The European Parliament’s lead negotiator on competition policy is calling for an “independent” European competition authority to prevent political interference in EU competition cases, according to a draft of its annual report seen by Euractiv. French liberal MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, who serves as Parliament’s rapporteur for the report, is proposing the creation of an independent authority for competition matters that would operate separately from the EU’s executive branch and free from “political interference”. The proposed body would combine competition enforcement, merger control, state aid oversight, consumer policy and digital enforcement, according to the report. Under the current structure, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) is solely responsible for enforcing EU rules on competition, mergers and state aid. However, it shares responsibility with the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT) for enforcing the EU’s tech rulebook – namely the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA). The proposal for an independent enforcement authority comes amid recurring pressure from Washington and the Trump administration over the EU’s enforcement of its digital and competition rules against US tech companies. Last September, EU legislators criticised the Commission for allegedly delaying a fine against US tech giant Google related to anti-competitive practices in digital advertising markets. At the time, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič requested a delay in the decision due to deteriorating EU–US trade relations. Yon-Courtin cited the incident to justify the need for an independent authority. Yon-Courtin also told Euractiv that it was important to separate powers in competition-related cases because the Commission exercises almost “quasi-judicial powers” in such matters. The report further describes enforcement of the DMA as “suboptimal” and proposes introducing a “DMA fee” to address resource shortages within the Commission. The suggested fee would consist of a levy charged to tech companies falling within the scope of the DMA, enabling the regulator to better enforce the rules. A similar “supervisory fee” is already charged by the Commission under the DSA. Parliament’s annual competition report is expected to be negotiated by MEPs from other political groups within the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) before being put to a vote in plenary in July. EU trade chief brushes off criticism that he blocked Google fine Tech The EU’s Trade Commissioner dismissed criticisms over blocking a fine against tech giant Google over… 2 minutes