The European Parliament may be looking into measures to split up
Internet search engine services, which would primarily affect search
giant Google. A draft motion was cited by the Financial Times and news
agency Reuters.
The draft motion of the European Parliament reportedly seen by Reuters
on Friday would ask regulators to consider unbundling, or splitting up,
Internet search engines from other commercial services.
According to the motion seen by Reuters, such a move was seen as "one potential long-term solution" to
leveling the competitive online playing field.
Though the draft motion did not mention Google or any other search
engine specifically, Google has an estimated 90 percent market share in
Europe and European politicians have increasingly expressed concerns
about the
dominance the American company and those like it have of the Internet industry.
Earlier on Friday the draft motion was described by the Financial Times
as calling for the break-up of Google. According to Reuters, Google had
declined to comment.
Significant step
Although the draft motion is non-binding, such a public call for a
break-up would be the most far-reaching action proposed so far. It would
be seen as a significant threat to Google's business.
While the European Parliament lacks the authority to break up
corporations and has no power to initiate legislation, such a resolution
would increase the pressure on the European Commission to take action
against Google.
"It's a strong expression of the fact that things are going to change,"
Gary Reback, a United States attorney who has filed complaints against
Google on behalf of companies said, adding "The parliament doesn't bind
the commission for sure, but they have to listen."
According to Reuters, the resolution was co-sponsored by German
center-right Christian Democrat lawmaker Andreas Schwab and Spanish
centrist Ramon Tremosa earlier this week. Schwab told Reuters it was
"very likely" to be adopted by his own parliamentary group and it was
also supported by the main center-left group.
The new anti-trust chief for Europe, European Competition Commissioner
Margrethe Vestager, said she would take some time to decide on the next
step in
a long-running investigation into Google, after her predecessor, Joaquin Almunia, had rejected a proposed settlement with Google which would have ended the matter.
European concerns
Concerns have been expressed in Europe over Google's policies on privacy
and tax. Moves have been made to curtail the company's power, such as
the so-called
"right to be forgotten" case, meaning Europeans could ask Google to
remove certain search results about them.
Google's rivals such as Yelp Inc have also argued that the company
squeezes them out of Internet search results, favoring its own products.
se/jm (Reuters, dpa)
