Data protection and general principles of EU law

Abstract

This chapter discusses the relationship between data protection and the general principles of EU law. Data protection is a fundamental right, distinct from that to privacy, recognised by article 8 of Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter). Article 8 refers to a number of specific data protection principles. The nature and role of these principles is mostly procedural, though their application serves to protect several substantive rights and EU common values. The Lisbon Treaty also included data protection as a principle and created a specific legal basis for secondary EU legislation in which the data protection principles find further specification. The chapter highlights some of the consequences of these developments in the case law of the Court of Justice (CJEU), focusing in particular on the area of police and judicial cooperation. It analyses the interaction between data protection and other fundamental rights and general principles of EU law, taking into account the limits to the application of the Charter, particularly in the area of national security. It concludes with some reflections on the possible further impact of the fundamental right to data protection, including the question whether it has the potential to develop into a general principle of EU law on its own right.