*

Ribera must secure European Parliament's approval before

taking

up her post

*

She will oversee compliance with the Digital Markets Act

by Big

Tech

*

Ribera also named executive VP for clean, competitive

energy

transition

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Teresa Ribera will have to

square up to Big Tech, banks and airlines if confirmed as

Europe's new antitrust chief, while juggling calls for looser

rules to help create EU champions.

Nominated by European Commission President Ursula von der

Leyen for the high-profile antitrust post on Tuesday, Ribera has

been Spain's minister for ecological transition since 2018.

The 55-year-old Spanish socialist, one of Europe's most

ambitious policymakers on climate change, will have to secure

European Parliament approval before taking up her post.

As competition commissioner, she will be able to approve or

veto multi-billion euro mergers or slap hefty fines on companies

seeking to bolster their market power by throttling smaller

rivals or illegally teaming up to fix prices.

One of her biggest challenges will be to ensure that Amazon ( AMZN )

, Apple ( AAPL ), Alphabet's Google, Microsoft ( MSFT )

and Meta comply with landmark rules aimed at

reining in their power and giving consumers more choice.

Apple ( AAPL ), Google and Meta are firmly in outgoing EU antitrust chief

Margrethe Vestager's crosshairs for falling short of complying

with the Digital Markets Act.

Another challenge will be how to deal with the increasing

popularity of artificial intelligence amid concerns about Big

Tech leveraging its existing dominance.

Ribera may ramp up a crackdown on non-EU state subsidies

begun by Vestager aimed at preventing foreign companies from

acquiring EU businesses or taking part in EU public tenders with

unfair state support.

Recent rulings from Europe's highest court, which backed the

Commission's 13 billion euro tax order to Apple ( AAPL ), and its 2.42

billion euro antitrust fine against Google, could embolden

Ribera to take a tough line against antitrust violations.

That would mean she would be in no hurry to ease up on antitrust

rules, despite Mario Draghi's call to boost EU industrial

champions so that they are able to compete with U.S. and Chinese

competitors.

Ribera was also named on Tuesday as executive vice president

of a clean, just and competitive energy transition, tasked with

ensuring that Europe achieves its green goals.

Her credentials include negotiating deals among EU countries

on emissions limits for trucks and a contentious upgrade of EU

power market rules last year.