Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 26, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 26, 2026
An EU court adviser urged dismissal of Meta’s appeals over EU antitrust data requests tied to Facebook and Marketplace. The non-binding opinion backs prior rulings; judges will decide in the coming months.
BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - An adviser to Europe's top court on Thursday backed Meta Platforms' fight against EU antitrust regulators over what the U.S. tech giant said were aberrant requests for information from the later during two investigations into the company.
Meta had taken its case to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union, questioning EU demands related to its Facebook social network and online classified ads.
"In his opinion, Advocate General Athanasios Rantos proposes that the Court of Justice dismiss both appeals and uphold the judgments of the General Court", the court said in a statement, adding that Rantos said in his non-binding opinion that the General Court "did not err in law in assessing the necessity of the information requested or in examining the safeguards for its provision."
Judges, who usually follow the majority of such recommendations, will rule in the coming months.
The cases are C-496/23 P Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission (Facebook Marketplace) and C-497/23 P Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission (Facebook Data).
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout)
An EU court adviser recommended dismissing Meta’s appeals against EU antitrust information requests related to Facebook Data and Facebook Marketplace.
No. Advocate General opinions are non-binding. CJEU judges typically follow them but will issue a final ruling in the coming months.
The appeals are in cases C-496/23 P (Facebook Marketplace) and C-497/23 P (Facebook Data), following General Court judgments from May 24, 2023.
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