About: Margrethe Vestager
European election list leaders unite against the right
The main candidates for the European Commission's presidency opposed Manfred Weber, the candidate of the European People's Party (EPP), despite it being the group that will likely come out as the winner in the elections. EURACTIV France reports.
Commission fines AB InBev for protecting higher Jupiler beer prices in Belgium
The European Commission fined AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, €200.4 million for restricting cross-border sales of Jupiler to protect higher prices of its top-selling beer in Belgium.
Vestager calls for more access to data for smaller platforms
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager made a suggestion at the re:publica conference in Berlin: "Access to data has to be redesigned so that newcomers can compete with big tech giants". In a discussion with EURACTIV, she also drew parallels with a recent complaint by Spotify and similar lawsuits. EURACTIV Germany reports.
MEP: ‘We are continuing to sell European spyware to dictators’
Welcome to the inaugural edition of EURACTIV's Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
Margrethe Vestager, a competitive approach to environmental policy
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, a Liberal candidate to be the next Commission President, believes the key to improving Europe’s environment and fighting climate change will be implementing the laws already on the books.
Vestager: ‘We need more commissioners working on environmental issues’
Margrethe Vestager, one of the seven lead candidate for the Liberals in next month’s EU elections, views Juncker’s “project teams” as a success and would consider establishing multiple environment commissioners for different areas such as climate change, biodiversity, air pollution or chemicals.
Vestager campaigns on hostile French territory
Danish Commissioner Vestager, centrist figurehead and part of French Macronists' future family in the European Parliament, does not have support from the French government for fear she will stand in the way of French candidate Michel Barnier. EURACTIV France reports.
Force tech giants to share data rather than break them up: academics
EU antitrust regulators should consider forcing tech giants such as Google and Amazon to share their data with rivals rather than break them up, three academics enlisted by the European Commission said on Thursday (4 April).
Vestager woos Altmaier with industry pitch
European Commission candidate Margrethe Vestager found a lot of common ground with German economy minister Peter Altmaier on Monday (1 April), as the Dane’s campaign appeared to gain momentum.
Weber: Ignoring Spitzenkandidaten would harm EU democracy
Most European leaders and parties have agreed to the Spitzenkandidat principle. If they suddenly ditched it, it would be a huge step back for democracy in Europe and could risk conflict between the European Parliament and the Council, said Manfred Weber, the centre-right EPP party's Spitzenkandidat for the European elections.
Tweets of the Week: Bercow, Orban, and Vestager
Bercow’s bombshell is rather splendid, Orban’s not banned, but he is suspended, and Google and Vestager are definitely unfriended. This week we are supported by EPRA.
Commission fines Google €1.49 billion for illegal practices
The European Commission fined Google €1.49 billion on Wednesday (20 March), after concluding that Google had breached EU laws by restricting rival online advertising services to access third-party websites.
Google braces for multi-million fine in final EU antitrust case
The European Commission is expected to fine Google over its online advertisement services today (20 March), bringing an end to the last outstanding case in a decade-long antitrust battle with the American digital giant.
Vestager joins EU Commission presidency race
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager will compete to be the next president of the European Commission, as Europe’s liberals are set to name the Dane among a team of lead candidates that also includes Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium's former Prime Minister.
Barcelona and Madrid clubs team up to defeat Commission over tax regimes
Spanish football teams Real Madrid, Barcelona, Osasuna and Athletic Club Bilbao will not have to repay tax bills, after EU judges said on Tuesday that their tax regimes were lawful, contrary to the European Commission’s verdict.
Vestager ranked best EU Commissioner, favourite to succeed Juncker
EU antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is the clear favourite to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as the next President of the European Commission, according to the results of a Europe-wide online survey unveiled today (19 February).
Six takeaways from Siemens-Alstom rejection
The European Commission decided on Wednesday (6 February) to block the merger of Siemens and Alstom, meant to create a European champion in the railway sector, due to the negative impact it would have on the European market and consumers.
Germany’s liberals sign off on European election programme
At its European party congress on Sunday (27 January), the liberal FDP party elected Nicola Beer as its Spitzenkandidat and also adopted its election programme. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Commission investigates if Netherlands benefited Nike with tax bill
The European Commission decided on Thursday (10 January) to open an in-depth investigation to determine whether the Netherlands had breached EU rules by allowing Nike to cut its tax bill through complex financial schemes.
Fact-check: Did EU gas liberalisation rules put Bulgaria’s national security at risk?
Bulgarian minister Temenuzhka Petkova has said her country preferred paying a multi-million euro fine rather than follow a Commission injunction. Such a reform, in her words, would have threatened the country's national security. EURACTIV checked the facts.
19 EU countries call for new antitrust rules to create ‘European champions’
A total of 19 EU governments have proposed updating the EU’s antitrust rules in order to facilitate the emergence of European industrial giants able to face “fierce competition” from the US and China.
Vestager: We would have preferred to close the Bulgaria gas case without a fine
The Commission imposed on Monday (17 December) a multi-million fine on Bulgaria’s BEH for blocking access to key natural gas infrastructure in the country. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the fine could have been avoided, had Sofia decided to follow another negotiation strategy.
Commission to fine Bulgaria over gas market distortions
The European Commission will fine Bulgarian Energy Holding as early as this month for hindering rivals’ access to key gas infrastructure, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (11 December), based on information from three sources familiar with the dossier.