YouSaid · the spoken record

Margrethe Vestager

lines on the record: 78
first: 2016-09-20
most recent: 2016-09-20
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Well, it depends very much on the instrument. If it's an antitrust case, we can do basically two kind of decisions, either a prohibition with a fine, or we can do binding commitments. And as long as the company then honor those commitments, there will be no fine. If it's a merger issue, well, we always, of course, try to clear a merger because we want to enable business community to move on. If the merger is threatening sort of the competitive environment, they may offer divestments to facilitate competition. And when it comes to state aid, well, then unfortunately sometimes we have these negative decisions where the state then have to recover unpaid taxes or grants or interests if it's a very favorable loan. So the instruments wary and they're very different. They all have the same purpose to enable fair competition.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, yes, they do. Sometimes I think they're breathing through their phones, but it's, I think to a large degree all the bad things being said, it's a great enabler. Because it allows you to stay in touch and to have sometimes very different relationship than we used to have back then when I was their age.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, I use iPhone. I have two, one for work and one for private things. And I try to stay on top of things, but having young daughters, I realize that it may be out of reach to be as, what is it that they call it, native in our digital world.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I think it's very difficult to talk about Europe as one thing because you find different sentiments in different parts of Europe. I come from a country, it is small, I realize that, of course, but where you find that almost everything American is being embraced. And in other countries, you find a different level of skepticism. So that would be quite diverse. What member states you go to, what would be sort of the approach and the appearance. But I think in general, if you boil it down, there is a great appreciation of shared values. And a transatlantic partnership.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Same thing around data Now, we've got to finish up because I know you have places to go to important meetings in Washington. But do you agree with the idea that Europe is hostile to U.S. companies, or how do you put that back? Because I asked that question to President Obama. How do you answer that?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Why you see you find in the accounts of Apple Sales International already back then, I think in 2003, a statement saying that they realized that they pay low tax compared to the Irish tax code as such. And obviously I think on that realization it is completely honest thing to place yourself where the tax code is favorable to any company in Ireland. It is 12.5%. I'm the one promoting it the most in these days. And that, of course, you can have the advantages of a favorable tax code. But that is another thing that you as a specific company getting a specific advantage not open to your competitors, to other businesses looking for funding or employees or whatever. And I think as part of the corporate responsibility is to make sure that not only most companies pay their taxes, but that all companies pay their taxes.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, what do you as companies have to do to change? Because they seem to be just opposing you rather strongly, which I think is the first move of any company when they feel themselves under legal attack.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was nobody, it was the magic back then. It was hard work. It was engaging your community. It was fairness. And, you know, I think these are very strong values For everyone to contribute and for everyone to do what they should in the marketplace in the community.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, but you know when I was a child there was no Harry Potter and the magic of Hockwoods. It was Laura Ingalls, which was the series I read over and over and over again. And the magic back then.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But no, I don't think so. And I think if it was sort of the era where chemical businesses was those who sort of said the agenda, who was the driving forces in the economy, well, then you would find a lot of German cases on our table because a lot of our chemical industry is German. I think it is much more because that is the new industry, it is where you find the driving forces in our economy. And that was also traditionally where you find most antitrust cases. Not because they are US companies, but because that is where they are.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, well, you find any kind of business because I'm talking about tech businesses. Yeah, but when you find state aid, I think there is no sort of preferred taste. You would both find sort of traditional manufacturing businesses just as well as tech businesses.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of bias because one of our fundamental values is that we enforce competition law no matter the size of the company, if you are publicly or privately owned, if you are a EU national or your own by someone else in the global marketplace. And when I look into murder control, antitrust state aid control, I find no US bias. That of course do not take feelings away. I realize that completely. But if you look at, for instance, in state aid cases over the last 15 years from 2000 to 2015, well, we've done 150 cases with negative decisions where recovery has been ordered. And I think only”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Aiming, I hate to use words like that, but at Google, Facebook, Apple. Who haven't you? I'm just trying to think of, you've been doing some tough actions against them with Google especially, but also with Facebook and WhatsApp after you all approved the merger that happened, the use of data and things like that. When I was interviewing President Obama, I asked him about these different actions, and he said that it smacks a little bit of protectionism. How do you answer that? Because all the Silicon Valley companies say the same things, that Europe's being too protective of its own companies, and that most of the tech companies that are competitive these days are U.S. companies. So it's an attempt to slow down inevitably more innovative U.S. companies. How do you react to that? It's not me saying this.