total independence' by the authorities in charge of guaranteeing the protection of this data, incorrectly”. The ECJ, is therefore stating, according to a spokesperson for Commissioner Viviane Reding (Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship), that the data protection authorities must be “entirely independent and must be able to work freely without receiving instructions from the political authorities”.
According to this directive, member states must ensure protection of the fundamental freedoms and rights of natural persons, particularly in connection with their private life and the processing of personal data. (L.C./transl.)