Google pressed on mobile services by EU

Europe’s antitrust enforcer is demanding that Google makes sweeping changes to its mobile services as it paves the way to serve formal charges against the US tech company for anti-competitive behavior should talks over a settlement collapse.

The late maneuver by Joaquín Almunia, the EU’s competition commissioner, presents Google with a dilemma as tense settlement negotiations enter their final days. In what could be a move to add further pressure on Google, competition officials have asked complainants to provide non-confidential versions of information submitted to the two-year investigation – a procedural step taken when preparing a charge sheet. The so-called “statement of objections” is not expected to be served imminently. But Almunia is likely to decide whether the talks are worth continuing next week. The outcome is finely balanced and will partly depend on Google’s willingness to extend the scope of the settlement to mobile services, a suggestion Almunia kept back for the final stretch of negotiations.