Margrethe Vestager

When a government gives special tax treatment to a few companies, that makes it hard for anyone else to compete on equal terms.

In Europe, we don't only take offence when one company is treating another company in a way that's illegal. We also look at if governments are joining up with companies that makes it more difficult for other companies. We also see that sometimes government actions can make it very difficult for businesses to compete on their merits.

If you're in a situation where your effective tax rate is so much lower than any other company, then obviously you have a much better position when it comes to compete on prices and everything else.

If you, as a company, can get a deal that I, as a company, cannot get, you can compete with me but not on the merits, because your tax burden is not the same as mine.

Basically, I come to Washington a couple of times a year, sort of on a strictly business basis: talk to my counterparts at the Federal Trade Commission, of the DOJ, give an occasional talk, very often in a lawyer or academic environment.

Dominant companies can't abuse their position to create advantage in related markets.

I was brought up with a very strong value that you should always protect the small and the few against those who want to misuse their muscle and weight in order to get what they weren't supposed to.

I think I am like anyone else. I respect other people and, of course, I expect that it works the other way around.

It is very important, to have a robust digital economy, that the citizens regain the trust in how their data are being processed and who can access them.

You need to have the advice from experienced people coming from different kinds of educational and backgrounds in general, and then you can make a decision. But you need people around you that you trust to give you advice, and you need to make sure that the facts of the case are presented.

Ours was a never a 'religious' religious home because my parents thought of religion as something you do: it's the way you engage in the local community. That has meant a lot to me.

I do not have an issue with specific countries or companies; what I'm interested in are schemes which allow for preferential treatment, for selectivity... If this has to change, it's countries that will have to change this.