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☆ German cartel office issues objections to Google data processing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Germany's cartel office regulator said on Wednesday it had issued objections against Google's data processing terms and that it expected the company to make changes accordingly. The cartel office sent parent company Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Google Ireland Ltd and Google Germany GmbH a preliminary legal assessment on December 23, the regulator said in a statement. It said users were not currently given sufficient choice as to whether and to what extent they agree to the far-reaching processing of their data across services. A spokesperson for Google said the company would continue to engage constructively with the German regulator to try to resolve its concerns. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Writing by Rachel More Editing by Paul CarrelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: EU wants details of Big Tech, telcos investment plans - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The European Commission wants to ask Big Tech and European Union telecoms providers about their investment outlays and cloud infrastructure plans before tabling legislation that could make the former pay for network costs, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The Commission plans to launch a public consultation with a lengthy questionnaire next week, although the timing may still change, the person said. It will likely last about 12 weeks before the Commission drafts legislation that EU countries and EU lawmakers will need to thrash out before it can become law. The Commission will ask Big Tech and telecoms what they are investing in, how this will evolve and whether there is an investment gap, the person said. Regulators also want to know about the relationship between Big Tech and telecoms providers.

☆ Illumina challenges EU order to keep Grail separate
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. life sciences company Illumina (ILMN.O) on Tuesday challenged an EU antitrust order to keep biotech firm Grail (GRAL.O) separate, ratcheting up its fight against EU regulators which blocked a merger deal last year. Following its veto, the European Union competition enforcer renewed an interim measure last October requiring Illumina to keep Grail as a separate entity so the company can unwind a takeover it had completed without waiting for the deal to get EU approval. "Today, we appealed the European Commission's interim measures order to hold separate Illumina and Grail," Illumina said in a statement. The EU executive said in emailed comment it would defend its case in court. Illumina has three appeals pending in the Luxembourg courts, Europe's top courts, against the EU enforcer's ruling that it jumped the gun by closing the deal without securing approval, the EU's subsequent veto and the EU decision to examine the case.

☆ TikTok CEO, EU's Vestager chatted about data harvesting, spying
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew and the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager discussed on Tuesday "aggressive" data harvesting and surveillance in the United States, the European Commission said. The short-video app, which is owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance, last month admitted that some of its employees improperly accessed TikTok user data of two journalists to try to identify the source of information leaks to the media. "At the meeting the parties also discussed GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and matters of privacy and data transfer obligations with a reference to the recent press reporting on aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the U.S," it said. Chew is scheduled to meet Values and Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourova and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson after Vestager. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU regulators to rule on Viasat's Inmarsat takeover by Feb. 13
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide by Feb. 13 whether to clear U.S. company Viasat's (VSAT.O) $7.3 billion takeover of satellite rival Inmarsat, a European Commission filing showed on Monday. The EU antitrust enforcer can either clear the deal with or without remedies or it can open a full-scale investigation if it has serious concerns about the tie-up. The companies compete with market leaders Panasonic (6752.T) and Intelsat in the market for in-flight Wi-Fi on long-haul flights. Viasat offers connectivity services to residential, aviation and defence customers in North America while Inmarsat's clients include the shipping and aviation sectors as well as government departments. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU strongly condemns Taliban ban on female staff at NGOs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 25 (Reuters) - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday strongly condemned Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration's order to ban women from working at all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs), saying this amounts to erasing women from public spaces. Kabul said the move, which was condemned globally, was justified because some women had not adhered to the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic dress code for women. Borrell said he was appalled by the latest decision, which follows last week's ban on women attending university, and a violent crackdown against peaceful protests by women against that move. He urged the Taliban to lift their decision immediately, as part of their obligation to respect international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU regulators quiz rivals on Microsoft tactics after Activision
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Activision games "Call of Duty" are pictured in a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File PhotoBRUSSELS, Dec 20 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have asked game developers and distributors if they think Microsoft (MSFT.O) will block their access to Activision Blizzard's (ATVI.O) games once it has bought the company, an EU document seen by Reuters shows. "Please specify which partial exclusivity strategy or strategies you believe Microsoft would have the ability to deploy with respect to Activision Blizzard's console games after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard," the questionnaire asked. The EU antitrust watchdog asked if such strategies would include degrading the quality or interoperability of Activision's games available on competing consoles or providing upgrades to Activision's games only on Xbox. Regulators asked what advantages and disadvantages game developers and publishers and console game distributors would face if a game is distributed exclusively on one console.

