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Authors: Elisha Kemp, Schweta Batohi, Gerwin van Gerven, Bernd Meyring
The appointment of Anthony Whelan as the new Director-General for Competition sends a clear signal about President von der Leyen's expectations for DG COMP. His selection comes as Europe faces its biggest competitive challenges in decades. This blog looks at some of these key challenges and what may be required from DG COMP’s leadership to help address them.
Under the leadership of a seasoned EU official as Whelan, DG COMP will need to deal with three known strategic challenges: helping to realise more digital sovereignty for Europe while navigating tensions with the US, adapting competition policy for the green transition, and – maybe most critically – putting competition policy at work to help tackle Europe's competitiveness problem.
Whelan’s appointment comes as competition authorities globally are rethinking competition enforcement. No longer a siloed and purely technical legal process, competition enforcement has come into focus as a tool to advance wider policy objectives.
In the US, the pursuit of global dominance in AI and political intervention in dealmaking suggests that antitrust enforcement is becoming increasingly politicised. Similarly, Chinese competition authorities have faced pressures to align enforcement even more with industrial policy objectives helping Chinese companies to thrive. In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority has undergone a dramatic pivot under the Labour government's pro-growth agenda, with merger control singled out as critical for encouraging pro-growth investment.
There are similar pressures in the EU. Strengthening EU competitiveness was at the heart of Mario Draghi’s recommendations, which called for the creation of EU scale champions in light of global competition. This was echoed by the Competitiveness Compass, promising a “fresh approach” to help EU companies scale globally. However, Europe does not stand to gain from a politicisation of antitrust cases. Commissioner Ribera has highlighted objectivity, independence and equal treatment as guiding principles.
With competitiveness and geopolitical tensions converging, Whelan's appointment aligns with the Commission’s overall agenda: competition policy must evolve, but through strategic leadership that integrates digital policy expertise, antitrust experience, and deep understanding of how competition intersects with industrial strategy, not by lowering enforcement standards. Whelan’s first priority? Leading the Merger Guidelines revision to properly weigh innovation, resilience and investment intensity in strategic sectors in order to support companies scaling up – whilst ensuring sound competition enforcement.
Decarbonisation and energy sovereignty are core elements for a newly aligned EU competition enforcement. High energy costs are affecting EU competitiveness (see our earlier blog), including notably in AI. The Clean Industrial Deal (CID) aims to accelerate industrial decarbonisation, but success depends on smart competition and state aid rules. Whelan must adapt state aid frameworks to support investments in clean technologies and energy infrastructure, such as cross-border electricity grids, while preventing distortion from foreign subsidies in critical sectors.
The Green Transition also involves a global element. The Commission's new climate vision aims to forge international partnerships for resilient clean value chains. Key moves include launching an EU Clean Transition Business Council and scaling investments through the Global Gateway. Whelan faces a clear mandate: make competition enforcement work for climate and energy goals. This means enabling EU clean tech to scale up, and building resilient clean supply chains.
Adding another layer of complexity, the Industrial Accelerator Act seeks to reshape the broader framework within which competition and industrial policy interact. Balancing the Act's wide-ranging ambitions, spanning investment incentives, strategic sector support, and the broader push for EU industrial sovereignty, with rigorous competition enforcement will be one of Whelan's more nuanced challenges.
US political pressure has emerged as a significant challenge affecting EU enforcement of the DMA, with Congress raising concerns that DMA enforcement disproportionately targets American companies. This political pressure extends beyond DMA enforcement. The Commission has the US reaction in mind in its antitrust enforcement against Big Tech. Beyond US interactions, DG COMP will have a role to play in any enabling initiatives for a successful European tech industry, including any ‘Buy Europe’ policies favoured in various corners.
Whelan's DG COMP will need to navigate this challenging landscape, balancing an aligned enforcement of EU competition rules with mounting geopolitical pressures arising from the development in the tech and AI industries.
Whelan brings serious credentials, with over 30 years at EU institutions. His diverse background, including valuable Cabinet experience and most recently as Deputy Director-General for State Aid Policy, positions him uniquely to deliver on von der Leyen's vision of competition policy as an aligned strategic tool for helping to realise better European competitiveness and to achieve wider European policies, in turn essential for this increased competitiveness.
Whelan's expertise in EU law, competition law, and telecommunications policy could be strategically valuable. His experience as digital policy adviser in President von der Leyen's Cabinet means he is familiar with the president’s priorities and has unparalleled insight into the political imperatives driving the competitiveness agenda.
This combination of competition law expertise, digital policy leadership, and direct experience shaping the President's agenda position him uniquely.
This isn't just another Brussels appointment – Whelan's background seems to fit perfectly into the broader Commission policy agenda.
13 April 2026