The Right to the Protection of Personal Data: A New Fundamental Right of the European Union

For some decades, the right to privacy and the right to the protection of personal data seemed to be the same thing. Since 2008, the case-law of the ECJ has started considering them as autonomous rights, although the first is considered to be strictly connected to the second. The Treaty of Lisbon brought two important innovations in the data protection sector. Firstly, Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, on the right to the protection of personal data, became legally binding, thanks to the amendment of Article 6 TEU. Secondly, Article 16 TFEU granted the European Institutions the power to lay down rules, according to the ordinary legislative procedure, relating to the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data. The recent inclusion of the right to the protection of personal data in primary EU law highlights the problem of the extent of the competence of the EU in this sector. Moreover, one may wonder whether the Lisbon reform provides any advantages to citizens in terms of personal data protection. This article tries to answer these questions, reconstructing the right to the protection of personal data.