Teresa Ribera

Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, oversees EU competition policy and digital enforcement. In April 2026 she directed the DMA compliance measures sent to Google requiring it to share search rankings, user queries, and click data with rival engines and AI chatbots on FRAND terms, framing the order around AI data access rather than conventional competition enforcement: "Data is a key input for online search and for developing new services, including AI." On 25 May 2026, as Commission sources confirmed preparation of a high triple-digit million euro Article 6(5) self-preferencing fine against Google, Ribera called US pressure on EU digital enforcement "blackmail" and stated the rulebook is "not up for negotiation" — the sharpest public language from any senior Commission figure on the EU-US trade-versus-regulation tension.

A Spanish environmental lawyer, Ribera served as Spain's Minister for Ecological Transition from 2018 to 2024 before joining the von der Leyen II Commission in November 2024. She is effectively the successor to Margrethe Vestager's role as EU competition enforcer, with a portfolio spanning DMA gatekeeper enforcement, the Green Deal industrial transition, and clean energy policy. That dual mandate means her brief covers both the DMA proceedings against Google, Meta and Apple and the energy and industrial sovereignty infrastructure that shapes European tech competitiveness. In May 2026 she also warned, in the context of European energy markets, that Europe should "avoid replacing one energy dependency with another" as US LNG suppliers reached 58% of EU LNG imports.

Ribera's 25 May statement matters beyond rhetoric. A Google Article 6(5) fine was reportedly held back on geopolitical grounds after internal proceedings closed; her public declaration that the rulebook is non-negotiable signals a decision to move forward regardless of the USTR Section 301 timeline. With the Article 6(5) fine, the DMA.100209 search-data ruling (27 July), and EU AI Act GPAI enforcement (2 August) all converging in a six-week window, Ribera's position is to enforce on all three tracks simultaneously rather than sequence them against US trade pressure.