Google’s abuse of dominant position against Enel. It should have ensured app inter-operability

Brussels – Google acted with abusive market practices against Enel X, unfairly preventing interoperability when it could have guaranteed it. An abuse of a dominant position, according to the Court of Justice of the EU, called to rule on a dispute that originated in Italy and ended up in Luxembourg.

In 2018, Enel launched the ‘JuicePass’ app in Italy, which allows drivers to locate and book charging stations for their electric vehicles. To enable easy location of charging points, Enel X (which operates over 60 percent of the available charging stations for electric vehicles in
Italy and provides services for such charging) asked Google to make the application compatible with Android Auto, Google’s system that provides access, directly on the in-car screen, to applications found on smartphones. Google refused, denying JuicePass interoperability with Android Auto.

The Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) imposed a fine of over 102 million euros on Google, finding that such conduct constituted an abuse of a dominant position. The Court confirmed that Google’s refusal can constitute conduct contrary to competition rules. Abuse of a dominant position “is not limited” to the case where another firm is prevented from doing business and carrying out its activity but “may be found where, as is in this case, the platform has been developed with a view to enabling third-parties to use it.” That is when platforms are open and, by nature, available to several parties.

The Luxembourg judges acknowledge that under certain conditions, Google could prevent the interoperability of Enel X, but only for security reasons related to the non-existence of a model for the category of applications it serves. However, this is not the case. It, therefore, means that the dominant firm — in this case, Google — “must develop such a template within a reasonable period, in return for, depending on the circumstances, appropriate financial consideration.”