In the Google case, some Internet search rivals are furious at Almunia’s intention to avoid lengthy market testing of the company’s latest round of remedies and reach a deal. The drawback is that third parties and consumers are forced to trust the Commission’s judgment that their concerns have been resolved with little means to check or challenge its conclusions, he said.
“Cases based on weaker economic evidence are likely to be settled on a ‘win-win’ basis: the defendant avoids the risk of a fine the Commission avoids showing up empty-handed after a lengthy investigation, or worse, taking an incorrect decision that would be quashed by the court,” Mario Mariniello, a former member of the chief economist team in the EU’s Competition department, said in an article for the Bruegel think-tank. The company concerned avoids a fine and heavier legal costs, limits reputational damage and may avoid the disclosure of sensitive business information. The advantage of such deals is that they offer a quicker solution to a problem than going down the prohibition route. That would leave a final decision to his successor, who the Kremlin may hope will be more emollient. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of competition regulation.īut barring a change of heart in Moscow, Almunia is likely to lay formal charges against Gazprom for discriminating among European customers over the price at which it sells gas, the official said. So Almunia, in office since 2009, has a few weeks in which either to reach settlements with the Internet giant and the energy provider in exchange for commitments to change their business practices, or to send them formal charge sheets.ĭespite deep misgivings among software rivals, he seems poised to strike a deal with Google after having rejected the company’s first two rounds of concessions, a senior EU official said. His term officially ends in November, but Brussels insiders say the Spanish socialist may be sidetracked by extra duties when some of his European Commission colleagues step down in April to contest the European Parliament election. search engine king Google and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in his remaining time.
REUTERS/Francois LenoirĮuropean Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia aims to take landmark decisions on the alleged abuse of dominant market positions by U.S.
European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia speaks during a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels January 15, 2014.
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