Margrethe Vestager Steps Down as EU Competition Commissioner Amid Bid for EIB Presidency

Strategic Insights -

As the longtime scourge of tech giants and rate-rigging banks, Margrethe Vestager has taken a temporary leave of absence from her role as the European Union's competition commissioner after her formal bid to lead the European Investment Bank (EIB) became public. This move is in line with EU rules, which require her to step aside while her candidacy is considered for the bloc's lending arm presidency. Vestager's announcement comes as the bloc's finance ministers prepare to meet in Spain to discuss the names currently on the table for the EIB post. The Dane is seen as a leading candidate to oversee the Luxembourg-based bank, with annual financing last year totaling more than 65 billion euros ($95 billion). Vestager has been a key figure in enforcing EU competition rules, slapping Alphabet Inc.'s Google with more than 8 billion euros in penalties and calling for the company to sell its profitable advertising technology arm.

Key Takeaways:

  • Vestager has taken a temporary leave of absence from her role as the European Union's competition commissioner due to her bid for the EIB presidency.
  • The move is in line with EU rules, which require her to step aside while her candidacy is considered.
  • Vestager is seen as one of the leading candidates to oversee the Luxembourg-based EIB, with annual financing last year totaling more than 65 billion euros ($95 billion).
  • She has slapped Alphabet Inc.'s Google with more than 8 billion euros in penalties for anticompetitive practices and called for the company to sell its profitable advertising technology arm.
  • Vestager has also led probes into how bank traders swapped information in chat rooms and blocked a 15 billion euro railway deal between French company Alstom SA and Germany's Siemens AG in 2019.
  • After the EU was hit by successive economic crises during the pandemic and invasion of Ukraine, Vestager faced pressure from French and German governments to loosen the purse strings on Europe's economy.
  • If unsuccessful in her bid for the EIB presidency, Vestager could find herself lacking political backing for another role commensurate with her high EU profile.
  • Her party is not currently in government in Denmark, leaving her few options to return to Copenhagen.

Statistics:

  • Annual financing of the EIB last year: more than 65 billion euros ($95 billion).
  • Penalties imposed by Vestager on Alphabet Inc.'s Google for anticompetitive practices: more than 8 billion euros.
  • Penalty imposed by Vestager on Apple Inc. to pay Ireland's government over an allegedly illegal tax break: 13 billion euros.
  • Value of the blocked 15 billion euro railway deal between Alstom SA and Siemens AG in 2019: 15 billion euros.
  • Number of years Vestager has served as the EU's competition commissioner: 10 years.

Sources:

  • Bloomberg: "Margrethe Vestager Steps Down as EU Competition Commissioner Amid Bid for EIB Presidency"
  • Getty Images: "John Thys AFP file photo"