Adv. General Kokott recently shared his Opinion in case C-48/22 regarding the judicial review of the fine imposed on Google by the EU Commission in June 2017.
Consistently with the position of the General Court – that first dismissed the appeal by Alphabet against the decision of the Commission – the Adv. General suggested that the CJEU confirm the fine.
According to Adv. Kokott, the behaviour adopted by Google, i.e. promoting its own shopping services in web research in comparison to the services provided by third parties, constitutes an independent form of abuse of dominant position under European Law.
This opinion ends another chapter in the long enquiry between Google and the Commission, awaiting the final judgement of the CJEU. In the meanwhile, the Commission has initiated another proceeding against Google on similar grounds. This time, Google is accused of favouring its own services in the Adtech industry in violation of EU competition law.
The common element of these two cases is the dual role played by Google, which acts both as a browser and as a provider of online services. In light of these recent developments, Google might eventually be required to unbundle these two components or otherwise need help to comply with the requirements set by the Commission.
