Margrethe Vestager

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has written a letter to the European Union's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on the issue of the government's nomination of former Supreme Court chief Vassiliki Thanou for the director's chair of the Hellenic Competition Commission.

The EU executive has authorized Greece to extend a concession granted to operate Athens International Airport (AIA) by 20 years for 1.1 billion euros ($1.25 billion), it said on Wednesday.

ATW - The European Commission (EC) has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether Italy's €900 million ($1.1 billion) bridge loan to flag carrier Alitalia constituted state aid and whether it complied with European Union (EU) rules for aid to companies in difficulty.

European Union state aid regulators on Wednesday approved power backup schemes in Greece, Germany, France and three other EU countries, saying that these would ensure security supply in the event of blackouts.

The European Commission said the electricity capacity mechanisms comply with the bloc's rules aimed at ensuring a level playing field.

The European Commission said on Thursday it had approved a Greek auction scheme for the production of renewable electricity, saying it would aid climate targets while preserving competition.

Under the programme, the country will organize auctions for wind and solar projects to increase competition and lower costs to consumers.

The European Commission will open an investigation into Ikea's corporate taxes./The Independent.co.uk

The Swedish furniture giant has one division based in the Netherlands, which the Commission says may have been given unfair tax breaks by the Dutch government.

The European Commission said on Wednesday it was taking Ireland to the European Court of Justice for its failure to recover up to 13 billion euros (.3 billion) of tax due from Apple Inc , a move labeled as "regrettable" by Dublin, according to Reuters.

Beyond a headline-grabbing 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) fine EU antitrust regulators have levelled against Google, the internet giant is likely to be shackled for years by Tuesday's precedent-setting decision defining the company as a monopoly. 

Google has been slapped with a record-breaking EUR 2.4 billion fine by European regulators  for abusing its dominant position in the fiercely competitive and rapidly expanding world of online shopping, NOVA TV, reported. 

Google has been fined 2.42bn euros by the European Commission after it ruled the company had abused its power by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results.
The amount is the regulator’s largest penalty to date against a company accused of distorting the market.