The European Court of Justice's Advocate General Juliane Kokott proposed on Thursday to dismiss Google's appeal in the Android case. She said the EU General Court's ruling and the €4.125 billion fine imposed on the company for abusing its dominant market position should be upheld.
The case concerns a 2018 European Commission decision that found Google imposed anti-competitive licensing terms on device manufacturers and mobile network operators for the use of Android and the Play Store, including mandatory pre-installation of Google Search and Chrome as a condition for accessing the app store.
The Commission found this to be contrary to EU law and imposed a fine of €4.343 billion on the company. The EU General Court in 2022 partially annulled the Commission's decision and reduced the fine to €4.125 billion. Google appealed the decision.
In an opinion issued on Thursday, Kokott found that the EU Court had correctly assessed the allegations and evidence, and that the US company's legal arguments did not undermine the findings. She stressed that pre-installing Google applications had a real impact on user decisions and made it difficult for competitors to enter the market.
The Advocate General’s opinion is not binding, but the Court follows it in many cases. The judgment in the Google case is expected in the coming months.
From Strasbourg Łukasz Osiński (PAP)
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