Background
Vestager was born on April 13, 1968, in Glostrup, Zealand. She is a daughter of Lutheran ministers Hans Vestager and Bodil Tybjerg.
Margrethe Vestager
1986
She matriculated from Varde Upper Secondary school in 1986.
Nørregade 10, 1165 København, Denmark
She studied at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Economics.
1993
Denmark
Vestager has been a professional politician since the age of 21, when she was appointed to the central board and executive committee of the SLP and its European Affairs Committee, and shortly afterwards as National Chairwoman of the Party.
1994
Denmark
Vestager's husband is a gymnasium maths-and-philosophy teacher.
1994
Denmark
26-year-old Margrethe Vestager with the party's chairman Marianne Jelved. Photo: Scanpix
1995
Denmark
Shehave three daughters, Maria, Rebecca, and Ella.
2009
Denmark
Margrethe Vestager loves running every morning.
2012
Brussels, Belgium
12 December 2012. A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council where the Banking Supervision Mechanism will be on the agenda. A compromise agreement by the 27 finance ministers on the package setting up a single supervisory mechanism (SSM) appears to be within the realm of possibility.Danish Finance minister Margrethe Vestager (middle) and Swedens Finance Minister Anders Borg. (Photo by Sander de Wilde/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Brussels, Belgium
July 10; 2012. Italian Prime Minister, Mario MONTI (L) is talking with the Danish Minister of Economic Affairs Margrethe VESTAGER (R) prior the start of the EcoFin Ministers meeting. (Photo by Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Washington, D.C., United States
First row (L-R) International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Mexico's Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens, second row (L-R) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic and Interior Affairs of Denmark Margrethe Vestager, Finance Minister of Korea Bahk Jae-wan, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, and Governor of Bank of England Mervyn King, during a group photo at the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting at the International Monetary Fund headquarters April 20, 2012 in Washington, DC. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are holding their 2012 spring meeting through April 21.
2012
Prins Jørgens Gård 1, 1218 København, Denmark
Ms.Helle Thorning-Schmidt danish prime minieter in blue(c)holds Press meeting with Ms.Margrethe Vestager Minister for Economy and home minister from Radical liberal party and newly elected SF chairman womam and new Minister for Business Annette Vilhelmsen in red dress hold their first press comnference at Prime minister office in Mirror Hall at Christiansborg today on 16 October 2012 (Photo by Francis Dean / Dean Pictures) (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Brussel, Belgium
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, right, speaks with from left to rigth: Danish Finance minister Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn and Sweden's Finance Minister Anders Borg during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. Shoring up Europe's banking sector and strengthening oversight of economic policies will likely top the agenda of a meeting Tuesday of the European Union's 27 fina (Photo by Sander de Wilde/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Brussel, Belgium
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, right, speaks with from left to rigth: Danish Finance minister Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn and Sweden's Finance Minister Anders Borg during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. Shoring up Europe's banking sector and strengthening oversight of economic policies will likely top the agenda of a meeting Tuesday of the European Union's 27 fina (Photo by Sander de Wilde/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Brussels, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium, April 15, 2014. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is talking to media about the objections to Google on comparison shopping service and opens separate formal investigation on Android. (Photo by Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Copenhagen, Denmark
3 February 2014 Denmark's prime minister Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt in pink dress and leader of danish social democrat party and Ms.Margrethe Vestager vice prime minister and minister for economy and home minister right to prime minister in short hair dark dress and leader of danish radical political party hold joint press conference after reshaping cabint at Mirror hall at PM office at christionsborg today on monday (Photo by Francis Joseph Dean/Deanpicture (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Copenhagen, Denmark
Helle Thorning-Schmidt Danish prime minister and scoail democrat visits qlong with vice prime minister and liberal progress Ms.Margrethe Vestager minister for economy and home minister visits Technical Univeristy of Copenhagen TDU to promte danish techinology investment and future progress in techincally prime minister and minister for economy and home are from two different parties and colation government of two parties 05 May 2014 (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Copenhagen, Denmark
Danish government Ms.margrethe Vestager former minister for Economy and chairwoman of danish Radical liberal party government name Denmark of new EU commissioner European Union Commissioner and she farewell today to ministry for economy and talking to danish media todayb in ministry for economy, 2 september 2014 (Photo by Francis Dean/Deanpictures)
