(Alliance News) - A top adviser to the European Court of Justice, ECJ, has recommended that the court upholds a fine on Alphabet Inc's Google in a competition case with the European Commission.

In an opinion published on Thursday, Advocate General Juliane Kokott proposed that the ECJ dismiss an appeal by Google in the case and confirm a fine of EUR4.1 billion on the Mountain View, California-based tech firm. She said Google's objections to the fine were unfounded.

In 2018, the European Commission fined Google EUR4.3 billion for breaching EU competition rules, accusing the company of imposing illegal restrictions on mobile device manufacturers and mobile operators.

According to the commission, phone manufacturers could only obtain a licence for the Google Play app store if they pre-installed Google's search engine and browser.

It said the company had abused its dominant market position to strengthen its position in search services and increase its advertising revenue.

Google appealed the commission's decision before the General Court of the EU, which reset the fine to around EUR4.1 billion.

The company then lodged an appeal before the ECJ.

The advocate general's opinion is not binding, but the court's judges often take it into account.

Alphabet shares were closed on Thursday in New York for the Juneteenth holiday.

source: dpa

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