BRUSSELS, April 28, 2026 — The European Commission and the European Data Protection Board have agreed to begin joint work on guidance clarifying how EU competition law interacts with data protection rules.
The initiative will examine situations where data protection considerations are relevant to competition assessments and, conversely, where competition enforcement may intersect with privacy obligations.
Clarifying two key EU legal frameworks
According to the Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, the project aims to ensure a coherent and consistent approach between EU competition rules and data protection law, two regulatory frameworks that increasingly intersect in digital markets.
Officials said greater clarity is needed to help businesses, regulators and courts understand how the two bodies of law should apply in practice, particularly where the use of data plays a central role in market power or competitive behaviour.
The guidance will explore selected scenarios where privacy rules influence competition analysis and where competition law enforcement may affect companies’ handling of personal data.
Building on earlier EU cooperation
The initiative builds on earlier cooperation between the two institutions, including joint guidelines on the relationship between the Digital Markets Act and the General Data Protection Regulation, which were announced in 2024.
Officials said the new work reflects ongoing efforts to ensure that different areas of EU law operate in a complementary and mutually consistent way, particularly as digital platforms and data-driven business models raise overlapping competition and privacy issues.
The Commission and the EDPB said the initiative is intended to provide greater legal certainty for economic actors and enforcement authorities while supporting the effective application of EU law across both policy areas.
