BRUSSELS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust

regulators will seek feedback next week on Google's

proposals to comply with tech rules aimed at promoting fair

competition, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on

Wednesday, which could decide whether it faces formal charges.

The European Commission launched an investigation in March

into Google to see if it favours its vertical search engines

such as Google Shopping, Google Flights and Google Hotels over

rivals, and whether it discriminates against third-party

services on Google search results.

The move came after rivals, which include comparison

shopping sites, said Alphabet's Google had not complied fully

with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) aimed at reining in the

power of Big Tech and to create a level playing field for

smaller competitors.

Google's latest proposals aim to create a separate box for

rivals below its own product listing ads box in Google search

results to address criticism from comparison shopping sites, the

people said.

The company also offered to create two different boxes next

to each other, with one showing intermediaries and the other for

direct suppliers such as airlines, hotels and retailers, they

said.

The Commission will hold workshops separately for these

groups from Sept. 9 to 11 to get their views on the proposals,

the people said. Google has not been invited to the events.

The EU competition watchdog did not respond immediately to a

request for comment.

Google said: "We have engaged with the European Commission

and industry stakeholders over the past year, receiving and

responding to feedback in an effort to balance a wide spectrum

of views across the ecosystem. We will continue to engage over

the coming months."

Failure to allay the regulatory concerns could result in

formal charges against Google by the end of September that could

lead to a hefty fine as much as 10% of its global annual

turnover, the people said.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)