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The European Union's antitrust authority is preparing the groundwork to file formal charges against Google Inc. (GOOGL: Quote,GOOG: Quote) in the next few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Google is in the midst of a five-year-old antitrust probe by the European Commission, the European Union's antitrust authority, into alleged abuse of its dominant position in the Internet search and advertising business, triggered by complaints from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Expedia Inc. (EXPE) and others.

Google has also been criticized by some European politicians for misusing its dominant position in the search engine industry. The U.S. Internet giant commands around 90 percent market share for Web search in Europe. However, Google has denied anticompetitive behavior.

According to the WSJ report citing people familiar with the matter, the European Commission, is now asking companies that filed complaints against Google for permission to publish some of the information that was earlier submitted confidentially by these companies.

The WSJ reported that Margrethe Vestager, the new antitrust chief of the EU, has suggested that she prefers the legal certainty of formal charges over negotiated settlements. Vestager's predecessor Joaquin Almunia had tried and failed three times to reach a settlement with Google.

The decision to file charges against Google would be the highest-profile antitrust suit by the EU, following its long-running campaign against Microsoft Corp., which paid 1.7 billion euros in fines through 2012.

In the event the European Commission filed charges, Google will have a period of three months to make a case that its actions do not violate EU law or propose another settlement that would address the charges, the WSJ reported.

In November 2014, the European parliament approved a resolution that called for the unbundling of search engines from other commercial services that Internet companies offer, implying the possible break-up of big Internet companies like Google.

GOOG closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $542.56, down $5.44 or 0.99 percent on a volume of 1.96 million shares. In after-hours, the stock gained $0.19 or 0.04 percent to $524.75.

by RTT Staff Writer

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WSJ: EU Preparing To File Antitrust Charges Against Google

Gen. Muhammadu Buhari | credits: File copy

The European Union and France have congratulated the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and challenged him to focus on the challenges and opportunities ahead.

The High Representative and EU Vice-President, Federica Mogherini in a statement on Wednesday on the presidential elections in Nigeria, thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for his great contribution to building the country and to consolidating its democracy over the past five years.

The VP said the EU looks forward to working with Buhari and his government in the future.

She acknowledged the candidates that have conceded defeat gracefully and urged those who wish to contest the results to do so through the appropriate procedures.

Mogherini said the EU Election Monitoring Mission would remain to monitor the governorship elections on April, 11 which it is hoped will be conducted in the same peaceful and democratic spirit.

She said, Nigerians can now look forward to focusing on the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of the country. The European Union has been a close partner for Nigeria over the past 50 years, and will continue to support its development and to share its values in promoting peace, prosperity and democracy on the continent and in the world.

President of the Republic of France, Francois Hollande, who also congratulated Muhammadu Buhari on his election as President of Nigeria, welcomed the commitment of Nigerians and the quality of work of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

A statement from the French Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday , said that Hollande would speak with Buhari on Thursday, adding that the French government intends to establish with him the trustful relations it had with President Jonathan.

Meanwhile, the Head of ECOWAS Election Observation Mission, former Ghanaian President John Kufuor and his colleagues from the African Union and the Commonwealth have congratulated Nigerias National Peace Committee for its work.

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Focus on challenges ahead, EU, tells Buhari

Inserting counter-terrorism into European Union foreign policy could undermine the EU's stance against the death penalty, warns Iverna McGowan.

Iverna McGowan is acting director of Amnesty International European Institutions Office.

Today, Amnesty International released its annual review of the death penalty worldwide, with much of it making for grim reading. A dark trend was starkly evident last year across the world: governments using the death penalty in a seemingly misguided and politically-motivated attempt to tackle internal dissent, crime, or security threats - real or perceived.

A sharp spike in the handing down of death sentences was recorded in 2014, up more than 500 on the previous year to at least 2,466. This rise can be attributed to governments using the death penalty as a political tool. In Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, the death penalty was used by those trying to silence dissent, or based on so-called security-related or terrorism charges.

Saudi Arabia, comfortably ranking amongst the worlds top five executioners with at least 90 executions recorded, detained people supporting or taking part in protests against the state. Incidents have been recorded of people being threatened or charged with the death penalty based on vaguely worded security charges relating to their activism. In Egypt, in the face of internal political instability, courts imposed hundreds of death sentences.Pakistan put more than 50 people to death, threatening to send thousands more to the gallows, after lifting a six-year moratorium on the execution of civilians following the Taliban terror attack on a school in Peshawar last December.

The use of the death penalty is a human rights abuse, violating the right to life. It is the ultimate cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment, in any and all circumstances. We now also know that it is no more a deterrent to crime than a prison sentence, demonstrated in multiple studies including by the United Nations - a factor that states continuing to use the death penalty in the attempt to address (or appear to address) crime rates seem to have ignored. Jordan for example ended an eight-year moratorium in December, putting 11 murder convicts to death, in an alleged move to end a surge in violent crime.

European Union

At Amnesty International, weve campaigned for a global end to the death penalty since the 1970s. And its not all bad news, as thankfully most of the world appears to agree with us that it should be abolished, including the European Union (EU) and its member states.

Today, 140 states are abolitionist in law or practice, including all EU countries. The absolute ban on the death penalty is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. And the current holder of the EU Presidency, Latvia, was the last member state to abolish capital punishment in war time in 2012.

As such, sitting in Brussels, the EU reader, it would seem, has good reason to be proud that the Union and institutions have made ending executions worldwide central to its foreign policy. But, dig a little deeper and it seems that elements of EU foreign policy could be undermining this principled approach.

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Principles in the firing line? The EU and the death penalty

REUTERS/ Mariana Bazo

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the pledges made during Tuesday's Third International Pledging Conference for Syria, calling them "very generous."

The European Union has pledged 1.1 billion euros or roughly $1.2 billion in aid to Syria during theThird International Pledging Conference for Syria.

According to the Daily Star, the EU's aid CommissionerChristos Stylianides said in a statement that the pledge was made in response to an "overwhelming" need in Syria and was intended to contribute to the "extraordinary effort ... needed by the wider donor community to mobilise significant funding."

Stylianides further said that 500 million euros of the pledge will go towards "humanitarian aid, early recovery and longer-term stabilisation assistance" to Syrians displaced by the civil war and the rise of the Islamic State.

The remaining balance will be shouldered by pledges from the 28 member nations of the Union.

The conference, which was held in Kuwait City and chaired by UN head Ban-Ki Moon. was attended by representatives of more than 80 countries as well as non-governmental and charitable organisations.

In addition to the EU, major contributors included the United States with $507 million, the United Kingdom with $150 million and host country Kuwait with $500 million, while theUnited Arab Emirates promised aid to the tune of $100 million and Norway pitched in $93 million.

Charitable groups and non-government organisations committed to giving aid worth $500 million and $506 million, respectively.

The Daily Star said that total pledges reached $3.8 billion, slightly lower than the $3.9 billion in pledges made in the conference last year.

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European Union pledges 1.1 billion euros in aid to Syria

Interview: Prof. Manfred Nowak, University of Vienna
The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) is an interdisciplinary centre of excellence formed by 41 universities from all European Union Member States.

By: EIUC - European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation

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Interview: Prof. Manfred Nowak, University of Vienna - Video