These are tumultuous times for Teresa Ribera, the new European commissioner for competitiveness. The 55-year-old Spanish jurist, academic and politician assumed one of the top offices of the European Commission on December 1, 2024. US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs and other unconventional policies have plunged the world, including the 27-member European Union (EU), into deep uncertainty. At the same time, the EU has been struggling to overcome economic, ecological, geopolitical and other challenges, making it tough for Ms Ribera to deal with multiple issues. 

Ms Ribera succeeds Margrethe Vestager, the high-flying Danish politician and former commissioner for competitiveness. Ms Ribera’s post is officially designated as the First Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. However, her office is commonly referred to as the European Commissioner for Competitiveness or the EU anti-trust chief. She is among one of the six vice-presidents in the new EU executive team, led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – the German politician who began her second term as the European Commission president in December 2024.

A law graduate from Complutense University of Madrid with expertise in constitutional law and political science, the EU anti-trust chief has begun the process of loosening the bloc’s competition rules to strengthen European industries. Over the past four months in office, Ms Ribera and her team are working overtime to speed up regulatory scrutiny of merger deals in the EU. These efforts are aimed at getting European companies to better compete with their bigger US and Chinese counterparts.

Her stance is also in line with a report authored by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The report calls for a revamp of EU competition rules and urges regulators to examine mergers on a pan-European basis. The current EU merger rules are time-consuming and cumbersome, and Ms Leyen has delegated Ms Ribera and her team to shorten the timeframe for scrutinising merger deals.

Meanwhile, her biggest challenge is to deal with the new man in the White House. Mr Trump has slapped a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium and threatened to impose reciprocal taxes on imports with the US’ trading partners from April onwards. The EU currently has a 157-billion-euro trade surplus in goods with the US. The 25 per cent tariff on aluminium and steel imports and the upcoming reciprocal tariffs are set to hit European exports very hard.

One of her most significant challenges will be ensuring that the US Big Tech, including Amazon, Apple, Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Meta, adhere to groundbreaking EU regulations designed to curb their power and provide consumers with greater choice. Apple, Google and Meta have already been at the receiving end during Ms Vestager’s tenure. In fact, Apple has lost a lawsuit filed by Ms Vestager in a top EU court and has been ordered to repay 13 billion euros in underpaid taxes to Ireland.

Ms Ribera has been keenly actively involved in reframing the competition rules for European companies and preparing the stage for a quick green transition. Four months into her office, and Ms Ribera has given all indications that she means business.