The European Union (EU) has gone after American business with a vengeance for the past decade, imposing billions of dollars of fines against highly reputable companies, requiring product and service changes for Europe that primarily help European companies, and threatening many additional actions.
And while the leader of those harmful and consequential efforts, Margrethe Vestager, is stepping down at the end of October, other would-be ruthless regulators are waiting in the wings.
U.S. officials should use this transitional period to assess the systemic harm the EU has done to American businesses, the intimidation it has caused for others, and forcefully demand a new course from the European Commission, the governing body of the 27 nations that comprise the EU.
Ms. Vestager has been the European Commissioner for Competition since 2014, making her Europe’s most powerful antitrust official and giving her license to address wide-ranging related business matters.
Her crusades caught the attention of President Trump in June 2019, who said of her, “She hates the United States perhaps worse than any person I’ve ever met...She’s suing all our companies.”
There are 27 European Commissioners. Each EU country nominates one commissioner, who then must be vetted and approved by the European Parliament. Following confirmation, the President of the European Commission, the recently re-elected Ursula von der Leyen, determines the areas where each commissioner will preside.
Ms. Vestager of Denmark will not return as a commissioner as her party did not do well in the 2022 Danish elections and the current government has made a different commission nomination.
However, at least two of the top three candidates to replace Ms. Vestager share her tough views.
Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services since 2019, has joined with Ms. Vestager over the years to champion the tough provisions of the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. A former tech executive from France with the support of President Macron, Breton’s political skill set, though, is not as strong as Vestager’s.
Breton is more viscerally anti-U.S. than his fellow commissioners.
On August 12, Mr. Breton went rogue from the European Commission, threatening Elon Musk and X with fines and other legal actions in a thinly veiled attempt to get Musk to cancel his interview with former President Trump that evening.
Ironically, Breton had to use X to get his open letter to Musk out since European Commission official channels were closed to him for this announcement. The Financial Times reported several other commissioners and President Ursula von der Leyen did not support Breton’s actions.
Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice since 2019, is familiar with the battles Vestager has fought and could replace her with less drama than Breton. Before becoming a European Commissioner, Mr. Reynders served for 20 years in various ministerial positions with Belgian governments.
He has frequently met with senior U.S. officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland and Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, while openly calling for the U.S. to adopt laws and enforcement practices that mirror those of the EU.
“If you have a common approach in the U.S. and EU, we have the capacity to put in place an international standard,” Reynders told Wired in July 2023. He added, “With real action on the U.S. side, together, it will be easier.” U.S. action to Reynders means mimicking EU action.
Another potential replacement, Mr. Wopke Hoekstra, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, is intriguing. From the Netherlands, he is relatively young – 48, has an MBA, and his business experience includes working for Shell and McKinsey.
The European Commissioner for Climate since October 5, 2023, Hoekstra has taken a more conciliatory approach to European companies on climate change, saying, “If we require our companies to go through this green transition at speed, I do think it is also a fair ask from them, of the union and member states, to help them…Everyone loses if they either go bust or leave our continent.”
In a June 12, 2023 speech as the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs, he also spoke about the critical importance of cybersecurity and preventing cyberattacks, which should be key areas of concern as the European Commission promulgates its tech policy.
“Cyber operations have become an integral part of warfare … Luckily, thanks to cyber support provided by Western countries and tech companies, Ukraine is able to withstand many of these cyberattacks.” He also warned of Russia and China “trying to gain control over the way the internet is governed” while emphasizing on technology that “Priority number one is security.”
It is also clear that outgoing commissioner Vestager will leave her influence on the new commissioner. Despite opposition from some lawmakers, she is pushing to install a chief economist to this vacant three-year post. This chief economist will also serve the new Competition Commissioner.
The new European Competition Commissioner is expected to take office shortly before the U.S. presidential election. Whoever is elected U.S. President prioritize confronting the commission over its harsh policies against U.S. companies and demand that the re-set button be pushed on the U.S.-Europe economic relationship.
