Brussels, 18/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 18 March, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that he doubted that talks with plaintiff companies would lead the European Commission to change its mind on the commitments offered by US internet giant Google to respond to accusation of abuse of its dominant position on the online search market and related advertising market (see EUROPE 11040).
Almunia did not totally rule out any changes but, in a reply to a question from Pablo Zalba Bidegain (EPP, Spain) at a hearing at the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee on Tuesday morning, he said that he did not think any of the plaintiffs' arguments would get the Commission to change its views. In answer to a question from Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (ALDE, Spain), he swept aside fears about the auction system that some feel will simply add to Google's profits by providing extra revenue. The US giant has promised to auction off three clearly visible competitors' links to appear alongside its own on search pages. Almunia said that payment will be done in terms of clicks, so the sites that get the most clicks from users (because they are visible enough) will have to pay, rather than the others. He said that, if Google failed to meet its promises, there would be immediate and severe consequences, adding that the Commission's hands would not be tied in the five years of application of the commitments.
Almunia said that a decision would be taken over the next few weeks about commitments offered by Samsung following a number of legal cases from its competitors about their patents (following a complaint by Apple).
In response to Arlene McCarthy (S&D, United Kingdom), who is heading the inter-institutional talks on the market abuse directive following the manipulation of the LIBOR benchmark, Almunia said that three banks, JPMorgan Chase&Co, HSBC Holdings Plc and Crédit Agricole SA, and a cash broker, ICAP Plc, were currently being investigated in connection with LIBOR, in addition to another investigation on possible manipulation of oil prices. The Commission is also carrying out preliminary work on possible manipulation of the foreign exchange markets (Forex).
On the draft state aid guidelines for energy and the environment, which will be discussed by the College of Commissioners on 9 April, Almunia said that the Commission wanted to draw up a list of sectors that can be granted partial exemption, based on intensity of electricity usage and exposure to global trade, along with the risk of carbon leakage, adding that the Commission was fine-tuning its proposals.
This was the final meeting of the commissioner and the committee in question, and several MEPs painted an unflattering picture of Almunia's work during his time in office. (EL)