Abstract

The Lisbon Treaty has changed the legal basis and the aims on which the European Union can adopt a data protection legislation: the Article 16 of the TFEU has juxtaposed the objective to protect a fundamental right with the target to guarantee the free flow of personal data. Anyway, the protection of personal data is not an absolute right and it must be considered in relation to its function in society. The article investigates the relationship between the new approach to personal data and the General Data Protection Legislation Proposal, analysing the way the European lawmaker is trying to balance data protection with other fundamental rights. Moreover, the study explores the compatibility between the nature of privacy as a fundamental right and the possibility to describe data protection circulation as a real market.