European news publishers will be given the right to levy fees on internet platforms such as Google if search engines show snippets of their stories, under radical copyright reforms being finalised by the European Commission.

The proposals, to be published in September, are aimed at diluting the power of big online operators, whose market share in areas such as search leads to unbalanced commercial negotiations between search engines and content creators, according to officials.

The move will heap further pressure on the strained relationship between Silicon Valley and Brussels, which are embroiled in increasingly fractious arguments over issues covering competition, tax and privacy. This week, the US Treasury department attacked commission moves to levy billions of euros from Apple for alleged underpayment of taxes in Europe.