ClubMed: Inge Graef | The future of the competition-data protection interaction under the CJEU’s Meta Platforms judgment and the DMA

Abstract

Competition authorities can identify a violation of the data protection rules when such a finding is necessary to establish an abuse of dominance under the competition rules. This is the main outcome of the judgment that the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) delivered in the case Meta Platforms on 4 July 2023. The CJEU endorsed the approach of the German competition authority in its 2019 competition decision against Facebook (now Meta) to rely on the data protection rules in the GDPR to hold Meta liable under German competition law for imposing unfair terms and conditions.

While the CJEU makes strong statements about the legality of Meta’s personal data processing under the GDPR, the CJEU’s guidance about how competition authorities should coordinate their investigations with data protection authorities is more open-ended. This is especially relevant with the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act, which regulates data-related practices that are also covered by the GDPR, and is enforced by the European Commission with only an advisory role foreseen for data protection authorities.

Against this background, the presentation will consider how competition and data protection law may interact in the future – building on this case commentary published in the Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law.

Speaker: Inge Graef

Time: 10:45-11:45 hrs

Host: Konrad Borowicz
Moderator: Konrad Borowicz