Google is in the middle of a battle with the German Magazine Publishers association, part of a larger battle over Google’s excerpting of content. Magazine publishers, already fighting for their financial lives, want to be paid for excerpted content. Legal firm CMS Hasche Sigle represents the German Magazine Publishers. That’s background. Here’s the issue.

From the New York Times:

Andreas Schwab, a German member of the European Parliament, has been making headlines in the last week after drafting a resolution that calls for the breakup of Google.

But Mr. Schwab is not just a legislator, he is also “of counsel” at the German law firm CMS Hasche Sigle, which has represented some of the German publishing interests that have been most eager to declaw Google. He earns roughly $15,000 to $75,000 annually from the firm, according to a disclosure filing. The firm’s website lists his expertise as competition policy.

There’s some smoke here. The question is, is there also fire? Not clear.

Potential conflicts like working at a law firm are barred by the United States Congress, though permitted in some American state legislatures. European law has no prohibition on holding a second job at a law firm, though it does require disclosure of the relationship.

In an email, Mr. Schwab said he had not discussed his resolution with the law firm and called it “a purely political issue.”

“All transparency rules are fully respected,” he said, adding that many of his colleagues had to weigh in on the resolution. “You can be sure that the text of this resolution” is “based on a neutral assessment of the facts.”