Google revises concessions to EU Google has submitted a revised package of concessions to address the concerns of Europe's top competition authority, bringing the talks to settle the EU antitrust investigation to a critical juncture. Joaquin Almunia, the EU's competition commissioner, recently spoke to Eric Schmidt, the Google chairman, and requested the US group clarify some elements of its informal offer submitted two weeks ago. The initial Google proposal came after Mr Almunia delivered an ultimatum to the internet search giant to change its business practices or face formal antitrust charges, a protracted legal dispute and the threat of multi-billion dollar fines. Mr Almunia's demand for clarifications suggests Google's first offer was not on its own sufficient to be accepted as a "serious and credible" overture to cease its allegedly anti-competitive behaviour. But the bargaining under way - which Mr Schmidt recently described as a "back and forth" with the regulator - indicates that Google put enough on the table to make serious follow-up worthwhile. Mr Almunia's team will now analyse the updated proposal, which sets the parameters for any final settlement. Within the next fortnight he will then decide whether to serve Google with formal charges or open the next phase of talks to agree technical details of a settlement. The decision is finely balanced. Both Mr Almunia and Google are keen to reach a speedy deal and avoid a decade or wrangling through the courts. But Mr Almunia has said Google's offer must address all his concerns and Google's rivals are pressing for severe penalties. While the details of Google's offer are not known, it addresses four main commission concerns. Mr Almunia is worried about how Google favours its own products in search results; "copies" content from rivals without permission; shuts out competition with its advertising agreements with other websites; and restricts advertisers from moving their online ad campaigns to rival search engines. Should Google refuse to compromise, it faces formal charges that could lead to fines of up to 10 per cent of its global revenue, which was about $37.9bn last year. If the revised proposal is accepted as a credible basis for more advanced talks to begin, the commission would for the first time share a written summary of its investigation findings with Google. Under commission guidelines, Google would then typically be given around a month to finalise its offer, which would then be "tested" with rivals that complained about its behaviour. Mr Schmidt has publicly denied wrongdoing and called on the commission to explain the "precise problem." But the commission is resisting extended discussions over the infringements during pre-charge talks, which give companies a means to settle without accepting they have broken the law. A commission spokesperson declined to comment. A Google spokesperson said: "We continue to work co-operatively with the European Commission"