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One thing is certain: Ursula von der Leyen will meet with the parliamentary group leaders today at 9 a.m. to inform them about the formation status of the Von der Leyen Commission II. How far have her plans progressed? Who will be her deputies, who will have a prominent position among the commissioners? Which portfolios are to be covered by which applicants? Whether Ursula von der Leyen will provide answers to all these questions remained unclear on Monday.
Late in the evening, the Commission President met with the leaders of the majority political groups in the European Parliament. Von der Leyen reportedly organized these meetings before the list of Commissioners-designate was finalized in order to exchange views with Manfred Weber (EPP), Iratxe García Pérez (S&D) and Valérie Hayer (Renew).
It is only becoming apparent that there is a question mark behind the portfolio and the candidate from Slovenia. The parliament of the member state with a population of two million has still not confirmed the candidate nominated by the government, Marta Kos. Opposition leader and right-wing populist Ivan Janez Janša continues to borrow from Viktor Orbán and is blocking the formation of the executive of the entire EU.
Speaking of Orbán: he is not coming to the European Parliament tomorrow for the debate to discuss the content of the Hungarian Council Presidency with the legislature. He canceled because of the floods in his country. The Green Group is a little disappointed. They wanted to welcome their favorite enemy with a TV-like spectacle and will now have to wait until the first or second week of Strasbourg in October. So the focus in Strasbourg is primarily on the Commission. Have a good day!
The tensions between the Commission President and the Commissioner had been evident for some time, but on Monday morning things came to a head: Thierry Breton handed in his immediate resignation and accused Ursula von der Leyen of a “questionable management style.”
The former Commissioner for the Internal Market thus chose to run for the post. Shortly afterwards, it became public that French President Emmanuel Macron was replacing him with another candidate for the new Commission: Stéphane Séjourné, outgoing foreign minister, leader of the governing Renaissance party and, at the beginning of the year, leader of the Liberal group in the European Parliament.
However, Breton’s loud departure is also affecting von der Leyen’s start to her second term of office. The Commission President struggled with delays in the composition of her new college, caused by a surplus of men among the nominated Commissioner candidates, sensitivities in the party families supporting her and power games in Slovenia. And now the late replacement of the French candidate of all people. “The nomination of the new European Commission is slowly degenerating into absurd theater,” comments SPD MEP Bernd Lange.
The last-minute maneuver indicates that von der Leyen was unable to reconcile the candidate and portfolio ideas. Macron is seeking a key portfolio for France in the Commission that includes industrial and technological sovereignty as well as European competitiveness, according to the Élysée Palace. The president and von der Leyen have been negotiating intensively over the past few weeks about the structure of the portfolio.
However, von der Leyen apparently did not want to concede such a central role to Breton. The relationship between the two politicians has been strained for some time. Breton had criticized von der Leyen internally and publicly in the spring for appointing CDU MEP Markus Pieper as the new SME Commissioner. He had already questioned her management style on this occasion, criticizing in particular the lack of involvement of the commissioners in her personnel decisions. Pieper eventually withdrew in the face of opposition.
Breton also commented on von der Leyen’s voting result in her election as the EPP lead candidate for the European elections at the beginning of March on X/Twitter with the words: “The EPP itself does not seem to believe in its candidate.” This reportedly earned the liberal a rebuke from Macron. Breton’s public skirmishes with X owner Elon Musk in August confirmed von der Leyen’s impression that the former CEO lacked political tact.
In his letter of resignation, Breton accused von der Leyen of having asked Macron to withdraw his name from the new Commission a few days ago – for personal reasons that she had not discussed directly with him. In return, she had promised France a more influential portfolio in her new commission.
Breton had previously been considered as a possible Executive Vice-President in the new Commission. In this role, however, he would hardly have been able to lead three Directorates-General (for Internal Market, Digital and Defense) at the same time, says Andreas Schwab, spokesperson for internal market policy in the EPP Group. “This was objectively difficult for the Commission President to fulfill, as she also has to find tasks for 25 other Commissioners.” Breton would therefore have had to refrain from being promoted to Vice-President or from formulating the individual legislative proposals himself with the help of the specialist civil servants. Both would have been difficult for him.
Von der Leyen has also clarified that she wants to assign important roles to female commissioners with government experience. Henna Virkkunen from Finland and Maria Luís Albuquerque from Portugal were considered for the Innovation and Digital Affairs portfolios.
