Jamieson Greer warns the bloc against an increasingly aggressive take on US tech giants
The EU’s €890 million penalty against Google risks fuelling transatlantic trade instability with an attempt “to target the most competitive US companies”, US trade representative Jamieson Greer warned on Thursday.
Calling the decision the latest sign of “an increasingly aggressive” EU approach, Greer said the bloc was unfairly targeting the most competitive American tech companies with the decision to hit Google with the largest penalty imposed on a single company under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
“The EU’s various fines of Google alone add up to over 2% of the EU’s budget – a larger ‘contribution’ to the budget than many EU member states,” the trade envoy said in a statement. “Add in the recent announcement of the largest ever state-backed loan to Airbus, and it becomes clear that the EU continues to target the most competitive US companies.”
On Thursday, the Commission said that it had decided that the US tech giant favoured its own search services and used anti-steering practices in its app store, after an investigation lasting for more than two years.
