‘Article 2(a) of Parliament and Council Directive 95/46/EC meant that data relating to an applicant for a residence permit contained in an administrative document amounted to “personal data”. Article 12(a) of Directive 95/46 and article 8(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union meant that an applicant for a residence permit had a right of access to all personal data concerning him which were processed by the national administrative authorities within the meaning of article 2(b). For that right to be complied with, it was sufficient that the applicant was in possession of a full summary of those data in an intelligible form, which allowed the applicant to become aware of those data and to check that they were accurate and processed in compliance with that Directive, so that he could, where relevant, exercise the rights conferred on him by that Directive. Article 41(2)(b) of the Charter meant that the applicant for a residence permit could not rely on that provision against the national authorities.’
WLR Daily, 17th July 2014
