EU holds back Google adtech sanctions over concerns for US negotiations

New Delhi: The European Union has delayed the announcement of a fine and sanctions against Google over its advertising technology practices, reportedly due to concerns about the impact on ongoing trade negotiations with the United States, as per the report.

According to MLex, the bloc’s competition regulators had been scheduled to announce the measures on Monday, with Google having been informed of the timeline. However, officials outside the competition team are said to have raised concerns that the timing could put a recently agreed trade deal at risk.

The plan of EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera to announce the sanctions was reportedly overruled only hours before the decision was due. EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who is leading the negotiations with Washington, is said to have suspended the release in what has been described as a highly unusual intervention. 

The US Justice Department also opposed the timing, with assistant attorney general Gail Slater writing to Ribera to suggest that the announcement be delayed. “Slater’s message was intended to be constructive and to help keep antitrust probes separate from trade talks,” MLex reported, citing unnamed people.

The European Commission has confirmed that the Google investigation remains “ongoing”. Ribera’s staff are now understood to be addressing further questions raised on the draft decision, which could push back the announcement by several days or weeks.

The delayed decision is expected to include a financial penalty and a cease-and-desist order requiring Google to halt alleged abusive practices. Even before the postponement, reports suggested that the fine would be smaller than the multibillion-euro penalties handed down under Ribera’s predecessor, Margrethe Vestager.

Vestager had previously issued more than €8 billion (£7bn) in fines against Google across three different cases and had argued for the “mandatory divestment” of part of the company’s business to address competition concerns.

The US Justice Department is pursuing its own case against Google’s adtech business, with a trial on remedies scheduled for later this month. Washington has already warned that it will retaliate against regulatory action targeting American companies.