NEWSLETTER
On Wednesday, the regulators of the European Union increased their efforts to force Apple and Google to change key parts of their businesses, despite the possible decline of the Trump administration on the regulation of US technology companies.
The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27 -nations block, said Apple and Google had violated a law approved in 2022 aimed at guaranteeing fair competition in the digital economy.
Decisions add a new layer to geopolitical tensions between the United States and the European Union on issues ranging from commerce and tariffs to Ukraine and military defense.
The commission said a Preliminary judgment He discovered that Google had violated Law 2022, called Digital Markets Law, using its dominant search engine to direct users to other Google services, giving it an unfair advantage over other online companies. The regulators also accused the technological giant of unfair restrictions in their Google Play application store that limited the offers that customers could receive from application developers.
Apple was said To facilitate headphones manufacturers, smart watches and other connected devices to synchronize with the Apple's mobile operating system.
“Companies operating in the EU, regardless of their place of incorporation, must comply with the EU rules, including the Law of Digital Markets,” Teresa Ribera, executive vice president of the European Commission in charge of the competence policy, said in a statement. “With these decisions, we are simply implementing the law.”
The cases show that the European Union plans to continue its aggressive supervision of the largest technological companies despite tension with the United States. For years, regulators in Brussels have addressed amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, x and others on their commercial practices and the content shared on their platforms. But some analysts have questioned whether the authorities would soften their position to avoid creating more conflicts with President Trump.
The Trump administration saying In February, he would consider retaliation if US companies were aimed at the Digital Markets Law.
However, the Administration has not always completely supported the large technology companies. The Department of Justice reiterated this month its demand for Google to break due to antitrust violations, continuing a policy initiated under the Biden administration.
Wednesday's ads do not include fines, but companies could eventually face financial sanctions if they do not make changes that satisfy regulators.
The actions taken against Apple and Google represent some of the first application steps given under the Digital Markets Law, an approved law to provide European regulators with greater authority to force large technology companies to make changes in their products and services to make it easier for smaller companies to compete.
Companies have argued that regulations slow down innovation in Europe. Apple has already delayed the launch of some artificial intelligence characteristics in Europe due to what they say they are regulatory challenges.
“Today's decisions surround us in the bureaucracy, slowing down Apple's ability to innovate for users in Europe and forcing us to give our new features for companies that do not have to play with the same rules,” Apple said in a statement.
Google said he had already made a series of changes in his search engine, his mobile operating system, Android and his application store to comply with European laws.
“Today's announcement of the European Commission presents more changes in the search for Google, Android and Play that will harm European companies and consumers, hinder innovation, weaken security and degrade product quality,” said the company in a Blog.
(Tagstotranslate) Apple Inc
