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Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Type |
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Starbucks Corporation | NASDAQ:SBUX | NASDAQ | Common Stock |
Price Change | % Change | Share Price | Bid Price | Offer Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Shares Traded | Last Trade | |
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0.48 | 0.64% | 74.92 | 74.91 | 74.95 | 75.145 | 73.35 | 74.90 | 23,883,659 | 00:59:42 |
By Tom Fairless
LONDON--Europe's top competition official launched a robust defense of her agency's independence on Thursday, denying suggestions she has pursued political goals in pursuing major overseas companies like Apple Inc. and Google Inc.
Margrethe Vestager, who took over as the EU's antitrust chief in November, rocked the business world in April by filing f ormal charges against Google and Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom in the same week--highly sensitive moves against two of the world's biggest and best-connected companies, from which her predecessor, Joaquín Almunia, had held back for years.
Ms. Vestager has also repeatedly deepened an investigation into the tax practices of multinationals that has embroiled companies including Amazon.com Inc. and Starbucks Corp.
Speaking on Thursday at Chatham House in London, Margrethe Vestager said that while the decision to prioritize specific sectors, such as energy and information technology, was political, she approached individual cases fairly and in accordance with the law.
"Some commentators have been quick to make political inferences," Ms. Vestager said.
But "independence is simply nonnegotiable," she said.
The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm and top antitrust authority, acts as prosecutor, judge and jury in competition cases, giving it greater powers than U.S. antitrust agencies, which must defend their cases before a judge.
Ms. Vestager admitted that the commission does consciously prioritize antitrust cases where it believes that action "would have a multiplier effect with [its] wider political priorities."
The Commission has announced a number of key objectives for its current five-year term, including deepening the bloc's single market in the digital and energy sectors, and ensuring all companies pay their fair share of tax.
"There should be no doubt that I will do my part to advise the commission's broader objectives," Ms. Vestager said.
But to the question of whether EU competition policy is politicized in individual cases, Ms Vestager said the answer is "a resounding no."
She stressed that her agency has to defend its decisions against legal challenges in the courts.
"We are committed to the principles of fairness, good administration, transparency and good process," she said.
"There is simply no room to spare...for political interference."
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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