Bloomberg

The Open Internet Project, a group of around 400 European digital content providers, has spoken out against the European Commission's pending settlement with Google. The Open Internet Project is calling on the regulator to reconsider the terms of the "minimalist" agreement that clears the US company of unfair competition and abuse of its dominant position in the internet search market.

On Thursday, the Open Internet Project, with the participation of French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, German Interior Ministry official Ole Schröder and several other politicians, held a conference in Paris to lay out its grievances against Google. "France will not accept a deal on minimalist terms," Montebourg said. "This is about preserving our sovereignty, nothing more, nothing less."

A spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who is leading the negotiations with Google, declined to comment on the disagreement. Ahead of the Paris conference, Almunia said his position on the agreement with Google had not changed and he did not expect any significant changes to the preliminary terms of the deal. "I am very confident in my arguments," Almunia said. "I think it will be possible to have a complete settlement within a few weeks after the summer holidays." The agreement is expected to be approved by the European Commission and enter into force by the end of October.

However, some members of the European Commission, including Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger and Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, agree with the Open Internet Project. It is not yet clear whether opponents of the deal will be able to stop it. According to one lawyer involved in the negotiations, “if Almunia feels that the opposition is strong enough, he may give up trying to speed up the process.”

Google denies the unfair competition allegations. Its defenders point out that it made significant concessions to reach a deal with the EU, including agreeing to list competitors' search results alongside its own at the top of search results. Google is also fighting a recent court ruling that requires it to comply with requests from individuals seeking to remove information about themselves from search results.

The organizers of the Paris conference acknowledge that the negotiations between Google and regulators have already made significant progress and that it is rare for the EU to cancel an agreement under such conditions. However, the Google case itself, in their opinion, is unusual. “If an agreement is concluded under such conditions, the situation will get much worse,” says Christoph Käse, vice president of the publishing house Axel Springer, which is part of the Open Internet Project.

Content Providers vs. Google