Brussels, Feb 24 (DPA) The European Union's executive Wednesday confirmed that it had received three anti-trust complaints about internet search engine Google, and that it had asked the company to comment on the allegations.

The European Commission is charged with enforcing the EU's strict laws on fair competition. In recent years it has imposed billion-dollar fines on industry giants such as Microsoft and Intel for breaching those laws.

'The commission can confirm that it has received three complaints against Google which it is examining ... As is usual when the commission receives complaints, it informed Google earlier this month and asked the company to comment on the allegations,' the Brussels-based body said in a statement.

However, the decision to contact Google does not mean that the EU is opening an anti-trust case, the statement stressed.

Earlier Wednesday, British newspaper the Daily Telegraph wrote that the commission had contacted Google following complaints of unfair business practices from British search site Foundem, German shopping site Ciao and French legal site ejustice.fr.