☆ EU opens antitrust probe into Broadcom's $61 bln VMware bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Dec 20 (Reuters) - European antitrust regulators have opened an in-depth investigation into U.S. chipmaker Broadcom's (AVGO.O) proposed $61 billion bid for cloud computing company VMware (VMW.N), the European Commission said on Tuesday. Reuters reported on Dec. 9 that the Commission was set to open a full-scale investigation into the deal, the second biggest globally so far this year. Broadcom on Tuesday reiterated that it continued to expect the transaction would close in its fiscal year 2023, adding it would continuing to work with the European Commission. The proposed acquisition underlines Broadcom's ambition to diversify into enterprise software, but comes as regulators worldwide ramp up scrutiny of deals by Big Tech. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by GV De Clercq and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU warns Meta over Facebook Marketplace antitrust breach
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

European Union's antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement that she is concerned that Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services, which is called Facebook Marketplace. "This means Facebook users have no choice but to have access to Facebook Marketplace," she said. Facebook Marketplace was launched in 2016 and is used in 70 countries to buy and sell items. The Commission said on Monday that it was concerned that Meta is imposing "unfair trading conditions" on competitors of its own classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, that want to advertise on its social networks Facebook or Instagram. The EU competition enforcer launched an investigation into Facebook in June last year, focusing on whether the social network unfairly uses advertisers' data to compete with them in the online classified ads sector.

☆ Facebook parent Meta warned by EU of breaking antitrust laws
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Monday said it has warned Facebook parent company Meta (META.O) that it is breaching EU antitrust laws by distorting competition in markets for online classified advertising and abusing its dominant position. "The claims made by the European Commission are without foundation," Meta spokesperson Tim Lamb said in a statement. "We will continue to work with regulatory authorities to demonstrate that our product innovation is pro-consumer and pro-competitive," Lamb added. The Commission said on Monday that it was concerned that Meta is imposing "unfair trading conditions" on competitors of its own classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, that want to advertise on its social networks Facebook or Instagram. The EU competition enforcer launched an investigation into Facebook in June last year, focusing on whether the social network unfairly uses advertisers' data to compete with them in the online classified ads sector.

"The jury is still out," on which technology will dominate, said Dr. Sadik Esener, director of the Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute in Portland, Oregon. He added it could take as long as 20 years to show that an early cancer detection test saved lives. If proven to work, early cancer detection tests could help doctors identify cancer risk in patients long before symptoms or other indicators develop. DIFFERENT APPROACHESSeveral of the leading contenders take vastly different approaches to cancer detection and it is not yet clear which methods will prove most useful or when. Some are working on blood tests to detect different markers of early cancer, including proteins.

☆ FIFA, UEFA rules compatible with EU competition rules, EU court adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Soccer bodies UEFA and FIFA's rules giving them the right to block clubs from joining a breakaway league and penalise players who do so are compatible with EU antitrust laws, an adviser to Europe's top court said on Thursday. The case centres on the dispute between UEFA, FIFA and the European Super League last year but could also impact other sports, clubs and players tempted by lucrative deals offered by rebel bodies and seeking to cash in during relatively short careers. The Super League took its case to a Spanish court which subsequently sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). "The FIFA-UEFA rules under which any new competition is subject to prior approval are compatible with EU competition law," Advocate General Athanasios Rantos at the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), Europe's highest, said. While the Super League is free to set up its own independent football competition outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem, it cannot at the same time continue to participate in FIFA and UEFA football competitions without their prior authorisation, he said.