Former Atos and France Télécom boss Breton had a major influence on the Commission’s digital policy. He was responsible for the Data Act, the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act and also made his mark on industrial policy with the Chips Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act. Schwab says he always worked well with Breton. “He was very interested in the matter and had his own ideas.” However, the former top manager “felt a great deal of independence, which certainly didn’t make his integration into the college any easier.”
Following his nomination, Séjourné announced that he would travel to Strasbourg on Wednesday to speak with MEPs. Until now, he was not considered a proven economic or digital politician. The lawyer was one of Macron’s early supporters and made his career in his wake.
The now 39-year-old managed the 2017 presidential election campaign, for example, and then worked as an advisor to Macron at the Élysée Palace. In 2019, he joined the European Parliament, where he initially sat on the Legal Affairs Committee and the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
After just two years, he rose to become chairman of the Renew Group. At the beginning of the year, Macron then brought him to Paris as Foreign Minister. Séjourné speaks fluent Spanish, but only poor English.
Today, the General Court of the EU (EGC) is announcing its judgment in another legal dispute between Google and the European Commission. Affected companies are looking closely to Luxembourg. However, European competitors are watching with much more excitement to see what happens with the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
In March 2019, the Commission imposed a fine of €1.49 billion on Google for abuse of a dominant position in the online advertising market (Google AdSense). Google and Alphabet have challenged this decision before the General Court of the EU. The Luxembourg judges are due to deliver their verdict today, Tuesday.
A week earlier, the European Court of Justice had declared a fine of €2.4 billion imposed on Google by the Commission in 2017 to be legally binding. The Google Shopping case showed that the fines did not initially bring about any lasting changes in the affected markets. Many of the companies that complained at the time are no longer in business.
Following Vestager’s decision in 2017, “Google only made cosmetic changes that did not solve the problem,” says Albrecht von Sonntag, co-founder and advisory board member of Idealo, in an interview with Table.Media. “We demand fair and equal treatment within the entire search results page.”
The German price comparison portal Idealo had initially accompanied the ECJ proceedings against Google Shopping via a subsidiary as a complainant and subsequently as an intervener. At the same time, Idealo filed a claim for damages against Google worth €500 million with the Berlin Regional Court in 2019. These proceedings are now being resumed.
“The Berlin Regional Court has now increased its staff,” says Sonntag. “We expect the proceedings to be swift.” And with plenty of evidence. “The Commission has done seven years of research for the court proceedings before the ECJ,” explains Sonntag. Among other things, it found how much traffic Google had redirected to its own services (self-preferencing). “We can now use this material in the proceedings.”
Sonntag calls the DMA a masterstroke, as it takes immediate effect as soon as the designated companies do not comply with the rules. “The DMA is an effective and fast-acting instrument,” says Sonntag. “What matters now is its implementation. To do this, the Commission needs courage and the will to make decisions.” Everything is still more or less as it was before. “Google is continuing as it did 15 years ago. However, I assume that the ruling will also have a fundamental effect on other markets,” says Sonntag.
The Commission also needs people to implement it. In March 2024, just a few weeks after the DMA was applied to gatekeepers, the Commission opened proceedings against Apple, Alphabet and Meta for alleged infringements. The Commission published preliminary findings on Meta’s pay-or-consent model in July 2024 and on Apple’s App Store governance rules in June 2024.
“These enforcement measures are primarily aimed at encouraging gatekeepers to comply voluntarily,” a Commission spokesperson said. The Commission has already seen changes following these measures: For example, Apple is now testing new solutions to comply with the DMA obligations, according to which gatekeepers must allow users to choose default browsers and search engines as well as uninstall pre-installed gatekeeper apps.
“It is important that the Commission’s enforcement work does not just pursue cases of non-compliance: We are in constant dialog with all gatekeepers about all their obligations,” said the spokeswoman.
Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director General of DG CNECT, speaks of “permanent monitoring.” The Commission can also react much more quickly. “The perspective has also changed: With the DMA, we are taking the perspective of the internal market. Unlike with anti-trust proceedings, the burden of proof now lies with the companies.“
The Commission is organizing workshops with interested companies in order to involve the affected competitors and provide direct feedback on the measures proposed by the gatekeepers.
The implementation and enforcement of the Digital Markets Act is a joint project of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) and the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), supported by the Commission’s legal service. “We have several operational units in the two Directorates-General which, as envisaged in the legislative proposal for the enforcement of the DMA, will comprise a total of around 100 employees in 2024,” said the spokesperson. In addition, the Commission draws on the expertise of Member State authorities and appoints external experts.
“This does not mean that this will be sufficient in the long term,” said Nikolay. “But it’s a well-organized team and it’s off to a good start.”