2014
Brussel, Belgium
Danish minister for Economy Ms.Margrethe Vestager welcome Ostegaard as new Minister for Economy replacve her minister Morten Ostegaard comes from ministry for Taxaian and revune of Denmark Ms.Vestergaard take her new jpb as Euroepan Union Commissioner in Brussel, Belgium Ms.Vestergaard and Morten Ostergaard 2 September 2014 (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2016
Rue Brederode 16, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Brussels,January 12, 2016 New year: Queen Mathilde and King Philippe meet the authorities of the European Union at the Palace of Brussels pict. by Christophe Licoppe © Photo News (Photo by William Van Hecke/Corbis via Getty Images)
2017
Dantes Plads 7, 1556 København, Denmark
EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager attends DANSK Magazine gala dinner at the Glyptotek art museum, where some 200 Danish celebrities within the movie industry, fashion, music and politics participated in the grand 15 years anniversary party for fashion publication DANSK Magazine on September 8, 2017 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Ole Jensen - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
2017
Paris, France
Margrethe Vestager, competition commissioner of the European Commission, gestures while speaking during the Rendez-vous de Bercy economic debate at the French Ministry of Economy in Paris, France, on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has laid out a series of far-reaching proposals for Europe, called for a stable and strong Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkels failure to form a government put some of his continental ambitions on hold. Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg via Getty Images
2017
Copenhagen, Denmark
Ms.Helle Thorning-Schmidt in red denmarks prime minister and Ms.Margrethe Vestager danish minister for economy on PM left hand side danish minister for finance Bjarne Corydon and Holger K.Nieslen for right minister for tax and reveune hold joint press conference and high light the Growth Denmark reforms 150.000 new jobs in private sector and business tax from 25 til 22% to compete with Germany danish work plaes are moving to Germany danish gvoernment high light at at pre (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2017
Paris, France
Margrethe Vestager, competition commissioner of the European Commission, center, sits in the audience during the Rendez-vous de Bercy economic debate at the French Ministry of Economy in Paris, France, on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has laid out a series of far-reaching proposals for Europe, called for a stable and strong Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkels failure to form a government put some of his continental ambitions on hold. Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg via Getty Images
2017
Rossio dos Olivais, 1990-231 Lisboa, Portugal
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, European Commission delivers remarks on "Clearing the path for innovation" during the second day of Web Summit in Altice Arena on November 07, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. Web Summit (originally Dublin Web Summit) is a technology conference held annually since 2009. The company was founded by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly and Daire Hickey. The topic of the conference is centered on internet technology and attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to smaller tech companies. This contains a mix of CEOs and founders of tech start ups together with a range of people from across the global technology industry, as well as related industries. This year's edition, starting on November 06, is the second to be held in Lisbon and will congregate almost 60,000 participants.
2017
Rossio dos Olivais, 1990-231 Lisboa, Portugal
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, European Commission is being interviewed during the opening night of Web Summit in Altice Arena on November 06, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. Web Summit (originally Dublin Web Summit) is a technology conference held annually since 2009. The company was founded by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly and Daire Hickey. The topic of the conference is centered on internet technology and attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to smaller tech companies. This contains a mix of CEOs and founders of tech start ups together with a range of people from across the global technology industry, as well as related industries. This year's edition, starting on November 06, is the second to be held in Lisbon and will congregate almost 60,000 participants.
2017
Rossio dos Olivais, 1990-231 Lisboa, Portugal
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, European Commission is being interviewed during the opening night of Web Summit in Altice Arena on November 06, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. Web Summit (originally Dublin Web Summit) is a technology conference held annually since 2009. The company was founded by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly and Daire Hickey. The topic of the conference is centered on internet technology and attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to smaller tech companies. This contains a mix of CEOs and founders of tech start ups together with a range of people from across the global technology industry, as well as related industries. This year's edition, starting on November 06, is the second to be held in Lisbon and will congregate almost 60,000 participants.
