EU Lawmakers Propose Breaking Up Google

European lawmakers are drafting a proposal which would recommend that Google be forced to split its search business from the rest of its operations in European Union countries.

The non-binding resolution being prepared as a recommendation for the European Commission (EC) is the latest and potentially most far-reaching action to date by EU lawmakers embroiled in a long-running antitrust investigation into Google's business practices.

A draft of the motion seen by Reuters "calls on the commission to consider proposals with the aim of unbundling search engines from other commercial services as one potential long-term solution" to fostering a more even playing field in search, the news agency reported.

Reuters reported that the two lawmakers who are co-sponsoring the resolution, German Andreas Schwab and Spaniard Ramon Tremosa, believe it "very likely" they have the votes to pass it.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The draft did not mention Google or any other search provider by name, according to Reuters. But Google "is by far the dominant provider of such services in Europe with an estimated 90 percent market share," the news agency noted.

The European Parliament doesn't have the authority to force companies to break apart, so even if the motion is passed, Google and other companies wouldn't be in immediate trouble. But such a non-binding resolution "would step up the pressure on the European Commission to act against Google," according to Reuters.

Google competitors have complained that the Internet giant promotes its own services ahead of theirs in search results and that Google's tightly integrated array of user services—including search, email, social networking, productivity software, and more—presents an obstacle to healthy market competition.

Reuters noted that Google "has grown so large as to inspire distrust in many corners" of Europe, where punitive and expensive antitrust actions have been taken against a number of U.S.-based tech companies in recent years, including Microsoft and Intel.

Google has been the subject of an antitrust investigation in Europe since late 2010.

The EC's new competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said earlier this month that she would be focusing intently on the Google investigation but wouldn't rush to a decision "on the next steps" to take.

"To decide how to take our investigations forward, I need to know what those most directly affected by the practices in question have to say," Vestager said in a statement. "I will therefore need some time to decide on the next steps."

The Danish economy minister, who took over for Joaquín Almunia on Nov. 1, plans to put data privacy and media pluralism issues on the backburner and concentrate on competition issues like the Google case.

"I have to be sure that we have all the facts up to date to get it right," she said. "In short, the issues at stake in our investigations have a big potential impact on many players, they are multifaceted and complex."

Earlier this year, the EC announced a deal whereby Google would feature links to rival services in its results, as well as make it easier for advertisers and publishers to work with competing firms. But Almunia re-opened the case in September, after a number of Google rivals pushed back and requested further concessions.

Among the criticisms of Google was a letter from News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, who accused Google of being "a platform for piracy and the spread of malicious networks."

The EU is also separately probing Google's Android operating system, but has not yet decided whether to open a formal investigation.

With additional reporting by Stephanie Mlot.