EU says Google concessions in antitrust case not acceptable

[December 20, 2013]  BRUSSELS (Reuters) — Google's revised proposals to settle an antitrust case are not acceptable, European Union competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Friday.

"The latest offer as submitted by Google in October ... the latest proposals are not acceptable in the sense that they are not proposals that can eliminate our concerns regarding competition," Almunia said in a Spanish radio interview, according to a partial transcript provided by the European Commission.

Google offered the concessions in a bid to end a three-year old investigation by the European Commission and avert a fine that could be as high as $5 billion for blocking competitors in search results.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; editing by Charlie Dunmore)

[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.