BEUC: European Court of Justice hears consumer collective action case against Facebook

By -
Source: BEUC NEWS - 14.07.2017


On 19 July, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) is holding a hearing about an Austrian collective action against Facebook. Max Schrems, the Austrian data protection campaigner, has brought a case to court in Austria on behalf of 25,000 Austrian and foreign consumers to claim compensation from Facebook for violation of their privacy rights.

In September of last year the Austrian Supreme Court asked the CJEU to decide about the admissibility of Max Schrems’ collective action. In particular the CJEU was asked to look into two points:
  • Can a consumer bring assigned claims of other consumers to the court of his home country, even if these consumers live in other EU Member States and non-EU countries?
  • Should Max Schrems, who initially used Facebook only for private purposes, be considered a ‘consumer’ and therefore be eligible to bring the case before the court where he lives (Vienna) or did he loose this right since he engaged into other activities at a later stage, for instance by taking a public position against the defendant (Facebook) and raising donations.
The hearing and forthcoming decision by the Court of Justice could have major impacts for EU consumers. It is often the case that collective enforcement of consumer rights strand on procedural grounds. The CJEU is also entering unchartered territory when it comes to the jurisdiction of international collective actions. If the court would follow the argumentation of Max Schrems it would become easier for a large group of consumers to be represented in the country of one single consumer. This would be a big step towards access to justice for consumers in cases where companies use the same illegal practices across the EU.

Popular posts from this blog

CJEU on Spiegel Online: The use of a protected work for the purposes of reporting current events does not, in principle, require a prior request for authorisation

By -
Source: Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-516/17 Spiegel Online de en fr Freedom of establishment The use of a protected work for the purposes of reporting current events does not, in principle, require a prior request for authorisation Court of Justice of the European Union PRESS RELEASE No 101/19 Luxembourg, 29 July 2019 Judgment in Case C-516/17 Spiegel Online v Volker Beck The use of a protected work for the purposes of reporting current events does not, in principle, require a prior request for authorisation Furthermore, a work may be quoted by means of a hyperlink, provided that that quoted work, in its specific form, was previously made available to the public with the copyright holder’s authorisation or in accordance with a non-contractual licence or statutory authorisation Volker Beck, a former member of the Bundestag (Federal Parliament, Germany) is the author of a manuscript on criminal policy relating to sexual offences committed against minors, which was publish
Read more

OECD announces multilateral efforts to address tax challenges from digitalisation of the economy

By -
Via IEU Monitoring - Source: OECD Today the OECD Secretariat published a proposal to advance international negotiations to ensure large and highly profitable Multinational Enterprises, including digital companies, pay tax wherever they have significant consumer-facing activities and generate their profits. The  new OECD proposal  brings together common elements of three competing proposals from member countries of the  OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS , which groups 134 countries and jurisdictions on an equal footing for multilateral negotiation of international tax rules, making them fit for purpose for the global economy of the 21 st  Century. The proposal, which is now open to a  public consultation process , would re-allocate some profits and corresponding taxing rights to countries and jurisdictions where MNEs have their markets.  It would ensure that MNEs conducting significant business in places where they do not have a physical presence be taxed in such jurisdi
Read more

EU auditors scrutinize EU Commission's annual 24.5m € support to NBC affiliate Euronews

By -
Source: ECA -  eca.europa.eu EU support helps Euronews to broaden its coverage of European affairs, but funding needs to be better monitored, say EU Auditors. The EU’s support of an average of €24.5 million a year has helped Euronews to develop a unique business model and broadcast programmes on EU affairs in a number of languages, according to a new rapid case review by the European Court of Auditors. However, most citizens in the EU are unable to access it, as the channel is not a public service broadcaster in any Member State. Moreover, the auditors identified shortcomings in the way the European Commission monitors the performance of Euronews against agreed objectives and commitments made. Euronews was created in 1993 by ten European public broadcasters to reinforce European identity and integration, and the EU has provided it with financial support since then. In recent years, it has changed its ownership structure by acquiring private investors. The auditors analysed the
Read more