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The European Commission is to name Belgium’s Didier Reynders as EU competition chief, while current commissioner Margrethe Vestager is on leave to run for the top job at the European Investment Bank.
Officials are preparing to announce on Tuesday that Redles, the current justice commissioner, will also fill one of the most powerful roles in Brussels, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Like former Danish economy minister Vestager, who has become one of the most prominent figures in Brussels, Reynders belongs to the centrist liberal political group Resurrection Europe, which also includes French President Emmanuel Macron.
As competition commissioner, Reyders will play a key role in approving Europe’s largest proposed merger. The committee has stepped up scrutiny of the tech industry, recently blocking Illumina’s acquisition of cancer-screening company Grail and preparing to veto Booking’s proposed acquisition of travel group Etraveli.
Reynder’s responsibilities will also extend to market abuse cases, including public inquiries into Spotify and Meta, as well as regulation of state aid across the EU, advising on individual cases and proposing any amendments to rules limiting public support for companies.
Vestager is expected to take unpaid leave from the committee, with the possibility of returning to her old post in Brussels if her bid for the top job at the European Investment Bank is unsuccessful.
A veteran of Belgian politics, Reyders has been instrumental in the European Commission’s ongoing dispute with Poland and Hungary over alleged breaches of EU rule of law rules. He has also taken a tough stance against a new court in Warsaw set up to investigate alleged Russian influence, which Brussels fears could be used as a political tool.
Vestager’s bid for the right to run the EU lender the European Investment Bank (EIB) will be decided by EU finance ministers in the coming weeks. The winners of the competition will decide the fate of tens of billions of euros of investment and determine future strategies for key elements of the continent’s green transition.
EU diplomats widely see Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvinho as the frontrunner for the top job at the Luxembourg-based bank, which is tasked with boosting the bloc’s influence on economic growth. She is well known to other finance ministers and is expected to have a good chance of gaining the support of key member states, including France.
With Spain currently holding the EU Council presidency, Calvinho, the former European Commission budget chief, will also have the opportunity to chair a meeting of finance ministers in Santiago de Compostela next month.
Vestager was initially the favorite for the job, but her chances were hampered by controversy over her appointment of an American as the EU’s chief economist, which Macron successfully reversed. appointment.
The European Investment Bank, the world’s largest multilateral lender with a balance sheet of about 550 billion euros, has stepped up financing for climate-friendly investments in recent years and is expected to play a huge role in financing Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
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