欧洲法视角下的数据相关滥用行为

Data-related Abuses under European Law

海量非结构化数据(大数据)的收集和分析给竞争法和数据保护法领域带来了新的问题。这两个领域的关联在Facebook案中得到了明显的体现。在该案中,德国联邦卡特尔局最初没有就《欧盟运行条约》第102条进行更深入的审查,而是依据数据保护法进行了审查并以此为基础确立Facebook在德国法下的滥用行为。该案的审查过程显示了依据《德国竞争法》规制数据相关滥用行为的可能性。然而,正如欧洲法院所解释的那样,如何在Facebook案适用《欧盟运行条约》第102条还是一个未决的问题。鉴于欧盟内部建立了具有可预见性的关于滥用行为的统一标准,接下来的诉讼过程中有必要对可能违反《欧盟运行条约》第102条的行为进行更深入的审查。尽管像Facebook案中这种数据相关滥用行为通常涉及对其他市场参与者的排斥或剥削,但竞争与数据保护之间的关系也引发了另外一个问题,即市场参与者是否有权以提供新的服务并创造新的竞争为由主张访问数据。对此,迄今为止欧盟法采取的是限制性进路,这使得出于竞争性目的获取数据非常困难。欧盟委员会在其最近提出的《数字市场法》中尝试解决此问题。这项立法提议旨在规制具有强大力量的平台守门人以防止滥用行为。然而,该法案最终能否以及何时转变为法律仍然不确定。也就是说,在未来几年,竞争与数据保护之间的复杂关系仍将是欧盟竞争政策的重要议题。

The collection of large amounts of unstructured data(big data)and its analysis poses new questions in the areas of competition as well as data protection.The linkage of the two areas has become apparent in the Facebook case,in which the German Federal Cartel Office initially refrained from a closer examination of Article 102 TFEU and instead carried out an examination under data protection law,in order to establish an abuse under German law on this basis.The procedure in this case shows possibilities of sanctioning data-related abuses based on the German Competition Act.However,the application of Article 102 TFEU,as it is interpreted by the European Court of Justice,has remained open so far in the Facebook case.In view of the development of uniform standards of abuse law throughout the European Union and the predictability of these standards,it would be desirable that a possible violation Article 102 TFEU be examined more closely in the further course of the proceedings.Whereas data-related abuses like in the Facebook case concern the exclusion or the exploitation of other market participants,the relationship between competition and data protection also raises the question whether market participants may have a right to claim access to data in order to provide new services and to create new competition.In this context,a restrictive approach is governing European law to this date,which makes access for competitive purposes very difficult.The European Commission is addressing this issue in its recently proposed Digital Markets Act(DMA).This legislative initiative aims to regulate powerful platform gatekeepers in order to prevent abuses.It is still open whether and when the DMA will become law.That being said,the complex relationship between competition and data protection will stay high on the agenda for European competition policy in the coming years.