Google entered the fight with the European Union after it was applied to him record fine of 2.4 billion euros almost two weeks ago. The fine was applied by the European Union against those from Google due to the fact that the Americans would have taken advantage of the dominant position of Google Search to inhibit the competition of some European online stores.
Google would have already contracted 5 of the largest law firms in Europe to appeal against the fine that the European Union wants to impose. No one expected Google to pay the fine that the European Union considers fair, so the European authorities will have a rather long battle ahead with the Americans.
Google is "showing its teeth" in this battle because the European Union wants to apply a much larger fine to them because of the operating system Android. Google automatically offers its services in the Android operating system, and the European Union considers this to be an act of violation of the legislation on fair competition, and the fine could exceed 2.4 billion euros.
Google started the battle with the European Union
Google will send its lawyers to the General Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the second most important court in Europe, where its appeal will be played in a first instance. Until this fine of the European Union is upheld or annulled in court, those from Google will be able to carry out their activities normally, but if it is confirmed in court, the company will have to change its way of functioning.
However, Google has a good chance of getting rid of the fine, or of paying a much smaller one, because the lawyers it hired were successful in similar cases in the past. Google certainly pays large sums of money for such a defense, but this is because the European Union has a third investigation underway, this one focusing on Google's Adsense platform.
"Given the potential penalties and damages actions it faces, Google will want to invest in the best possible defense team, and direct legal costs will be a relatively minor consideration. There may be simple capacity reasons as to why they are sharing the workload between a number of law firms, but there is also value to seeking a second opinion, reconsidering strategy, and bringing new ideas to the table."
Google generates revenues of almost 100 billion dollars annually, several dozen of them coming from Europe, so the business on the continent is extremely important for the company. The fines that the European Union wants to apply against Google could total approximately 10% of the total annual receipts, so it is very well explained why the Americans are fighting hard now.
Google, even if it loses, will probably continue to operate in a similar way as before, but at the limit of the legislation in order not to risk new fines.
