During the past five years, Google has taken a gingerly approach to fighting its antitrust battles in the European Union, nurturing a working relationship with Joaquín Almunia, the bloc’s competition commissioner, and patiently presenting him with three sets of proposals to settle antitrust complaints that it favored its own business over that of rivals in search results.But lately pressure has mounted on Mr. Almunia to delay — or even jettison — parts of a carefully crafted antitrust settlement. It is a worrisome development for Google that could spin out an investigation into its search engine and advertising business for many years to come in Europe, where attitudes to American technology giants have hardened as concerns about their market power and use of private information have mushroomed.
www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/business/international/pressure-grows-on-eu-regulator-to-rethink-google-settlement.html
Pressure Grows on E.U. Regulator to Rethink Google Settlement
During the past five years, Google has taken a gingerly approach to fighting its antitrust battles in the European Union, nurturing a working relationship with Joaquín Almunia, the bloc’s competition commissioner, and patiently presenting him with three sets of proposals to settle antitrust complaints that it favored its own business over that of rivals in search results.