Google loses fight on Android Auto access, bodes ill for Big Tech

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Alphabet unit Google's refusal to let an Enel e-mobility app access its Android Auto platform can be considered an abuse of its market power, Europe's top court said on Tuesday in a ruling that could force Big Tech to make it easier for rivals to operate on their platforms.

In 2021, Italy's antitrust authority fined Google 102 million euros ($106.7 million) for blocking utility group Enel's JuicePass on Android Auto, software that allows drivers to navigate with maps on their car dashboards and send messages while behind the wheel.

Google, which had cited security concerns and the absence of a specific template for refusing to make JuicePass compatible with Android Auto, had challenged the decision at the Italian Council of State which subsequently sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union.

Google has since resolved the issue, but the judgment could guide dominant companies' actions in similar situations in the future.

Court of Justice judges backed the Italian regulator.

"A refusal by an undertaking in a dominant position to ensure that its platform is interoperable with an app of another undertaking, which thereby becomes more attractive, can be abusive," they said.

However, the court also said companies can justify their refusal if there is no template for the category of apps concerned and that to grant interoperability in such a situation would compromise the security or integrity of the platform.

If that is not the case, the dominant company must develop a template within a reasonable period, it said.

Google said it has now launched the feature Enel requested but at the time of the request, it was relevant for only 0.04% of cars in Italy.

"We prioritise building the features drivers need most because we believe that innovation should be driven by user demand, not specific companies' requests," a Google spokesperson said.

The court is paying heed to developments in the digital world, said Dieter Paemen, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance.

"The judgment is in line with the European tradition of supporting interoperability as a means to ensure competition, reflected in 30 years of EU competition law, from the 1980s IBM Undertaking, to the 2004 Microsoft judgment and the provisions of the recent EU DMA," he said.

In the IBM Undertaking, the computer giant provided certain interface information to competitors in the European Economic Community. In 2004, EU regulators imposed a 497 million euro fine on Microsoft for not making data available to rivals and for tying Media Player to its operating system.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect in March 2024, sets out a list of dos and don'ts for digital gatekeepers such as Google as part of the EU's goal of securing a level playing field.

"The judgment appears to reflect a willingness to innovate EU antitrust law in the face of unprecedented challenges that digital platforms present to competition," Paemen said.

The ruling is final and cannot be appealed. The Italian Council of State will now have to rule on Google's appeal in accordance with the CJEU judgment.

The case is C-233/23 Alphabet and Others.

($1 = 0.9558 euros)

(Reporting by Foo Yun CheeEditing by Christina Fincher and Richard Chang)