How long before EU ask FAANG to "split or don't make business here anymore"?
US won't ever do that because of all the lobbying, but EU might, no?
US won't ever do that because of all the lobbying, but EU might, no?
Imagine taking away your toddler's favorite toy. Forever.
While 102 TFEU (and in particular the CJEU case law surrounding it) has stacked the deck extremely in favor of the EC, in part due to it being designed and interpreted on the basis of European administrative law traditions, a ban or divestiture will only be imposed by the CJEU in the most extreme cases.
A case even the EC, with the entire deck stacked in their favor, will never be able to make. Edit: Specifically for Apple, the others, depending on who we’re talking about, might be a different story.
Would EU be able to allow selling the phone but not the app store?
Also, what is the line of monopoly or abuse of market dominance that would put these companies get caught in the EU's cross hairs?
Assuming that these ideals are correct, I'd think that new device makers would pop up to satisfy these markets. I think something similar has happened with Huawei in China. The EU is going hard after FAANG, but if they all pulled out, does the EU have anything that can replace them?
Edit: Actually, Fairphone is a great example. I think it's the sort of thing that satisfies all the ideals that the EU is trying to get to.