Joaquín Almunia, the E.U. competition commissioner, held face-to-face talks with Mr. Schmidt in January about the commission’s investigation into whether Google had abused a dominant position in online search and advertising. At that meeting, Mr. Almunia assured Mr. Schmidt that he would give the company a chance to offer a solution to the antitrust case without incurring a penalty.
But there have been no outward signs of such a settlement since then, and Mr. Almunia has played down the chances of such an outcome coming anytime soon.
“This is not a meeting to discuss in detail a case that is being investigated by my services,” Mr. Almunia said last week. “This is not a meeting to negotiate anything.”
Mr. Almunia did say he was “very keen to exchange views.”
Ostensibly, Mr. Schmidt is visiting Brussels to address the first Innovation Convention organized by the European Commission.
But he arrives as Google strives to win E.U. regulatory permission to buy Motorola Mobility, a major smartphone manufacturer, in a $12.5 billion deal announced in August. And, more significantly, Mr. Schmidt wants to resolve a broader antitrust investigation of its popular Internet search engine and its lucrative advertising business, which accounts for most of its $29 billion in annual revenue.
In the past, the commission has required the U.S. technology giants Microsoft and Intel to pay fines of more than €1 billion, or $1.34 billion, each for antitrust abuses, and Google will be seeking to avoid a similar fate. (The decision against Intel remains under appeal.)
“You don’t fly across the Atlantic and meet with Europe’s most powerful antitrust official without having something significant to discuss about your case,” said Tom McQuail, a partner in the Brussels office of the law firm Morrison & Foerster and a specialist in antitrust law, who does not represent any of the companies involved in the investigation.
Al Verney, a spokesman for Google, said that the meeting with Mr. Almunia was another opportunity “to discuss issues affecting our industry and explain how our business works.”
Part of that discussion is likely to focus on Google’s offer to acquire Motorola Mobility.
Google filed late last month for E.U. clearance to complete the deal, and by Jan. 10 Mr. Almunia must decide whether to clear the transaction or to take a few more months to review the deal for antitrust concerns. The U.S. Justice Department already has sent Google and Motorola Mobility a request for additional information, lengthening the review process there.
With its purchase of Motorola Mobility, Google is gaining a portfolio of patents that will give the company a formidable defense against infringement lawsuits. But the acquisition could also heighten antitrust concerns by further entrenching Google’s strength in the markets for mobile search and advertising.
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