The European Parliament was debating Wednesday whether to call for the break-up of Internet giant Google in a symbolic resolution that has nevertheless worried the United States.<\/p>\n
MEPs assembled in Strasbourg were set to debate a resolution calling on the EU to order search engines to separate commercial services from their businesses to ensure a level playing field.<\/p>\n
While Google is not directly mentioned in the proposal, the California-based search engine is clearly the target.<\/p>\n
A vote on the resolution is to take place Thursday.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the US mission to the European Union said it had “noted with concern” the parliament resolution.<\/p>\n
“It is important that the process of identifying competitive harms and potential remedies be based on objective and impartial findings and not be politicised,” a spokesman for the US mission said.<\/p>\n
The European Parliament has no power to launch the break-up of Google, but the move by two senior lawmakers is further indication that opinion of the company in Europe has soured.<\/p>\n
Google has become an increasing source of worry for European officials on many issues ranging from privacy to the protection of national publishers.<\/p>\n
While EU law cannot directly affect US law it can however affect Google’s business in Europe, where it is even more widely used than in the United States.<\/p>\n
Since 2010, Google has been under investigation by the European Commission in response to complaints that its search engine, the world’s biggest, was squeezing out competitors in Europe.<\/p>\n
Google and Brussels have also clashed over the so-called “right to be forgotten”, in which the EU’s top court ruled last year that people had a right to ask search engines to delete results involving them after a period of time.<\/p>\n
The parliament debate falls as the commission, the EU’s executive arm, begins a new five year term, with former Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker at its helm.<\/p>\n
The new competition commissioner, Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager, has said she would look at the sensitive case carefully, but the resolution will be added pressure for her to move quickly.<\/p>\n
Weeks before stepping down, Vestager’s predecessor, Joaquin Almunia, sharply criticised the “irrational” response by European politicians to the Brussels investigation of Google.<\/p>\n
Google and Almunia had made three attempts to resolve the dispute, but in each case intense pressure by national governments, Internet rivals and privacy advocates scuppered the effort.<\/p>\n
Google reaches settlement over defamatory posts<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n