Introduction
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is certainly ambitious. The new architecture of the Commission, as well as its policy priorities, aim at making the institution more efficient and its legislation more coherent. Commissioner portfolios have been consolidated with the introduction of vice presidents. One of them will focus primarily on ‘Better Regulation’ – in line with Juncker’s aim of ‘a Union that is bigger and more ambitious on big things, and smaller and more modest on small things’.
Juncker’s political priorities aim at restarting the economies of EU member states by:
- increasing jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness;
- promoting a digital single market;
- creating a resilient energy union; and
- focusing on the euro and social dialogue.
A new co-ordinating role: the vice presidents
Our analysis below shows that the structural and policy changes being introduced are likely to result in big initiatives in the coming years.
Juncker made a point of requesting member states to nominate experienced politicians as Commissioners. Accordingly, his team has much stronger credentials than its predecessors – those without a track record as a prime minister or minister are in a minority.
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 1
Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
The vice presidents – seven in total, four directly tasked to fulfil Juncker’s key policy priorities – will be responsible for leading and co-ordinating teams of Commissioners who have associated portfolios. This aims at ‘breaking down silos and moving away from static structures’.
The new set-up forces Commissioners to
co-operate more closely. Vice presidents have to assume their co-ordinating role as they have no own Directorate General (team of civil servants) to do the groundwork. On the flip side, each Commissioner will need the approval of the relevant vice president to put forward a new initiative. In addition, the vice president for Better Regulation, Frans Timmermans from the Netherlands, will have a special veto power over all initiatives.
Priority projects – and what they mean for business
The four project teams, steered by vice presidents, are by no means fixed but meant to work in changing configurations. This set-up of flexible and overlapping teams accentuates a commitment to conceptual thinking.
Jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness will be co-ordinated by Jyrki Katainen, former Finnish prime minister. His role will be to stimulate investment competition and job-creation. His priority will be to deliver an ambitious but yet-to-be-defined ‘jobs, growth and investment package’ in order to mobilise
€300bn in public and private investment over the next three years.
The Digital Single Market will be
co-ordinated by Andrus Ansip, former Prime Minister of Estonia. His main responsibility will be to foster a connected digital market that could generate up to
€250bn of additional growth in Europe over the next five years. The plan is to create new jobs and a ‘knowledge-based society’ by breaking up national silos in telecoms regulation, copyright legislation and the management of radio waves.
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
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Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
The Energy Union will be led by Maroš Šefčovič, former Commissioner for
Inter-Institutional Relations. He is tasked with creating a ‘resilient Energy Union’ by diversifying energy sources and reducing the high energy dependency of several member states. Besides uniting EU member states in their interaction with producer countries, strengthening the share of renewables and increasing energy efficiency will also play an important role in this context.
Euro and Social Dialogue will be co-ordinated by Valdis Dombrovskis,
former Latvian Prime Minister. He will
oversee Europe’s economic governance cycle
A more balanced Commission – but will it succeed?
Juncker’s team reflects a bold new distribution of power; by appointing several Commissioners from ‘new’ member states as vice presidents, Juncker has astutely lessened the likelihood of dominance of the German, French and
UK Commissioners.
However, it is not guaranteed that the new structure will work smoothly from the beginning. In a worst-case scenario the newly established ‘soft hierarchy’ between Commissioners could lead to power struggles and ultimately new inefficiencies. Given the
Europe cannot let escape this – last – chance for the European Union to get closer to European citizens and inspire trust.
Jean-Claude Juncker
European Commission President
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms
Commissioners
and initiatives to enhance the convergence of economic, fiscal and labour market policies between the eurozone member states.
context of the crisis, and the need to rebuild
the economy and restore confidence in the
EU by cutting red tape, one might say that this constitutes a ‘make it or break it’ Commission.
Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
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Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The new European Commission structure
Frans Timmermans
Netherlands
First Vice-President
Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional
Jean-Claude Juncker
President
Federica Mogherini
Italy
Vice-President
High Representative of the Union
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
Relations, Rule of Law & Charter of Fundamental Rights
for Foreign Policy & Security Policy
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
Kristanlina Georgieva
Bulgaria
Vice-President
Budget & Human Resources
Maroš Šefčovič
Slovakia
Vice-President Energy Union
Jyrki Katainen
Finland
Vice-President
Jobs, Growth, Investment
& Competitiveness
Valdis Dombrovskis
Latvia
Vice-President
The Euro & Social Dialogue
Andrus Ansip
Estonia
Vice-President Digital Single Market
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
Věra Jourová
Czech Republic Commissioner Justice, Consumers
& Gender Equality
Dimitris Avramopoulos
Greece
Commissioner Migration, Home Affairs
& Citizenship
Günther Oettinger
Germany
Commissioner
Digital Economy & Society
Vytenis Andriukaitis
Lithuania Commissioner Health & Food Safety
Margrethe Vestager
Denmark Commissioner Competition
Pierre Moscovici
France
Commissioner
Economic & Financial Affairs, Taxation & Customs
Jonathan Hill
United Kingdom Commissioner Financial Stability,
Financial Services &
Capital Markets Union
Violeta Bulc
Slovenia Commissioner Transport
Marianne Thyssen
Belgium
Commissioner Employment, Social Affairs, Skills & Labour Mobility
Elżbieta Bieńkowska
Poland
Commissioner
Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs
Cecilia Malmström
Sweden Commissioner Trade
Corina Creţu
Romania Commissioner Regional Policy
Miguel Arias Cañete
Spain
Commissioner
Climate Action & Energy
Karmenu Vella
Malta
Commissioner
Environment, Maritime Affairs
& Fisheries
Johannes Hahn
Austria
Commissioner
European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations*
Neven Mimica
Croatia
Commissioner International Cooperation
& Development
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Tibor Navracsics
Hungary Commissioner Education, Culture,
Youth & Sports
Carlos Moedas
Portugal
Commissioner
Research, Science & Innovation
Phil Hogan
Ireland Commissioner Agriculture &
Rural Development
Christos Stylianides
Cyprus Commissioner Humanitarian Aid
& Crisis Management
*The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs may ask this Commissioner (and other Commissioners) to deputise for her in areas related to Commission competence.
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Contents
Introduction
The agenda for Competition, Commissioner Vestager
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
An economic approach to analysing competition cases looks set to prevail
Energy, digital, financial and telecommunications sectors will be targeted and there will be continued
Continuity and new focus Juncker has chosen experienced Danish politician and ex-Minister of Economic
Affairs Margrethe Vestager as new Competition
Commissioner, emphasising her economic
I do not see the competition portfolio as a lonely portfolio.
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
scrutiny of corporate tax deals
background and political expertise. She will
On the contrary, competition
Liberalisation of markets to facilitate entry and growth of SMEs will become a stronger driving force
be the fourth consecutive economist to hold
the post. It remains to be seen whether she will succeed in applying new approaches and thinking to longstanding competition concerns. There has been significant progress on a number of fronts in recent years, particularly the adoption of the EU damages directive, the modernisation of state aid review procedures, new antitrust
is central to things we want
to create both in and for Europe.
Margrethe Vestager
Competition Commissioner
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms
Commissioners
rules on exchange of information, as well as
the extension of the simplified merger review process. However, many current competition enforcement challenges will remain pending in Commissioner Vestager’s in-tray. Corporate tax deals and a proposed regulatory reform on non-controlling minority stakes are high on the competition agenda and will likely grab headlines in the months to come.
Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
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Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
Sectors singled out for reform Vestager will work closely with the vice president responsible for jobs, growth,
investment and competitiveness Jyrki
Katainen, who is also known to be economically liberal. Tasks specifically assigned to Vestager by Juncker include the consolidation of the mobile telephony market and Europe’s fragmented energy markets. Another sector singled out for continued scrutiny is financial services, exemplified by the LIBOR and EURIBOR benchmarks cases and the ongoing investigation into the credit
The same is true of the state aid investigations into the corporate tax arrangements granted by Ireland, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. More cases may well be in the pipeline.
Vestager has vowed to steer away from pressure for protectionism of European companies and has emphasised the need for strong deterrent mechanisms – including high fines. Intense enforcement will, however, implicate non-EU companies in the same way as EU companies. To deal with this, Vestager plans to engage in enhanced international co-operation,
It is very important that fines have a size that would be deterrent… Otherwise, it is just a line in your spreadsheet.
