03 November 2015 Press releases

First High Court Decision regarding “No Spy“ Guarantees - GvW Graf von Westphalen stops Award of Contract for Anti-Virus Software in the German Federal Administration

Two weeks ago, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) declared the “Safe Harbor“ decision of the EU Commission invalid (judgment of 6 October 2015, C-362/14- “Schrems”). Now, the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf - in the first high court decision regarding the “No Spy” issue - it its decision of 21 October 2015 (VII-Verg 28/14) prohibited the awarding of the contract in the procurement procedure for the procurement of “anti-virus software for the German Federal Administration” and referred the procedure back to the procurement agency.

In its reasons for the judgment, the Higher Regional Court particularly emphasized that “No Spy” guarantees would not constitute discrimination against foreign providers. “Moreover, the CJEU “Safe Harbor ”judgment  will increase the role of data protection authorities in public procurement procedures with immediate effect”, state the lawyers of GvW Graf von Westphalen.

GvW successfully represented the applicant with a team around the partners Dr Ingrid Reichling (procurement law, Munich) and Arnd Böken (data protection law, Berlin).

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