Excerpt from cnbc.com
European Union regulators decided Tuesday that they would file charges against Google stemming from an antitrust investigation, multiple news agencies reported.
Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported
that the Google decision will be discussed by EU commissioners on
Wednesday. That source claimed to the news outlet that European
antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager made the decision to file charges
after consulting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
The Financial Times and The New York Times also reported
Tuesday that the EU would accuse the tech giant of abusing its market
position, citing sources familiar with the regulators’ decision.
Google faces fines of as much as $6.6 billion if the charges are proven.
Google shares traded down about 1.6 percent on
Tuesday, although most of those losses came in the morning. The stock
was largely unchanged in after-hours trading.
Reuters had reported earlier that Google was
likely to learn more on Wednesday about how Vestager will treat
complaints about its market dominance.
However, industry and EU sources suggested to
Reuters that Vestager (who took over as EU competition commissioner in
November and has indicated she will not be rushed into concluding the
five-year-old inquiry) was unlikely to announce charges against the U.S.
Internet search giant.
A European Commission spokesman declined comment
on Tuesday on whether Vestager, who is due to fly to the United States
on Wednesday afternoon, would make a statement after the weekly meeting
of all 28 EU commissioners in the morning.
That followed a comment on Monday by another commissioner,
digital economy chief Guenther Oettinger, who said Vestager would make a
statement on Google in days. Another EU official said he expected an
announcement on Wednesday.
Asked about such remarks, Commission spokesman
Margaritis Schinas told a routine news briefing on Tuesday: “The
Commission does not always express itself on ongoing competition cases.
“If there is a time for announcements it will be announced, but there is nothing on this question today.”
Google could not be reached by Reuters for comment.
Andreas Schwab, a member of the European
Parliament who has pushed for the EU executive to consider even breaking
up Google, told Reuters he expected the Commission to conclude its
investigation and issue a statement of objections—effectively bringing
charges against Google that could result in huge fines and orders to
reshape its business in Europe.
—Reuters contributed to this report.
Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AscensionEarth2012/~3/CruKiOFiN_g/european-union-regulators-filing-formal.html
European Union regulators filing formal charges against Google
No comments:
Post a Comment