- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ |
Thierry Breton: France's bulldozer at the EU crashes out
France's Thierry Breton became one of the European Union's most prominent faces in Brussels, gaining the reputation of a disrupter as he clashed with tech giants -- and even his own boss.
That strained relationship with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen was at the centre of the outspoken and spotlight-seeking Breton's dramatic resignation Monday from the European Commission.
With his distinctive, salt and pepper mane and his thick-framed black eyeglasses, his influence in Brussels was wide-ranging.
The bloc's internal market commissioner since 2019, he oversaw a defence industry push and marshalled the production of Covid jabs.
But he was better known for taking a hard line against abuses by the world's biggest digital platforms -- even sparring publicly with the billionaire boss of X, Elon Musk.
A former CEO of French tech and telecom firms, Breton was the first major business leader to arrive in the cosy world of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
He frequently gave media interviews and fired off quick quips on social media, building on his desire to be seen as an effector of change.
The centrist was outspoken in challenging von der Leyen -- and caused a stir earlier this year by publicly questioning the depth of support for her reelection within her centre-right European People's Party.
Breton also questioned her "transparency and impartiality" over the appointment of a political ally to a highly-paid post as small and medium-sized enterprises envoy.
- Tech enforcer -
The 69-year-old was seen by Paris as a key counterweight to Berlin's influence at the heart of the EU.
But, an engineer by training, Breton, did not have a smooth path into the commission.
The former French finance minister was French President Emmanuel Macron's second choice after a scandal surrounding his first.
His media prominence confounded some since Breton is not as eloquent an orator as other top officials in Paris and Brussels.
He was at times mocked for the length of his speeches and for the multiple ideas he introduced all at once in a disorderly fashion.
But he was in his element when he talked about digital issues and industry, after serving for several years as the head of several large French companies including France Telecom -- now Orange -- and Atos.
The resigning commissioner once had a wafer of semiconductor material in his hand as he launched into a long, technical explanation of electronic chips.
The EU's landmark laws taking on mainly US-based web giants, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), are among Breton's biggest achievements.
The rules demanded better policing of content online and curbed the market powers of companies, like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft.
"It's time to put some order in the digital 'Wild West'", he said in 2022.
Breton even went to see Musk in Texas to explain the rules that he would have to follow under the DSA. They were all smiles in a video that went viral.
- Wily figure -
Breton, a former professor of corporate governance at Harvard University and author of several science fiction novels, wanted a more sovereign Europe to better defend its interests against challenges from China and the United States.
His thinking was often in line with the French government, but he frequently insisted he spoke for Europe and not just Paris.
During the coronavirus pandemic, when the United States and Britain had successful deliveries of vaccines in 2021, the EU had fallen behind.
Von der Leyen appointed Breton to lead a task force to fix the situation, and his knowledge of the world of business came in handy.
With factory visits and frequent dialogue with pharma bosses, he faced down the Americans who blocked key components by threatening retaliation.
A wily figure, he had been tipped to get a promotion to be a commission vice president stewarding industrial growth, under von der Leyen's second term.
Instead he rocked Brussels by surprisingly quitting with immediate effect, claiming von der Leyen had sought at the last-minute to bar him from her incoming team.
I.Meyer--BTB