European parliament votes in favor of breaking up Google

In a vote on Thursday, European Parliament members voted 384 to 174 in favor of a resolution that calls for the unbundling of search engines from other commercial services to ensure competition among online companies. Although Google is not named specifically in the resolution, it's clearly targeted at the dominant search engine.

The resolution would still have to be approved by the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, to take effect, but the overwhelming vote in favor of separating search from other online products increases the likelihood that Google could face a major regulatory headache.

In a press release, the European Parliament called on EU member states and the European Commission to “break down barriers to the growth of the EU's digital single market” (a “single market” refers to the EU as an association of 28 countries trading freely between each other without restrictions). The Parliament also “stressed the need to prevent online companies from abusing dominant positions.”

Lawmakers expressed concern, in particular, that Google was using its dominance to promote its own services unfairly and to obscure the services of its competitors. In the resolution, the Parliament asked the European Commission “to prevent any abuse in the marketing of interlinked services by operators of search engines,'” and asserted that "Indexation, evaluation, presentation, and ranking by search engines must be unbiased and transparent.”

Reuters reports that European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager “has said she will review the case and talk to complainants before deciding on the next step.” Earlier this month, when the Financial Times reported on the draft resolution, it noted that the European Commission has been investigating Google for unfair practices for years. Earlier this week, US lawmakers urged the European Parliament not to vote to break up Google.

Google declined to comment to Reuters. Ars has contacted Google and will update if we receive a response.

This is only the latest in a slew of troubles Google has had with European regulators. It has also seen regulation, fines, and warnings from Europe with respect to taxation, copyright concerns, and the “right to be forgotten.”

US lawmakers ask Europe not to break up Google

European parliament considering a nonbinding resolution to unbundle search engines.

by  Jon Brodkin -  Nov 26 2014, 10:50am CST

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A European proposal to unbundle search engines from other commercial businesses—which could result in the breakup of Google—has brought a response from US lawmakers.

"Capitol Hill hit back at EU lawmakers on Tuesday for politicizing an antitrust investigation into Google, as tensions rose ahead of a European parliamentary vote calling for the possible break-up of the technology group," the Financial Times reported last night.

Lawmakers sent letters to European counterparts expressing alarm at the proposal. The letters don't specifically mention Google, the world's largest search company, but neither does the European draft resolution. That says the European Commission should "consider proposals with the aim of unbundling search engines from other commercial services." The resolution in the European parliament is likely to pass on Thursday, but it would be nonbinding, because any final action would have to be taken by the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union.

One European member of parliament argued that "search engines like Google should not be allowed to use their market power to push forward other commercial activities of the same company.” However, EU digital commissioner Günther Oettinger spoke out against a breakup of Google.

US House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) wrote to European members of parliament, calling himself "troubled to learn that some European elected representatives are encouraging antitrust enforcement efforts that appear to be motivated by politics, rather than grounded in factual and legal principles. We believe that antitrust enforcement should be applied independent of politics and firmly rooted in our shared international principles. Policies that run counter to these principles undermine our free markets and ultimately harm both our businesses and our consumers."

Another letter from US lawmakers said "'proposals that seem to target US technology companies' raised questions 'about the EU’s commitment to open markets,'" the Financial Times reported. The letter was signed by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Sander Levin (D-MI).

A third letter signed by 12 members of US Congress led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) said the resolution "would deter continued innovation and investment from US based Internet companies." The letter described "the transformative impact of online based services, including e-mail, social media, and search on our society and the economy," plus the contributions of US companies to the European economy.

"It is therefore troubling to us that the European Parliament is suggesting an action that would stem cross-border data flows at the expense of millions of people across Europe who enjoy the use of these online services every day," the letter states. "We support healthy competition and a fair playing field for Internet companies in the US and around the globe, and we believe these goals can be accomplished through the traditional regulatory process."