PARIS (Reuters) – EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said on Tuesday he had been handed the competition portfolio following the announcement that competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager was stepping down. who is running for the presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“I will continue to ensure that EU competition policy and rules are vigorously enforced,” he wrote on social network X (formerly Twitter), thanking European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for his trust.
Margrethe Vestager has announced that she is, since that day, officially candidate for the presidency of the EIB and that she has taken unpaid leave from the Commission in order to concentrate on this candidacy.
These announcements come after turbulent weeks for Margrethe Vestager, criticized – in particular by French President Emmanuel Macron – for having chosen an American economist, Fiona Scott Morton, to head the European competition directorate. While taking up the position was to be effective on September 1, the backtrack was made in mid-July on the file.
Didier Reynders and Margrethe Vestager both come from the European liberal movement Renew Europe.
(Report GV De Clercq, written by Jean Terzian)
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