☆ Exclusive: Microsoft seeks to settle EU antitrust concerns over Teams -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Microsoft Teams app is seen on the smartphone placed on the keyboard in this illustration taken, July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationBRUSSELS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) is seeking to address European Union antitrust concerns about its business practices prompted by a complaint from Salesforce.com's (CRM.N) workspace messaging app Slack, people familiar with the matter said. Microsoft found itself in the European Commission's crosshairs again last year after Slack alleged that the U.S. software giant has unfairly integrated its workplace chat and video app Teams into its Office product. Microsoft introduced Teams in 2017, aiming for a slice of the fast-growing and lucrative workplace collaboration market. It has made a preliminary offer of concessions to allay the EU competition enforcer's concerns, one of the people said.

☆ EU regulators tweak state aid rules to boost broadband rollout
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - EU competition regulators have revised state aid rules to make it easier for European Union countries to finance the rollout of fast-speed broadband, key to achieving the bloc's ambitious digital and green goals. The EU executive said governments will be allowed to provide state support to fixed broadband networks providing at least 1 gigabit per second and 150 megabit per second upload speeds. Aid for rolling out mobile networks, including 5G, will only be allowed to improve the quality of existing or planned mobile networks. The revised rules allow EU countries to use either a published price, regulated price or cost-based price as a benchmark to set wholesale access prices. To ensure transparency, governments will have to launch a public consultation of at least 30 days before granting state aid, with environmental and energy included among the selection criteria.

☆ Broadcom faces EU antitrust probe into $61 bln VMware deal - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) is set to face a setback in its $61 billion bid for cloud computing company VMware (VMW.N) with EU antitrust regulators poised to open a full-scale investigation into the deal, people familiar with the matter said. The company had a so-called state of play meeting with European Commission officials earlier this week, the people said. The EU competition enforcer, which is scheduled to finish its initial scrutiny of the deal on Dec. 20, declined to comment. Broadcom said it anticipates that the time-line for the review process would be extended in other key regions due to the size of deal. "Having said that, we're still confident that this transaction will close and be completed in our fiscal 2023," the company said.

☆ Google must remove 'manifestly inaccurate' data, EU top court says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LUXEMBOURG, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Alphabet unit Google (GOOGL.O) must remove data from online search results if users can prove it is inaccurate, Europe's top court said on Thursday. The case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerned two executives from a group of investment companies who had asked Google to remove search results linking their names to certain articles criticising the group's investment model. They also wanted Google to remove thumbnail photos of them from search results. A German court subsequently sought advice from the CJEU on the balance between the right to be forgotten and the right to freedom of expression and information. The same court in 2014 enshrined the right to be forgotten, saying that people could ask search engines like Google to remove inadequate or irrelevant information from web results appearing under searches for their names.

☆ Deutsche bank, Rabobank hit with EU antitrust charge over bond cartel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People are silhouetted next to the Deutsche Bank's logo prior to the bank's annual meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kai PfaffenbachBRUSSELS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and Rabobank (RABO.UL) were charged by EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday of taking part in a government bond cartel, the latest move against a sector which has racked up millions of euros in fines for various competition violations. Deutsche Bank said it does not expect any sanction, suggesting that it may have alerted the cartel to the authorities. "Deutsche Bank has proactively cooperated with the European Commission in this matter and as a result has been granted conditional immunity. In accordance with the European Commission’s guidelines, Deutsche Bank does not expect a financial penalty," the German lender said.

