On Tuesday 8 April, European Commissioner for Competitiveness Teresa Ribera advised Europeans to remain “calm and firm” in the face of announcements by the Trump administration regarding the imposition of customs barriers on products imported from the European Union (see EUROPE 13617/2).
“We need to assess to what extent we may avoid a kind of clash in global trade”, said Ms Ribera in response to a question from Ľudovít Ódor (Renew Europe, Slovakian), during an initial dialogue with the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Responding to Gaetano Pedullà (The Left, Italian), who asked her whether a Member State could negotiate bilaterally with the US authorities at a time when President of the Italian Council Giorgia Meloni may soon be travelling to Washington, the commissioner advocated “remain[ing] united” to "face a challenge that is trying to divide the EU as such”.
For Ms Ribera, one response to this US offensive is for the EU to diversify its trade, deepen its internal market and take action to make the European economy more competitive. This is the objective of the ongoing review of the State aid regime, which will help European companies decarbonise their production processes in the context of the ‘Clean Industrial Deal’. A specific public consultation is open until 25 April, said Ms Ribera (see EUROPE 13597/14).
DMA. With the European Commission likely to issue competition law decisions targeting US digital giants in the near future, the former Spanish minister, who was in the United States last week, warned that the EU institution was ready to use the instruments at its disposal under the ‘DMA’ regulation, citing the Apple case as an example (see EUROPE 13603/27).
“If we don’t see willingness to cooperate, we’ll not shy away from imposing fines identified by the law”, she declared, and further decisions may be taken “in the coming weeks”. She added that, in the meantime, constructive dialogue is underway, particularly with digital platforms, to find viable operability solutions.
Spain’s Jorge Martín Frías (PfE) criticised the negative impact of EU environmental rules on economic competitiveness, while his compatriot Fernando Navarrete Rojas (EPP) quipped that Ms Ribera’s position on the ‘European Green Deal’ had softened since she became a European commissioner.
“The ‘Green Deal’ is a good thing for the EU economy“, said the commissioner. In her view, the EU is learning as it implements its regulations, which, because of their detailed nature, can lead to “overlapping and excessive reporting”. We are “not renouncing the goals, but simplifying and making life easier [for businesses] to fulfil goals”, she commented.
Chief Executive Officer. Lastly, when asked by René Repasi (S&D, German) about the director-general for competition’s replacement – the Frenchman Olivier Guersent is about to retire (see EUROPE 13616/29) – Ms Ribera hoped she would be able to convince him to stay in his post longer. Failing that, a respected person, capable of understanding the tools available to the EU, of developing these tools and who is in touch with real life, must be appointed. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)