All that glitters is not gold…”: This is a warning that should be kept in mind by anyone who reads the Opinion of Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case C- 311/18, Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximillian Schrems (Schrems II) delivered on 19 December 2019 (the AG’s Opinion)(1).

As we all know, Schrems II plays an important role in determining the possibility of using the Standard Contractual Clauses(2), probably the most used safeguard for international transfers of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This being the case, it is not surprising that the announcement of the publication of the AG’s Opinion in this case generated so much expectation.