It is often easy to identify the European Union, or that diffuse idea we call Brussels, with the resolutions of the European Parliament, what the leaders of France and Germany say, the report of any subgroup of a working group or, if you are lost or partisan, the Committee on Petitions (an irrelevant entity). The most visible politicians in Brussels are those who lead the institutions, even if most are mere spokesmen for an elusive consensus, and those who occupy the portfolios that most resemble those of national governments at first glance, such as those of Foreign Affairs or Justice, although they decide little.
But few people have as much power, personal responsibility and ability to influence what happens in Europe and the world as the man who holds the European Commission’s competition portfolio. It is “one of the most influential regulatory jobs in the world,” the financial times, when he announced a few days ago that Teresa Ribera would be chosen by Ursula von der Leyen to occupy this post, which must be confirmed after a hearing in the European Parliament.
