This was the result of a judgement by the highest European Court. The executive was actually opposed to striking down safe harbour. I might be living in a fant

This was the result of a judgement by the highest European Court. The executive was actually opposed to striking down safe harbour. I might be living in a fantasy world, but I believe the courts to be amongst the most independent and trustworthy institutions. Any connection between the (highest!) court and the security apparatus or even political leadership would, if revealed, trigger a constitutional crisis of unheard proportions. I also don't see what motives these judges would have. Too lazy too look it up for the European courts, but most judges are either appointed for life, appointed for a single term with no possibility of a second term or just incredibly hard to fire. They're also well paid and have usually demonstrated their resistance to the appeal of money by being the best at what they do (at least in Germany, judges are recruited only from the top 5% of law graduates) and not choosing to work at a major law firm with a pay check that's easily 5-10x what a judge earns. Sure, maybe they're blackmailed or something like that, but (a) the judges I know lead incredibly boring private lives so it'd be hard to find dirt on a majority of the panel, (b) I'd expect at least one them to gladly fall on her sword and reveal any such plot (based on my possibly rose-coloured impression of their character). Also remember that some (legal) sex story, affair or former marijuana use wouldn't really be a scandal in Europe. You'd need some actual criminal activity. tl/dr nah, this is no conspiracy.