On September 20, 2022, an adviser to the EU’s top court opined that competition authorities may consider a company’s compliance with the EU’s data protection rules as part of an abuse of dominance investigation.

In his Opinion (Opinion), Advocate General (AG) Athanasios Rantos of the EU’s Court of Justice (CJEU) noted that competition authorities do not have direct jurisdiction to enforce non-antitrust legal frameworks, including the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, they may review a company’s privacy practices and take these into account as a factor (or as an “incidental question”) to determine if a company is abusing its dominant position. AG Opinions are non-binding, but the CJEU follows them in the majority of cases. If confirmed, the Opinion could empower the European Commission (EC) and national competition authorities to assess data protection violations as evidence of an abuse of dominance.