Brussels, 16/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - French secretary of state for digital affairs, Axelle Lemaire, says that EU competition rules need to be updated to adjust to the digital age.
France and several other EU member states want the question of the loyalty of digital platforms to be put on the European Commission's agenda because they feel that the traditional competition law finds it difficult to deal with the business practices of the new digital players, explained Lemaire on EUROPE 1 on Thursday 16 April.
On Wednesday, the Commission said it was sending Google a statement of objections about abuse of its dominant position (see EUROPE 11295) and refused to comment on Thursday about Lemaire's comments. Lemaire herself said that the question of unbundling Google might end up being raised, but was not the right question for the moment. She rejected the allegations by the US president, Barack Obama that the EU was trying to protect its trade interest. She said the EU wanted free access to the market for both European and foreign companies, and this accusation of protectionism that is often made by the US simply doesn't apply. Lemaire added that free competition should apply to everyone. (Elodie Lamer)