Google VS. the EU Commission: European Competition Policy in a Globalized World

Date: 

Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Hoffmann Room, Busch Hall

RCC is pleased to announce this event at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard, featuring Joaquín AlmuniaFormer Vice President and Commissioner for Competition, European Commission, 2010-2014.

In the last years, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other IT American companies have been showing their discontent about the European Union Commission policies and its treatment towards US companies. As a matter of fact, Robert Stake, a US Treasury Official in charge of international tax policy, after meeting with new competition officials in Brussels, recently said, “We are concerned that the EU Commission appears to be disproportionately targeting US companies”. This never-ending debate shows the importance of the EU Competition Policy and role that the EU Commission plays not only within the EU member states but also all over the world. How important is this policy today for the European Single Market functioning? Which have been the main evolutions since the original Council Regulation 17/1962? Taking into account the deep changes in European Economies due to technological and social transformations, how decisive is going to be this policy in the following years? This lecture aims to answer all these questions and present the ongoing main issues in the EU Commission competition agenda from a wider historical perspective.

Chaired by:  Jose Manuel MartinezJean Monnet ad Personam Professor in EU Law and Government, Harvard University, Director RCC

Sponsors:  EU Law and Government Study GroupJean Monnet ad personam Chair in European Union Law and Government

Contact:  Kim Conant