European Commissioner for Competition
European Commissioner for Competition | |
---|---|
Member of | the European Commission |
Reports to | President of the European Commission |
Term length | 5 years |
Formation | 7 January 1958 |
First holder | Hans von der Groeben |
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The Commissioner for Competition is the member of the European Commission responsible for competition. The current commissioner is Margrethe Vestager (ALDE).
Responsibilities
The portfolio has responsibility for such matters as
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
Past commissioners
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Mario Monti (1999–2004)
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
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."
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)
Margrethe Vestager (since 2014)
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List of commissioners
No. | Picture | Commissioner for Competition | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Party | European | Country | Commission | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | West Germany | Hallstein | ||||||||
2 | Netherlands | Rey | ||||||||
3 | Luxembourg | Malfatti Mansholt Ortoli | ||||||||
4 | Raymond Vouel (1923–1987) | 21 July 1976 | 6 January 1981 | 4 years, 170 days | LSAP | PES | Luxembourg | Ortoli Jenkins | ||
5 | Frans Andriessen (1929–2019) | 6 January 1981 | 5 January 1985 | 3 years, 365 days | KVP | EPP | Netherlands | Thorn | ||
6 | Peter Sutherland (1946–2018) | 7 January 1985 | 5 January 1989 | 4 years, 0 days | Fine Gael | EPP | Ireland | Delors | ||
7 | Leon Brittan (1939–2015) | 6 January 1989 | 5 January 1993 | 3 years, 365 days | Conservative | ED | United Kingdom | Delors | ||
8 | PES | Belgium | Delors Santer | |||||||
9 | Italy | Prodi | ||||||||
10 | Netherlands | Barroso I | ||||||||
11 | Joaquín Almunia (born 1948) | 9 February 2010 | 1 November 2014 | 4 years, 265 days | PSOE | PES | Spain | Barroso II | ||
12 | Margrethe Vestager (born 1968) | 1 November 2014 | Incumbent | 9 years, 176 days | Social Liberals | ALDE | Denmark | Juncker Von der Leyen |
See also
- Directorate-General for Competition
- European Union competition law
- European Union v. Microsoft
References
- ^ Lungescu, Oana (23 July 2004). "Examining the EU executive". BBC News. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ a b c The Commission prohibits GE's acquisition of Honeywell europa.eu
- ^ 100 Most Powerful Women Archived 4 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine Forbes
- ^ Honeywell CEO's job reported on line after takeover is rejected money.cnn.com
- ^ The EU gets new competition powers for the 21st century Archived 28 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine ec.europa.eu
- ^ Brussels Accuses iTunes of Violating Competition Rules spiegel.de
- ^ Microsoft dispute a lesson, EU says seattletimes.nwsource.com
- ^ Microsoft case sets precedent, says Brussels EU observer
- ^ Spongenberg, Helena (20 September 2007) US remarks on Microsoft ruling 'unacceptable', says Kroes, EU Observer
- ^ a b c Who’s who in the new Commission, Financial Times November 2009
- ^ Accusations will test new commissioner, Financial Times
- ^ EU’s Almunia Says EMF Would Be a Long-Term Solution (Update1)[dead link] Business Week