Clare man chosen to lead European Commission's new elite competition watchdog unit

Anthony Whelan takes key role amid calls on regulators to ease merger rules and tensions with the US over tech laws

Clare man Anthony Whelan will head the European Commission's new elite competition unit. Picture:  Larry Cummins

Clare man Anthony Whelan will head the European Commission's new elite competition unit, a senior Commission executive said on Monday, a key job which has taken on added importance amid calls on regulators to ease merger rules and tensions with the United States over tech laws.

Mr Whelan, 57, takes over from Frenchman Olivier Guersent who retired last August after a 33-year career tackling antitrust issues, cartels and financial services.

Well respected internally and in the wider antitrust community, Mr Whelan has a background in handling digital technology issues and has worked closely with EC president Ursula von der Leyen.

"I have the pleasure to inform you that the Commission today appointed Anthony Whelan as director-general of DG Competition with immediate effect," the acting head of the unit and deputy director general for antitrust, Linsey McCallum, wrote in a message to officials seen by Reuters.

A barrister and graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Whelan started his European Union career in 1995 as a legal secretary for an EU Court of Justice advocate general before moving to the Commission's legal service in 2000.

Between 2008 and 2013 he headed the office of Neelie Kroes, during her stint as EU competition chief when she took on Microsoft and also her subsequent job as EU digital chief.

Whelan became a director at the Commission's digital unit in 2014. He joined Ms von der Leyen's cabinet as her digital adviser in 2019 and was rewarded with the post of deputy director general for state aid in September last year.

The Irishman will have to tackle the mounting pressure from some companies and some EU governments to loosen merger rules to help create European champions to compete with U.S. and Chinese giants.

Led by Europe's biggest telecoms operators, they argue that regulators should widen the current focus on the price impact on consumers to include the potential benefits of sustainability and innovation.

Mr Whelan will also have to help EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera grapple with US criticism of landmark rules aiming at reining in the power of Big Tech and ensuring that online giants do a better job policing their platforms.

Ms Ribera is set to decide in the coming months on Google's adtech business, its AI Overview and its spam policy as well as Meta's plan to ban rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp.

Reuters