Margrethe Vestager
Competition Commissioner
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
derivatives market.
including with emerging economies.
While the increased need for co-operation with other Commissioners (especially digital, telecoms, energy and financial services portfolios) may bear challenges
for Vestager, enhanced collaboration might at the same time highlight the heightened influence of competition law in many spheres of economic activity.
The Telecoms
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 6
Contents
Introduction
The agenda for Trade, Commissioner Malmström
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
An ambitious legacy but numerous trade deals remain unfinished
TTIP will be one of the biggest challenges
– particularly if national, parliamentary and civil society opposition grows
A renewed focus will be on optimising existing trade policy tools and agreements
An ever increasing number of requests for trade protection measures by EU industry expected
The EU: open for business
The outgoing Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht concluded 12 bilateral free trade
agreements and embarked on ambitious free trade negotiations with the US, Japan and key emerging markets.
Given the economic downturn, his successor Cecilia Malmström from Sweden is facing
a strong need to increase growth in the eurozone through better market access for EU exporters and to promote the EU as ‘open for business’.
Malmström will find herself having to deal with two agreements currently mired in domestic political issues (Thailand and Malaysia), while agreement with Indonesia is, for now, out of reach. Relations with China remain tense, as highlighted
by both the solar panel and telecoms anti-dumping cases. Although the EU managed to persuade China to launch negotiations for an investment treaty in 2012, the process remains painstaking
and slow. An immediate challenge will be the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States, which is under fire from all sides and becoming increasingly political. In addition, there is mounting distrust of the TTIP in public opinion in a number
of member states. Indeed, Malmström’s hearing before the European Parliament was almost entirely TTIP focused and centred in particular on whether an investor state dispute settlement mechanism
should be included in the agreement.
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 7
Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
Malmström committed to ensuring more transparency in all future negotiations on free trade arrangements and stated that a multilateral trade deal within the WTO would be the ‘best dispute settlement mechanism’. This remains out of reach; however, bilateral trade deals will continue to be pursued. The stakes for the EU are high: to foster growth without lowering health or enviromental standards.
Potential pitfalls
The EU has exclusive competence in the trade area, hence Malmström’s wide mandate includes: negotiating in the WTO and multilateral trade processes; developing a strong foreign direct investment policy;
a stock-taking exercise on the use of trade defence instruments; and strengthening the EU’s strategic partnership with Africa.
Malmström will need to muster all her political skills and expertise to succeed. Although her experience in trade is limited, her background as the former Commissioner for Home Affairs, negotiating with the
United States on various security agreements, should stand her in good stead.
The new era of the trade portfolio will not only be about concluding a number
of outstanding agreements, but also about making existing ones work so that businesses can fully benefit from the opportunities they create. As Malmström was quick to point out ‘Europe is already the first source and recipient of foreign direct investment in the world, and we should continue to be a prime destination for investment thanks to our open, well regulated and innovative economy’.
At the same time, while a number of high-profile trade cases (such as the solar panels case) are pending before the EU courts, requests for trade protection
measures by EU industry continue to rise. The Commissioner will undoubtedly face challenges in ensuring that valid claims for protective measures are consistent with the objective of maintaining and further developing healthy trade relations with key trading partners such as China.
Negotiating an agreement is one thing, but we must also ensure that […] our businesses can fully benefit.
Cecilia Malmström
Trade Commissioner
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 8
Contents
Introduction
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
Balancing costs and benefits of moving towards a low-carbon internal energy market will be the main challenge for the new Commission’s energy policy
Goals will be defined early on, but disputes over the division of competences between the EU and its member states are likely
to continue
The goal of enhancing energy security will boost support for renewables, energy efficiency and interconnecting grids
From side issue to core topic
The 2009 Lisbon Treaty was the first
EU treaty to list energy policy as an own (if limited) competence of the EU. Due to the raft of issues in this field, the topic has since radically gained in importance.
A current focus of the Commission’s attention is national renewables support schemes, which, by causing a steep rise in renewable energy, threaten to throw system stability and pricing mechanisms into disarray. Given its limited competence, the Commission has been using state aid policy to rein in member states’ measures which distort the EU internal energy market.
