TRADE COMPETITION
Google prepares for hefty fine by EU watchdog
Brussels — As European Union officials count the days before their annual vacation, Google’s lawyers and lobbyists are hunkering down in Brussels, preparing for what may be a record EU antitrust fine. A penalty in the shopping-search probe could come within weeks and many expect it to exceed a $1.2bn fine imposed on Intel in 2009. That would be another show of strength by EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who slapped Apple with a €13bn tax bill in August. Google is a top priority case for her as European politicians and publishers push for action against the company that has come to dominate online advertising. "If there’s going to be a fine, it has to be the biggest ever," said Stephen Kinsella, a lawyer at Sidley Austin who represents companies that have complained to the EU about Google. "The European Commission has strongly signalled that if there is going to be a fine, it would need to be at a level that would have a deterrent effect."
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