A European proposal to unbundle search engines from other commercial businesses—which could result in the breakup of Google—has brought a response from US lawmakers.

"Capitol Hill hit back at EU lawmakers on Tuesday for politicizing an antitrust investigation into Google, as tensions rose ahead of a European parliamentary vote calling for the possible break-up of the technology group," the Financial Times reported last night.

Lawmakers sent letters to European counterparts expressing alarm at the proposal. The letters don't specifically mention Google, the world's largest search company, but neither does the European draft resolution. That says the European Commission should "consider proposals with the aim of unbundling search engines from other commercial services." The resolution in the European parliament is likely to pass on Thursday, but it would be nonbinding, because any final action would have to be taken by the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union.

One European member of parliament argued that "search engines like Google should not be allowed to use their market power to push forward other commercial activities of the same company.” However, EU digital commissioner Günther Oettinger spoke out against a breakup of Google.

US House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) wrote to European members of parliament, calling himself "troubled to learn that some European elected representatives are encouraging antitrust enforcement efforts that appear to be motivated by politics, rather than grounded in factual and legal principles. We believe that antitrust enforcement should be applied independent of politics and firmly rooted in our shared international principles. Policies that run counter to these principles undermine our free markets and ultimately harm both our businesses and our consumers."

Another letter from US lawmakers said "'proposals that seem to target US technology companies' raised questions 'about the EU’s commitment to open markets,'" the Financial Times reported. The letter was signed by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Sander Levin (D-MI).

A third letter signed by 12 members of US Congress led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) said the resolution "would deter continued innovation and investment from US based Internet companies." The letter described "the transformative impact of online based services, including e-mail, social media, and search on our society and the economy," plus the contributions of US companies to the European economy.

"It is therefore troubling to us that the European Parliament is suggesting an action that would stem cross-border data flows at the expense of millions of people across Europe who enjoy the use of these online services every day," the letter states. "We support healthy competition and a fair playing field for Internet companies in the US and around the globe, and we believe these goals can be accomplished through the traditional regulatory process."