One thing is certain: Ursula von der Leyen will meet with the parliamentary group leaders today at 9 a.m. to inform them about the formation status of the Von der Leyen Commission II. How far have her plans progressed? Who will be her deputies, who will have a prominent position among the commissioners? Which portfolios are to be covered by which applicants? Whether Ursula von der Leyen will provide answers to all these questions remained unclear on Monday.
Late in the evening, the Commission President met with the leaders of the majority political groups in the European Parliament. Von der Leyen reportedly organized these meetings before the list of Commissioners-designate was finalized in order to exchange views with Manfred Weber (EPP), Iratxe García Pérez (S&D) and Valérie Hayer (Renew).
It is only becoming apparent that there is a question mark behind the portfolio and the candidate from Slovenia. The parliament of the member state with a population of two million has still not confirmed the candidate nominated by the government, Marta Kos. Opposition leader and right-wing populist Ivan Janez Janša continues to borrow from Viktor Orbán and is blocking the formation of the executive of the entire EU.
Speaking of Orbán: he is not coming to the European Parliament tomorrow for the debate to discuss the content of the Hungarian Council Presidency with the legislature. He canceled because of the floods in his country. The Green Group is a little disappointed. They wanted to welcome their favorite enemy with a TV-like spectacle and will now have to wait until the first or second week of Strasbourg in October. So the focus in Strasbourg is primarily on the Commission. Have a good day!
The tensions between the Commission President and the Commissioner had been evident for some time, but on Monday morning things came to a head: Thierry Breton handed in his immediate resignation and accused Ursula von der Leyen of a “questionable management style.”
The former Commissioner for the Internal Market thus chose to run for the post. Shortly afterwards, it became public that French President Emmanuel Macron was replacing him with another candidate for the new Commission: Stéphane Séjourné, outgoing foreign minister, leader of the governing Renaissance party and, at the beginning of the year, leader of the Liberal group in the European Parliament.
However, Breton’s loud departure is also affecting von der Leyen’s start to her second term of office. The Commission President struggled with delays in the composition of her new college, caused by a surplus of men among the nominated Commissioner candidates, sensitivities in the party families supporting her and power games in Slovenia. And now the late replacement of the French candidate of all people. “The nomination of the new European Commission is slowly degenerating into absurd theater,” comments SPD MEP Bernd Lange.
The last-minute maneuver indicates that von der Leyen was unable to reconcile the candidate and portfolio ideas. Macron is seeking a key portfolio for France in the Commission that includes industrial and technological sovereignty as well as European competitiveness, according to the Élysée Palace. The president and von der Leyen have been negotiating intensively over the past few weeks about the structure of the portfolio.
However, von der Leyen apparently did not want to concede such a central role to Breton. The relationship between the two politicians has been strained for some time. Breton had criticized von der Leyen internally and publicly in the spring for appointing CDU MEP Markus Pieper as the new SME Commissioner. He had already questioned her management style on this occasion, criticizing in particular the lack of involvement of the commissioners in her personnel decisions. Pieper eventually withdrew in the face of opposition.
Breton also commented on von der Leyen’s voting result in her election as the EPP lead candidate for the European elections at the beginning of March on X/Twitter with the words: “The EPP itself does not seem to believe in its candidate.” This reportedly earned the liberal a rebuke from Macron. Breton’s public skirmishes with X owner Elon Musk in August confirmed von der Leyen’s impression that the former CEO lacked political tact.
In his letter of resignation, Breton accused von der Leyen of having asked Macron to withdraw his name from the new Commission a few days ago – for personal reasons that she had not discussed directly with him. In return, she had promised France a more influential portfolio in her new commission.
Breton had previously been considered as a possible Executive Vice-President in the new Commission. In this role, however, he would hardly have been able to lead three Directorates-General (for Internal Market, Digital and Defense) at the same time, says Andreas Schwab, spokesperson for internal market policy in the EPP Group. “This was objectively difficult for the Commission President to fulfill, as she also has to find tasks for 25 other Commissioners.” Breton would therefore have had to refrain from being promoted to Vice-President or from formulating the individual legislative proposals himself with the help of the specialist civil servants. Both would have been difficult for him.
Von der Leyen has also clarified that she wants to assign important roles to female commissioners with government experience. Henna Virkkunen from Finland and Maria Luís Albuquerque from Portugal were considered for the Innovation and Digital Affairs portfolios.
