European Union – Data protection. The Court of Justice of the European Union made a preliminary ruling in two actions, Cases C‑293/12 and C‑594/12 concerning the validity of Directive (EC) 2006/24, and ruled that it was invalid. In C-293/12, the request had concerned the legality of Irish national legislative and administrative measures concerning the retention of data relating to electronic communications. In C-594/12, the request had concerned constitutional actions regarding the compatibility with the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law of the law transposing Directive 2006/24 into Austrian national law.