European Commissioner for Competition

The Commissioner for Competition is the member of the European Commission responsible for competition. The current commissioner is Margrethe Vestager (ALDE).

European Commissioner for Competition
Flag of the EU
Incumbent Margrethe Vestager since 1 November 2014
Member of	the European Commission
Reports to	President of the European Commission
Term length	5 years
Formation	7 January 1958 (1958-01-07)
First holder	Hans von der Groeben

Responsibilities

The portfolio has responsibility for such matters as commercial competition, company mergers, cartels, state aid, and antitrust law. The position became the sole merger authority for the European Economic Area in September 1990.

The Competition Commissioner is one of the most powerful positions in the Commission, and indeed the world, and is notable in affecting global regulatory practices in a phenomenon known as the Brussels effect.[1] For example, preventing the merger of two US companies, General Electric and Honeywell, in 2001.[2] In 2007, Neelie Kroes (then-Competition Commissioner) was the only Commissioner to make Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women; she held position 59.[3]

Past commissioners

Mario Monti (1999–2004)

Mario Monti.

Mario Monti is particularly notable for his ruling during the GE-Honeywell merger attempt in 2001. General Electric, a US company, sought to acquire another US company, Honeywell. This merger had been approved by US authorities, however Monti, with the backing of the rest of the Commission, rejected the merger;[2]

The merger between GE and Honeywell, as it was notified, would have severely reduced competition in the aerospace industry and resulted ultimately in higher prices for customers, particularly airlines. However, there were ways of eliminating these concerns and allowing the merger to proceed. I regret that the companies were not able to agree on a solution that would have met the Commission's competition concerns.

Rather than be blocked from the European market, the merger was abandoned. This was the first time that a merger between two US companies had been blocked solely by European authorities,[4] only the second time it had blocked just two US companies and only the 15th merger it had blocked ever since it started work.[2] On 1 May 2004 Monti oversaw a radical change in the Competition powers of the Commission concerning antitrust regulation, merger controls, licensing agreements and air transport.[5]

Neelie Kroes (2004–10)

During Neelie Kroes' hearing at the European Parliament, MEPs expressed concern about whether Ms Kroes had a sufficiently detailed grasp of certain specific subjects, but was approved as part of the Commission in 2004.

Since then she states that she promotes a fair and free business environment, achieving sustainable economic growth and higher employment. The Commission has been involved in a number of high-profile cases fighting anticompetitive behaviour; such as the case against the merger of Sony – BMG, against Apple Inc. regarding iTunes[6] and the ongoing case against Microsoft.

Neelie Kroes.

The latter has been an ongoing dispute on a number of issues, in April 2007 Microsoft became the first company to refuse to comply with the Commissions rulings, in response Commissioner Kroes is looking at more harsher methods to gain the co-operation of companies; "We have never, ever before encountered a company that has refused to comply with commission decisions ... We learned we may have to look for a more effective remedy."[7] In September 2007, the Court of First Instance (EU's second highest court) upheld the Commission's decision to fine Microsoft 497 million euro and its order for to Microsoft for it to share its information setting what the Commission described as an "important precedent". Kroes stated that "Today's court ruling…shows that the Commission was right to take its decision, and right to take firm action to enforce that decision". Either party may appeal to the European Court of Justice.[8] In response to the ruling the US Justice Departments top antitrust official, Thomas Barnett, criticised the ruling which sparked a response from Kroes stating that "It is totally unacceptable that a representative of the US administration criticises an independent court of law outside its jurisdiction ... It is absolutely not on. The European Commission does not pass judgement on rulings by US courts and we expect the same degree of respect from US authorities for rulings by EU courts."[9]

Kroes holds a strong belief in free market principles and was tough with offenders. By the time her term as Competition Commissioner ended, she had completed most major cases.[10]

Joaquín Almunia (2010–14)

Joaquín Almunia, previously the Finance Commissioner, took on the competition portfolio under the second Barroso Commission in 2010 and was expected to have a tenure similar to Kroes' stringent run.[10] His appointment was welcomed by competition lawyers as someone well qualified and experienced.[10] He also impressed Parliament at his hearing and early on in his work has had to deal with whether or not to pursue action against Google.[11] He has also come out in favour of the idea of a European Monetary Fund to deal with defaulting member states.[12]

Margrethe Vestager (since 2014)

List of commissioners

No.	Picture	Commissioner for Competition	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party	European		Country	Commission
1		Groeben, HansHans von der Groeben (1907–2005)	7 January 1958	2 July 1967	9 years, 176 days	Independent		Independent	Germany, West West Germany	Hallstein
2		Sassen, MaanMaan Sassen (1911–1995)	30 June 1967	30 June 1970	3 years, 0 days	KVP		Independent	Netherlands	Rey
3		Borschette, AlbertAlbert Borschette (1920–1976)	1 July 1970	20 July 1976	6 years, 19 days	Independent		Independent	Luxembourg	Malfatti Mansholt Ortoli
4		Vouel, RaymondRaymond Vouel (1923–1987)	21 July 1976	6 January 1981	4 years, 170 days	LSAP		PES	Luxembourg	Ortoli Jenkins
5		Andriessen, FransFrans Andriessen (1929–2019)	6 January 1981	5 January 1985	3 years, 365 days	KVP		EPP	Netherlands	Thorn
6		Sutherland, PeterPeter Sutherland (1946–2018)	7 January 1985	5 January 1989	4 years, 0 days	Fine Gael		EPP	Ireland	Delors
7		Brittan, LeonLeon Brittan (1939–2015)	6 January 1989	5 January 1993	3 years, 365 days	Conservative		ED	United Kingdom	Delors
8		Miert, KarelKarel Van Miert (1942–2009)	6 January 1993	13 September 1999	6 years, 250 days	sp.a		PES	Belgium	Delors Santer
9		Monti, MarioMario Monti (born 1943)	15 September 1999	30 October 2004	5 years, 45 days	Independent		Independent	Italy	Prodi
10		Kroes, NeelieNeelie Kroes (born 1941)	22 November 2004	9 February 2010	5 years, 79 days	VVD		ELDR	Netherlands	Barroso I
11		Almunia, JoaquínJoaquín Almunia (born 1948)	9 February 2010	1 November 2014	4 years, 265 days	PSOE		PES	Spain	Barroso II
12		Vestager, MargretheMargrethe Vestager (born 1968)	1 November 2014	Incumbent	5 years, 282 days	Social Liberals		ALDE	Denmark	Juncker Von der Leyen

See also

• Directorate-General for Competition
• European Union competition law
• European Union v. Microsoft

References

1. Lungescu, Oana (23 July 2004). "Examining the EU executive". BBC News. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
2. The Commission prohibits GE's acquisition of Honeywell europa.eu
3. 100 Most Powerful Women Forbes
4. Honeywell CEO's job reported on line after takeover is rejected money.cnn.com
5. The EU gets new competition powers for the 21st century Archived 28 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine ec.europa.eu
6. Brussels Accuses iTunes of Violating Competition Rules spiegel.de
7. Microsoft dispute a lesson, EU says seattletimes.nwsource.com
8. Microsoft case sets precedent, says Brussels EU observer
9. Spongenberg, Helena (20 September 2007) US remarks on Microsoft ruling 'unacceptable', says Kroes, EU Observer
10. Who’s who in the new Commission, Financial Times November 2009
11. Accusations will test new commissioner, Financial Times
12. EU’s Almunia Says EMF Would Be a Long-Term Solution (Update1) Business Week

External links

• Juncker Commission's website
• EU Competition website
• Case No. M.2220, General Electric/Honeywell