Why tech-loving Germans are afraid of Google

Berlin

THESE days Germany is known for being many things: a leader in clean technology, a manufacturing powerhouse, Europe's foreign policy centre. But increasingly, it seems to have taken on yet another stereotype - as a nation of Luddites.

And truth be told, Germany is not a great place to be a big tech company these days. Günther Oettinger, a German official and the European Union's incoming commissioner for digital economy and society, has assailed Google for having too big a presence in Europe, and speaks of "cuts" in the company's market power. In Berlin, Sigmar Gabriel, the vice chancellor and economics minister, is investigating whether Germany can classify Google as a vital part of the country's infrastructure, and thus make it subject to heavy state regulation.