Silicon Valley's worst nightmare? Vestager is back as EC competition chief and more powerful than ever

Camino Mortera-Martinez, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, says the decision to couple competition law and digital issues for the first time is important. 

"Digital stands for everything, from security, to jobs, to the economy and civil rights," she explains. "By tying it to competition law, which has been used as a geopolitical tool, you risk alienating the partners that you need to work closely together with you.”

Mortera-Martinez argues that tech giants are unlikely to warm to the woman who hands them multi-million euro fines and then asks them to line up to invest in European tech. 

"She is a policewoman who is going up to the Googles and Amazons  for abusing their positions and the next day sit down with them and ask for cooperation on the code of conduct and GDPR."