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… Legal context European Union law The 3 11 of the , entitled ‘Freedom of expression and information’, provides, in paragraph 2: ‘The freedom and pluralism of the media shall be respected.’ 4 16 of the , entitled ‘Freedom to conduct a business’, provides: ‘The freedom to conduct a business in accordance with Union law and national laws and practices is recognised.’ 5 17 of the , entitled ‘Right to property’, is worded as follows, in paragraph 2: …

… Second, under the second paragraph of 252 TFEU, it is the duty of the Advocate General, acting with complete and , to make, in open court, reasoned submissions on cases which, in accordance with the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, require his or her involvement. The Court is not bound either by the Advocate General’s Opinion or by the reasoning which led thereto. …

… (3) Do the principles of freedom to conduct a business, referred to in 16 and 52 of the [], of free competition, referred to in 109 TFEU, and of proportionality, referred to in 52 of the [], preclude provisions of national legislation, such as those referred to above, which: (a) introduce rights to remuneration in addition to the exclusive rights referred to in 15 of [Directive 2019/790], the implementation of which is accompanied by the imposition, …

… The interveners highlighted that the procedural guarantees of of the of Fundamental Rights of the EU applied to all cases based on EU law, including those concerning the entry of foreigners’ details in the SIS (as regulated by Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II)). …

… of the Constitution reads as follows: “Everyone shall have the right to legal protection of his private and family life, to his reputation and to make decisions about his personal life.” 26. 51 in its relevant parts reads as follows: “2. Public authorities shall not acquire, collect nor make accessible information about citizens other than that which is necessary in a democratic state ruled by law. 3. …

… In response, the applicant submitted that: (i) his application concerned the proceedings that had terminated with the Supreme Administrative Court’s judgment of 26 March 2018, to which the decision of 22 July 2019 was irrelevant, and (ii) a constitutional complaint was not an effective remedy in his case, notably because the Constitutional Court was no longer an and judicial authority and there were significant doubts as to the validity of its rulings. …

… 57 of that directive, entitled ‘Designation and of regulatory authorities’, provides, in paragraph 4: ‘Member States shall guarantee the of the regulatory authority and shall ensure that it exercises its powers and transparently. …

… 18 of that regulation, entitled ‘Charges for access to networks, use of networks and reinforcement’, is worded as follows: ‘1. …

… Where financial compensation, other forms of compensation and exclusive rights which a Member State grants for the fulfilment of the obligations set out in paragraph 2 of this or for the provision of universal service as set out in 27 are provided, this shall be done in a non-discriminatory and transparent way.’ 8. …

… Legal framework The 2 41 of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the ’), entitled ‘Right to good administration’, states: ‘1. Every person has the right to have his or her affairs handled , fairly and within a reasonable time by the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union. 2. …

… laid down in this . …

… Every person has the right to have the Union make good any damage caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States. …’ 3 of the , entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’, provides: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions …

… JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Third Chamber) 29 April 2026 (*) (Civil service - Officials - Reports procedure - 2022 appraisal procedure - Staff report - - Duty of care - Protection of personal data - 43 of the Staff Regulations - Internal rules on staff reports - Manifest error of assessment) In Case T-30/25, HI, represented by S. Rodrigues and A. Champetier, lawyers, applicant, v European Parliament, represented by S. Seyr, K. Zejdová and M. …

… Di Bucci, having regard to the written part of the procedure, - having regard to the fact that no request for a hearing was submitted by the parties within three weeks after service of notification of the close of the written part of the procedure, and having decided to rule on the action without an oral part of the procedure, pursuant to 106(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, gives the following Judgment 1 By her action based on 270 TFEU, the applicant, HI, seeks …

… Law Subject matter of the dispute 21 By her second head of claim, the applicant seeks annulment, in so far as necessary, of the decision rejecting the complaint. 22 According to settled case-law, where a decision rejecting a complaint lacks any content, claims formally directed against that decision have the effect of bringing before the Court the act against which the complaint was submitted (see judgment of 14 December 2017, RL v Court of Justice of the European Union, T-21/17, EU:T …

… Compliance with these rules shall be subject to control by an authority.” 129. By of the , entitled “Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial”, “[e]veryone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this ”. 130. …

… (2)(b) and (c) of the LED). …

… of Fundamental Rights of the European Union 127. By 7 of the of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (OJ 2016/C 202/02, p. 389 – “the ”), entitled “Respect for private and family life”, “[e]veryone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications”. 128. 8 of the , entitled “Protection of personal data”, reads: “1. Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her. 2. …

… European Union law The 5 of the , entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’, provides: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this . Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. …

… 8 and 9 of Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings (OJ 2016 L 65, p. 1), and of and 54 of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the ’), read in conjunction with 6 and 17 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed at …

… Legal context International law 3 6 ECHR, entitled ‘Right to a fair trial’, provides: ‘1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal established by law. … 2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. 3. …

… is equal before the law.’ 23 21 of the reads as follows: ‘1. …

… (c) The 17 1 of the is worded as follows: ‘Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.’ 18 7 of the states: ‘Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications.’ 19 Under 8 of the : ‘1. Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her. 2. …

… for private and family life guaranteed under 7 of the (i) Arguments of the parties (ii) Findings of the Court (2) Whether there is a limitation of the freedom of expression guaranteed under 11 of the (i) Arguments of the parties (ii) Findings of the Court (d) Whether limitations of the rights and freedoms guaranteed under 7 and 11 of the are justified (e) Whether 1 of the has been infringed (1) Arguments of the parties (2) Findings …

… (3) If the answer to the first question is Yes and if the answer to the second question in general is No, does [the EIA Directive] read in the light of of the of Fundamental Rights [of the European Union (‘the ’)] and/or the principle of wide access to justice under 9(2) of the Aarhus Convention have the effect that a time limit provided by the domestic law of a [M]ember [S]tate for the bringing of proceedings to assert a right under that [d]irective, must be reasonably …

… to a review procedure before a court of law or another and body established by law to challenge the substantive or procedural legality of decisions, acts or omissions subject to the public participation provisions of that directive. …

… Consideration of the questions referred The first three questions 25 By its first three questions, which it is appropriate to examine together, the referring court asks, in essence, whether 11 of the EIA Directive, read in the light of 9 of the Aarhus Convention and of the , must be interpreted as precluding a rule provided for by the law of a Member State whereby an action for annulment of a derogation licence, which has been issued pursuant to 16 of the …

… 8 and 52 of the , 16 TFEU, and 4(1), (2), (7) and (9) and 5, 15, 23, 51, 57, 58 and 77 of the GDPR are relevant in the present case. B. German law 5. Under 18 of the Bayerisches Datenschutzgesetz (Bavarian Law on Data Protection; ‘the BayDSG’), the Landesamt is a supervisory authority with respect to non-public entities. 6. …

… That assessment must be carried out in the light of 23 of the GDPR, which allows the access obligations set out in that regulation to be restricted on specific grounds of public interest, as well as 8(2) of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the ’), which guarantees everyone the right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her. …

… It contributes to the practical implementation of the principle set out in 8(3) of the , according to which compliance with the rules on data protection must be subject to control by an authority. The Court has repeatedly stated that this supervisory mechanism does not merely exist on paper but is intended to ensure the real and effective protection of fundamental rights. (8) 29. …