antitrust-chief

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Europe's antitrust chief dismissed on Friday accusations of anti-U.S. bias over her decision to go after Google for abusing its Internet search dominance and Apple over an Irish tax deal, saying such talk was a fallacy. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's robust defense of her actions came after she was criticized in the U.S. media for a spate of cases opened over the past year against U.S. giants such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Starbucks. “Some claim that our cases involving Internet giants such as Apple or Google are evidence of bias.

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By Foo Yun Chee and Rene Wagner BERLIN (Reuters) – European Union regulators plan a year-long investigation into ecommerce to help remove barriers to cross-border trade in the 28-nation bloc, the EU's antitrust chief said on Thursday. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she decided to launch the inquiry because such hurdles were hampering the growth of online sales as well as signs that some companies may be deliberately blocking trade. According to the European Commission, while one in two EU consumers shopped online last year, just 15 percent of them bought a product online in another EU country. “It is high time to remove remaining barriers to ecommerce, which is a vital part of a true Digital Single Market in Europe,” Vestager told reporters.