Heinz Huber v Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
Date: 2008-12-16
31. The following data relating to him are stored in the AZR:
– his name, given name, date and place of birth, nationality, marital status, sex;
– a record of his entries into and exits from Germany, and his residence status;
– particulars of passports issued to him;
– a record of his previous statements as to domicile; and
– reference numbers issued by the Bundesamt, particulars of the authorities which supplied the data and the reference numbers used by those authorities.
43. At the outset, it must be stated that data such as those which, according to the o rder for reference, the AZR contains in relation to Mr Huber constitute personal data within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Directive 95/46, because they represent ‘information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person’. Their collection, storage and transmission by the body responsible for the management of the register in which they are kept thus represents the ‘processing of personal data’ within the meaning of Article 2(b) of that directive.
47. Article 1 of Directive 95/46 requires Member States to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their privacy, in relation to the handling of personal data.
48. Chapter II of Directive 95/46, entitled ‘General rules on the lawfulness of the processing of personal data’, provides that, subject to the exceptions permitted under Article 13, all processing of personal data must comply, first, with the principles relating to data quality set out in Article 6 of the directive and, secondly, with one of the criteria for making data processing legitimate listed in Article 7 (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C-465/00, C-138/01 and C-139/01 Österreichischer Rundfunk and Others [2003] ECR I‑4989, paragraph 65).
50. In that context, it must be noted that Directive 95/46 is intended, as appears from the eighth recital in the preamble thereto, to ensure that the level of protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data is equivalent in all Member States. The tenth recital adds that the approximation of the national laws applicable in this area must not result in any lessening of the protection they afford but must, on the contrary, seek to ensure a high level of protection in the Community.
51. Thus, it has been held that the harmonisation of those national laws is not limited to minimal harmonisation but amounts to harmonisation which is generally complete (see Case C-101/01 Lindqvist  [2003] ECR I‑12971, paragraph 96).
54. As regards the use of a register such as the AZR for the purpose of the application of the legislation relating to the right of residence, it is important to bear in mind that, as Community law presently stands, the right of free movement of a Union citizen in the territory of a Member State of which he is not a national is not unconditional but may be subject to the limitations and conditions imposed by the Treaty and by the measures adopted to give it effect (see, to that effect, Case C‑33/07 Jippa [2008] ECR I-0000, paragraph 21 and the case-law cited).
61. As regards the detailed rules for the use of such a register for the purposes of the application of the legislation relating to the right of residence, only the grant of access to authorities having powers in that field could be considered to be necessary within the meaning of Article 7(e) of Directive 95/46.
62. Lastly, with respect to the necessity that a centralised register such as the AZR be available in order to meet the requirements of the authorities responsible for the application of the legislation relating to the right of residence, even if it were to be assumed that decentralised registers such as the district population registers contain all the data which are relevant for the purposes of allowing the authorities to undertake their duties, the centralisation of those data could be necessary, within the meaning of Article 7(e) of Directive 95/46, if it contributes to the more effective application of that legislation as regards the right of residence of Union citizens who wish to reside in a Member State of which they are not nationals.
63. As regards the statistical function of a register such as the AZR, it must be recalled that, by creating the principle of freedom of movement for persons and by conferring on any person falling within its ambit the right of access to the territory of the Member States for the purposes intended by the Treaty, Community law has not excluded the power of Member States to adopt measures enabling the national authorities to have an exact knowledge of population movements affecting their territory (see Case 118/75 Watson and Belmann [1976] ECR 1185, paragraph 17).
69. As a preliminary point, it should be noted that, according to settled case-law, citizenship of the Union is destined to be the fundamental status of nationals of the Member States, enabling those who find themselves in the same situation to receive the same treatment in law irrespective of their nationality, subject to such exceptions as are expressly provided for (see, to that effect, Grzelczyk , paragraphs 30 and 31; Case C‑148/02 Garcia Avello [2003] ECR I‑11613, paragraphs 22 and 23; and Bidar , paragraph 31).
70. In that regard, a Union citizen lawfully resident in the territory of the host Member State can rely on Article 12 EC in all situations which fall within the scope ratione materiae of Community law (see Martínez Sala , paragraph 63; Grzelczyk , paragraph 32; and Bidar , paragraph 32).
71. Those situations include those involving the exercise of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty and those involving the exercise of the right to move and reside within the territory of the Member States, as conferred by Article 18 EC (see, to that effect, Bidar , paragraph 33 and the case-law cited).
75. It is settled case-law that the principle of non-discrimination, which has its basis in Articles 12 EC and 43 EC, requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way. Such treatment may be justified only if it is based on objective considerations independent of the nationality of the persons concerned and is proportionate to the objective being legitimately pursued (see, to that effect, Case C-164/07 Wood [2008] ECR I-0000, paragraph 13 and the case-law cited).