Separating or integrating? Data protection in competition assessments: a systematic literature review

The dual role of personal data in data protection and competition law has given rise to a complex interplay, sparking debate among policymakers and scholars on whether to incorporate data protection considerations into competition assessments.Through a systematic review of relevant literature between 2014 and 2023, using the PRISMA methodology, this article explores recent shifts in the approach to incorporating data protection considerations into competition assessments.We argue that the debate in the literature has gradually centred around two more integrationist approaches, mirroring the ongoing evolution in competition law enforcement, based on data protection law's normative contribution to competition law.While legal studies, which typically refrain from the most integrationist approaches, still dominate the reviewed literature, interdisciplinary research has grown considerably since 2014 onwards.We identify nine considerations through which data protection might surface in competition assessments, which we classify into five categories: i) constraint on competition enforcement actions, ii) analysis of the legal and regulatory framework, iii) analysis of exploitative abuses, iv) analysis of exclusionary abuses, and v) alleviation of anti-competitive effects.We conclude by making a case for a pragmatic approach, where data protection considerations are considered in competition assessments, guided by data protection law as a normative benchmark.