A potential split of Google’s business is still under consideration, according to Teresa Ribera, the EU’s new competition chief, who also pledged to build bridges with incoming US president Donald Trump.
Ms Ribera, a Spanish socialist who started her five-year term this week, said in an interview that divestments, touted by her predecessor Margrethe Vestager and the US Department of Justice for Alphabet’s Google, are one way of preventing Big Tech firms grabbing too much market power.
“It’s something that is of course on the table, and we try to work together with other relevant competition authorities worldwide, including the US competition authorities,” she said. “It is important to take into consideration this potential division, divestment of some of these businesses. We will be assessing case-by-case.”
She said that she would aim to build on the “legacy” of Ms Vestager who was a thorn in the side of Silicon Valley during her tenure.
Ms Ribera has one of the most powerful roles in European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s second five-year term, and is also responsible for overseeing the EU’s landmark green deal at a time when the threat of deindustrialisation on the Continent looms large.
One of her early challenges will be dealing with Mr Trump, who has repeatedly accused Europe of treating the US badly and threatened a trade war – large EU penalties on US tech firms may be seen as another provocation that merits a strong response.
“I will try” for “a co-operative, real relationship” with the Trump administration, she said.
A report by former Italian premier Mario Draghi offers Ms Ribera a roadmap for European champions to emerge across the tech, green, defence, and telecom industries – as Europe demands an end of an era of blocking the creation of firms capable of competing on the world stage just because they could threaten local EU markets.
How much of that she will be able to follow through on remains uncertain, however, especially amid political uncertainty across the EU, most notably in its two largest economies. The toppling of France’s government after lawmakers backed a no-confidence motion comes just weeks after Germany’s coalition collapsed. – Bloomberg
