Commissioner for Competition
The Commissioner for Competition is a member of the European Commission responsible for commercial competition , corporate mergers and anti-trust legislation . Margrethe Vestager has been Commissioner for Competition in the Juncker Commission and the Von der Leyen Commission since November 2014 .
The Competition Directorate General , which reports to the Commission for Competition, has far-reaching influence both in the approval of subsidies by Member States and in merger and monopoly control. This also affects multinational companies that are not based in the EU but are active in the European single market . In the past, mergers such as B. the US companies General Electric and Honeywell were prevented and fines of up to over a billion euros were imposed, for example against Microsoft (a total of € 1.7 billion), Intel (€ 1.06 billion), and ThyssenKrupp (€ 478 million ) ) or Siemens (€ 419 million). Since the European Commission has very far-reaching competencies in competition policy, the office is considered a key department.
Previous incumbent
Commissioner | Term of office | Country | national party | European party / political direction |
---|---|---|---|---|
Margrethe Vestager | since 2014 | Denmark | RV | ALDE |
Joaquín Almunia | 2010-2014 | Spain | PSOE | SPE |
Neelie Kroes | 2004-2010 | Netherlands | VVD | ELDR |
Mario Monti | 1999-2004 | Italy | independent | |
Karel Van Miert | 1993 - 1999 | Belgium | SP | SPE |
Leon Brittan | 1989-1993 | United Kingdom | Conservative party | ED |
Peter Sutherland | 1985-1989 | Ireland | FG | EPP |
Frans Andriessen | 1981-1985 | Netherlands | CDA | EPP |
Raymond Vouel | 1976-1981 | Luxembourg | LSAP | SPE |
Albert Borschette | 1970 - 1976 | Luxembourg | independent | |
Maan Sassen | 1967-1970 | Netherlands | CIP | Christian Democratic |
Hans von der Groeben | 1959 - 1967 | Germany | CDU related | Christian Democratic |
See also
- European competition law
- Hearing officer
- General Directorate for Competition
- List of the highest penalties for antitrust violations in the EU