Pour un RGPD respecté – Court Ruling (France, 2026)

Pour un RGPD Respecté, a French NGO that advocates for GDPR compliance, and three individuals requested the CNIL, the DPA, to partially repeal its 2020 recommendation on cookies and trackers. They challenged Figure 5, which showed a cookie banner where users could refuse cookies through a “continue without accepting” link placed in the upper-right corner. After the DPA rejected the request, the applicants asked the Court to annul that decision. They argued that refusing cookies was not as easy as accepting them and that the banner contradicted the positions of the DPA, the EDPB and the Belgian DPA. The Court dismissed the action. It held that the DPA’s decision did not require a specific statement of reasons under national administrative law. The Court also found that the refusal option was available on the same screen, was immediately accessible and used clear wording and a comparable font size. Therefore, refusing cookies was as easy as accepting them. The Court further held that the example did not contradict the positions of the DPA, the Belgian DPA or the EDPB. The DPA had therefore not made a manifest error of assessment. The requests for an injunction, periodic penalty payment and legal costs were also rejected. No fine or corrective measure was imposed.