EU antitrust chief Vestager in running for EIB top job

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, known for her crackdown and hefty fines meted out to Big Tech for anti-competitive practices, is in the running for the top job at the European Investment Bank (EIB), she said on Tuesday (20 June).

Vestager, who has been in her post at the European Commission since 2014, will finish her second five-year term late next year.

“I am pleased that the Danish government have put forward my name to be vetted as possible candidate for the position as President for the European Investment Bank,” the Dane said in a statement.

“And I confirm my availability for the assessment, awaiting the bank’s process and next steps. At this stage I have nothing more to add.”

The EIB, the lending arm of the European Union, provides billions of euros for multiple projects. Its current head is Werner Hoyer, who was reappointed for a second term in 2018.

In he capacity as EU Executive Vice President for Competition, Vestager has fined Alphabet Inc’s Google more than €8 billion in the last decade for anti-competitive practices and last week threatened to break up its lucrative digital advertising business.

She is also investigating Meta Platforms Inc, Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp.

The Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank is the European Union’s bank and is owned by the EU member states who decide on its President’s appointment.

According to the Financial Times, other candidates for the EIB tob job include former Italian finance minister Daniele Franco, the EIB’s Polish vice-president Teresa Czerwińska and her fellow vice-president Thomas Östros, nominated by Sweden. Spain has said Madrid will present a candidate in due course.

Unless another arrangement is found, in case Vestager’s candidacy prevails, she would need to step down from the Commission before the end of her term, to take over the EIB job from January 2024. The von der Leyen Commission should stay on until a new EU executive takes office by the end of 2024, following the June European elections.

(With additional reporting by Georgi Gotev)

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