Google accused Brussels of trying to -dismantle its lucrative business model for smartphones yesterday, as it considered asking for emergency court protection against the EU’s record-breaking €4.3bn antitrust ruling.
The European Commission gave the group 90 days to overhaul its Android mobile operating system, demanding it remove illegal restrictions designed to stymie competition and generate more traffic for Google’s search engine.
The ruling marks the most significant decision in Google’s eight-year antitrust tangle with Brussels but it is the latest in a series of attacks on US tech groups by Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition chief, who two years ago ordered Ireland to claw back €13bn in taxes from rival Apple.