About: Margrethe Vestager
Vestager tries to keep Illumina and GRAIL apart during merger investigation
After two US biotech companies, Illumina and GRAIL, defied the EU’s competition authority by closing a merger without waiting for the results of the EU’s investigation, the European Commission adopted on Friday (29 October) interim measures to ensure that the companies continue to be run as separate entities.
Tweets of the Week: Pandora Papers, Facebook Down, Brdo Summit
Pandora Papers revelations hit their mark, world panics as Facebook goes dark, and not much happened in Brdo apart from the snark.
Illumina/GRAIL: Testing Vestager’s effort to expand EU merger control
The controversial $7.1 billion acquisition of GRAIL by Illumina is developing into a test of the European Commission’s new guidance on merger control, but also of the EU's competition chief Margrethe Vestager's resolve to expand the bloc's supervision of such mergers.
EU slaps Volkswagen, BMW with antitrust fines
The EU's antitrust authority fined German auto giants Volkswagen and BMW €875 million on Thursday (8 July) for colluding on the development of anti-pollution technology for diesel cars.
Europe’s first digitalised chip plant opens in Dresden
German engineering and technology company Bosch opened a new semiconductor factory, fully networked with 5G mobile technology, in Dresden on Monday (7 June). The production facility was funded with €140 million as part of a joint European project.
Amazon wins court fight against €250 million EU tax order
Amazon won on Wednesday (12 May) its fight against an EU order to pay about €250 million euros in back taxes to Luxembourg, as Europe's second-highest court dealt a blow to the bloc's efforts to make multinational corporations pay more taxes.
EU court to decide on Amazon tax appeal
An EU court will rule Wednesday (12 May) on an appeal by online giant Amazon against an order that Luxembourg recoup €250 million in unpaid taxes.
Commission bolsters toolbox against disruptive foreign subsidies
Companies subsidised by foreign governments will have to win EU authorities' green light to acquire European firms or to bid in public procurements, according to a European Commission proposal published on Wednesday (5 May).
EU unveils plan to cut dependency on China, others
The European Union unveiled on Wednesday (5 May) a plan to cut its dependency on Chinese and other foreign suppliers in six strategic areas like raw materials, pharmaceutical ingredients and semiconductors after the pandemic-induced economic slump.
Commission on track for digital levy proposal by June
The European Commission is on track with plans to present a digital tax by June despite recent progress at the level of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Commission's Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager has said.
Portuguese Presidency rebuts Vestager’s concerns about ePrivacy proposal
The Portuguese Presidency of the EU has rebutted claims from the Commission's Executive Vice-President for Digital, Margarethe Vestager, that the country's prosed text for the ePrivacy regulation poses a risk to EU data protection standards as outlined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
MEP vies to target rogue traders in Digital Services Act
Online sellers of dangerous and counterfeit goods could be further targeted under the European Parliament's Internal Market committee report on the Digital Services Act, the lead MEP on the text said on Tuesday (23 February).
EU needs cross-border network of 5G ‘corridors’ to spur recovery, says Vestager
European Union countries should use a chunk of the bloc's €750 billion recovery fund to set up 5G corridors to help the 27-country bloc to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, Europe's digital chief said on Monday (8 February).
Commission vies to ‘put order into chaos’ with new digital crackdown
Online platform giants will be forced to abide by a broad range of obligations as part of ambitious new plans laid out by the European Commission in its Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) on Tuesday (15 December).
New EU rules to define gatekeepers by users, areas of business
Tech companies with millions of European users or active in at least two sectors will be classified as online gatekeepers subject to tough new EU rules aimed at curbing their power, three people familiar with the matter said.
Italy’s port tax perks against EU rules, Vestager warns
Italy’s regime of offering corporate tax-exemption to its ports and harbours is a breach of EU competition rules, the European Commission announced on Friday (4 December), giving the government until 1 January 2022 to ditch the tax perks.
New EU data brokers won’t have to be European, Commission says
The European Commission has decided against imposing geographical restrictions on the establishment of so-called 'data sharing services,' as part of ambitious new plans laid out in the executive's landmark Data Governance Act.
Vestager: Amazon has illegally abused market position with Big Data tactics
Amazon has violated EU antitrust rules in its use of non-public merchant data, cementing the platform's dominance in the eCommerce market and marginalizing third-party sellers, the European Commission's Vice President for Digital, Margrethe Vestager, has said.
Dutch Deputy Prime Minister calls for Digital Services Act regulation against AirBnB
As a means to tackle the negative side effects of the online short term rentals market, governments should be allowed better access to data from platforms such as Airbnb as part of the EU's Digital Services Act, the Netherland's Deputy Prime Minister Kajsa Ollongren has said.
German EU presidency pushes for cybersecurity ‘by design’ in connected devices
Laptops, smart phones and other connected devices in Europe should be subject to new cybersecurity standards throughout the "entire life cycle" of products, according to draft EU Council conclusions on the subject, obtained by EURACTIV.
Vestager distances Commission from option of ‘Big Tech Breakups’
The EU has the power to execute a potential breakup of global Big Tech giants, but it is not currently the "right thing to do," the EU's Vice-President for Digital Affairs, Margrethe Vestager, has said.
Parliament adopts ambitious stance on EU’s future regulation of digital platforms
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly backed a series of reports which could have a profound impact on the future of the platform economy, supporting a possible ban on targeted advertising, reporting procedures for illegal content, and better detection of fraudulent vendors.
Poland and Hungary score against Commission over taxes
The EU Court of Justice’s advocate general dismissed on Thursday (15 October) the European Commission’s appeal about Poland and Hungary’s tax regimes and recommended upholding the verdict in favour of the two eastern member states.