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Facebook received a $122 million fine on Thursday from the European Unions antitrust regulators, who say the social media giant provided misleading information during its 2014 acquisition of the messenger app WhatsApp. According to regulators, Facebook claimed at the time to be unable to automatically link the accounts of both Facebook and WhatsApp users. By August 2016, however, WhatsApp announced that it would start sharing its data, including users phone numbers, with Facebook.

The European Commission, which manages the EUs day-to-day operations, claims that Facebook staffers knew the company was capable of automatically matching users identities back in 2014. Facebook issued a statement on Thursday, insisting that the errors were unintentional and did not affect the outcome of the acquisition. Weve acted in good faith since our very first interactions with the Commission and weve sought to provide accurate information at every turn, the company said, adding that todays announcement brings this matter to a close.

While the fine has no impact on the merger between Facebook and WhatsApp, it establishes a firm precedent for future acquisitions. Todays decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information, said Margrethe Vestager, the EUs antitrust chief, in a statement on Wednesday. The commission must be able to take decisions about mergers effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts.

Although the EU is known for its strict data protection rules, their penalty for Facebook, as Reuters points out, could have been more severe. $122 million is a relatively small sum compared to the billions of dollars Facebook brings in every quarter. Its also a small fraction of the $19 billion Facebook paid to acquire WhatsApp in 2014. According to Reuters, the European Commission had the authority to fine Facebook up to one percent of its turnoveraround $276 millionbut opted for a smaller fine due to the companys cooperation and admission of error. Even so, $122 million is one of the largest regulatory penalties Facebook has ever had to pay to a government.

Just two days before the EUs announcement, Facebook incurred a much smaller fine of around $164,000 from a French regulator. In this case, the company was accused of violating Frances data protection rules by compiling personal user data for targeted advertising, as well as collecting data on users browsing activity without their knowledge. On the same day, Dutch regulators also claimed that Facebook had broken their privacy rules, but did not levy a fine.

Despite enduring scrutiny from multiple European countries over the last week, Facebook is not a singular target. Other large companies in the U.S., including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, have been subject to antitrust investigations from European regulators. Last Friday, an Italian antitrust agency also announced they were fining WhatsApp for $3.3 million for requiring users to share their personal information with Facebook.

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Facebook Receives $122 Million Fine From European Union For ... - The Atlantic

New York Times

EU Fines Facebook $122 Million Over Disclosures in WhatsApp Deal New York Times On Thursday, the European Union's powerful antitrust chief fined the social network 110 million euros, or about $122 million, for giving misleading statements during the company's $19 billion acquisition of the internet messaging service WhatsApp in 2014. European Union Calls Foul on FacebookNewCo Shift Sadly, The European Union's $122 Million Facebook Fine Seems JustifiedForbes European Union fines Facebook over misleading WhatsApp dataThe News Minute CNBC -Reuters -EU News -Facebook Newsroom all 177 news articles »

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EU Fines Facebook $122 Million Over Disclosures in WhatsApp Deal - New York Times

GETTY

The new Armed Forces Minister Sylvie Goulard announced her intention to get CLOSER to Germany over new President Emmanuel Macron's fears countries will start to look after their own interests, and not those of the bloc.

Goulard, a European expert, took the control of the renamed defence ministry last week.

Mr Macron is set on pushing for greater defence integration.

GETTY

I am attached to making European defence projects move forward

Sylvie Goulard

Ms Goulard said in her first message to military and civilian personnel: "I am attached to making European defence projects move forward.

"Some elements already exist, but others still need to be conceived and developed to better ensure our security in these times of interdependence.

To achieve this effort, work with Germany will be decisive."

A European lawmaker who speaks four languages, Goulard is respected in Brussels as a straight talker, having acted as adviser to former European Commission president Romano Prodi.

AFP/Getty Images

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Polish troops land with parachutes at the military compound near Torun, central Poland as part of the NATO Anaconda-16 military exercise

A close ally of Macron, she ranks fourth in the government hierarchy, and becomes only the second woman to head the ministry, which reverts to its pre-1974 name of Ministry of the Armed Forces.

Goulard also said she wanted to ensure that Franco-British security and defence cooperation did not suffer from the decision to leave the European Union.

An advocate of closer EU integration, Macron backs a "multi-speed" Europe, an idea that has earned growing support in Germany and other EU countries since Britain voted to leave the bloc.

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In the past, France has tended to be seen by allies as an intransigent, go-it-alone power because of its military interventions in arenas like Libya, the Middle East and the Sahel.

Nineteen countries including France, Germany, Italy and Spain be in talks from next month on the so-called Cooperative Financial Mechanism, or CFM.

The joint fund, financed national governments, would be the third part of a payment plan involving a proposed research facility led by the European Commission, the EU executive, and money from the EU's common budget for defence.

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France to push for European Army NOW as it pushes Germany for more EU integration - Express.co.uk

Published on May 19th, 2017 | by Joshua S Hill

May 19th, 2017 by Joshua S Hill

The European Union and 79 African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries have committed to defend and implement the Paris Agreement on climate change, amidst the latest UN climate change talks in Bonn, at which the EU tentatively explainedthat tangible progress had been made over the past two weeks.

The latest conference of the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) met in Bonn, Germany, between 8 and 18 of May. In a note published on the final day of talks, the European Union declared that tangible progress was made on a number of elements for implementation of the Paris Agreement and welcomed the important technical and practical work carried out at the conference. However, unsurprisingly, despite progress, there is much still that remains to be done to put us on the road to delivering on the Paris commitments.

We came here to Bonn to advance our work on the rules and instruments to implement the Paris Agreement, said Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Caete. We leave Bonn with steadfast progress in many areas. And while much work still lies ahead of us, the cooperative talks and the tangible results show once again the unwavering determination of all of us to turn our commitments into real action.

However, maybe of greater importance was another announcement, in which the 28 (soon to be 27) member state European Union and 79 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) developing countries which together make up more than half of the Paris Agreement signatories pledged that they would seek to ensure full implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Today more than ever, Europe stands by its long-term partners most vulnerable to climate change, said Miguel Arias Caete. We, developed and developing countries together, will defend the Paris Agreement. We are all in, and our joint commitment to this Agreement today is as in Paris: irreversible and non-negotiable.

The European Union has also pledged800 million in support for the Pacific region up to 2020, half of which has been earmarked for climate action.

The longstanding, ongoing cooperation between the ACP Group and the EU shows we are serious about addressing the impacts of climate change, added ACP Secretary General Patrick Gomes. Implementing the Paris Agreement is not only about ensuring the very survival of the 79 ACP countries, but also about building sustainable, resilient and prosperous economies and societies worldwide.

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Tags: 2015 Paris Agreement, ACP, African, Bonn, Caribbean, EU, European Union, Germany, Pacific, Paris agreement, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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European Union & 79 Developing Nations Commit To Defend Paris Agreement - CleanTechnica

New York Times

Sadly, The European Union's $122 Million Facebook Fine Seems Justified Forbes I yield to no one in my insistence that the European Union is a bad idea to begin with, that no one should be a member of it, that Britain's absolutely right to leave and that we'd all be better off without the existence of the bureaucratic excrescence ... EU Fines Facebook $122 Million Over Disclosures in WhatsApp DealNew York Times European Union fines Facebook over misleading WhatsApp dataThe News Minute Facebook slapped with $122 million EU fine: Here's what you need to knowCNBC The Mercury News -NDTV -KRQE News 13 -EU News all 167 news articles »

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Sadly, The European Union's $122 Million Facebook Fine Seems Justified - Forbes