Top EU court affirms Italy antitrust decision on Google Android case News
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Top EU court affirms Italy antitrust decision on Google Android case

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Tuesday that Google’s decision to deny developer Enel’s JuicePass app access to Android Auto’s platform was an abuse of market power.

Initially launched in 2018 by Italian parent company Enel, JuicePass enables drivers to find and reserve electric vehicle charging stations worldwide. The EU court’s press release stated that Enel had requested permission from Google to make the JuicePass app compatible with Google’s Android Auto system, which would make it possible for users to access phone apps on the vehicle’s smart screen. Google refused to grant JuicePass access due to apparent security concerns.

The Competition and Market Authority, Italy (AGCM) fined Google more than one hundred million euros in 2021, prompting Google to challenge the decision at the Italian Council of State, which later sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

The CJEU judges upheld the decision, stating that abuse of a “dominant position” occurs when dominant companies work to undermine the compatibility between their own apps and other firm’s apps. The court clarified that companies could potentially justify refusing access to another app if there was no template to support the app’s category, and if granting access would compromise security or platform integrity. However, the court clarified that:

[T]he undertaking in a dominant position must develop such a template within a reasonable period, in return for, depending on the circumstances, appropriate financial consideration. In that context, it is necessary to take account of the needs of the third-party undertaking which requested that development, the actual cost of the development and the right of the undertaking in a dominant position to derive an appropriate benefit from it.

The CJEU judgment is final and cannot be appealed or challenged.

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