Former Atos and France Télécom boss Breton had a major influence on the Commission’s digital policy. He was responsible for the Data Act, the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act and also made his mark on industrial policy with the Chips Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act. Schwab says he always worked well with Breton. “He was very interested in the matter and had his own ideas.” However, the former top manager “felt a great deal of independence, which certainly didn’t make his integration into the college any easier.”
Following his nomination, Séjourné announced that he would travel to Strasbourg on Wednesday to speak with MEPs. Until now, he was not considered a proven economic or digital politician. The lawyer was one of Macron’s early supporters and made his career in his wake.
The now 39-year-old managed the 2017 presidential election campaign, for example, and then worked as an advisor to Macron at the Élysée Palace. In 2019, he joined the European Parliament, where he initially sat on the Legal Affairs Committee and the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
After just two years, he rose to become chairman of the Renew Group. At the beginning of the year, Macron then brought him to Paris as Foreign Minister. Séjourné speaks fluent Spanish, but only poor English.
Today, the General Court of the EU (EGC) is announcing its judgment in another legal dispute between Google and the European Commission. Affected companies are looking closely to Luxembourg. However, European competitors are watching with much more excitement to see what happens with the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
In March 2019, the Commission imposed a fine of €1.49 billion on Google for abuse of a dominant position in the online advertising market (Google AdSense). Google and Alphabet have challenged this decision before the General Court of the EU. The Luxembourg judges are due to deliver their verdict today, Tuesday.
A week earlier, the European Court of Justice had declared a fine of €2.4 billion imposed on Google by the Commission in 2017 to be legally binding. The Google Shopping case showed that the fines did not initially bring about any lasting changes in the affected markets. Many of the companies that complained at the time are no longer in business.
Following Vestager’s decision in 2017, “Google only made cosmetic changes that did not solve the problem,” says Albrecht von Sonntag, co-founder and advisory board member of Idealo, in an interview with Table.Media. “We demand fair and equal treatment within the entire search results page.”
The German price comparison portal Idealo had initially accompanied the ECJ proceedings against Google Shopping via a subsidiary as a complainant and subsequently as an intervener. At the same time, Idealo filed a claim for damages against Google worth €500 million with the Berlin Regional Court in 2019. These proceedings are now being resumed.
“The Berlin Regional Court has now increased its staff,” says Sonntag. “We expect the proceedings to be swift.” And with plenty of evidence. “The Commission has done seven years of research for the court proceedings before the ECJ,” explains Sonntag. Among other things, it found how much traffic Google had redirected to its own services (self-preferencing). “We can now use this material in the proceedings.”
Sonntag calls the DMA a masterstroke, as it takes immediate effect as soon as the designated companies do not comply with the rules. “The DMA is an effective and fast-acting instrument,” says Sonntag. “What matters now is its implementation. To do this, the Commission needs courage and the will to make decisions.” Everything is still more or less as it was before. “Google is continuing as it did 15 years ago. However, I assume that the ruling will also have a fundamental effect on other markets,” says Sonntag.
The Commission also needs people to implement it. In March 2024, just a few weeks after the DMA was applied to gatekeepers, the Commission opened proceedings against Apple, Alphabet and Meta for alleged infringements. The Commission published preliminary findings on Meta’s pay-or-consent model in July 2024 and on Apple’s App Store governance rules in June 2024.
“These enforcement measures are primarily aimed at encouraging gatekeepers to comply voluntarily,” a Commission spokesperson said. The Commission has already seen changes following these measures: For example, Apple is now testing new solutions to comply with the DMA obligations, according to which gatekeepers must allow users to choose default browsers and search engines as well as uninstall pre-installed gatekeeper apps.
“It is important that the Commission’s enforcement work does not just pursue cases of non-compliance: We are in constant dialog with all gatekeepers about all their obligations,” said the spokeswoman.
Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director General of DG CNECT, speaks of “permanent monitoring.” The Commission can also react much more quickly. “The perspective has also changed: With the DMA, we are taking the perspective of the internal market. Unlike with anti-trust proceedings, the burden of proof now lies with the companies.“
The Commission is organizing workshops with interested companies in order to involve the affected competitors and provide direct feedback on the measures proposed by the gatekeepers.
The implementation and enforcement of the Digital Markets Act is a joint project of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) and the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), supported by the Commission’s legal service. “We have several operational units in the two Directorates-General which, as envisaged in the legislative proposal for the enforcement of the DMA, will comprise a total of around 100 employees in 2024,” said the spokesperson. In addition, the Commission draws on the expertise of Member State authorities and appoints external experts.
“This does not mean that this will be sufficient in the long term,” said Nikolay. “But it’s a well-organized team and it’s off to a good start.”