The ruling “fails to recognize our significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. The company said it had complied with the initial findings from 2018 and remains “focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers.”
The ruling brings to a close a case that was one of the defining antitrust battles of former Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s tenure and reinforces the Commission’s use of traditional competition law to tackle the market power of digital platforms.
While the bloc now relies increasingly on the Digital Markets Act to regulate large online platforms, the ruling provides another judicial endorsement of the legal principles that underpinned Brussels’ earlier antitrust crackdown on Big Tech.
“Today’s judgment sends a very clear message: dominant companies cannot use their power to shut out competition and limit consumer choice,” said Agustín Reyna, director general of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), which intervened in support of the Commission.
While calling the ruling a major victory, Reyna said it also shows why forward-looking tools like the DMA are needed “to nip unfair practices in the bud.”
Abuse of dominance
At the heart of the case were agreements requiring smartphone manufacturers seeking access to Google’s Play Store to pre-install Google Search and Chrome, alongside restrictions that the Commission said made it harder for rival search engines and browsers to compete.
Source:
www.politico.eu