Margrethe Vestager has now been in office as European Commissioner for Competition for two years, and is effectively at the half-way point in her mandate. This is an appropriate time to evaluate her record so far and to assess where she has taken EU competition policy and enforcement.

The past year has been notable for the emphasis the Commissioner has put on state aid and tax cases. Tax policy is essentially a competence of the Member States. Vestager’s use of state aid rules to tackle preferential tax ruling is novel and contentious. It has attracted widespread criticism in the United States, as many of the companies involved are U.S. multinationals.