The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, ha elected as Vice-President of the European Commissionwith the portfolios of Competition and Green Transition, to the Spanish Teresa Riberacurrent First Vice President of the Government of Spain, and Minister of Ecological Transition. Ribera, from the PSOE, will be from November, if everything goes according to Von der Leyen’s plan, the most powerful politician of the socialists in Europe, and the number two of the European Commission, given that she will be, its “First Executive Vice President«.
Teresa Ribera will be, among other things, the “responsible for ensuring a clean, fair and competitive transition“, according to Von der Layen, and “He will also be responsible for competition policies. He will guide the work to be done to ensure that Europe remains on track to meet its objectives set out in the Green Deal.« Like all Commissioners appointed to the next European Commission, he will have to pass a confirmation hearing in the European Parliament.
Ribera has been appointed Minister of Ecological Transition of the Government of Spain for two terms. In her second term, she also held the position of First Vice-President of the Government, following the departure a few months ago of Nadia Calviño from the executive to occupy the position of Vice-President of the European Investment Bank.
During her two terms in office, Teresa Ribera has overseen the gradual closure of the coal sector in Spain, negotiated the closure of the country’s nuclear power plants between 2027 and 2035, volunteered for Madrid to host the Climate Summit in 2019 after Chile withdrew from the candidacy at the last minute, and successfully negotiated a differentiated agreement on the calculation of electricity prices in Spain and Portugal compared to the rest of Europe during the last gas crisis.
In addition to her work at the ministry, Teresa Rubera has focused her work for most of her career on policies related to climate change, both as a civil servant and as a negotiator on the issue. She has also been Director of the Parisian think tank Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. She therefore has a resume with considerable experience in issues related to ecology and energy.
But also, will inherit the competences portfolio from Commissioner Margrethe Vestagerwhich will include, among other things, overseeing that large technology companies, as well as banks, airlines and telecommunications operators, among other large companies from different sectors, comply with EU competition regulations. But also, according to Reuters, it will have to manage requests for less rigid rules to help create large European technology companies.
The 55-year-old Spaniard will be responsible for approving or vetoing mergers and acquisitions worth billions of euros. She will also be responsible for imposing fines on companies that want to gain more power and market share by harming smaller rivals, or by joining forces with others to agree on prices.
One of the main challenges will be to ensure that the big technology multinationals (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet with Google, Microsoft or Meta) comply with the laws passed in the area, which seek to reduce their power and provide consumers with more choice. Several are already in serious trouble, apart from having received fines in recent weeks, for apparently not having done everything possible to comply with the DMA (Digital Markets Act).
Another complication for Ribera will be tackling the growing popularity of AI, amid growing concerns that big tech platforms will take advantage of its dominance. Ribera may even be more heavy-handed than Vestager in preventing foreign companies from buying EU companies, or companies outside member states from taking part in public offerings opened by the EU with unfair state support.
It remains to be seen what attitude Ribera takes towards the big technology companies, although the most recent decisions of the highest European court regarding the fines imposed by the Commission on Apple and Google for monopolistic practices, may incline Teresa Ribera to continue with a heavy hand towards them. I would therefore be in no hurry to relax them.
It could also take into account the warning given a few days ago by Mario Draghi, betting on giving a push to large European companies in different sectors so that they can compete with others from China and the United States. For now, it will be necessary to wait and see if his line of action follows the steps of his predecessor in competition, takes tougher measures, or on the contrary opts to relax the current regulations.