FROM AN Irish perspective, the most significant EU law development thus far in 2012 (outside of the efforts to control the financial crisis) has been the decision by the European Commission to refer Ireland and Britain to the European Court of Justice for failure to comply with EU rules aimed at liberalising the gas market.
While it had been expected that the issues of concern to the commission, (in particular the failure to ensure that the maximum interconnection capacity on the South-North gas pipeline is available to gas companies), would be remedied by the introduction of anticipated all-island gas arrangements, delays in their finalisation have prompted the commission to initiate enforcement proceedings which could result in financial penalties being imposed on the State.
The commission announcement on January 25th of its intention to introduce a new legal framework for the protection of personal data in the EU will affect the majority of EU citizens in their daily lives. The aim of the proposal is to reform the 1995 Data Protection Directive in order to strengthen online privacy rights.
The 1995 directive had given a broad discretion to member states for the implementation of data-protection rules, resulting in unequal protection across the 27 states. The proposed changes aim to increase harmonisation of data-protection rules, creating a single law applicable across the EU.
The new law will give individuals more control over their personal data and make it easier to access it. The proposals strengthen their “right to be forgotten and to erasure”. They enable individuals to compel companies, such as social networking websites, to delete personal data from the internet or from internal servers, unless that company can give a compelling reason not to do so, along with various other rights.
The commission’s proposals have been passed to the European parliament and member states for discussion and will take effect two years after adoption.
In the area of employment law, case C-282/10 Dominguezconcerned the working time directive. The European Court of Justice concluded that the four weeks paid annual leave provided for precluded a French rule that this was dependent on the employee having actually worked a minimum number of days during the period in question. The employee had been on sick leave for 14 months following an accident and had sought paid leave or compensation during the period in question.
Finally, on January 25th, the general court in case T-332/10 Viagura v OHIMupheld a decision of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market refusing to register Viagura (the name of an energy drink produced in Poland) as a community trademark due to the similarity of the mark to that of the drug Viagra.
The general court expressed concern that brand confusion could result in consumers being more likely to purchase the energy drink due to the image of vitality and power which had become associated with the drug brand.
Donogh Hardiman and Genevieve Burke are members of the Irish Society for European Law