Google warned of harder line from EU

The EU's incoming digital policy chief has put Google on notice that it faces a potentially more hostile Brussels regime, suggesting the US group could be forced to be neutral in presenting search results.

Günther Oettinger, Germany's EU commissioner, intervened hours after the official who has presided over an abortive five-year quest for an antitrust settlement with Google washed his hands of the tortuous saga, and bequeathed it to his successors at the European Commission.

Mr Oettinger will not be directly responsible for competition policy, but his willingness to speak out on the deal within hours of being nominated to his new post sparked alarm within Google that this could be a sign of trouble ahead.

The US internet group has been under political siege in Europe since last year’s Edward Snowden spying scandal, facing fierce criticism from French and German ministers over its search practices and use of vast amounts of personal data.

Brussels this week in effect abandoned a carefully crafted draft settlement with Google over allegations that it manipulated search results to benefit its own in-house services.

Speaking to a New York audience yesterday, Joaquín Almunia, the EU’s outgoing competition chief, made clear it would be impossible to salvage the settlement before he leaves office in the next two months. “For sure this will not be concluded before the end of October,” he said.

This leaves the case in the hands of incoming European Commission president Jean- Claude Juncker and his new competition enforcer, Margrethe Vestager, the former Danish finance minister.

While Ms Vestager has yet to make her views clear on how to take forward the Google case, the US tech group fears Mr Juncker will push a more confrontational approach, which could include formal charges, new investigations and ultimately fines.

Mr Oettinger, who is entering a second term as commissioner, has long been critical of the Google deal but will now hold more sway as he moves from the energy to the digital brief.

He told reporters that Google’s market power could be curbed in years to come and added he would press for measures to ensure Google preserved neutrality and objectivity, according to Reuters.

The comments echo the demands of Google’s rivals, who want the EU to use its competition powers to order Google to cease favouring its own specialised services in areas such as shopping or flight search.

Mr Oettinger also said European telecoms groups such as Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom were lagging behind global rivals and said the EU should be more open to the industry's priorities. Big European telecoms groups have been pressing Brussels to limit the power of Google and regulate messaging services such as WhatsApp in which messaging is provided by a third party and not the provider.

A spokeswoman for Mr Oettinger said that the German politician would “work closely” with the competition commissioner on Google. “The final signature would be still for the competition commissioner,” she added. “In the current case, of course, also the market power of Google is looked at.” – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014)