ProMarket - The EU’s Next Competition Commissioner Must Set Out Her Vision for Change

Europe director Max von Thon urges the EU’s next Competition Commissioner to take bold action against corporate monopolies, especially in digital markets, and to establish a clear vision for fostering fair competition and innovation.

Competition policy in the European Union is at a crossroads. After a decade, the Commissioner in charge of the EU’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), Margrethe Vestager, is riding off into the sunset. Her chosen replacement—Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister and environmental minister Teresa Ribera—is expected to take office before the end of the year, subject to approval by the European Parliament. What should we expect from Ribera, and what will be sitting in her inbox when she takes office?  

Little is known about how Ribera views her new competition responsibilities, given her career to date has focused on environmental policy, which will continue to form part of her exceptionally broad EU portfolio, Ribera’s imminent hearing in the European Parliament will give her an important opportunity to lay out her broader perspective and immediate priorities for the role. But she will need time to develop a sophisticated vision and detailed proposals for change.

In the meantime, two important documents published in recent months offer the best guide as to what the new European Commission—and DG COMP specifically—could achieve in competition policy under Ribera over the next five years. The first is the report by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Europe’s competitiveness, published in September. The second is the “Mission Letter” issued by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Ribera, also in September, setting out the latter’s priorities for the coming term.

Two steps forward, one step back?

There is a great deal of alignment between the Draghi report and von der Leyen’s Mission Letter. This is unsurprising given that von der Leyen commissioned Draghi to write his report with the aim of informing the next Commission’s policy agenda.