2018
Brussels, Belgium
EU Commission and the Austrian government are posing for a family photo during a visit in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarters on June 6 2018, in Brussels, Belgium. Austrian government are in Brussels to meet with European commission members to prepare the Austrian presidency of the European Union, which will start on 01 July.(Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
2018
Brussels, Belgium
European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager gives a joint press at the EU headquarters in Brussels on July 24, 2018. The European Commission fined, in four separate decisions, consumer electronics manufacturers Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer for imposing fixed or minimum resale prices on their online retailers in breach of EU competition rules. The fines totalling over 111 million were in all four cases reduced due to the companies' cooperation with the Commission. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
2018
Brussels, Belgium
EU Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Commissioner Jyrki Katainen (L) and the EU trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem (R) are talking with the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager (C) prior to the weekly meeting of the EU Commission on October 10, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The European Commission is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
2014
Danish Politician Margrethe Vestager has been the EU Commissioner for Competition since 2014. The young jury of the Schwarzkopf Europe Award selected her for her brilliant interpretation of her role and the great courage she has shown in pushing for compliance with EU laws.
1986
She matriculated from Varde Upper Secondary school in 1986.
1993
Denmark
Vestager has been a professional politician since the age of 21, when she was appointed to the central board and executive committee of the SLP and its European Affairs Committee, and shortly afterwards as National Chairwoman of the Party.
1994
Denmark
Vestager's husband is a gymnasium maths-and-philosophy teacher.
1994
Denmark
26-year-old Margrethe Vestager with the party's chairman Marianne Jelved. Photo: Scanpix
1995
Denmark
Shehave three daughters, Maria, Rebecca, and Ella.
2009
Denmark
Margrethe Vestager loves running every morning.
2012
Brussels, Belgium
12 December 2012. A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council where the Banking Supervision Mechanism will be on the agenda. A compromise agreement by the 27 finance ministers on the package setting up a single supervisory mechanism (SSM) appears to be within the realm of possibility.Danish Finance minister Margrethe Vestager (middle) and Swedens Finance Minister Anders Borg. (Photo by Sander de Wilde/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Brussels, Belgium
July 10; 2012. Italian Prime Minister, Mario MONTI (L) is talking with the Danish Minister of Economic Affairs Margrethe VESTAGER (R) prior the start of the EcoFin Ministers meeting. (Photo by Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Washington, D.C., United States
First row (L-R) International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Mexico's Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens, second row (L-R) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic and Interior Affairs of Denmark Margrethe Vestager, Finance Minister of Korea Bahk Jae-wan, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, and Governor of Bank of England Mervyn King, during a group photo at the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting at the International Monetary Fund headquarters April 20, 2012 in Washington, DC. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are holding their 2012 spring meeting through April 21.
