eDreams ODIGEO, the travel subscription company and one of Europe’s largest e-commerce companies, has joined other independent online companies Meeting with the European Commission in Brussels to denounce Google’s continued non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA)..
This is what the company claims Google’s response to the DMA simply continues its long-standing trend of self-serving, a deep-rooted practice that contradicts the basic principles of the regulations. Such an approach only perpetuates the already existing dynamic and thereby undermines the main purpose of the WFD. Therefore, eDreams ODIGEO calls on the European Commission to take decisive action against Google.
Two weeks after the regulations came into force, the meeting in Brussels served as a forum for eDreams ODIGEO and other independent online companies to exchange their views and express their concerns about Google’s compliance status.
Although we conducted feedback sessions and engaged in extensive correspondence with Google prior to the DMA’s entry into force to assist Google in compliance, It has been shown that the strategies proposed in Google’s compliance plan do not meet the DMA’s regulatory expectations.
Among other things, a lack of consistency in the presentation of results was found across EU countries, suggesting that Google provides visualizations that do not accurately reflect its own compliance reporting. In particular, some visualizations continue to display Google Flights as a separate field or tab on the search engine results page, which is a clear violation of the guidelines set by the DMA.
These discrepancies reveal a clear difference between what Google is committed to when it comes to compliance and how it is effectively implemented. This highlights the urgent need for strict enforcement to ensure fair competition in the European digital market.
Despite recent statements by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who advocates stricter enforcement of competition laws in the Union(1)eDreams ODIGEO regrets that there is still no substantive response to Google’s breach.
Guillaume Teissonnière, Legal Director of eDreams ODIGEO: “Two weeks after the DMA came into effect, it is clear that Google has chosen the path of non-compliance. The changes introduced are just a few adjustments that do not address the main problem: Google continues the entrenched self-preferential treatment of its services to the detriment of competing companies based in the EU, thereby undermining the free competitive landscape provided by the Digital Markets Act offers aims to protect. Not only is this disappointing, it also represents an obstacle to the fairness and competitiveness of the European digital market. Commissioner Vestager has a clear mandate and it is time to act.
With the upcoming European elections just around the corner, this moment is a unique opportunity for the Commission to show EU citizens and businesses that it truly puts their interests first and is ready to protect them. We demand that the European Commission takes action against Google’s apparent non-compliance with the WFD.”