E.U. at the service of its citizens: Antitrust Chief Casts Doubt on Google Deal Over Rivals’ Links - by James Kanter

The European Union’s antitrust chief said Tuesday that he might yet take a tougher stance toward Google in a long-running case that he and the company have been in talks to settle for more than a year.

The announcement, by Joaquín Almunia, is a potential blow for Google, which reached a tentative deal with Mr. Almunia in February by agreeing to display rivals’ links more prominently in its search results. Google has been trying to resolve the three-year case and avoid a potential fine of up to $5 billion.

But whether the announcement was an indication of a new hard line by Mr. Almunia or a diplomatic nod to the company’s many critics in Europe was not clear. And any action would still be months away.

Companies critical of Google’s business practices, and prominent members of the French and German governments, have assailed the proposed settlement as doing too little to improve competition in online searches and advertising.

Mr. Almunia said at a news conference on Tuesday that he still wanted to settle the case. But he also said he could file formal charges against the company if a further round of feedback about the settlement from 19 groups and companies, including Microsoft and publishers in Germany, was persuasive.

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Joaquín Almunia on Europe's Tough Terms for Approving Universal-EMI Deal

The most important man in music at the moment is not a hit-spotting executive in New York or London, but, rather, a diminutive Spanish bureaucrat whose decisions about the breakup of EMI will largely determine the shape of the industry for years to come.

Joaquín Almunia, the European Commission’s vice president for competition, has been the driving figure in the negotiations in Brussels over the future of EMI. In June, the commission approved a $2.2 billion sale of EMI’s music publishing business to a group led by Sony, with a relatively small number of concessions.

On Friday, the commission signed off on the Universal Music Group’s $1.9 billion bid for EMI’s record labels, but only after months of talks and an extensive divestment package that requires selling off the rights to some of EMI’s most prominent labels and artists. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the deal.

On Thursday, while in New York for a conference at Fordham Law School, Mr. Almunia spoke with The Times about his efforts to preserve competition and cultural diversity in the music business.

Read more: Joaquín Almunia on Europe's Tough Terms for Approving Universal-EMI Deal - NYTimes.com