The company Google will be obliged to pay a fine of 2.4 billion euros imposed by the European Commission in 2017. The decision of the European Court in Luxembourg confirmed the previous judgment of the European Court of General Jurisdiction, BILD newspaper reports, Focus reports.
The fine was imposed due to abuse of a dominant market position by Google. The company has been placing its own price comparison service, Google Shopping, at the top of search results, while its competitors have been relegated to lower positions. This practice has led to distortion of competition, and the fine will be paid directly to the EU budget.
Albrecht von Sonntag, founder of the German price comparison service idealo, commented to BILD: “The main damage was done by consumers who overpaid on average by more than 10%. Google intentionally steers users towards more expensive offers.“
In response to the decision, idealo plans to file a claim for damages worth several billion euros. “This decision confirms that Google knowingly caused damages. "It's an excellent starting point for compensation litigation," Sontag added.
In a separate ruling, the Court upheld the European Commission's decision to collect €13 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple in Ireland, as the institution's press release makes clear. “The court finally upheld the decision of the European Commission from 2016: Ireland provided illegal aid to Apple, which must be reimbursed to the state,”, the document states.