Google execs prepare for fight with EU over fines

Brussels

AS EUROPEAN Union (EU) officials count the days before their annual vacation, Google's lawyers and lobbyists are hunkering down in Brussels, preparing for what may be a record EU antitrust fine.

A penalty in the shopping-search probe could come within weeks and many expect it to exceed a US$1.2 billion fine on Intel Corp in 2009.

That would be another show of strength by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager who slapped Apple Inc with a 13 billion euro (S$20 billion) tax bill in August. Google is a top priority case for her as European politicians and publishers push for action against the Mountain View, California-based company that has come to dominate online advertising.

"If there's going to be a fine, it has to be the biggest ever," said Stephen Kinsella, a lawyer at Sidley Austin who represents companies that have complained to the EU about Google. "The European Commission has strongly signalled that if there is going to be a fine it would need to be at a level that would have deterrent effec…