摘要：The concept of the essence of the Article 8 right to the protection of personal data has garnered much attention over the past few years. Yet, there remains a notable lack of clarity in relation to the concept in current law and jurisprudence. There is a lack of clarity, for example, in relation to the current scope and function of the concept of essence in the legal scheme of Article 8, as well as in relation to whether the concept of essence has a distinct role in this scheme at all. This article endeavours to address this uncertainty. In this regard, the article: i) offers a novel methodology for the identification of a cogent, functionally distinct, description of the concept of essence as it is currently used in relation to Article 8; and ii) proposes, and defends, such a description: the concept of essence as a normative pivot.