2012
Prins Jørgens Gård 1, 1218 København, Denmark
Ms.Helle Thorning-Schmidt danish prime minieter in blue(c)holds Press meeting with Ms.Margrethe Vestager Minister for Economy and home minister from Radical liberal party and newly elected SF chairman womam and new Minister for Business Annette Vilhelmsen in red dress hold their first press comnference at Prime minister office in Mirror Hall at Christiansborg today on 16 October 2012 (Photo by Francis Dean / Dean Pictures) (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Brussel, Belgium
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, right, speaks with from left to rigth: Danish Finance minister Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn and Sweden's Finance Minister Anders Borg during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. Shoring up Europe's banking sector and strengthening oversight of economic policies will likely top the agenda of a meeting Tuesday of the European Union's 27 fina (Photo by Sander de Wilde/Corbis via Getty Images)
2012
Brussel, Belgium
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, right, speaks with from left to rigth: Danish Finance minister Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn and Sweden's Finance Minister Anders Borg during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. Shoring up Europe's banking sector and strengthening oversight of economic policies will likely top the agenda of a meeting Tuesday of the European Union's 27 fina (Photo by Sander de Wilde/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Brussels, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium, April 15, 2014. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is talking to media about the objections to Google on comparison shopping service and opens separate formal investigation on Android. (Photo by Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Copenhagen, Denmark
3 February 2014 Denmark's prime minister Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt in pink dress and leader of danish social democrat party and Ms.Margrethe Vestager vice prime minister and minister for economy and home minister right to prime minister in short hair dark dress and leader of danish radical political party hold joint press conference after reshaping cabint at Mirror hall at PM office at christionsborg today on monday (Photo by Francis Joseph Dean/Deanpicture (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Copenhagen, Denmark
Helle Thorning-Schmidt Danish prime minister and scoail democrat visits qlong with vice prime minister and liberal progress Ms.Margrethe Vestager minister for economy and home minister visits Technical Univeristy of Copenhagen TDU to promte danish techinology investment and future progress in techincally prime minister and minister for economy and home are from two different parties and colation government of two parties 05 May 2014 (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2014
Copenhagen, Denmark
Danish government Ms.margrethe Vestager former minister for Economy and chairwoman of danish Radical liberal party government name Denmark of new EU commissioner European Union Commissioner and she farewell today to ministry for economy and talking to danish media todayb in ministry for economy, 2 september 2014 (Photo by Francis Dean/Deanpictures)
2014
Danish Politician Margrethe Vestager has been the EU Commissioner for Competition since 2014. The young jury of the Schwarzkopf Europe Award selected her for her brilliant interpretation of her role and the great courage she has shown in pushing for compliance with EU laws.
2014
Brussel, Belgium
Danish minister for Economy Ms.Margrethe Vestager welcome Ostegaard as new Minister for Economy replacve her minister Morten Ostegaard comes from ministry for Taxaian and revune of Denmark Ms.Vestergaard take her new jpb as Euroepan Union Commissioner in Brussel, Belgium Ms.Vestergaard and Morten Ostergaard 2 September 2014 (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2016
Rue Brederode 16, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Brussels,January 12, 2016 New year: Queen Mathilde and King Philippe meet the authorities of the European Union at the Palace of Brussels pict. by Christophe Licoppe © Photo News (Photo by William Van Hecke/Corbis via Getty Images)
2017
Dantes Plads 7, 1556 København, Denmark
EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager attends DANSK Magazine gala dinner at the Glyptotek art museum, where some 200 Danish celebrities within the movie industry, fashion, music and politics participated in the grand 15 years anniversary party for fashion publication DANSK Magazine on September 8, 2017 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Ole Jensen - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
2017
Paris, France
Margrethe Vestager, competition commissioner of the European Commission, gestures while speaking during the Rendez-vous de Bercy economic debate at the French Ministry of Economy in Paris, France, on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has laid out a series of far-reaching proposals for Europe, called for a stable and strong Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkels failure to form a government put some of his continental ambitions on hold. Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg via Getty Images
2017
Copenhagen, Denmark
Ms.Helle Thorning-Schmidt in red denmarks prime minister and Ms.Margrethe Vestager danish minister for economy on PM left hand side danish minister for finance Bjarne Corydon and Holger K.Nieslen for right minister for tax and reveune hold joint press conference and high light the Growth Denmark reforms 150.000 new jobs in private sector and business tax from 25 til 22% to compete with Germany danish work plaes are moving to Germany danish gvoernment high light at at pre (Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images)
2017
Paris, France
Margrethe Vestager, competition commissioner of the European Commission, center, sits in the audience during the Rendez-vous de Bercy economic debate at the French Ministry of Economy in Paris, France, on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has laid out a series of far-reaching proposals for Europe, called for a stable and strong Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkels failure to form a government put some of his continental ambitions on hold. Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg via Getty Images
2017
Rossio dos Olivais, 1990-231 Lisboa, Portugal
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, European Commission delivers remarks on "Clearing the path for innovation" during the second day of Web Summit in Altice Arena on November 07, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. Web Summit (originally Dublin Web Summit) is a technology conference held annually since 2009. The company was founded by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly and Daire Hickey. The topic of the conference is centered on internet technology and attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to smaller tech companies. This contains a mix of CEOs and founders of tech start ups together with a range of people from across the global technology industry, as well as related industries. This year's edition, starting on November 06, is the second to be held in Lisbon and will congregate almost 60,000 participants.
