The € 4.34 billion antitrust fine imposed by the European Union on Google was based on miscalculations. In any case, this is the opinion of the company itself, which called on the European Court of General Jurisdiction to cancel or at least reduce the punishment.
Google has been fined for using the Android operating system to fight competitors and consolidate its dominance in internet search since 2011. This is the largest fine ever imposed on a violation of EU antitrust rules.
“The € 4.34 billion fine was inappropriate,” Google lawyer Genevra Forwood told a five-judge panel on the fourth day of a week-long hearing, three years after the European Commission imposed the fine.
There was no anti-competitive intent in Google’s actions, Forwood said, and the company could not have known that its behavior was an abuse based on EU case law, as there was no precedent for that. Anthony Dawes, a lawyer for the European Commission, responded that the company “simply could not have been unaware of the anti-competitive nature of its actions.”
“Reckless violations are just as serious as intentional violations,” Dawes said, adding that the penalty was only 4.5% of Google’s 2017 revenue, up from 10% the maximum allowed by law.
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