European Commission decision 'very soon' in Google antitrust case

The European Commission will decide "very soon" whether to issue antitrust charges against Google, its digital commissioner has said, in what would be the most politically charged case undertaken by the EU against a US company.

For more than five years, the EU has been investigating whether Google abused its dominance of the European search-engine market to hobble competitors such as online travel agencies and retailers.

The former competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, sought three times to reach a voluntary settlement with Google. However, those attempts failed and Google's rivals have been pressing Mr Almunia's successor, Margrethe Vestager, to launch formal charges.

In an interview with Die Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Gunther Oettinger, the EU's digital commissioner, said he thought Ms Vestager would decide what steps to take "very soon", adding that he expected them to be "far-reaching".

"I am certain that we have to view the market position and business model of Google more critically than in the past," he said, adding that the EU had received "further, well-founded complaints from European companies".

Mr Oettinger's remarks will give heart to many of the complainant companies, who expect charges to come before Ms Vestager departs on a trip to the US on Wednesday.

However, the commission declined to comment on the timing of Ms Vestager's decision. Some lawyers involved with the case argued that it would be very difficult to prepare a full charge sheet by mid-April, and expected her to come to a conclusion on whether to launch charges within months rather than the next few days.

Google declined to comment on Mr Oettinger's remarks. The California-based company denies abusing its position in the European search-engine market to disadvantage rivals, and insists that it has co-operated fully with Brussels since 2010 in an attempt to arrive at a settlement.

The US group has become a lightning rod for European concerns over Silicon Valley's power, with consumers, regulators and politicians challenging the company over a host of topics, ranging from its commercial dominance to its privacy policy.

Mr Oettinger, from Germany, one of the EU countries where scepticism about Google's business model is most pronounced, has a history of pushing for robust action against the search-engine giant.

Since his nomination as digital commissioner, Mr Oettinger has suggested hitting Google with a levy for displaying copyright-protected material, while raising the idea of forcing its search results to be neutral and voicing concerns about its provision of software for cars.

But the final say lies with Ms Vestager, who has been guarded on how she plans to deal with Google. Speaking in general terms rather than specifically about the US group, she has expressed a preference for formal cases that will set out more concrete case law on broader issues, such as the value attached to data as a corporate asset.

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