European Court of Justice Advocate General: Google's refusal to allow third-party access to Android Auto may violate competition law
European Union Court of Justice Chief Prosecutor Laila Medina pointed out that Google's refusal to allow Enel X's electric vehicle charging application Juice Pass to enter the Android Auto platform may violate EU competition law. The Italian antitrust authority has fined Google 102 million euros for abusing its dominant market position. Google has appealed this decision, and the case has now been submitted to the European Court for review
According to the financial news app Zhitong Finance, an advisor to the European Union's highest court has agreed with the opinion of the Italian antitrust authority, stating that Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US, GOOG.US), refusing to allow an app developed by Enel X to enter its Android Auto platform may have violated the competition rules in the region.
In September 2018, the Italian energy company Enel X requested Google to make its electric vehicle charging app Juice Pass compatible with the in-car system Android Auto, but Google refused, stating that media and messaging apps are the only third-party apps compatible with Android Auto in the absence of specific templates. According to a press release from the EU court, Google also cited security concerns and the need to allocate new template resources as reasons for rejecting this request.
The Advocate General of the EU Court, Laila Medina, stated, "Google's refusal to provide third-party access to the Android Auto platform may have violated competition rules."
The EU Court consists of two parts - the European Court and the General Court.
The Italian Competition Authority found that Google's actions violated EU competition rules, stating that Google obstructed and delayed the release of JuicePass on Android Auto, abusing its dominant market position. Google challenged this decision before the Italian Council of State, which then referred the matter to the European Court.
It was reported that the Italian antitrust authority imposed a fine of 102 million euros (113.18 million US dollars) on Google in 2021.
The EU Court stated that the opinion of the Advocate General is not binding on the court. The Advocate General's role is to provide advice to the court. The court's judges will now begin deliberating on the case and will make a judgment at a later date