US/EU: Google regroups policy team for EC fine battle

Last year Google hired Caroline Atkinson Obama’s former economic advisor in an effort to deal with their antitrust concerns. Atkinson, who is an experienced diplomat and would steer its global policy efforts, is stepping aside. Atkinson however will not be leaving Google, she will stay on as chief policy adviser

Leslie Miller, a Google policy director based in California, is filling in the top policy role on an interim basis. “Caroline will be focusing on external-facing work and priorities, and Leslie will manage the team,” a Google spokesman told Bloomberg.

The staffing changes comes as the Alphabet unit negotiates terms in the European Union in the aftermath of a record antitrust fine and big technology companies face rising regulatory scrutiny in the US, including a renewed call for tougher competition enforcement.

Atkinson’s tenure was distinguished primarily by the antitrust case in Europe. In June, the EU slapped Google with a record US$2.7 billion fine for abusing its market position to favor its shopping search service. Google is working to appease the agency’s requests to avoid further penalties.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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