EU Antitrust Commissioner Almunia's deal with Google gets slammed by EU officials - sources

Two sources who were familiar with the matter said European Union Antitrust Commissioner Joaquin Almunia's deal with Google Inc to resolve a three-year dispute earned criticism from two officials from the EU at a meeting that was held today.

Telling Bloomberg, the sources said EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding and Michel Barnier, who leads financial-services policy for the EU, expressed their disappointment of Almunia's handling of the Google settlement last week in the meeting. The sources refused to be identified as talks were of a confidential nature.

Last week, Google reportedly promised to publish the results from rival search services to address the concerns that the search engine giant violated antitrust laws. In return, Google was able to escape from paying massive fines to the EU and avoid getting accused for discrimination in its search results in the future. Bloomberg said a similar probe by the US Federal Trade Commission has been dropped last year.

One of the sources said Almunia was criticized for failure to test the latest offer of Google with rivals and customers, failure to consult commissioners about the offer from Google and over options for publishers who were concerned about the content use in the news service of Google. Another source said commissioners had been lobbied intensively by groups opposing to the settlement over the past week.

In an emailed statement, Almunia's spokesman Antoine Colombani said, "Almunia provided an update to other members of the college of commissioners on the state of play of the Google antitrust investigation. He explained in a detailed way why Google's proposals address our concerns and what the next steps will be."

Bloomberg said that for the deal he has settled with Google to be recognized legally, Almunia would need to write to companies and groups who had filed complaints with the EU regarding Google's alleged antitrust violations. Last week, Almunia reiterated that the comments of the 18 complainants, which include Microsoft Corp, will not change his mind with regard to settling with Google.

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European Union Antitrust Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, European Union, Google Inc

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