The principle of sincere cooperation as institutional bridge between competition and data protection law?

In digital markets, personal data is increasingly monetized. As a result, the areas of competition and data protection law collide and the competences of enforcers of these fields of law (i.e. competition and data protection authorities) also overlap. These overlapping competences are not problematic per se but trigger a need for cross-disciplinary cooperation between data protection and competition authorities. Despite this need for cooperation, the EU framework does not provide any specific rules on the interaction between competition and data protection authorities and the CJEU derives certain obligations to cooperate from the principle of sincere cooperation. This paper assesses whether this approach is apt to facilitate cooperation between competition and data protection authorities in the EU. To this end, the paper studies the need for cooperation, the (lack of) existing frameworks for cooperation and the relevance of the principle of sincere cooperation. Furthermore, by identifying the main gaps and open questions associated with the institutional framework, the paper uncovers existing problems relating to cross-disciplinary cooperation between data protection and competition authorities. The absence of a forum for cooperation and the lack of a legal basis to share information are major problems posing obstacles to effective cross-disciplinary cooperation. The EU legislator should fill these gaps in the institutional framework by harmonizing the inter-jurisdictional interaction between competition and data protection authorities.