Month: June 2023

Open data and re-use of public information – smart cities as open data ecosystems

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Joana Covelo de Abreu (Editor and Key-staff member of CitDig Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence)
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The European Union (EU) set a wider objective until 2030: to live a digital decade, where (personal and public) data is essential to grasp a data economy, i.e., an economy capable of, by promoting the European values, enhancing its growth through data processing, making European citizens to live better. In fact, it is expected that, until 2025, the volume of produced data can achieve the amount of 175 zettabytes worldwide: along with an increase of personal data processing, there is a growing trend concerning non-personal industrial and public data in the EU which must be properly exploited.[1]

Concerning public data, it should be widely available to empower people since, by doing so, we can reach a digitally “open, fair, diversified, democratic and confident” Europe. So, if leading a data economy is to be achieved, along with structural solutions concerning i) connectivity; ii) processing and storage of data; iii) computational capacity; and iv) cybersecurity, the EU ought to be able to v) improve its governing structures on data processing; and vi) widening quality data repositories where data can be used and reused.

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Summaries of judgments: HYA and Others (Grounds for authorising telephone tapping) | Colt Technology Services and Others

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Summaries of judgments made in collaboration with the Portuguese judge and référendaire of the CJEU (Nuno Piçarra and Sophie Perez)

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Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 16 February 2023, HYA and Others (Grounds for authorising telephone tapping), Case C-349/21, EU:C:2023:102.

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Telecommunications sector – Processing of personal data and the protection of privacy – Directive 2002/58/EC – Article 15(1) – Restriction of the confidentiality of electronic communications – Judicial decision authorising the interception, recording and storage of telephone conversations of persons suspected of having committed a serious intentional offence – Practice whereby the decision is drawn up in accordance with a pre-drafted template text that does not contain individualised reasons – Second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Obligation to state reasons

Facts

In 2017, the President of the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Specialised Criminal Court, Bulgaria), based on reasoned, detailed and substantiated applications from the Spetsializirana prokuratura (Specialised Public Prosecutor’s Office, Bulgaria), authorised the telephone tapping of four individuals suspected of committing serious intentional crimes. In giving reasons for his decisions, the President followed the existing national judicial practice of using a pre-drafted template designed to cover all possible cases of authorisation, that did not contain individualised reasons and which, in essence, merely stated that the requirements of the national legislation on telephone tapping, referred to in the template, had been met, as well as the length of time during which the use of special investigative methods was authorised.

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Editorial of June 2023

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By Joana Covelo de Abreu (Editor and Key-staff member of CitDig Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence)
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2023 EU Justice Scoreboard – how independent and efficient justice systems can strengthen the business dimension in the EU through digitalisation?

The current European Semester is devoted to sustainable economic growth, within the EU’s annual cycle of economic policy coordination. Insofar, in the 2023 annual sustainable growth survey [COM(2022) 780 final], the European Commission stressed that “[g]ood governance and respect for the rule of law, in particular independent, quality and efficient justice systems […], are key determinants of an economy that works for people” – in fact, there is a “link between effective justice systems and Member States’ business environment” since “[w]ell-functioning and fully independent justice systems can have a positive impact on investment and are key for investment protection, and therefore contribute to productivity and competitiveness”.

Published last June 8th, 2023, the EU Justice Scoreboard [COM(2023) 309 final] acts as a comparative tool to assist the EU and its Member States to understand the justice systems’ state so it can be improved “by providing objective, reliable and comparable data on a number of indicators relevant for the assessment of the efficacy, quality and independence of justice systems in all Member States”.

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New UNIO issue now online

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By the Editorial Team
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The Editorial Board is happy to announce that a new issue of the UNIO – EU Law Journal is now online. The 8(2) issue of UNIO includes contributions from various highly respected scholars and young academics and addresses issues such as a) the deployment of public consultations and referenda in the context specially important political issues (e.g. secession), b) ecological transition, c) tools available to the EU to combat rule of law backsliding, d) the common European asylum system, e) fostering equality and non-discrimination in the EU, and f) and the existence of legal remedies under the GDPR to challenge automated decision-making and profiling resulting in unjustified inferences about a data subject.

We hope this new issue pleases both our readers and authors and would like to remind you that we are accepting submissions at UNIO and also at our blog.

You may find UNIO’s 8(2) issue here.

The internalisation of EU law by citizens and how it operates a threat to EU democratic values

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André Lima Machado (Master in European Union Law - UMINHO)
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1. Introductory remarks

Last May 10, the Head of State of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the occasion of the Europe Day celebrations.[1] President Marcelo – as he is affectionately called by the Portuguese – called for a stronger Europe, a Europe that leads and anticipates, rather than a Europe that follows events. He went on to explain that the Portuguese believe in the future of Europe: in a Europe that is not the Europe of Heads of State, Heads of Government, or party leaders, but rather a Europe of European women and men, because without both there is not and there never will be a strong Europe, within itself and in the world. This is the challenge – said President Marcelo – there is not much time left to anticipate it, and the millions of Europeans deserve it. 

Moreover, this is a recurring idea in President Marcelo’s speech: “Europe cannot waste time”. And why is that? Because the circumstances of integration have changed substantially. The Portuguese President began by recalling the last time he spoke to MEPs, seven years ago, at the start of his first mandate. It was another time, another world, another Europe. He listed the changes that had occurred since then, such as the pandemic, the UK’s decision to opt out, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “In another time, another world, another Europe”, people still believed in the international order, in the existing balance of power, in the advancement of human rights, in the victory of diplomacy over war. People believed in the reform of universal institutions (even if postponed) and in the European security inherited from the 20th century (even if weakened). They believed in the primacy of globalisation, multilateralism, and common causes.

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