Google has said that receiving a record €4.3 billion anti-trust fine from the European Commission in 2018 punished the company for its innovation, according to a report by Reuters.

The comment was made at the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union on Tuesday, where the tech giant called on Judges to backtrack on the penalty during an appeal.

Seven years ago, the European Commission fined Google after accusing the company of imposing “illegal restrictions” on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to cement its dominant position in general internet search between 2011 and 2018.

During an appeal with a lower tribunal in 2022, the fine was upheld but reduced to €4.1 billion.

"Google does not contest or shy away from its responsibility under the law, but the Commission also has a responsibility when it runs investigations, when it seeks to reshape markets and second-guess pro-competitive business models, and when it imposes multi-billion-euro fines," Google lawyer Alfonso Lamadrid told the court this week, as reported by Reuters.

Lamadrid accused the Commission of failing to discharge its burden and responsibility and relying on “multiple errors of law”, which punished Google for its “superior merits, attractiveness and innovation.”

While the Commission says that Google’s policy to require manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and browser app as a condition for licensing prevented effective competition, the lawyer defended the move, saying that "these agreements and conditions did not restrict competition, they fostered it."

Judges at the Court of Justice are set to make a decision on whether to scrap the fine in the coming months.

If it rules in favour of the Commission, Google will not be able to appeal the decision again.

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