Court of Justice 12 December 2013, C‑141/12 and C‑372/12 (YS v Minister voor Immigratie, Integratie en Asiel and Minister voor Immigratie, Integratie en Asiel v M and S.)

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Advocate General Sharpston opines that legal analysis contained in an internal administrative minute (minute) does not constitute personal data under Article 2(a) of Directive 95/46/EC, as it represents legal reasoning rather than facts relating to an identified individual. Consequently, while data subjects are entitled to access factual personal data within such documents, Member States retain a margin of discretion under Article 12 to determine the form of access, which does not necessarily require providing a full copy of the document. Furthermore, the Opinion clarifies that Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is addressed to EU institutions and cannot be invoked directly against Member State authorities in this context.AI