Google and Apple should have limits, too, says Europe’s competition enforcer, Margrethe Vestager

A Q&A with European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager.

Previously a minister of education and a member of Denmark’s parliament, Margrethe Vestager is viewed by some in the tech world as a new type of enforcer. Earlier in 2016, she demanded that Ireland collect nearly $15 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple, alleging that Apple was dodging what it owed by doing its booking for the whole continent from Ireland. "I think any company should compete on the quality of their products, their prices, the novelty they can produce, their services, because that would be fair competition," she said. "If you’re in a situation where your effective tax rate is so much lower than any other company, then obviously you have a much better position when it comes to compete on prices and everything else."

Vestager also discussed her three-pronged antitrust case against Google, launched last year after several years of inaction by her predecessors. She said the case asserts that Google used its dominance in search to crowd out rivals in online shopping, is unfairly restricting advertising intermediaries, and is using the mobile Android OS to preserve the dominance of its own search engine and services. "When you open the box [of an Android phone], the first experience is the Google experience," Vestager said. "Why look for something else?"