BRUSSELS--The European Union should regulate Internet platforms
in a way that allows a new generation of European operators to
overtake U.S. firms like Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., the bloc's
digital czar said, in an unusually blunt assessment of the risks
that U.S. Web giants are viewed as posing to the continent's
industrial heartland.
Speaking at a major industrial fair in Hanover, Germany, the
EU's digital commissioner, Guenther Oettinger, said Europe's online
businesses were "dependent on a few non-EU players world-wide"
because the region had "missed many opportunities" in the
development of online platforms.
His speech illustrates that policy makers" concerns about U.S.
technology companies extend beyond issues like privacy, copyright
and tax into the broader competitive threat they pose to European
industry.
"This must not be the case again in the future," Mr. Oettinger
said, according to a text of his speech. "The "data economy" should
not develop in locked environments and platforms."
Instead, the Internet platforms of the future "must be more open
and interoperable," and be "based on standards with a significant
contribution from European industry."
The comments reflect the deep concerns in top European policy
circles about the power of U.S. technology companies, which have
sparked a flurry of investigations, including a lengthy EU
antitrust probe into Google that is likely to move forward as soon
as Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said. A number of
European policy makers, particularly in France and Germany, have
also been pushing for tighter regulation of big U.S. tech
companies.
It isn't the first time that Mr. Oettinger--Germany's powerful
representative to the European Commission, the EU's executive
arm--has attacked the business practices of U.S. Internet giants.
Two months ago, Mr. Oettinger warned that Google and Facebook were
exploiting legal loopholes in Europe to gather and sell
individuals" personal data.
But his latest comments signal a determination in Brussels to
swing the balance of power in the online world away from giant U.S.
operators and toward European firms. They indicate that the EU may
move toward tough new regulations and standards for online
platforms as part of a sweeping reform of the region's digital
economy that is due to be announced next month.
As part of that plan, top EU officials have been weighing a
major investigation into how Internet platforms operate in Europe
amid concerns that such companies have too much power over smaller
firms, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU's antitrust chief, last month also
announced a sweeping competition investigation into whether
Internet commerce firms like Amazon are violating the bloc's
antitrust laws by restricting cross-border trade.
Mr. Oettinger offered a stark warning of the "enormous" impact
that digital technologies were having on Europe's industrial
fabric. He pointed to "radical and disruptive" changes to the
business models of well-established industries such as the
automotive sector, where cars are becoming increasingly connected
and automated.
"If we do not pay enough attention, we might invest in producing
wonderful cars but those selling the new services for the car would
be making the money," Mr. Oettinger said.
"It would be a big risk for our entire economy if industry in
Europe did not take advantage of these new business models while
others do--such as those who dominate Web service platforms today,"
he said.
The EU is expected to invest more than EUR3 billion ($3.17
billion) in initiatives to build Internet platforms by 2020,
according to Mr. Oettinger. He said he aimed to help launch "at
least five large-scale platform projects per year until 2018."
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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