Advocate General Kokott said on Thursday that the EU’s top courts should dismiss an appeal by Google – backing the lower court’s decision to fine the tech giant €4.12 billion for anticompetitive practices linked to its mobile operating system.
The influential Opinion, by the Advocate General Juliane Kokott, is not legally binding on the Court of Justice (CJEU), but it tends to side with its advisors’ opinions.
Google’s legal arguments against the lower court’s decision were ineffective, according to Kokott. Moreover, the decision taken by the EU’s lower court could not be disputed in front of the Court of Justice, she added.
Kokott also upheld the methodology used by the lower court to recalculate the €4.12 billion penalty – which was revised down slightly on the original Commission fine for Google of €4.343 billion, a record-breaking sized sanction at the time.
Google appealed the 2018 decision by the lower court, which held that the Android-maker had imposed unfair contractual conditions on other phone and mobile network manufacturers.
A spokesperson from Google said it was disappointed with today’s Opinion. If followed by the Court, the Android maker claimed “it would discourage investment in open platforms,” as well as suggesting that it would “harm Android users, partners and app developers.”
As noted above, the Opinion is not binding on the CJEU – a decision by the court on Google’s appeal is expected in the coming months.
(nl)