More recently, energy security has become a prominent aspect of the Commission’s policy. Given the worsening relationship with Russia, eastern European countries in particular are asking for an ‘Energy Union’. With a clear definition missing, this is understood to mean a united approach to supplier countries and, potentially, the common purchase of gas.
Ambitious action on climate change and a sustainable energy policy are two sides of the same coin.
Miguel Cañete
Spanish Energy Commissioner
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
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Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
Concrete action is pending but existing initiatives that increase the share of renewables, improve energy efficiency and explore domestic energy sources such
as shale gas, will contribute to the security goal.
As the Commission’s ‘energy trilemma’ – balancing sustainability, affordability and security of energy supply – remains largely unresolved, energy policy has now been upgraded to one of the four priority projects: ‘A resilient Energy Union with a Forward
-Looking Climate Change Policy’, to be
co-ordinated by Commission vice president Maroš Šefčovič.
Šefčovič, previously Commissioner for Inter- Institutional Relations and a diplomat by training, made it very clear that he will strive for a common EU member state approach not only towards supplier countries but
also in international climate negotiations. At the same time, he has highlighted competition law concerns regarding
the common purchase of gas, which is desired by eastern European countries in particular. Šefčovič’s other priorities include promoting energy efficiency and enhancing investment in infrastructure.
New Spanish Energy Commissioner Miguel Cañete has both less and more responsibility
than his predecessor. While he will have to liaise closely with the vice president, he also has responsibility for climate change policy: previously a standalone portfolio. Centre- right politician Cañete, who had close ties with the oil industry will, in particular, have to prove that he is able to balance the energy and the climate agendas.
The new Commissioners and their primary objective: defining agendas
The main difficulty facing the new Commissioners will be to define clear
goals and milestones for the next five years. The 2030 goals – aimed at enhancing the share of renewables, increasing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions – have been agreed, but will have to
be translated into concrete action.
Cañete has already announced specific legislative initiatives. He intends to finalise reform of the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) but also to impose further obligations on the non-ETS sector. This may apply to the transport sector in particular. He also envisages reviews of the Directives on Renewable Energy, the Energy Performance of Buildings and Ecodesign.
Europe must be the global number one in renewable energy.
Miguel Cañete
Spanish Energy Commissioner
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 10
Contents
Introduction
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
Closing loopholes and gaps in existing legislation will be a key priority
The creation of a ‘Capital Markets Union’ may give Hill the opportunity to refocus the portfolio on growth and jobs
The bulk of the financial reform programme is completed but implementation and legislative reviews await
Unfinished business: challenges await
Over the past five years the European Commission has proposed over 40 legislative initiatives in response to the financial crisis. The Commission has delivered an ambitious, if at times complex programme.
A number of challenges await the new British Commissioner Jonathan Hill, including unfinished business from the last
five years. Negotiations are currently ongoing on initiatives dealing with shadow banking, benchmarks, long-term investment funds and a controversial Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) among others.
In addition to this, however, the Commission services will need to prepare well over 100 secondary legislative standards and acts, implementing agreed legislation.
This will include many crucial choices such as calibration of capital requirements for insurance companies, individual contributions to the EU Single Resolution Fund and calculation of position limits
for commodities trading. Furthermore, a number of new initiatives are already
being prepared by the Commission’s services, including work on draft securitisation initiatives and measures to deal with failing market infrastructure such as clearing houses. A key challenge for the Commission will be successfully negotiating differing member state views on its proposal
to structurally separate banks.
A host of fundamental questions remain for the new Commission to resolve. International inconsistency in regulating firms and markets has led to a number of
disputes with key jurisdictions such as the US.
Yes, I come from a country that is not in the banking union, but the crisis has demonstrated the extent of interdependence among the 28. A strong banking union counts for all of us.
Jonathan Hill
Commissioner Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 11
Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
The new portfolio: a balancing act Whereas French Commissioner Moscovici will be responsible for the introduction of
the FTT, the brunt of the work outlined above
will fall on the shoulders of Jonathan Hill.
A former lobbyist whose clients included financial companies, Lord Hill’s pedigree is that of a free market liberal. His real challenge will be to balance the interests of non-eurozone member states (including his own) and those within the single currency.
