[ad_1]
Brussels (AFP) – Google faced a record EU fine on Wednesday for using its Android smartphone system to illegally boost its search engine, in a decision risking a new conflict between Brussels and Washington.
Margrethe Vestager According to Bloomberg News, Bloomberg News is expected to announce a penalty of 4.3 billion euros ($ 5 billion) against the US technology giant.
Vestager is expected to announce at a press conference at 11:00 GMT that Google has abused its dominant position in the market by forcing major phone makers to pre-install its search engine and Google Chrome browser, thus freezing his rivals.
The antitrust chief should also order Google to make major changes to Android, used on about 80% of phones
The new fine, if upheld, will exceed the sanction of 2.4 billion Euros that the EU has imposed on Google on its shopping comparison service in 2017.
The long-awaited decision The ransatlantic trade war rises because of President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on European exports of steel and aluminum.
Vestager spoke on Tuesday with the head of Google, Sundar Pichai, to inform him of the decision. Two European sources told AFP that the fine would be "several billion euros", but said that the exact amount would not be finalized until the head of the European Commission, Jean -Claude Juncker, would not meet his commissioners at AFP. Wednesday morning.
According to the rules of the EU, Google could be sentenced to 10% of the annual income of the parent company Alphabet, which will reach $ 110.9 billion in 2017.
"The fine is based on the duration of the offense.The antitrust authorities believe that there was an intention to commit the offense, and whether they excluded competitors or not, "said another source close to the # 39; s case.
Former Danish Minister Vestager has targeted a series of giants of Silicon Valley during his four years as EU Competition Commissioner, winning praise in Europe but causing anger to Washington
Brussels has targeted Google several times in the last ten years. In the Android case, the European Commission accuses Google of requiring mobile builders such as Samsung from South Korea and Huawei from China to pre-install its search engine and Google Chrome.
They have also been set up to set the default Google search as a condition for licensing certain Google apps.
Google Search and Chrome are preinstalled on the "significant majority" of devices The complaint officially filed in April also accuses Google of preventing manufacturers from selling smartphones running in the competitive market. g systems based on Android open source code.
Google has also given "financial incentives" to manufacturers and mobile network operators if they pre-installed Google Search on their devices, the commission said.
– Silicone Scalps – [19659020] Other important Vestager scalps include Amazon and Apple.
The EU has ordered Apple in 2016 to pay Ireland 13 billion euros in taxes that the iconic manufacturer of iPhones and iPad had avoided thanks to a tax agreement with Dublin. Facebook also took down Facebook's privacy issues after admitting that millions of users may have had their data diverted by the British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which was working for Trump's election campaign in 2016.
But Brussels had US giants a decade and a half ago, since it imposed a whopping 497 million euros fine on Microsoft in 2004 for anti-competitive behavior and decided that it needed to make changes to his Windows system.
Google's decision comes just a week The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, must visit the United States for crucial discussions with Trump on the tariff dispute and other problems.
Transatlantic tensions are also strong, on its summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and on the withdrawal of the US president from the Iranian nuclear agreement and the Paris climate agreement.
Source link
