EU’s Vestager Looks To Curb Power Of Fast-Growing Tech Platforms

European Union competition watchdogs are looking to not only rein in today’s Big Tech online platforms, but also create rules that would prevent new companies from achieving market dominance in the future, a top EU regulator says.

European Union Digital Chief Margrethe Vestager had set up video talks last month with representatives of Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook to discuss EU draft rules intended to restrict the power of tech companies. Vestager is also the EU’s commissioner for competition.

Vestager told the Financial Times that one problem she wants to address is criticism of the EU for taking too long to punish anti-competitive behavior. In an interview with the FT that aired on Tuesday (Dec. 1), Vestager said the current rules are too “backward-looking,” which means regulators are looking at past actions and then enforcing rules.

Instead, Vestager said she favors preventing fast-growing companies from achieving the market dominance that companies like Google and Facebook have today. To tackle that issue, she told the FT, the EU will release plans for new regulations this month.

Vestager said stricter rules will apply to companies with strong growth potential because “there is a risk” that they could grow into behemoths that are too big and powerful. “It’s a way of introducing a forward-looking dynamic to complement what we do vigorously in enforcing competition law,” she noted.

“I expect a lot of pushback from this regulation … because obviously, it will restrict some market players and it will put on them new obligations,” she said.

Nonetheless, Vestager insisted that the new rules will be objective and that the EU is not targeting specific companies.

Asked about whether she expects to cooperate with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration in cracking down on Big Tech, Vestager said: “I find it very important that we have a strong and good partnership when it comes to” regulating large tech companies. “We have a real chance of renewing the relationship with the U.S. because of the new administration.”

Earlier this month, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said that regulators must have the power to do more than publicly criticize internet giants. “Strict rules must be enforceable,” Breton said. “For this, we need the appropriate arsenal of possible measures: Impose fines, exclude companies or parts of their services” from the EU market.