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Strasbourg (France) – The Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of the Government of Spain, Teresa Ribera, will take on the Competition portfolio in the new European Commission, in addition to the executive vice-presidency for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition, announced this Tuesday by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen said that Ribera’s responsibility as vice-president will be “to guide the work to ensure that Europe is on the right path” to meet its climate goals and “decarbonize and industrialize” the European economy at the same time.
The German revealed her team in a press conference in Strasbourg, after appearing behind closed doors before the conference of group presidents and the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
After learning of her nomination, Ribera said that her portfolio can “contribute very significantly to improving European competitiveness by thinking about people and environmental limits”.
She added to journalists that it is “an honor” this responsibility that she takes on with humility and commitment.
“The president (Ursula von der Leyen) has made a proposal that well reflects the great challenges we have ahead,” she emphasized.
Regarding her nomination as the new head of Competition, Ribera stated that she will count on the “great legacy” left in that portfolio by the Danish Margrethe Vestager after ten years in charge in which she has done an “excellent” job.
“I have a lot to learn from what her activity has been in these ten years. I am in contact with her, we know each other and have mutual appreciation,” she said in statements to the media.
“And yes, obviously, I would like to be able to start this stage, which is new by definition, but fortunately counting on that great legacy left by Commissioner Vestager,” Ribera added.
She emphasized that working towards “the construction of an internal market that works” and in which “there is no concentration of power” has an “immediate social effect”, since the opposite would end up harming not only industry but also consumers and citizens.
For his part, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, stated that with Ribera’s appointment, Spain achieves “the highest level of influence it has ever had in Brussels”.
After congratulating her on the nomination, the head of the Spanish Executive emphasized that it is great news for Europe and a pride for Spain.
“Your determination and leadership in the Government of Spain have become an example for all, and now you will be able to defend those same values from the heart of Europe,” Sánchez added.
“It is a huge success for Spain. It is the most important portfolio that a Spaniard has ever had in the European Commission,” government sources told EFE, adding that Ribera “accumulates more power and influence” than former commissioners and former vice-presidents of the community Frans Timmermanns (Green Deal) and Vestager (Competition and Digitalization).
Ribera’s entourage considers that Von der Leyen, from the European People’s Party, gives the Spanish socialist “the most relevant portfolio of the new Commission” and “entrusts her with the key policies for the structural transformation” that she has set as an objective, based on recent reports prepared by former Italian prime ministers Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi.
The same sources add that “the PP fails in its veto of Ribera”, as that party intended “for her to have a watered-down portfolio without Climate or Energy”.
However, she has been nominated to oversee and ensure “that companies operate in a fair market environment and without anti-competitive practices, such as abuses of dominant position or price-fixing agreements”.
From that Competition portfolio, she will also regulate “mergers and state aid to avoid distortions in the European single market, ensuring a balance between fair competition and innovation” and will act “to ensure the competitiveness of European companies in a global market”.
Additionally, Ribera will oversee the Energy and Housing commissions, for which the nominee is the Dane Dan Jørgensen; Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, which will fall on the Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra; and Environment, Water Resilience and Competitive Circular Economy, entrusted to the Swede Jessika Roswall. (September 17)