Breach of Data Protection Law as a “Vital Clue“ for Finding an Abuse of Dominant Position: An Analysis of the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60131/jlaw.1.2026.11870Keywords:
dominant position, personal data protection, competition law, Court of Justice of the European UnionAbstract
On 4 July 2023, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered a landmark judgment in Case C-252/21, clarifying the interplay between data protection and competition law. This paper analyses the judgment and its implications for the intersection of these two fields of law. The Court ruled that national competition authorities can consider infringements of the General Data Protection Regulation as a “vital clue“ in establishing an abuse of dominant position, provided the duty of sincere cooperation is fulfilled. Compliance with this duty is essential for the consistent and uniform application of the General Data Protection Regulation.
This landmark judgment lays the foundation for closer cooperation between competition and data protection authorities and gives rise to the need for developing additional procedural frameworks to ensure efficient coordination. This paper also examines the Court’s reasoning with regard to the legal grounds for the processing of personal data, combined datasets, and the importance of obtaining separate consent for different data processing operations.
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