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>Although she uses Google frequently, Vestager says it doesn’t cloud her view of the case. “Congratulations for being big, but don’t misuse it. For Europeans, t

by IBM 11y ago

>Although she uses Google frequently, Vestager says it doesn’t cloud her view of the case. “Congratulations for being big, but don’t misuse it. For Europeans, this is very fundamental,” she says. >That might be the scariest thing of all for Google. It isn’t dealing with an antitech ideologue or a competition czar consumed with cementing a personal legacy. It faces a straightforward prosecutor in a hostile political climate dominated by powerful local business interests with their own regulatory agendas. Good luck to Google searching for a way out of that. I've been following this story for a while and I watched the press conferences she gave and that's the impression I got from her as well. I think Google is definitely not going to skate by like they did in the US with a slap on the wrist. The investigation into Android is going to be another big one and if they break up Google's ability to bundle/tie in their services, it pretty much neutralizes the entire benefit of Android to Google as a defensive moat.

ocdtrekkie 11y ago
Absolutely. In another article, Vestager is said to have the nickname the "Iron Lady of Denmark". Google can't buy her out. And as a stepladder-carrying woman in a leadership position, she's a formidable leader and icon that Google can't easily tear down or discredit. If they try and break up Google though, I expect Google to leave the EU wholesale rather than comply.
roymurdock 11y ago
So Vestager is a straightforward politician that is actually doing her job and has no other agenda than supporting local businesses and protecting the interests of the consumer? This is fantastic. I wish we had some more people of her caliber in US politics. Reflects well on the EU that she was elected.
- M2Ys4U 11y ago
  >Reflects well on the EU that she was elected. It would, if hers was an elected position :P The European Commission is a bit of a strange beast. As is the rest of the EU, to be honest. The Commission consists of the President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (effectively its foreign minister), and 26 other commissioners. The President of the European Commission is elected by the European Parliament[0], and the High Representative is then chosen by the European Council[1], with the consent of the Commission President, who cannot be from the same country as the President and will be one of the Commission's Vice Presidents. The other 26 Commissioners are then appointed by the unrepresented Member States, so they each have one Commissioner. The Commission President then assigns each of the Commissioners (except the High Representative) a portfolio and then the entire body is subject to a confirmation vote by the European Parliament before it can take office. [0] It can't just vote for anybody, though, the European Council technically has to propose a candidate "taking in to account" the results of the results of the election to the European Parliament, although in 2014 (the first time they had the opportunity since the rule was introduced) Parliament successfully managed to establish the precedent that the Council must nominate the designated candidate ("Spitzenkandidat") of the European Political Party[2] that won the most seats at the election in the first instance. [1] The European Council is the body consisting of the heads of state and government from the EU Member States, not to be confused with the Council of the European Union, which consists of ministers from Member State governments, and the Council of Europe which is a distinct organisation. [2] European Political Parties aren't political parties in the same way they are at national levels - they are more coalitions or federations of national political parties - and they are also distinct from political groups in the European Parliament.
  - roymurdock 11y ago
    Thank you for the intense clarification! The EU certainly is a strange and complicated alliance.

by IBM 11y ago

ocdtrekkie 11y ago

Absolutely. In another article, Vestager is said to have the nickname the "Iron Lady of Denmark". Google can't buy her out. And as a stepladder-carrying woman in a leadership position, she's a formidable leader and icon that Google can't easily tear down or discredit. If they try and break up Google though, I expect Google to leave the EU wholesale rather than comply.

roymurdock 11y ago

So Vestager is a straightforward politician that is actually doing her job and has no other agenda than supporting local businesses and protecting the interests of the consumer? This is fantastic. I wish we had some more people of her caliber in US politics. Reflects well on the EU that she was elected.

M2Ys4U 11y ago
>Reflects well on the EU that she was elected. It would, if hers was an elected position :P The European Commission is a bit of a strange beast. As is the rest of the EU, to be honest. The Commission consists of the President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (effectively its foreign minister), and 26 other commissioners. The President of the European Commission is elected by the European Parliament[0], and the High Representative is then chosen by the European Council[1], with the consent of the Commission President, who cannot be from the same country as the President and will be one of the Commission's Vice Presidents. The other 26 Commissioners are then appointed by the unrepresented Member States, so they each have one Commissioner. The Commission President then assigns each of the Commissioners (except the High Representative) a portfolio and then the entire body is subject to a confirmation vote by the European Parliament before it can take office. [0] It can't just vote for anybody, though, the European Council technically has to propose a candidate "taking in to account" the results of the results of the election to the European Parliament, although in 2014 (the first time they had the opportunity since the rule was introduced) Parliament successfully managed to establish the precedent that the Council must nominate the designated candidate ("Spitzenkandidat") of the European Political Party[2] that won the most seats at the election in the first instance. [1] The European Council is the body consisting of the heads of state and government from the EU Member States, not to be confused with the Council of the European Union, which consists of ministers from Member State governments, and the Council of Europe which is a distinct organisation. [2] European Political Parties aren't political parties in the same way they are at national levels - they are more coalitions or federations of national political parties - and they are also distinct from political groups in the European Parliament.
- roymurdock 11y ago
  Thank you for the intense clarification! The EU certainly is a strange and complicated alliance.