2017
Rossio dos Olivais, 1990-231 Lisboa, Portugal
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, European Commission is being interviewed during the opening night of Web Summit in Altice Arena on November 06, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. Web Summit (originally Dublin Web Summit) is a technology conference held annually since 2009. The company was founded by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly and Daire Hickey. The topic of the conference is centered on internet technology and attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to smaller tech companies. This contains a mix of CEOs and founders of tech start ups together with a range of people from across the global technology industry, as well as related industries. This year's edition, starting on November 06, is the second to be held in Lisbon and will congregate almost 60,000 participants.
2017
Rossio dos Olivais, 1990-231 Lisboa, Portugal
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, European Commission is being interviewed during the opening night of Web Summit in Altice Arena on November 06, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. Web Summit (originally Dublin Web Summit) is a technology conference held annually since 2009. The company was founded by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly and Daire Hickey. The topic of the conference is centered on internet technology and attendees range from Fortune 500 companies to smaller tech companies. This contains a mix of CEOs and founders of tech start ups together with a range of people from across the global technology industry, as well as related industries. This year's edition, starting on November 06, is the second to be held in Lisbon and will congregate almost 60,000 participants.
2018
Brussels, Belgium
EU Commission and the Austrian government are posing for a family photo during a visit in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarters on June 6 2018, in Brussels, Belgium. Austrian government are in Brussels to meet with European commission members to prepare the Austrian presidency of the European Union, which will start on 01 July.(Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
2018
Brussels, Belgium
European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager gives a joint press at the EU headquarters in Brussels on July 24, 2018. The European Commission fined, in four separate decisions, consumer electronics manufacturers Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer for imposing fixed or minimum resale prices on their online retailers in breach of EU competition rules. The fines totalling over 111 million were in all four cases reduced due to the companies' cooperation with the Commission. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
2018
Brussels, Belgium
EU Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Commissioner Jyrki Katainen (L) and the EU trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem (R) are talking with the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager (C) prior to the weekly meeting of the EU Commission on October 10, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The European Commission is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
Margrethe Vestager
Margrethe Vestager
Margrethe Vestager
Nørregade 10, 1165 København, Denmark
She studied at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Economics.
Vestager was born on April 13, 1968, in Glostrup, Zealand. She is a daughter of Lutheran ministers Hans Vestager and Bodil Tybjerg.
Margrethe matriculated from Varde Upper Secondary school in 1986. She studied at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Economics. Vestager speaks Danish, English and some French.
Vestager has been a professional politician since the age of 21, when she was appointed to the central board and executive committee of the SLP and its European Affairs Committee, and shortly afterwards as National Chairwoman of the Party. In 2001, Vestager was elected to the Danish Parliament, becoming Chairwoman of its Parliamentary Group in 2007. She was appointed Minister of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1998.
On June 15, 2007, Vestager secured election as her Party's parliamentary group leader in the Folketing, replacing Marianne Jelved. When Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called an early election in 2011 after failing to secure majority lawmaker backing for his economic stimulus package, Vestager's Social Liberals and the Conservative People's Party formed a political alliance, pledging to work together no matter which political bloc would win the election.
From 2011 until 2014 Vestager served as Minister for Economic and Interior Affairs in the three-party Social Democrat-led coalition government of Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Having forced through deep cuts in unemployment benefits of Denmark's generous social welfare system after the country's economy narrowly escaped recession in 2012, she was at one point considered by Danish media and pollsters as the most powerful person in government, even above Thorning-Schmidt.