Lord Hill’s hands are tied to a certain extent when it comes to setting the agenda for the next five years. However, Juncker’s choice of allocating this portfolio to the UK may well assist in alleviating some of the tensions that have become apparent between the UK and the European Commission on key financial reforms. His future agenda, although in certain aspects already fixed, does allow for creative thinking and will provide a welcome change from the frenetic rule-making that has characterised the Commission’s output in this area since the financial crisis.
I am really going to make
a 100 per cent commitment to the interests of Europe.
Jonathan Hill
Commissioner Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 12
Contents
Introduction
The agenda for Digital, Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
The digital agenda is expected to increase drastically in importance and to feed into many other policy areas, notably antitrust enforcement priorities
Main challenges in the coming years: enhancing data protection, creating
a copyright framework and expanding IT infrastructure
A ‘digitised Commission’
The Digital Agenda occupies a crucial place in the Europe 2020 strategy to stimulate growth in the European Union and is seen as a vehicle of untapped potential and innovation.
Before the parliamentary elections in
May 2014, Digital Commissioner Neelie Kroes extracted the promise from the three leading candidates to the Commission presidency to ‘digitise’ the next Commission. Indeed, two Commissioners are now entirely dedicated
to digital topics.
Former prime minister of Estonia Andrus Ansip is the new vice president for the Digital Single Market. He is known for implementing hard austerity measures in Estonia, but also for bringing the country into the eurozone and putting e-services at the top of his agenda and was received with enthusiasm
by the ICT industry.
He is quoted as saying he considers equal access to the internet ‘a fundamental right’.
German Commissioner Günther Oettinger on the other hand is not generally perceived as the most obvious choice for the post of Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society as he has no expertise or proven interest in the area. However, as former Energy Commissioner, he developed
a reputation for being very determined and has true self-starter qualities which he will doubtless display in his new area of competence.
The most pressing projects to be finalised are the review of the copyright framework and the data protection package. Big Data will also be an area where Oettinger can make his mark – the previous Commission began putting pen to paper on the bones
of a strategy in a communication. However, concrete measures still need to be taken including adoption of guidelines on
big data applications, a contractual public-private partnership on data and
establishing a European network of centres of competence to increase the number of skilled data workers and data scientists.
We are in the midst of a revolution.
Günther Oettinger
Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 13
Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
Regarding the copyright framework, the challenge will be to devise a coherent and harmonised set of rules co-ordinating the use and enforcement of copyright in order to ensure the same level of protection to authors across the member states, while keeping cultural content accessible to citizens.
The new Commission inherits the data protection reform that has been underway for some years and continues to spark controversy. There is also significant conflict with the United States, in the context of the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). During his hearing before the European Parliament, Ansip underlined his commitment to protect citizens’ data by stating that ‘suspension
as an option has to stay on the table’.
Furthermore, the ‘right to be forgotten’ recently recognised by the European Court of Justice, enabling citizens to obtain the deletion of publicly available information about themselves, will have to be built into the data protection Regulation. In this regard, the Commissioners will have to strike a balance between protecting citizens’ privacy and freedom of expression as well as the public interest in access to information.
Günther Oettinger also announced his intention to make infrastructure
development a priority. In this context, he emphasised the need to foster large European players, capable of investing in large-scale infrastructure and of competing with American firms.
Further, it remains to be seen how the new Commission will consider issues around interoperability (particularly
at a time when interest in this area from competition authorities around the world
is growing), as well as developments relating to other finance/technology models such as mobile payments.
We have plenty of small businesses, but we need to be able to play in the Champions League.
Günther Oettinger
Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 14
Contents
Introduction
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
A renewed focus on investment
Continued drive regarding the abolition of roaming charges
The question of how to deal with net neutrality remains an open one
A ‘Connected Continent’
The new Commission looks set to continue its consumer-oriented policy in the telecoms area under the leadership of Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger, whose key aims are broadly aligned with the 2013 ‘Connected Continent’ legislative package.
This package, which is still under legislative scrutiny, contains provisions including banning roaming charges, more co-ordination of spectrum use and standardised fixed access products.
Oettinger furthermore announced plans to remove national barriers within the EU and to facilitate the emergence of European Champions in the telecom and IT sectors, as well as the financing of start-ups.
Oettinger has also pledged to ease rules facilitating co-financing of broadband networks in rural areas. Whether there is already a concrete plan and how state aid issues would be avoided remains unclear.
