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By Bloomberg

Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt will meet European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager next week to discuss a four-year probe into the company’s search engine after efforts to settle the case stalled, according to two people familiar with the talks.

It’s the first time that Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner since November, will discuss the case with Google executives, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details of the Brussels talks aren’t public. It’s too soon to say whether the discussions will trigger a quick decision on the case, said the people.

The world’s biggest search engine has come under mounting pressure in Europe over competition and privacy issues in recent months. EU lawmakers last year called for regulators to consider splitting the company if it can’t wrap up the antitrust probe.

Vestager, previously Denmark’s finance minister, has said she would decide how to take her investigation forward after weighing views from companies affected by Mountain View, California-based Google’s search practices. She has been meeting companies that complained about the case since December and has sought more information from Google’s critics in December to refresh the case.

Al Verney, a spokesman for Google in Brussels, didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and a text message seeking comment. The commission didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the meeting.