In her time in office, chaired the meetings of economic and finance ministers of the European Union (ECOFIN) during Denmark's presidency of the Council of Ministers in 2012. In this capacity, she announced that the European Union would cede two of its seats on the board of the International Monetary Fund to emerging economies under a new power-sharing scheme for international financial institutions. She also worked closely with Jean-Claude Juncker to salvage Europe's financial sector and forge a European Banking Union.
Between 2011 and 2014, Vestager led Denmark's campaign against Basel III liquidity rules, arguing in favor of allowing banks to use 75 percent more in covered bonds to fill liquidity buffers than allowed under Basel III rules; at the time Denmark's $550 billion mortgage-backed covered bond market, part of the country's two-century-old mortgage system, was the world's largest per capita. In 2013 she ruled out slowing down steps toward stricter requirements for systemically important lenders and reiterated her stance that banks won’t get tax breaks to help them through the transition caused by regulatory reform.
In May 2014, Vestager presented a growth package designed to drag Denmark's economy – at the time Scandinavia's weakest – out of its crisis, raising the country's structural output by 6 billion kroner ($1.1 billion) and cut costs for companies by 4 billion kroner in 2020 through 89 measures to improve the business climate and boost employment.
On 31 August 2014, Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt nominated Vestager as Denmark's EU Commissioner in the Juncker Commission. Despite her repeated denials of campaigning for the Environment portfolio, eventually she was designated the Competition dossier in the Juncker Commission. On 3 October 2014, she won the European Parliament's backing following her confirmation hearing.
In her confirmation hearings, Vestager said she favored settlement of cases before they come to a final executive judgment, for reduced fines or negotiated concessions from the companies.
Like her predecessor, Joaquín Almunia, Vestager has since been focusing on state aid cases. Within a few months in the office, she brought antitrust charges against Google; Almunia had initially opened the investigation into Google in 2010, and had reached a settlement deal with Google by 2014 but was unable to convince the European Commission to accept it before his term ended. Vestager inherited Almunia's case but has shown greater desire to continue pursuing Google/Alphabet over the alleged antitrust violations. Also, she initiated investigations into the tax affairs of Fiat, Starbucks, Amazon.com and Apple Inc. under competition rules. In 2014, she launched proceedings against Gazprom, one of Europe's main gas suppliers, over allegations of breaching EU antitrust rules by putting in place artificial barriers to trade with eight European countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria.
In January 2015, Vestager ordered Cyprus Airways to pay back over 65 million euros in illegal state aid received in 2012 and 2013 as part of a restructuring package; as a consequence, Cyprus suspended operations at its flag carrier resulting in 550 job losses and reduced competition.
In August 2016, after a two–year investigation, Vestager announced Apple Inc. received illegal tax benefits from Ireland. The Commission ordered Apple to pay a fine of €13 billion, plus interest, in unpaid Irish taxes for 2004–2014; the largest tax fine in history. As a result of the EU investigation, Apple agreed to re-structure out of its 2004–2014 Irish BEPS tool, the Double Irish in Q1 2015; Apple's replacement Irish BEPS tool, the CAIA arrangement caused Irish 2015 GDP to rise by 34.4 per cent, and was labelled Leprechaun economics by Nobel Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman in July 2016.
In July 2017, a fine of $2.7 billion against Alphabet (formerly Google) was levied based on the European Commission claim that Google breached antitrust rules. This fine was later appealed.
In October 2017, Vestager ordered Amazon to pay €250 million of back taxes, and in January 2018, the EU Commission fined Qualcomm €997 million for allegedly abusing its market dominance on LTE baseband chipsets. In July 2018, she fined Alphabet (Google) €4.3 billion for entrenching its dominance in internet search by illegally tying together this service and other mobile apps with Android.
Margrethe Vestager has been described as "the most powerful woman in Brussels" - otherwise said, in European politics. As Commissioner for Competition for the European Union, Vestager is in charge of regulating commercial activity across the 28 member states and enforcing the EU's rules designed to keep the markets fair - rules that, she believes, some big companies have been abusing.
