Over 30 Civil Society Orgs Express ‘Grave Concern’ About Von der Leyen’s Reported Google Backdown
Credit: Anthony Quintano
Open Markets Institute Europe has led a coalition of over 30 civil society organisations and individuals to send a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling for the immediate enforcement of a fine against Google's parent company Alphabet under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
We write to “express grave concern about credible reports that the European Commission has decided to delay the imposition of a fine against Google’s parent company Alphabet under the Digital Markets Act, reportedly at your personal direction,” the letter reads.
“This apparent retreat comes at a moment of sustained pressure from the Trump administration, which has explicitly threatened tariffs, sanctions and other forms of coercion if the EU implements its digital laws or imposes high fines,” the letter says.
According to credible reports in Handelsblatt, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition found that Google violated the DMA through self-preferencing in online search and anti-steering practices in the Google Play Store. A fine in the single digit billions range, the largest yet under the DMA, had been scheduled for March 2026, but was reportedly postponed at the personal direction of President von der Leyen.
Civil society warns that this delay, if confirmed, represents dangerous political interference in EU law enforcement. The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to undermine the enforcement of the EU’s digital rules.
The EU's failure to effectively enforce its digital rules harms European innovators, small businesses, as well as European democracy and human rights. Shelving this fine would reward US coercion and signal that the DMA is negotiable.
The coalition calls on President von der Leyen to publicly confirm that the DMA will be enforced in accordance with the law, free from political interference, and that the Google fine will proceed without further delay.