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, first of all, we got complaints about it, and then we found evidence, which makes us think that they actually did it. And some of the consequences may of course be that the smaller companies may find that it's not anymore worthwhile to try to do something new because they will never be able to show it to the customer, the potential customer.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, you know, in Europe, we would congratulate anyone who's successful And you can grow and you can be dominant, and we have done that. But congratulations stops. If we find that you start to misuse a dominant position.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think it's It's a good thing to make it, both to make money and to be a success in the marketplace, to get the attention of customers. That's the very sort of basics. Otherwise, no jobs would be created. And I think that I don't sort of, I'm not in the business of pointing fingers or blaming companies because I think for most companies it's completely open and honest thing that they want to do business and they want to do great. But there is a limit to everything.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Do you think these companies are doing things? Some, are they malevolent or they just want to grab every piece of data possible in order to facilitate their businesses? How do you look at them as a regulator?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I think that comes from a very strong European culture of wanting to know that, well, I know who I am, and I know my relationship with the people who sells me things, and I would like to be in control.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Data on what's anyone, you know, excited about the new opportunities At the same time, while you find that there must be, you know, reasonable protection, that I own my pictures, my data, that I can control them, who are they given to, and what are they used for?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I think you have more things that play at the same time because you'd find that some US companies are doing better in Europe than they do here.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Do you imagine there's ever not a gulf existing because the privacy issues in Europe, they have much stronger protections, there's much different cultural attitudes towards protections, and yet they've all embraced these digital technologies largely right now from the US. Is there a place of, is there a center place or not, or just that they have to live by your rules when they're operating in Europe?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So for us, it's part of the trust in the market that we have this regulation. And the European Parliament and our Council passed legislation some months ago, which will be in place by twenty eighteen, which will be simpler but also stronger in order to enable citizens to feel that they are in control.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“As a small individual in this gigantic market, you don't have to know everything yourself because there are laws to protect you. So that you can trust the market and the services that you use to be there for you.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“there yes but i i think then we have different traditions because in in europe we have had a a single market which has been sort of framed with democratic decision making from the very beginning Democratic decision making on safety standard, environmental standards, consumer protection, privacy protection, etc. So for us, it's a very strong tradition to say, well,”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Why do you not believe individuals can make these decisions themselves for themselves? I mean, that's the US argument is that or the US company's argument is that individuals should be able to make these decisions for themselves and regulators in Europe should not be the ones making that for them mouthing their.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of our digital economy And in order to build up trust, I think it is very, very important that we enforce privacy rules, that we get privacy by design In new services so that privacy is not just an add-on, but it is the very basic in the way you do the services.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So people realize this to completely different level, and what we see in Europe is a huge proportion of citizens find that they are not in control. They distrust the companies to protect their data, and I think that is very bad because then there is a risk that of withdrawing from all the benefits.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So you pay with one currency or another, either cents, euro cents or euro cents, or you pay with your data, or you pay with the advertisements meant that you accept. So, of course, you pay. And I think people become more and more aware Of the fact that their personal data actually do have a value.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“When we get into this idea of data, I think a lot of it is what if they paid for their services? What if people paid for services from these people? Would that assuage the problem if you got the Google server, then you got to pick what you wanted and paid for it?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But it is not for me or my services to redo what they do. And actually a number of things are different also in the Google market share in the US compared to Europe. So, even though we work together very, very closely on a number of cases, of course, we completely accept. If we do things and they don't.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Did you find the US had looked into these issues, similar issues, and passed? What did you think of that when they did that? Both the FTC, all kinds of government agencies, and then they, to me, they rolled over quite a bit on a lot of these issues. Said they couldn't find proof, they couldn't”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, actually not. Of course you can find similarities between the cases, but since so many things have changed before then, I think there are a number of differences as well. Such as the environment where they work, it's two different companies with different behavior, different corporate cultures, and also the way we behave as customers and the competitive landscape is very different from what it was.