On February 15, 2017 Vestager received a doctorate honoris causa of the KU Leuven for her "firm policy on competition and government support within the European Union" and "specific attention to the ethical dimension of the behavior of companies and governments."
Margrethe was honored as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2017.
She shares her parents’ Christian faith, though she says she has had a “troublesome” relationship with the church. “If I had a motto, it would be ‘believe in God, fear the church’,” she says. “History shows the power-grab in every religion once it gets organised. And then it’s people making you do things that you don’t agree with and setting the rules. But it does mean something to me to believe that we are not alone – the human animal is quite a scary thing, left on its own. And I like that (faith) gives me something to strive for, because I think if we have something to strive for, the better side of us comes to the front.”
Margrethe Vestager is in charge of regulating commercial activity across the European Union and enforcing the EU’s rules designed to keep the markets fair.
Her politics are liberal in the classic meaning of the term: free speech, free assembly and free trade - but she argues that it can only happen if markets are free of undue influence and anti-competitive behaviors.
In 2013, Vestager held that “(in) our experience it’s impossible to pursue Danish interests without being close to the core of Europe. You don’t have influence or produce results if you’re standing on the sideline.”
Quotations:
"A woman who wants to go places needs to bring her own ladder."
"We have to take our democracy back. We cannot leave it to Facebook or Snapchat or anyone else. We have to take democracy back and renew it. Society is about people and not about technology."
"I have a very strong tool in competitional enforcement: To do merger control, to look into cartels, misuse of dominant position - when member states hand out favors, for instance, in terms of tax breaks. But even though that's a strong tool, it cannot solve everything."
"In Europe, we have three tools when it comes to fair competition. One is antitrust, one is merger control, and the third is state aid control. And the third you don't have in the States."
"Most politicians are either generalists or specialists. It's very rare that a politician is both."
"You have to teach your algorithm what it can do and what it cannot do because, otherwise, there is a risk that the algorithms will learn the tricks of the old cartels."
"If I had a motto, it would be, 'Believe in God, fear the church'."
"It is very important, to have a robust digital economy, that the citizens regain the trust in how their data are being processed and who can access them."
"I do not have an issue with specific countries or companies; what I'm interested in are schemes which allow for preferential treatment, for selectivity... If this has to change, it's countries that will have to change this."
"I think it is one of the fundamentals, not only of the European Union but also of free trade, that competition is fair."
"I think a lot can be said for consolidation, but I think it should be done for the right reasons."
"I was brought up with a very strong value that you should always protect the small and the few against those who want to misuse their muscle and weight in order to get what they weren't supposed to."
"If you, as a company, can get a deal that I, as a company, cannot get, you can compete with me but not on the merits, because your tax burden is not the same as mine."
"It's not in my mission to work against Euroskepticism; it's my mission to work for fair markets. In antitrust, what is at stake is, in some ways, as old as Adam and Eve because it is about greed, to get more."
Margrethe was a Member of the Board of Advisors at the Greenland (2004-2007), Member of the Executive Committeeat UNICEF Denmark (2007-2011), Member of the Trilateral Commission (2010-2011), Chairwoman of the Board of Blaagaards Seminarium (2006-2009), Member of the Board of the University College Copenhagen (2006-2009), Chairwoman of the Advisory Board of the Copenhagen Business School, Institute for Management, Politics, and Philosophy (2003-2008). She is a Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member of the Trilateral Commission and a Member of the European Group.
Physical Characteristics: Height - 5' 10½" (1,79 m)
Vestager's husband is a gymnasium maths-and-philosophy teacher. They have three daughters, Maria, Rebecca, and Ella. Her eldest daughter is preparing for medical university 2016 entry.
(married 1994)
(born 9 December 1954)
He is a Luxembourgish politician serving as President of the European Commission since 2014. From 1995 to 2013 he served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg; from 1989 to 2009 he was also Minister for Finances.
(born 14 December 1966)
She is a retired Danish politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015.
