Denmark's Vestager takes on giants of Google and Gazprom

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32410052

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First it was Google, and now Gazprom. And the politician leading the charge is Denmark's no-nonsense woman in Brussels, Margrethe Vestager.

A star in Danish politics, she hit the ground running when she joined Jean-Claude Juncker's European Commission team in Brussels last year.

Borgen inspiration

For Danes, she is as renowned for knitting, bread-making and tweeting as she is for tackling issues that no-one else has yet dared to touch.

And colleagues insist that she, not Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, was the true model for the fictional woman prime minister in the hit Danish political drama Borgen.

It comes as no surprise in the Folketing (parliament) that she has taken on two of the biggest multinationals in the space of a week, first accusing Google of anti-competitive behaviour by promoting its own shopping links, and now Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom of abusing its position in Central and Eastern European gas markets.

Because Margrethe Vestager (pronounced Ves-taya), as leader of the centrist Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre), has played a big role in challenging the status quo at home.

While still in opposition, she pushed the ruling coalition to cut an early retirement programme and raise the retirement age from 60 to 65 in early 2011.

Danes hated it at the time but that major reform did her no harm. In reality, her party's fortunes soared and polled 9.5% in elections a few months later.

Borgen writer Adam Price once attended a party convention and has since spoken of Ms Vestager as the woman who inspired the character of Birgitte Nyborg, the leader of a small party, the Moderates, propelled to the post of prime minister.

In the series, Nyborg's marriage fails as she tries to juggle the demands of running a minority government with keeping a family going.

Ms Vestager, in contrast, appears unfazed. The whole family has moved to Brussels, apart from one daughter who stayed in Copenhagen to study.

'In Brussels, no-one can hear you scream'

She wrote poetry during coalition talks after the 2011 elections and became renowned for her love of knitting and baking.

She has 98,000 Twitter followers and, since 2009, her tweets involve a heady mix of politics and favourite hobbies.

When Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt nominated her for the post in Brussels, tongues wagged in Copenhagen.

Was this an attempt to be rid of a troublesome minister, as depicted in a memorable Borgen episode entitled, "In Brussels no-one can hear you scream"?

That seems unlikely. Ms Thorning-Schmidt was herself being touted for a top job in Brussels. And as competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager has one of the toughest and highest-profile briefs in Brussels.

"I'm going to miss her, but that's that. It'll be good for Denmark," the prime minister said.

Political rise

'Let me Google it'

One of her thornier tasks in Brussels will be to tackle the "Luxleaks" scandal, in which top companies were given sweet-heart deals by the Luxembourg government to funnel hundreds of millions of euros in profits through subsidiaries in the Grand Duchy. Her boss, Jean-Claude Juncker, was prime minister at the time.

However, observers are impressed that, within months of taking on the role of competition commissioner, she has taken on two cases that have languished in Brussels for some time.

The Gazprom investigation was opened in 2012, and the case against Google began well before.

"She's a political go-getter who stands up for her beliefs. And I'm certain she'll be working hard to make Google and Gazprom stand in line," a colleague in Copenhagen told the BBC.

But while some have labelled her a steely foe for Google's executives, Ms Vestager has been careful to underline she has no issue with the company's market dominance.

"If you look for something you say, 'Let me Google it'. I think you should congratulate a company that is so successful."