03/02/2020 CURIA - Documents In the present case, the parties to the main proceedings disagree as to whether the authority responsible for keeping the register should, after a certain period has elapsed since a company ceased to trade, and on the request of the data subject, either erase or anonymise that personal data, or limit their disclosure. In that context, the referring court asks in particular whether such an obligation flows from Article 6(1)(e) of Directive 95/46. According to Article 6(1)(e) of Directive 95/46, Member States are to ensure that personal data are kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data were collected or for which they are further processed. Where that data are stored for longer periods for historical, statistical or scientific use, Member States must lay down appropriate safeguards. Pursuant to paragraph 2 of that article, it is the responsibility of the controller to ensure compliance with those principles. In the event of failure to comply with the condition laid down in Article 6(1)(e) of Directive 95/46, Member States guarantee the person concerned, pursuant to Article 12(b) thereof, the right to obtain from the controller, as appropriate, the erasure or blocking of the data concerned (see, to that effect, judgment of 13 May 2014, Google Spain and Google, C‑131/12, EU:C:2014:317, paragraph 70). Moreover, under subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of Article 14 of Directive 95/46, Member States are to grant the data subject the right, inter alia in the cases referred to in Article 7(e) and (f) of that directive, to object at any time on compelling legitimate grounds relating to his particular situation to the processing of data relating to him, save where otherwise provided by national legislation. The balancing to be carried out under subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of Article 14 thus enables account to be taken in a more specific manner of all the circumstances surrounding the data subject’s particular situation. Where there is a justified objection, the processing instigated by the controller may no longer involve those data (see judgment of 13 May 2014, Google Spain and Google, C‑131/12, EU:C:2014:317, paragraph 76). In order to determine whether Member States are required, under Article 6(1)(e) and Article 12(b), or under subsection (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 14 of Directive 95/46, to provide, for the natural persons referred to in Article 2(1)(d) and (j) of Directive 68/151, the right to apply to the authority responsible for keeping the register to erase or block the personal data entered in that register after a certain period of time, or to restrict access to it, it is first necessary to ascertain the purpose of that registration. In that regard, it is apparent from the recitals and from the title of Directive 68/151 that the purpose of the disclosure provided for by that directive is to protect in particular the interests of third parties in relation to joint stock companies and limited liability companies, since the only safeguards they offer to third parties are their assets. To that end, the basic documents of the company concerned should be disclosed in order that third parties may be able to ascertain their contents and other information concerning the company, especially particulars of the persons who are authorised to bind the company. The Court has already noted, moreover, that the purpose of Directive 68/151 is to guarantee legal certainty in relation to dealings between companies and third parties in view of the intensification of trade between Member States following the creation of the internal market and that, with that in mind, it is important that any person wishing to establish and develop trading relations with companies situated in other Member States should be able easily to obtain essential information relating to the constitution of trading companies and to the powers of persons authorised to represent them, which requires that all the relevant information should be expressly stated in the register (see, to that effect, judgment of 12 November 1974, Haaga, 32/74, EU:C:1974:116, paragraph 6). Moreover, it is apparent from the case-law of the Court that the disclosure provided for in Article 3 of Directive 68/151 is intended to enable any interested third parties to inform themselves of these matters, without having to establish a right or an interest requiring to be protected. The Court noted, in that regard, that the very wording of Article 54(3)(g) of the EEC Treaty, on which that directive was based, refers to the need to protect the interests of third parties generally, without distinguishing or excluding any categories falling within the ambit of that term, and consequently the third parties referred to in that article cannot be limited in particular merely to creditors of the company concerned (see judgment of 4 December 1997, Daihatsu Deutschland, C‑97/96, EU:C:1997:581, paragraphs 19, 20 and 22, and the order of 23 September 2004, Springer, C‑435/02 and C‑103/03, EU:C:2004:552, paragraphs 29 and 33). Furthermore, as to whether, in order to achieve the aim referred to in Article 3 of Directive 68/151, it is in principle necessary for the personal data of natural persons referred to in Article 2(1)(d) and (j) of that directive to remain on the register and/or accessible to any third party upon request also after the activity has ceased and the company concerned has been dissolved, it should be pointed out that the directive makes no express provision in that regard. However, as the Advocate General also pointed out in points 73 and 74 of his Opinion, it is common ground that even after the dissolution of a company, rights and legal relations relating to it continue to exist. Thus, in the event of a dispute, the data referred to in Article 2(1)(d) and (j) of Directive 68/151 may be necessary in order, inter alia, to assess the legality of an act carried out on behalf of that company during the period of its activity or so that third parties can bring an action against the members of the organs or against the liquidators of that company. Moreover, depending in particular on the limitation periods applicable in the various Member States, questions requiring such data may arise for many years after a company has ceased to exist. In view of the range of possible scenarios, which may involve actors in several Member States, and the considerable heterogeneity in the limitation periods provided for by the various national laws in the various areas of law, highlighted by the Commission, it seems impossible, at present, to identify a single time limit, as from the dissolution of a company, at the end of which the inclusion of such data in the register and their disclosure would no longer be necessary. In those circumstances, Member States cannot, pursuant to Article 6(1)(e) and Article 12(b) of Directive 95/46, guarantee that the natural persons referred to in Article 2(1)(d) and (j) of Directive 68/151 have the right to obtain, as a matter of principle, after a certain period of time from the dissolution of the company concerned, the curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=188750&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=1151671 6/8