EU to review behavior of web giants in digital market overhaul
EU to review behavior of web giants in digital market
overhaul
By Julia Fioretti | Reuters – May 6, 2015
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will conduct
a comprehensive review this year of the role of web giants such as Google,
Facebook and Amazon to decide whether it should regulate them more tightly, it
said on Wednesday.
The inquiry will focus on the transparency of search
results and pricing policies, how online platforms use the data they acquire,
their relationships with other businesses and how they promote their own
services to the disadvantage of competitors.
The review, which had been expected, is part of a Digital
Single Market Strategy unveiled by Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip on
Wednesday. A wide-ranging policy paper, it lays out a variety of proposals to
boost economic growth in Europe by removing national barriers within the EU for
online services.
As with other EU inquiries into new digital businesses,
including a potentially costly antitrust suit launched last month against
Google, the biggest targets are U.S. firms which dominate the European market --
a trend that has prompted President Barack Obama to warn the EU against
protectionism.
Ansip's strategy includes a set of initiatives focusing
on reforming copyright and telecoms rules, knocking down barriers to
cross-border parcel deliveries and ensuring European online businesses can
compete with their bigger U.S. counterparts.
The Commission also confirmed a competition inquiry into
e-commerce, which is separate from the analysis of online platforms. Unlike the
antitrust investigation launched last month into Google, the e-commerce
competition inquiry does not carry an immediate threat of penalties for firms
involved, though such legal proceedings could be launched as a result.
The review of online platforms is not intended to lead to
penalties for firms involved, but could see new regulation of the sector --
something Germany and France have pushed for.
"Europe has strengths to build on, but also homework
to do, in particular to make sure its industries adapt, and its citizens make
full use of the potential of new digital services and goods," said
Guenther Oettinger, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society.
The EU executive aims to deliver on its promises by the
end of next year, setting itself up for a battle with several industry groups,
from telecom operators to film makers.
The EU's regulation of the telecom sector will also be
overhauled next year. It will seek to coordinate the sale of airwaves, spur
investment in high-speed broadband and address competition from services such
as Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Skype.
(Reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Alastair
Macdonald)
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