BRUSSELS, Sept 17 (Askume) – If Theresa Ribera is confirmed as Europe’s new antitrust chief, she will have to take on big tech companies, banks and airlines while meeting demands for a loosening of rules to help create an EU champion.
Ribera, who has been Spain’s ecological transition minister since 2018, was nominated to the high-profile antitrust post by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday.
The 55-year-old Spanish socialist is one of Europe’s most ambitious policymakers on climate change and must win approval from the European Parliament before taking office.
As competition commissioner, she will be able to approve or veto mergers worth billions of euros or impose hefty fines on companies that try to exert market power by squeezing out smaller rivals or restricting illegal joint pricing.
One of their biggest challenges will be ensuring that Amazon (AMZN.O) , Apple (AAPL.O) , Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O) , Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Meta (META.O) follow through on their plans to comply with milestone rules for this goal.
Apple, Google and Meta have become the focus of outgoing EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager for failing to comply with the Digital Markets Act .
Another challenge is how to deal with the growing popularity of artificial intelligence amid concerns that large tech companies may exploit their existing dominance .
Ribera is likely to step up the crackdown on non-EU state subsidies introduced by Vestager, aimed at preventing foreign firms from acquiring EU companies or participating in EU public tenders with improper state support.
by Europe’s top courtThe European Commission’s recent decisions to uphold a €13 billion tax order against Apple and a €2.42 billion antitrust fine against Google may encourage Ribera to take a tougher stance on antitrust violations.
That means she will be in no hurry to relax antitrust rules so they can compete with rivals in the United States and China, despite calls from Mario Draghi to boost the EU’s industrial giants.
Ribera was also appointed on Tuesday as executive vice-president for a clean, fair and competitive energy transition, responsible for ensuring that Europe meets its green goals.
His credentials include negotiations on EU emissions limits on trucks and a controversial upgrade to EU power market rules last year.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Ribera’s nomination was a victory for the country.
“With your appointment, Spain’s influence in Brussels has reached an all-time high and the EU has gained an outstanding leader,” he said on social media.
