Teresa Ribera has been appointed as Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. This article explores the impact of her appointment on the future of competition policy in the European Union. 

Teresa Ribera’s appointment has triggered intense speculation on the future of competition policy under the new Commissioner for Competition. Well, actually there is no longer a Commissioner for Competition. Teresa Ribera’s title doesn’t even include the word “competition”. Andreas Mundt, the President of the German Competition Authority, recently recounted his astonishment when running through the list of Commissioners-designate to see who had been proposed as successor to Margrethe Vestager, and not finding anyone with that title.  

The broad portfolio of Teresa Ribera raises the question of what importance competition law will have going forward. “Clean Transition” refers in particular to the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal and climate targets, which are key policy priorities of the European Commission. Will these heavy and extensive responsibilities leave Teresa Ribera enough time and energy to support and develop EU competition policy? It is also true that Margrethe Vestager had a double portfolio, which included both competition policy and digital transformation, during her second mandate. However, her first mandate, where she was only in charge of competition policy, allowed her to quickly climb the learning curve, put her mark on competition law enforcement and launch a large number of initiatives. Teresa Ribera will not have this privilege, which raises the risk that competition law may take a back seat in her activities, given her limited experience in this area. 

Teresa Ribera's Mission: Modernizing European Competition Policy

Even though Teresa Ribera only took office on 1 December, she has already outlined a number of issues on which she will focus as part of her competition policy role. These are based on the objectives set out in the mission letter addressed to her by Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen. In line with the recommendations of the recent Draghi report^[1] on the competitiveness of the European Union, Von der Leyen tasks Ribera with modernizing EU competition policy to strengthen the competitiveness and innovative capacity of European companies while maintaining the principles of the European Green Deal. 

To encourage companies to invest more in innovation and technology, Von der Leyen instructs the new commissioner for climate and competition to simplify the state aid regime and facilitate investment in renewable energy, carbon-free industry and clean technology as well as public investment in sustainable social housing. Cooperation by Member States in these areas, the so-called Important Projects of Common European Interests (IPCEIs), should be encouraged, as suggested in the Draghi report. At the same time, strong enforcement of state aid rules remains important to address market failures and distortions of competition caused by inefficient or ineffective public funding. 

Aligning Competition Policy with EU Priorities: Ribera's Approach

With regard to M&A transactions, Von der Leyen seems to distance herself somewhat from the relaxation of merger control advocated in the Draghi report, if it proves necessary to protect the competitiveness of European industry.^[4] The mission letter also mentions a revision of the horizontal merger guidelines as part of the modernization of competition policy, with a particular focus on investments in strategic sectors and in the fields of defense and security. 

In light of the recent Illumina/Grail judgment, the mission letter also mandates Ribera to reduce the risks of killer acquisitions of SMEs and small mid-cap companies by foreign (i.e., non-EU based) buyers. The ECJ judgment made clear that Article 22 EUMR does not allow Member States to refer a case to the European Commission, unless they would have the right to review the case under their national law. Ribera will therefore need to consider other ways to catch killer acquisitions, which could involve an amendment of Article 22 EUMR, the introduction of a deal value threshold (like in Germany and Austria), the expansion of national competition authorities’ powers to review transactions or the application of Articles 101 or 102 TFEU to M&A transactions.

In her hearing before the European Parliament, Ribera explained that she wishes to start further implementing and strengthening the instruments added in the previous Commission's mandate, such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR).^[5] 

During the hearing, she also outlined three objectives for the EU’s competition policy.

First, Ribera wants to simplify and speed up competition law procedures to be effective in the current geopolitical situation. To this end, the conditions for state aid approval should be further simplified since the EU cannot afford to delay necessary public support for the energy transition and decarbonization of European industry. Such support is necessary to lead to lower prices for end-users and keep the European market competitive on a global scale. Nor can the EU afford unnecessarily long antitrust investigations in which companies continue to benefit from their anti-competitive practices. 

Second, Ribera aims to strengthen and target competition enforcement. Her commitment is to ensure that competition rules, including the DMA, in digital markets are rigorously enforced and that enforcement actions target the most distortive aid measures or commercial practices. In doing so, the Commission wants to give Member States more guidance and reduce red tape to facilitate pro-competitive cooperation between companies.

Third, Ribera wishes to ensure effective alignment of competition policy with EU priorities. This means contributing to the Clean Industrial Deal for a sustainable and competitive European economy and deepening the single market. It also includes promoting investment by working with other Commissioners to identify the criteria that allow private, EU and national funding to be matched in the most efficient way. To this end, EU merger control will need to continue evolving to take into account contemporary needs and dynamics such as globalization, digitalization, sustainability, innovation and resilience. Ribera noted that constant adaptation is necessary so that the enforcement of EU merger control remains an important factor for the competitiveness of EU companies, including when they operate in global markets or when global players penetrate or strengthen their positions in European markets.

During the last two weeks, Teresa Ribera has given several presentations and interviews on her plans regarding competition policy. Unsurprisingly, her comments remained very high-level and did not go beyond the topics mentioned above. It will be interesting to see in particular whether Ribera continues her predecessor’s battle against Big Tech or whether her policy and enforcement priorities will shift to sustainability/climate-related issues.

If you would like more information or further guidance on this topic, please contact Pauline Kuipers or Anne Federle. 

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[1] Mario Draghi, 'The future of European competitiveness - In-depth analysis and recommendations', 9 September 2024 ('Draghi report'), 

https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/ec1409c1-d4b4-4882-8bdd-3519f86bbb92_en?filename=The%20future%20of%20European%20competitiveness_%20In-depth%20analysis%20and%20recommendations_0.pdf

[2] For a summary of the new political policies, see: https://ecer.minbuza.nl/-/politieke-beleidslijnen-nieuwe-europese-commissie-gepresenteerd

[3] Mission letter Ursula Von der Leyen to Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, executive vice-president-designate for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, 17 September 2024, [link].

[4] Although at this point the Draghi report may be seen a little too quickly as a plea to protect 'European champions' as ACM economist Paul de Bijl rightly points out in his blog on this report, https://www.acm.nl/nl/publicaties/blog-paul-de-bijl-draghi-concurrentie-blijft-nodig

[5] See questions from the EP with Ribera's replies, especially the answer to question 4, https://hearings.elections.europa.eu/documents/ribera/ribera_writtenquestionsandanswers_en.pdf