Record-breaking antitrust fine: EU court upholds €4.1 billion fine against Google
2 July 17:15
The American corporation Google has definitively lost a lawsuit regarding a record fine imposed on it eight years ago by EU antitrust authorities on charges of abusing its dominant position in the market for mobile operating systems. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing DW.
“The appeal filed by Google and its parent company, Alphabet, against the decision of the court of first instance has been dismissed, upholding the fine imposed for the abuse of Google Search’s dominant position in the context of the Android operating system,” the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled on Thursday, July 2.
A Long-Running Legal Battle
The proceedings began back in 2018, when the European Commission concluded that Google had imposed illegal restrictions on manufacturers of Android-based mobile devices and mobile network operators in order to strengthen the dominant position of its search engine. Initially, the European Commission imposed a fine of 4.34 billion euros on the company.
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In 2022, the General Court of the European Union upheld the European Commission’s decision on the fine but reduced the amount to 4.125 billion euros. During the retrial, Google attempted to challenge the decision, claiming that the court of first instance had made errors in assessing the facts of the case. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, Europe’s highest court, sided with the antitrust authorities.
Google considers the lawsuit unfounded
Google representatives have already called the ruling unfounded, accusing the court of failing to take into account the company’s investments in making Android open to users. Previously, the company had accused the EU of turning a blind eye to Apple’s similar practices in promoting its own services on the iPhone.
This case is just one of several antitrust disputes between Google and the European Union. The fine imposed on the company set a record for EU antitrust authorities. Over the past ten years, Google has been fined nearly 11 billion euros in the EU for various violations of antitrust laws.
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