Art. 60 GDPR · Chapter VII: Cooperation and consistency · Section 1: Cooperation
Article 60 GDPR: Cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned
Text as of 28 October 2026 Reviewed by Sergio Maldonado Elvira on 29 October 2026
Official text
The lead supervisory authority shall cooperate with the other supervisory authorities concerned in accordance with this Article in an endeavour to reach consensus. The lead supervisory authority and the supervisory authorities concerned shall exchange all relevant information with each other.
The lead supervisory authority may request at any time other supervisory authorities concerned to provide mutual assistance pursuant to Article 61 and may conduct joint operations pursuant to Article 62, in particular for carrying out investigations or for monitoring the implementation of a measure concerning a controller or processor established in another Member State.
The lead supervisory authority shall, without delay, communicate the relevant information on the matter to the other supervisory authorities concerned. It shall without delay submit a draft decision to the other supervisory authorities concerned for their opinion and take due account of their views.
Where any of the other supervisory authorities concerned within a period of four weeks after having been consulted in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article, expresses a relevant and reasoned objection to the draft decision, the lead supervisory authority shall, if it does not follow the relevant and reasoned objection or is of the opinion that the objection is not relevant or reasoned, submit the matter to the consistency mechanism referred to in Article 63.
Where the lead supervisory authority intends to follow the relevant and reasoned objection made, it shall submit to the other supervisory authorities concerned a revised draft decision for their opinion. That revised draft decision shall be subject to the procedure referred to in paragraph 4 within a period of two weeks.
Where none of the other supervisory authorities concerned has objected to the draft decision submitted by the lead supervisory authority within the period referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5, the lead supervisory authority and the supervisory authorities concerned shall be deemed to be in agreement with that draft decision and shall be bound by it.
The lead supervisory authority shall adopt and notify the decision to the main establishment or single establishment of the controller or processor, as the case may be and inform the other supervisory authorities concerned and the Board of the decision in question, including a summary of the relevant facts and grounds. The supervisory authority with which a complaint has been lodged shall inform the complainant on the decision.
By derogation from paragraph 7, where a complaint is dismissed or rejected, the supervisory authority with which the complaint was lodged shall adopt the decision and notify it to the complainant and shall inform the controller thereof.
Where the lead supervisory authority and the supervisory authorities concerned agree to dismiss or reject parts of a complaint and to act on other parts of that complaint, a separate decision shall be adopted for each of those parts of the matter. The lead supervisory authority shall adopt the decision for the part concerning actions in relation to the controller, shall notify it to the main establishment or single establishment of the controller or processor on the territory of its Member State and shall inform the complainant thereof, while the supervisory authority of the complainant shall adopt the decision for the part concerning dismissal or rejection of that complaint, and shall notify it to that complainant and shall inform the controller or processor thereof.
After being notified of the decision of the lead supervisory authority pursuant to paragraphs 7 and 9, the controller or processor shall take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the decision as regards processing activities in the context of all its establishments in the Union. The controller or processor shall notify the measures taken for complying with the decision to the lead supervisory authority, which shall inform the other supervisory authorities concerned.
Where, in exceptional circumstances, a supervisory authority concerned has reasons to consider that there is an urgent need to act in order to protect the interests of data subjects, the urgency procedure referred to in Article 66 shall apply.
The lead supervisory authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned shall supply the information required under this Article to each other by electronic means, using a standardised format.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Official Journal L 119, 4.5.2016, as corrected. Only the text published in the Official Journal is authentic. © European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu
Text as of 28 October 2026.
This is reference material, not legal advice.
Related recitals
This list is under review.
Court of Justice judgments
- C-252/21, Meta Platforms Inc and Others v Bundeskartellamt
Judgment of 4 July 2023ECLI:EU:C:2023:537
A competition authority may find GDPR breaches when examining abuse of dominance, in cooperation with data protection authorities; collecting off-platform data that reveal sensitive traits is special-category processing; personalised advertising from such data cannot rest on contract necessity and only narrowly on legitimate interest; dominance does not bar valid consent but weighs on whether it is freely given.
- C-645/19, Facebook Ireland Ltd and Others v Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit
Judgment of 15 June 2021ECLI:EU:C:2021:483
A non-lead supervisory authority may go to court over cross-border processing only in the situations where the GDPR gives it competence and while respecting the cooperation and consistency procedures; the defendant need not have an establishment in that State.
EDPB guidance
- Guidelines 03/2021 on the application of Article 65(1)(a) GDPR
EDPB 03/2021FinalFirst published 16 April 2021Final version 24 May 2023
- Guidelines 06/2022 on the practical implementation of amicable settlements
EDPB 06/2022FinalFirst published 12 May 2022Final version 12 May 2022
No public consultation.
- Guidelines 02/2022 on the application of Article 60 GDPR
EDPB 02/2022FinalFirst published 14 March 2022Final version 14 March 2022
No public consultation.
- Guidelines 09/2020 on relevant and reasoned objection under Regulation 2016/679
EDPB 09/2020FinalFirst published 13 October 2020Final version 9 March 2021