She is also a prime mover behind an overhaul of the EU’s merger guidelines, which in addition to traditional competition concerns would allow greater latitude for mergers that create so-called European champions.
“We have proposed updated Merger Guidelines — so that they recognize that European companies need scale to invest and compete globally,” von der Leyen told the International Space Summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
“This is precisely what Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo are trying to achieve with their proposed joint venture called Bromo,” she added. “These are the types of industrial champions we need if Europe is to lead in the space economy of tomorrow.”
The proposed space venture, called Bromo, seeks to challenge the Starlink satellite-internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which recently went public in the U.S. and is valued at €2 trillion.
Von der Leyen’s advocacy of European champions has put her at odds with Teresa Ribera, her deputy in charge of competition, who has repeatedly warned that the updated guidelines should not offer a blank check for corporations to merge at the expense of consumers.
“This transaction has not been formally notified to the Commission and we have no comment on it,” Commission competition spokesperson Ricardo Cardoso said.
Francesca Micheletti reported from Brussels. Jacob Parry contributed reporting from Brussels. Giorgio Leali contributed from Paris. This article has been updated.
