“It is quite a strong message to Google to say: we expect from you a serious proposal in terms of compliance,” she said. “The intention of our regulation is to ensure well-functioning markets, not to punish anyone. But, of course, in certain cases, we need to come up with sanctions.”
The Commission said Google has already begun testing some fixes, including changes to how it displays free services like shopping, hotels and flights, calling this “substantial progress.” Talks continue on how the rules will apply to Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode.
The decisions land amid sustained pressure from Washington, where the Trump administration has cast EU penalties on American tech companies as a trade barrier.
The decision comes at a sensitive moment, one day before temporary U.S. tariffs on trading partners are due to expire. European officials fear the replacement tariffs could exceed a 15 percent ceiling envisaged under the transatlantic trade truce struck at U.S. President Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resort almost a year ago.
Ribera rejected the idea that political pressure played any role in the Commission’s enforcement decision.
“We are bound by the law,” she said. “I don’t think that any of us being part of the Commission could be respected if we could decide whether to do or not to do because someone else is trying to tell us what to do.”