☆ Meta cannot run ads based on personal data, EU privacy watchdog rules - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O) cannot run advertising based on personal data and will need users' consent to do so, according to a confidential EU privacy watchdog decision, a person familiar with matter said on Tuesday. The Irish privacy regulator, which will issue the final decision, has been given a month by EU privacy watchdog the European Data Protection Board to do so. Its decision is likely to include hefty fines, the person said. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU countries' stance on AI rules draws criticism from lawmaker, consumer group
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - EU countries on Tuesday agreed a common position on draft artificial intelligence rules ahead of negotiations with EU lawmakers to thrash out the details, but drew criticism for not adequately addressing the issue of facial recognition. The European Commission proposed the AI rules last year, seeking to catch up with China and the United States in a technology used in smartphones, computers, self-driving cars, online shopping and advertising, and factories. The draft rules need to be hashed out with EU countries and EU lawmakers next year before they can be implemented. EU lawmakers have yet to reach agreement on their common position. The countries agreed to exclude national security, defence and military purposes from the AI rules, according to a statement from the Council of the European Union.

The Irish data protection agency, which oversees Meta because its European headquarters is located in Dublin, has been given a month to issue a ruling based on the European Data Protection Board's (EDPB) binding decision. The Irish case against Meta was triggered by a complaint by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems in 2018. The 27-country bloc's landmark privacy rules known as the General Data Protection Regulation went into effect in 2018. We have one month to adopt the EDPB's binding decisions and will publish details then," the Irish Data Protection Commission said. Meta may have to change its business model, said Helena Brown, head of data & privacy at London-based law firm Addleshaw Goddard.

They issued a joint statement after the third ministerial-level of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) vowed to work constructively to resolve it. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis on Monday called the $430 billion U.S. Inflation Reduction Act discriminatory and urged steps be taken before year's end to modify the law. It offers consumers tax credits of $7,500 for new purchases of Tesla (TSLA.O), Ford (F.N) and other North American-made EVs that the EU fears will significantly hurt European. Other participants included U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager. During a state visit to Washington last week, French President Emmanuel Macron told broadcaster CBS it was a "job killer" for Europe.

☆ EU's Gentiloni: We will have a recession this winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Europe will fall into a recession this winter and growth will not return before spring, European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday. "We will have a recession this winter," he told reporters before a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels. Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Foo Yun CheeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Monday's EU-US trade talks overshadowed by tax concerns on climate measure
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Dec 5 (Reuters) - Top European Union officials intend to complain loudly to their U.S. counterparts at a trade meeting on Monday about the bloc's electric vehicles being cut off from tax credits in U.S. President Joe Biden's signature climate law. "The Inflation Reduction Act will be part of the range of discussions on trade," a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said in a statement. The U.S. side was "committed to continuing to understand EU concerns" through a newly established task force, the spokesperson added. European and South Korean officials criticized the Inflation Act at the G20 Summit in Indonesia last month. French officials say they are hopeful an executive order from the White House could give European nations a break, without the need for seeking revisions from Congress - a move the White House wants to avoid.

☆ EU charge sheet tells Illumina to swiftly unwind Grail deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Monday proposed measures for U.S. life sciences company Illumina (ILMN.O) to unwind its acquisition of biotech firm Grail (GRAL.O), three months after blocking the deal on concerns that it would hurt competition. Illumina completed the takeover of Grail in August 2021, without securing European Union regulatory approval. The European Commission said in a September veto decision that the company failed to offer adequate remedies to allay its worries and opened a separate case to force Illumina to unravel the deal. Illumina said the EU proposal was out of proportion and that any divestment should wait for the outcomes of two lawsuits launched by the company against the Commission. "We believe divestment is not proportional to the speculative harm alleged by the Commission," Illumina said in a statement on Monday.

☆ Germany, others demand clarity on EU plan on telco network costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) call it a fair share contribution, especially as the six largest content providers account for just over half of data internet traffic. The European Commission's industry chief Thierry Breton has said he will launch a consultation in early 2023 before proposing legislation. "We as member states have always considered an open and transparent debate on substance on the 'fair share' topic as of great importance," Austria, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany, Europe's leading economy, wrote in a joint letter to the Commission. "However, we urge the Commission to further create transparency on its intended timeline, analyses and steps on this topic," they said. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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