Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for Ms. Kroes, said antitrust officials were "not yet drawing any preliminary conclusions from the pharmaceutical sector inquiry as regards legislative changes or anything else because it is far too early to do so".
Last year the Italian Competition Authority also opened a sector inquiry into big data.
Our French colleagues have launched a sector inquiry on big data.
The Commission further notes that the sector inquiry shed light on the increased use of automatic software applied by retailers for price monitoring and price setting.
After that it could move on to conduct a full sector inquiry — saying this could be triggered "if specific circumstances suggest the competition in a sector may be restricted or distorted".
Update: A Facebook spokesperson has now emailed this statement: "We will co-operate fully with the Bundeskartellamt on this sector inquiry and welcome the opportunity to share our insights on the dynamic and competitive nature of the advertising industry".
The fines follow the Commission's ecommerce sector inquiry, which reported in May 2017, and showed that resale-price related restrictions are by far the most widespread restrictions of competition in ecommerce markets, making competition enforcement in this area a priority — as part of the EC's wider Digital Single Market strategy.
One of the HLEG's members, European consumer advocacy organization BEUC, voted against the report — arguing the group had missed an opportunity to push for a sector inquiry to investigate the link between advertising revenue policies of platforms and the dissemination of disinformation.
In a key protection for those working in the police, security services or public sector the inquiry has received written assurances from the attorney general that whistleblowers who come forward with evidence or documents will not be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.
