Teresa Ribera will face the formidable task of confronting Big Tech, banks, and airlines if she is confirmed as Europe's new antitrust chief, all while managing demands for more relaxed regulations to foster the creation of EU champions. Nominated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for this prominent antitrust role on Tuesday, Ribera has served as Spain's minister for ecological transition since 2018. The 55-year-old Spanish socialist, renowned as one of Europe's most ambitious climate change policymakers, must first secure approval from the European Parliament before assuming her new position.
As competition commissioner, Ribera will wield the power to approve or veto multi-billion euro mergers and impose substantial fines on companies attempting to enhance their market dominance by stifling smaller competitors or colluding to fix prices illegally. One of her most significant challenges will be ensuring that Amazon, Apple, Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, and Meta adhere to groundbreaking regulations designed to curb their power and provide consumers with greater choice. Apple, Google, and Meta have already drawn the ire of outgoing EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager for failing to comply with the Digital Markets Act.
Another pressing issue will be addressing the growing influence of artificial intelligence, particularly concerns about Big Tech leveraging its current dominance. Ribera may intensify the crackdown on non-EU state subsidies initiated by Vestager, aimed at preventing foreign companies from acquiring EU businesses or participating in EU public tenders with unfair state support. Recent rulings from Europe's highest court, which upheld the Commission's 13 billion euro tax order against Apple and its 2.42 billion euro antitrust fine on Google, could empower Ribera to adopt a stringent stance against antitrust violations.
This would imply that she is unlikely to rush into easing antitrust rules, despite Mario Draghi's call to bolster EU industrial champions to compete with U.S. and Chinese counterparts. Ribera was also appointed on Tuesday as executive vice president of a clean, just, and competitive energy transition, charged with ensuring Europe meets its green objectives. Her credentials include negotiating agreements among EU countries on emissions limits for trucks and a contentious overhaul of EU power market rules last year.
