Despite issuing a $2.7 billion fine against Google earlier this summer, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she believes it is still a “wonderful” company.
“This is a decision about legal behavior that they should and can correct,” Vestager told CNBC from the Ambrosetti Forum in Lake Como, Italy, on Saturday.
“In other respects, Google is a wonderful company, very, very innovative and they have brought us innovation that has changed our lives,” she said.
In June, Vestager hit Google with the biggest fine ever imposed by the EU on a company due to an antitrust case stemming from the world’s most popular search engine’s promotion of its shopping service over its competitors. Since it was issued the fine, the company has 90 days to stop favoring its own shopping service over others or face a $12 million a day penalty.
According to TechCrunch, Google sent the European Commission details of how it plans to fix its shopping service this week. The company’s 90 days to solve the issue will end in late September.
As the European Commission’s antitrust head, Vestager is in charge of regulating commercial activity across the entire continent of Europe.
“What Google has done is illegal,” Vestager said in June.
The fine came after a seven-year investigation.
[CNBC]
