Brussels, 10/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - The about turn taken by the Commissioner for Competition, Joaquin Almunia, in the Google affair, has only half convinced the opponents of the US internet giant in the case involving its abuse of its dominant position.
The Commissioner confirmed to the press that the arguments from the plaintiffs had been analysed and Google was expected to put forward solutions to concerns that were ultimately judged to be justified (see EUROPE 11151).
The approach adopted by the Commissioner was certainly described by Markus Ferber MEP (EPP, Germany) as an “about turn”, during a conference bringing together a number of figures in Brussels to look at the question of internet search engine neutrality on Wednesday 10 September, organised by the ENPA, EMMA and the “Open Internet” project. Nonetheless, the MEP appears to have doubts that the situation will be able to dramatically evolve in this dossier, which has been open over the past four years. Ferber remains convinced that Almunia would like to close this dossier at any price, before his mandate comes to an end. He also believes that the affair is not quite ready to conclude and together with the European Parliament, he intends to exert pressure in an effort to “develop a possibility for a serious approach being found that will provide an appropriate solution to the problems and which is acceptable to the plaintiffs”.
Monique Goyens, the director-general of the European Consumers Bureau (BEUC), is one of the plaintiffs and she goes even further. She believes that resolution of the Google case could be delayed but she does not understand why the European Commission would still consider such an option. She was adamant that this kind of resolution to the issue was “non-ethical… and totally opposed to consumers' interests”. To back up her argument, she said that Google had always shown preferential treatment to its own services and that the tender mechanism proposed was not serious (showing other services at the top of the page) and had repercussions on the prices on offer to consumers. She concluded that Google's strategy resulted in less innovation and less consumer choice. Therefore Goyens insisted that any decision taken by the European Commission should be based on the principle of non-discrimination. (MD)