The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled in the case Meta Platforms Ireland ltd v European Data Protection Supervisory Authority (EDPB). The case was about EDPBs opinion 8/2024 issued on the basis of the Data Protection Regulation.

The EDPB considered under what circumstances a so-called "pay or consent" model - whereby users of large online platforms are offered to either consent to the processing of personal data for the purposes of behavioral advertising or to pay for the service to avoid such processing - can be considered to qualify for valid consent under the Data Protection Regulation. The EDPB considered that in most cases it was unlikely that large online platforms could guarantee valid consent when users were given only two options: to consent to the processing of all their personal data for marketing purposes or to pay.

Meta demanded that the CJEU nnulled the EDPB opinion in whole or in part and ruled that it did not have legal effect. The company also demanded damages for alleged financial damage and that the EDPB be ordered to withdraw the opinion and pay the costs of the proceedings. The CJEU rejected Meta's claim and considered that since the opinion was advisory, it did not have a legally binding effect for third parties, therefore it could not be annulled or be used as a basis for claiming damages. The CJEU also rejected Meta's claim for damages on the grounds that the company had not shown true damage or a sufficiently direct causal relationship between the damage and the EDPB opinion.

The Court concludes that the EDPB's advisory opinion does not automatically create legal effects and that the opinion as such cannot be the basis for claims for annulment.