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But what we have found in the Android case is that since it's open source, you can do an Android fork, but it seems to be very, very difficult to find a manufacturer that would actually produce a phone for you to put your Android Android fork. And we have found that it was very difficult to get, for instance, a Google search without also taking more Google services on board to have a full Google Suite so that when you open your box and you have the out of the box experience, it is a Google experience and then it's a one-way Google Street. And it's very difficult to find a turn to go somewhere else.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Obviously, they are innovating. You know, I am so old that I can remember the internet before Google search. So obviously for a number of reasons, it's an amazing company that has produced amazing products that have enabled a number of amazing and very good things”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Two different things. What are they doing precisely from your point of view that they're doing that? They feel that they're innovative and they're the best. They have 90% of the market in Europe now, I think. It's something like that.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's a great thing, but the thing is that if you then adopt a behavior where you do something which is not by the book in Europe in order to stay dominant.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But I think everyone is thinking about it. And I think a lot of citizens very much appreciate it that now you can be on the go absolutely. Absolutely. But I think that they.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Right, right. Well, I think that was the point of them inventing Android. I believe to keep Search going in the mobile environment. I think they don't really not say that because I think they had issues around the desktop search dying.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Because Android is, in my view, a very, very interesting operating system. It's open source. A lot of good things can be said about it. So it's not the Android system as such. It is the way that it is used with manufacturers of original equipment in order seemingly to make sure that when you open the box and you get the first-hand experience, it's a Google experience. And then why look for something else?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think that triggered a number of the complaints that they found that it was very difficult to compete in a market where Google was so dominant. Second case is a case about advertising. How can sort of intermediaries be in this very valuable market where Google put a number of restrictions as to where should our ads be put, what number of them. And then we have the third case, which is a case where we have found that Android is being used as a tool to enable Google to stay dominant also when our search becomes mobile.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“What the Commission acted upon then was complaints from a number of both European and US companies. Who found that Google practices were harmful for them? So now we have three different cases, and we have set what we call a statement of objection in all three cases. First one is a case where we found that Google used their dominance in general search to promote themselves in a neighboring market. Shopping comparison?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, actually, the thing is that what we are aiming at is a certain behavior. And the cases started long time ago with my predecessor.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Back with Margareta Vestager, Europe's Commissioner for Competition, who has become a controversial figure in Silicon Valley for a bunch of things, including declaring that Apple owed $15 billion, $14 billion in back taxes and possible interest, and some other things. But one of the areas that she's really been tough on with Silicon Valley, with Google, Facebook, and others is data. Data is a big issue all over the world. Privacy is also a big issue. You brought formal antitrust charges against Google on a number of issues around Android or around its services, antitrust issues around its services, and then most recently about its advertising practices. Talk a little bit about going after Google in Europe.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, but the thing is that also we have taken decisions on Fiat, the European car company and Starbucks and the Belgian scheme where a number of European multinationals were involved. And to me, the important thing is that Citizens find that someone is looking after that not only most companies but all companies do pay their taxes.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, the thing is that we try to stay sort of clear of the politics. Because we cannot allow that to interfere with the casework”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That depends When you were doing this, obviously, this is the most famous company in the world, one of them, one of the most famous companies in the world. Some people called you a superheroine for doing it, others not so much. It's sort of the opposite. What kind of political pressure are you under when you pull out the big names like this, where you go after these companies?”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That depends very much on themselves. But for us, since what we do in this third tool of competition law enforcement, we deal with the governments. It's the government, it is the state to whom we direct the decision.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, the next thing to happen is for Ireland to themselves to calculate the unpaid taxes. for the unpaid taxes to be recovered, put in an ESCO account, closed account, and then the Irish have said that they will appeal the case. And then, of course, the court will start its proceedings.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And here you talk about profits being generated in Europe and booked by Apple themselves in Europe. Which is why we think they should also be taxed in Europe. Then very often you would have tax treaties to make sure that you do not have double taxation. Sure. That you get a tax credit when you pay taxes in other countries. But then again, it is important to make sure that those tax treaties do not then enable double non-taxation. Because they actually have the opposite aim”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, we have two different tax system, not that I in any detail know the US tax system, but you have a more sort of a global approach. Where in Europe we would think that profits are to be taxed where profits are generated. Right.”
2016-09-20 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT