Press releases
The European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) and the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) welcome the formal decision from the European Commission in the Google competition case, which acknowledges the company’s abuse of its dominant market position.
Yesterday, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager announced that the EU competition authority concluded that Google’s practice of illegally favouring its own services in search results breached EU antitrust rules, undermining competition in Europe. This decision ends the nearly decade-long inquiry into the company.
The Commission imposed a record fine of €2.42 billion and requested that Google stop the abuse within a period of 90 days or face penalty payments of up to 5% of the average daily worldwide turnover of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Auke Visser, President of EMMA said, “This historic decision against anti-competitive behaviour in the digital markets reinforces the value of Europe’s creative content sector and the significant contributions it makes to Europe’s economy. Also Europe’s free, independent, diverse and vibrant press needs to be defended against such anti-competitive practices.”
Carlo Perrone, President of ENPA said, “While we are pleased with the outcome announced yesterday afternoon, we will continue closely following the implementation of the Commission’s decision. As such, it is crucial that the ongoing procedures against Google are quickly concluded, specifically in relation to the unauthorized use of publishers’ content and bundling of Android with other Google services.”
Along this process, EMMA and ENPA expressed strong support of their members from the German magazine and newspaper associations, VDZ and BDZV, who are formal complainants in the case. In 2009, BDZV and VDZ were among the first to formally point to Google’s practice of favouring their own services in search results, thus contributing to the competition procedure. In a press statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Presidents of the two associations welcomed the outcome of the complaint and the steps it has taken to ensure fair competition of online offers.
For further information contact:
Max von Abendroth
Executive Director, EMMA
max.abendroth@magazinemedia.eu
+32 2 536 06 04
The European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats.
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe. ENPA advocates for 14 national associations across 14 European countries, and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates in the European Union.
