Germany: Issued CJEU ruling on Meta/Facebook v. FCO on competition authority competence regarding the GDPR (C-252/21)

Description

Issued CJEU ruling on Meta/Facebook v. FCO on competition authority competence regarding the GDPR (C-252/21)

On 4 July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its ruling in case C‑252/21 (Meta/Facebook v. the Federal Cartel Office. The case originated when the the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited Meta Platforms from processing aggregated data collected from third-party sources without the consent of the user to deliver personalised ads and determined that Meta Platforms was abusing its dominant position in Germany. The CJEU was asked to determine whether competition authorities have the power to assess compliance with the GDPR in their decisions. The CJEU ruled that a competition authority may take into account data protection regulations in the context of their competition investigations and examine whether specific conduct complies with rules other than those relating to competition law.

Original source

Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Unilateral conduct regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
platform intermediary: user-generated content
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
judiciary
Government Body
court

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2019-02-06
in force

The Federal Cartel Office (FCO) rules that excessive data collection by platforms (i.c. Facebook) o…

2019-08-26
under appeal

Court of appeals suspends the application of the the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) ruling that excess…

2020-06-23
in force

Supreme court overturns the court of appeals and upholds the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) ruling tha…

2021-03-24
under deliberation

On 24 March 2021, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (DHRC) suspended the proceedings in the case…

2021-03-24
under investigation

On 24 March 2021, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (DHRC) suspended the proceedings in the case…

2022-09-20
under deliberation

On 20 September 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Advocate General's Opinion …

2023-07-04
in force

On 4 July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its ruling in case C‑252/2…

2024-10-10
concluded

On 10 October 2024, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) closed its investigation into Meta (formerly Fa…