About: Margrethe Vestager
Lufthansa board gives green light to €9bn bailout
The supervisory board of German airline Lufthansa voted on Monday (1 June) in favour of the government's €9 billion aid package, after the European Commission compromised on its conditions for approving the bailout.
Vestager defends EU approach to Lufthansa mega bailout, as carrier agrees terms
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said on Friday (29 May) that the European Commission was not creating unnecessary obstacles to Lufthansa's €9 billion bailout, shortly before the carrier agreed to accept the Commission's set of conditions.
Huawei faces potential UK backlash in new probe
Bolstered US sanctions against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei have prompted UK authorities to launch a fresh probe into the company, a government spokesperson said on Sunday (24 May).
Commission seeks ‘largest possible participation’ of EU citizens for COVID-19 apps
The European Commission has said that the 'largest possible participation' of EU citizens is required in order for coronavirus contact tracing applications to work effectively.
Legal action looms for EU’s ‘voucher-gate’ clique
The European Commission announced on Wednesday (13 May) that it would remind EU countries of their obligations to enforce passenger rights rules and that legal action against those who do not comply is a possibility.
EU-funded COVID-19 app ‘listens to voices and coughs’
A recently launched EU-funded mobile application records users' breathing and coughing to diagnose cases of COVID-19, scientists involved in the project have said.
Commission to contract €600,000 study on gatekeeping power of digital platforms
The European Commission is to contract a study on the gatekeeping, or market-dominating, power of digital platforms in a bid to gather evidence which could feed into the upcoming Digital Services Act, documents seen by EURACTIV reveal.
Vestager urges EU member states not to backtrack on 5G
The European Commission's Vice-President for Digital, Margrethe Vestager, has urged EU telecoms ministers to "limit as much as possible" any delays to their 5G spectrum assignments, amid the current challenges to the industry brought on by the coronavirus crisis.
Economy bigwigs rank airline bailouts last on virus recovery wishlist
More than 200 of the world’s foremost economic experts and officials spelled out their wishes for a post-coronavirus recovery on Tuesday (5 May), ranking airline bailouts last in order of climate-friendliness and long-term economic benefit.
‘New competition tool’ to feature in digital services act, Vestager says
The EU's bid to regulate online platforms, the Digital Services Act, is likely to address a number of competition issues related to the digital economy, possibly through a new competition tool, the European Commission's Vice-President for Digital, Margrethe Vestager has said.
Germany’s massive use of state aid could serve as ‘locomotive,’ Vestager says
Germany’s decision to take full advantage of the EU's relaxed state aid rules could be "a locomotive" for Europe but a strong recovery fund is needed to avoid distortions in the internal market, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager told MEPs on Monday (4 May).
Air France-KLM gets virus bailout, green conditions still pending
Air France-KLM will get a state-backed bailout of around €10 billion in loans and guarantees. But the lack of strict conditions in the aid packages announced by the French and Dutch governments on Friday (24 April) has already stoked criticism.
Vestager: It’s not a choice between fighting the virus and protecting privacy
The EU's digital chief Margrethe Vestager has sought to allay privacy fears over the use of certain mobile applications in the fight against the coronavirus, a day after the EU rolled out a series of recommendations for the use of such technologies.
Sweden gets airline bailout green light from EU
The European Commission approved Sweden’s half-billion euro support scheme for airlines on Saturday (11 April), in what is one of the first major forays into bailing out Europe’s coronavirus-hit airlines.
Lufthansa super-jumbos fall victim to virus as airline bailouts loom
German flag-carrier Lufthansa will send six of its 14 A380s - the world’s largest commercial airliner - into early retirement, due to massive disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The decision comes just as airlines gear up to request bailouts from governments.
EU countries use looser state aid rules to uphold troubled firms
Member states are making use of the new flexibility within EU state rules mainly to guarantee liquidity for all companies heavily affected by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak. EURACTIV has looked into the different schemes that have been approved so far.
France wins EU approval for airline virus aid
The European Commission will allow France to defer some aeronautical taxes up to two years in order to help embattled airlines, after Brussels decided on Tuesday (31 March) that the plan is in line with its new looser state aid rules.
COVID-19: France wants to activate EU bailout fund without conditions or delay
The financial crisis management tool of the eurozone countries must be activated without delay and without conditions, said French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire before the Eurogroup meeting on Tuesday (24 March). EURACTIV France reports.
Commission resists competition reform plans until 2021
The European Commission will not look into the possibility of revising the bloc's competition rules until at least 2021, despite recent pressure from a group of EU member states.
Online platform regulation: French economy ministry gets up and running
While the European Commission presented its digital strategy last week, France's economy and finance ministry brought together around a hundred experts on Monday (24 February) in an attempt to sketch out ways of regulating online platforms. EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.
High-risk Artificial Intelligence to be ‘certified, tested and controlled,’ Commission says
Artificial Intelligence technologies carrying a high-risk of abuse that could potentially lead to an erosion of fundamental rights will be subjected to a series of new requirements, the European Commission announced on Wednesday (19 February).
Vestager: Facial recognition tech breaches EU data protection rules
The European Commission will take some time before deciding on how to legislate facial recognition remotely, but will not prevent national initiatives from moving ahead on their own, Commission vice-president Margrethe Vestager has said.
LEAK: Commission outlines plan to create single EU data space by 2030
The EU wants to create by the end of the decade a genuine single market for data that corresponds to its economic power, prioritising nine "strategic sectors" including health, climate, agriculture and energy, and dedicating up to €6 billion to investment in data centres, according to the Commission’s data strategy seen by EURACTIV.com.