Brussels: EU lawmakers will likely vote on Thursday on a motion proposing the break-up of Google and other Internet technology companies, increasing political pressure on the bloc’s antitrust regulators to take a stronger line on the group.
The parliament has no power to dismember a firm. But the vote, underlining widespread concern among EU politicians about American dominance of the Internet industry, would be a significant public challenge to Google`s business in Europe.
Andreas Schwab, a German Christian Democrat lawmaker at the European Parliament, and Spanish liberal Ramon Tremosa unveiled a draft of their resolution last week, saying separating search engines from other commercial services would ensure a level playing field for rivals in Europe.
The conservatives, liberals and socialists, who command a large majority of the parliamentary seats, will work out a joint motion on Tuesday and expect to debate the issue in parliament on Wednesday and vote on it on Thursday, Tremosa`s aide said on Monday.
European politicians and some competing companies have complained that Google`s dominance allows it to promote its own services at rivals` expense, and attacked it on a range of issues including its tax and privacy policies.
Google has regularly said it faces fierce competition in a constantly-changing market.
The parliament`s proposal to the commission, if passed, would put pressure on new EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager to take a tougher line than her predecessor in resolving complaints against Google.
Vestager`s predecessor, Joaquin Almunia, held four years of investigations, triggered by complaints from rivals including Microsoft. German publishing group Axel Springer has also complained about Google`s market power.
The European Commission has never ordered the break-up of any company for anti-competitive practices.
Kurt Lauk, the head of the pro-business wing of Germany`s conservative party CDU, which is also Schwab`s party, criticised the proposal to break up Google.
"Instead of exploiting the opportunities of the Web, some lawmakers in the European Parliament are nursing their phobias," he told Saturday`s edition of German paper Handelsblatt.
"Threatening Google and other large Internet companies who are in fierce competition with each other, is a loser`s debate," Lauk was quoted as saying.