Tag: constitutional identity

French Government seeks to disregard CJEU data retention of surveillance data ruling

9. March 2021

On March 3rd, POLITICO reported that the French government seeks to bypass the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) ruling on limiting member states’ surveillance activities of phone and internet data, stating governments can only retain mass amounts of data when facing a “serious threat to national security”.

According to POLITICO, the French government has requested the country’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, to not follow the CJEU’s ruling in the matter.

Last year in October, the CJEU ruled that several national data retention rules were not compliant with EU law. This ruling included retention times set forth by the French government in matters of national security.

The French case in question opposes the government against digital rights NGOs La Quadrature du Net and Privacy International. After the CJEU’s ruling, it is now in the hands of the Council of State in France, which will have to decide on the matter.

A hearing date has not yet been decided, however POLITICO sources state that the French government is trying to bypass the CJEU’s ruling by presenting the argument of the ruling going against the country’s “constitutional identity”. This argument, first used back in 2006, is seldomly used, however can be referred to in order to avoid applying EU law at national level.

In addition, the French government accuses the CJEU to have ruled out of its competence, as matters of national security remain solely part of national competence.

The French government did not want to comment on the ongoing process, however has had a history of refusing to adopt EU court rulings into national law.