Brussels, 30/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is expected to open an investigation into the practices of US groups Google and Amazon, in particular, into the way they list the results of searches and utilise user data.
The Commission is here echoing the concerns of the economy ministers of France, Emmanuel Macron, and Germany, Sigmar Gabriel (see EUROPE 11304). In their letter to Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger who is responsible for digital matters, the ministers call for “a regulatory framework ensuring a fair competition between all digital players” and highlight “the need to regulate essential digital platforms”. The initial drafts of the digital single market strategy, to be presented on 6 May, demonstrate that the Commission is seriously exercised by the unfair practices of the platforms in question. There will definitely not, however, be any legislation at this point: the situation will simply be assessed before the end of this year. The strategy is also expected to more closely frame on-demand video services, such as Netflix (in order to ensure that they are subject to the same rules as traditional television broadcasts) and messaging applications, such as WhatsApp and Skype, which are becoming serious competitors to the services proposed by European telecoms operators. (Isabelle Lamberty)