Oettinger’s ‘investment and networks’ fits into the previous Commission’s initiative to remove national authorisation requirements.
This means that operator firms might soon be able to ‘passport’ into other member states without the need for complex regulatory approval. However, this provision is particularly controversial in the ongoing negotiations between legislators and whether it will indeed be part of the final
act is uncertain.
Good in theory, but in practice? The Commission’s lofty goals might be plagued by implementation issues,
particularly given the lack of EU standards
for interoperability and heterogeneity in the implementation of EU telecoms rules.
The various proposals for creating homogenous ‘EU’ products (for example, with broadband access) may be difficult to implement, particularly given the fragmentation of the market due to differing national legislation and spectrum auctions.
Extensive changes to the nature and interface of wholesale products used by internet service providers in each member state would therefore be required. This, however, depends
on the extent of political will for such harmonisation measures. When quizzed as to the specifics of implementation
(ie the budget for broadband investment and source of this money) and the potentially touchy subject of net neutrality, Oettinger remained vague although he has
indicated that he would work with DG Competition to adopt flexible guidelines.
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 15
Contents
Introduction
The Consumer agenda,
Commissioners Jourová and Andriukaitis
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
A range of legislative initiatives to be launched
Unclear how consumer protection issues in the context of TTIP are to be resolved
Enforcement expected to be challenging as member states’ desire varying degrees of protection
Safety first, free trade second
The Commission’s strategic vision for the next five years is to maximise consumer participation and protection. In particular, the Commission plans to initiate a multi- annual consumer programme prioritising consumer safety through regulation, improving enforcement of consumer rules and integrating consumer interest into sectorial policies. We can expect a range
of new or amended laws, including on cigarettes and tobacco, consumer product safety, and medical devices.
The question whether legislation on collective redress is needed will be re-evaluated.
In a bold statement, the new Commission has promised it will not sacrifice safety and health protection standards on the altar of free trade. Latvian Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis
Andriukaitis, reiterated that the negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would not result in lower EU safety standards following concerns that rules on the use of hormones or antibiotics in livestock would be relaxed. Andriukaitis, who is known as a determined politician, has promised greater transparency and consultation with stakeholders and declared
that he will make no compromises in relation to health and food safety. Andriukaitis has also been vocal in his opposition to the import of chemically treated food from
the US. Similarly, he identified genetically modified crops as an issue that would threaten Europe’s biodiversity and has pledged to review the law in this area within his first six months in office.
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
The agenda for Financial Services, Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Telecoms Commissioners Ansip and Oettinger
The Consumer agenda, Commissioners
Jourová and Andriukaitis Contacts
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 16
Contents
Introduction
The new European Commission structure
The agenda for Competition,
Commissioner Vestager
Despite his general hard-line stance on consumer protection, Andriukaitis stated that the ‘principle of subsidiarity’ should be respected which could mean that decision-making regarding some safety
The agenda for Trade,
Commissioner Malmström
The agenda for Energy, Commissioners Šefčovič and Cañete
issues (such as genetically modified crops)
could be devolved to member states. However, given Andriukaitis’s bold declarations on the importance of health, safety and consumers’ rights, we can
no doubt expect further EU regulatory
The agenda for
Financial Services,
Commissioner Hill
The agenda for Digital,
initiatives enhancing consumer protection.
Vera Jourova
Commissioners
Ansip and Oettinger
In contrast, Czech Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Vera Jourová, whose portfolio covers consumer affairs, has been less outspoken in her approach to consumer protection and has been reluctant to make any concrete commitments. It may be that consumer protection will take a back seat to the other aspects of her portfolio.
Enforcement – the EU versus member states
The main challenge that the European Commission will face in its new mandate is enforcement of new rules, as European consumer law is generally enforced at a national level. Furthermore, some legislative initiatives have not met with unanimous support from member states. Regarding product safety for example, a range of member states believe that compulsory origin labelling is not justified and would not increase the traceability of products. There certainly is a potential conflict between the vision of a consistently high standard in consumer protection across member states and the varying interpretations of how consumer protection should be enforced in practice.
I want to step up enforcement so we can pool together small claims to make a difference.
Vera Jourova
Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality 18
