On Sept. 10, 2014, the European Commission (Commission) President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker nominated Margrethe Vestager, former deputy prime minister of Denmark, for the position of new EU Competition Commissioner. Subject to approval of the European Parliament, she will succeed Joaquín Almunia when his term ends on Oct. 31. On Oct. 2, Vestager faced a confirmation hearing in the European Parliament and answered questions on the ongoing Google investigation, the impact of competition fines on small and medium-sized enterprises and how competition policy can keep up with technological developments. The European Parliament will vote on the suitability of all appointees for the new Commission on Oct. 22. If, as is expected, all appointees are confirmed, Vestager will take office in November.
Vestager, 46, served as Denmark's deputy prime minister as well as minister for Economics and Interior Affairs between October 2011 and August 2014, when she was appointed as the Danish candidate for the new Commission. Vestager represents the Danish Social Liberal Party (DSLP, also known as Radikale Venstre, or Radical Left), which she has led since 2011. Vestager was elected to the Danish Parliament in 2001. Between 2001 and 2011 she was chairwoman of the DSLP's parliamentary group, and under former Prime Minister Poul N. Rasmussen, she served as minister of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs from 1998 until 2001.
Vestager earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Copenhagen in 1993, and shortly afterwards took a leading position in the DSLP. After two years at the Finance Ministry in the early 1990s, she headed the Agency for Financial Management and Administrative Affairs. In 2012, Vestager led talks amongst European finance ministers on how to respond to the global financial crisis. Notably, she attained an agreement on the principle of imposing losses on banks' investors in the case of failure, paving the way for subsequent EU policy and legislation on government bank rescue. In addition, she brokered a deal among ministers to overhaul bank capital requirements and won approval for a law to safeguard derivatives markets.
As set out in her "mission letter," Vestager is expected to focus on financial services, the digital sector, tax evasion and energy. She will inherit a number of major cases from the Almunia administration, in particular the ongoing Google complaints, the Gazprom investigation into alleged abuse of a dominant position, and the multiple investigations into global car-parts and foreign-exchange market cartels. In addition, Vestager will be expected to progress the investigation into restrictions imposed on handset makers relating to the use of Google's Android operating system. In recent interviews, she has emphasized the importance of ensuring independent, non-political, enforcement of competition law.
Vestager's "mission letter" from Jean Claude-Juncker is available here.
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