Commission chief promotes expansive “European champions” agenda as her Spanish No. 2 defends the foundational rules of the EU single market.
Francesca Micheletti
“The global economy has changed, the global markets have changed, the different European public interests that need to be preserved need to be updated.” But, she added: “The regulatory framework remains.”
Ribera’s competition department delivered the document in short order after von der Leyen’s call to hurry it up.
A first draft was ready by mid-March, although von der Leyen’s cabinet only decided to advance the process a month later, an EU official confirmed to POLITICO, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The guidelines, now open to public feedback, are ultimately a versatile document. They encourage companies to argue that their deals are good for the EU economy, and spell out avenues for officials to assess these claims — for example on the basis of innovation, resilience, or investment.
But in the end, officials have a wide margin for interpretation, which is why antitrust lawyers aren’t really buying the change until they see it play out in concrete cases.
They’re a bit like the Bible, Assimakis Komninos, a senior antitrust partner at White & Case, told POLITICO: “Everybody can read anything into it.”
