Brussels, 26 November 2024
Today, the European Commission has appointed Anthony Whelan as Deputy Director-General for ´State aid policy´ at the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP).
This Commission department works to ensure that all companies compete equally and fairly on their merits within the single market, to the benefit of consumers, businesses and the European economy as a whole. The date of effect of this decision will be determined later.
Anthony Whelan brings profound expertise to the role with a distinguished 24-year career at the European Commission and a wealth of experience working in several Commission Cabinets, the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), and the Commission legal service. He is an accomplished expert in EU law, competition law, and telecommunications policy, with extensive experience in senior roles at the European Commission. He has demonstrated exceptional leadership, managing large teams, negotiating legislation and individual case files, and providing strategic advice on digital, competition, and industrial policies.
Currently, Mr Whelan, an Irish national, serves as digital adviser in the Cabinet of President von der Leyen, responsible for digital, competition, internal market and industrial policy, and defence industry and space since 2019. He was acting as Head of Cabinet between April and June 2024. Before his current role, he was Director at DG CONNECT, standing at the helm for all aspects of telecommunications policy, regulation, and for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Prior to that, he served as a Head of Unit responsible for radio spectrum policy in the same DG. From 2006 – 2013, he brought his broad range of legal and policy expertise to the Cabinet of Commissioner Neelie Kroes, Commissioner responsible for Competition Policy and later for Digital Policy, and subsequently assumed the role of her Head of Cabinet. In both of these roles, Mr Whelan strategically guided the work of the Cabinets in those fields. He also spent over 5 years at the Commission’s Legal Service, working closely with DG COMP on cases, legislation, and litigation before the EU Courts in the fields of cartels, abuse of dominance and merger control. He previously worked for 5 years in the cabinet of Advocate General Nial Fennelly at the Court of Justice of the EU. With an academic background in law, Mr Whelan first joined the Commission in 2000.
Source – EU Commission