EU Google/DoubleClick Merger Approval a Good Sign for Comity
Posted on March 11, 2008
Filed Under Google, Silicon Valley News
WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Washington Legal
Foundation (WLF) today noted that the unconditional approval of Google’s
$3.1 billion purchase of online advertiser DoubleClick by the European
Union Competition Commission is an important development for those
concerned about international comity on antitrust matters.
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the merger in
late December 2007 in a 4-1 vote of the Commissioners, and did so without
attaching conditions. Some commentators expected the Google-DoubleClick
merger to face greater obstacles in Europe, or have conditions imposed upon
it, due to the dominance each entity enjoyed in its respective market in EU
member countries. Google currently holds about a 65% share of the market in
the U.S. for search queries; in Europe, their share is reportedly over 85%.
Privacy advocates, who enjoy substantial political and cultural power in
Europe, strongly expressed their concerns to the EU Competition Commission
as it studied the merger.
“Europe’s approval of the Google-DoubleClick merger is a promising
signal that greater ‘comity’ — the respect nations accord to the laws and
interests of other nations — is occurring between the U.S. and the EU on
antitrust matters,” noted Glenn G. Lammi, Chief Counsel of Washington Legal
Foundation’s Legal Studies Division. Since Europe’s rejection of the
General Electric and Honeywell merger in 2001 — a combination of U.S.
companies that the U.S. Department of Justice had approved — antitrust
officials on both sides of the Atlantic have worked to promote cooperation
and comity among competition enforcement officials, especially in merger
review. A May 25, 2007 WLF LEGAL BACKGROUNDER by former DOJ Antitrust
Division official William Kolasky, describes these efforts and their
successes. The paper is available at
http://www.wlf.org/upload/05-25-07kolasky.pdf.
Given the large market shares of the combining entities, as well as the
privacy concerns voiced, Europe’s decision to join the U.S. FTC in
approving the merger bodes well for future mergers, especially those
involving online commerce. “One would hope that U.S. and EU antitrust
officials will remain in accord on how they review the competition concerns
raised in mergers,” Lammi said. He added, “certainly, mergers which provide
competition for the new Google-DoubleClick combination, such as that being
discussed between Microsoft and Yahoo, will offer interesting further
opportunities to apply the principle of international comity.”
Washington Legal Foundation, a national, non-profit public interest law
and policy center, has opposed government abuse of the legal system for 30
years. WLF’s Litigation Department and Legal Studies Division have played
an integral role in explaining the pitfalls of unreasonable government
litigation and regulatory enforcement to policy makers and the public.
SOURCE Washington Legal Foundation
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