ABSTRACT – The GDPR (EU Regulation 2016/679) aims to balance the needs for the protection of individuals’ privacy with those of data circulation within the EU legal space. This equilibrium also depends on the recognizability of a minimum level of non-pecuniary damage below which there is no right to compensation. With the judgment C-300/21, the Court of Justice has pronounced for the first time on the characteristics of compensable non-material damage under Article 82 of the GDPR. With such judgment, despite the contrary opinion of AG Sànchez-Bordona, the Court deemed compensable any non-material damage caused by a violation of the GDPR, generating a decision that can have repercussions on that balance sought by the GDPR. The objective of this paper is to investigate the reasons that led the Court to make such a decision and to inquire about the consequences that this judgment will have on the entire system established by the GDPR.
