Ireland: Advocate General issued opinion advising setting aside General Court’s 2022 ruling dismissing WhatsApp’s challenge to European Data Protection Board’s decision

On 27 March 2025, the Advocate General issued an opinion in WhatsApp Ireland Ltd v European Data Protection Board (Case C‑97/23 P), recommending that the Court set aside the General Court’s 2022 decision which found WhatsApp’s annulment action inadmissible. The case concerns WhatsApp’s challenge to Binding Decision 1/2021 of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which instructed the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) to amend its draft decision and increase proposed fines for GDPR transparency violations. The General Court had ruled that WhatsApp was not directly concerned by the EDPB decision, as it was not the final act in the enforcement procedure. However, the Advocate General found that the EDPB decision constituted a challengeable act with binding legal effects and left no discretion to the Irish DPC, thereby directly affecting WhatsApp’s legal position. The opinion concludes that WhatsApp’s action is admissible and recommends referring the case back to the General Court to consider the substance of the claim.