Meta platforms: How the CJEU leaves competition and data protection authorities with an assignment 1

Published date01 June 2023
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X231205836
AuthorInge Graef
Date01 June 2023
Meta platforms: How the CJEU
leaves competition and data
protection authorities with an
assignment
1
Inge Graef
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 out-
come of the judgment that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered in Meta
Platforms on 4 July 2023. The judgment is the next step in the saga that started with the 2019
competition decision of the Bundeskartellamt (the German Federal Cartel Off‌ice) requiring
Facebook (now Meta) to refrain from combining user data from different sources beyond its social
network. The judgment provides a welcome conf‌irmation that data protection standards can also
matter for the interpretation of the competition rules. However, what is more remarkable and
less expected is the general framework the CJEU sets out for coordination between competition
and data protection authorities building on the duty of sincere cooperation and the clarity with
which it evaluates the different legal bases Meta invoked for processing user data. The judgment
can become a reference point for assessing the legality of personal data processing by powerful
f‌irms, but also leaves competition and data protection authorities with an assignment to explore
how to coordinate their work in the future.
1. A shorter version of this case comment was published as a blog post: I. Graef, The European Court of Justice in Meta
Platforms leaves competition and data protection authorities with an assignment, European Law Blog, 19 July 2023,
https://europeanlawblog.eu/2023/07/19/the-european-court-of-justice-in-meta-platforms-leaves-competition-and-data-
protection-authorities-with-an-assignment/.
Tilburg University, aff‌iliated to the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) and the Tilburg Law and
Economics Center (TILEC), Tilburg, Netherlands
Corresponding author:
Inge Graef, Tilburg University, aff‌iliated to the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) and the Tilburg Law
and Economics Center (TILEC), Warandelaan 2, Tilburg 5000 LE, Netherlands.
Email: i.graef@tilburguniversity.edu
Case Note
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2023, Vol. 30(3) 325334
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1023263X231205836
maastrichtjournal.sagepub.com

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT