BRUSSELS — Competition policy should be enforced at EU level by an authority that is independent of the bloc’s Brussels-based executive, a top European lawmaker has demanded.The European Parliament’s annual competition report, anchored by Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, a French lawmaker for the liberal Renew group, calls for the European Union to have “a real independent European Competition Authority under democratic oversight.”The report is advisory, but its thrust reflects concern in the Brussels bubble over the increasing politicization of European competition policy. This is overseen by a Commission department, DG COMP, which rules on multibillion-dollar mergers and enforces the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that regulates dominant tech platforms like Google or Amazon.On mergers, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has taken a more active interest, calling for the rules to be relaxed to allow the creation of “European champions” capable of competing at global scale. The DMA has, meanwhile, become a bone of contention in the transatlantic relationship because nearly all of the Big Tech platforms it covers are American.Yon-Courtin — a former antitrust official at the French Competition Authority — said in the seven-page report, seen by POLITICO ahead of publication on Wednesday, that creating a well-staffed independent watchdog would enable the integration of antitrust enforcement, merger control, state aid, consumer policy and digital regulation.“Europe cannot grow stronger if it hesitates to enforce its own rulebook in the face of external political pressure. But our competition policy is not supposed to be about politics; it is about competitiveness, consumers, and fair markets in Europe,” the MEP told POLITICO as she made the case for an independent EU competition authority. Political priceThe Commission — and particularly its competition arm headed by Teresa Ribera — has faced criticism from policymakers and commentators who argue that its enforcement actions against U.S. Big Tech have at times appeared cautious or hesitant.Ribera hit Google with a €3 billion fine last September for abusing its dominant position in the market for online advertising. But she stopped short of pressing for the search giant to be broken up. That option is still on the table should the remedies proposed by Google fall short, but seems unlikely as it would require a joint effort on both sides of the Atlantic.The Spanish socialist, whose official job title is “executive vice president for clean, just and competitive transition,” also has a broad remit that has exposed her to criticism among high-powered lawyers and corporate lobbyists that she hasn’t given adequate priority to competition policy and enforcement.Critics suggest that her perceived caution may partly reflect broader geopolitical sensitivities, including concerns about transatlantic tensions and the risk of political or trade backlash from Washington following the return of Donald Trump to the White House.Arm’s lengthNational competition authorities in Europe typically operate at arm’s length to their governments, leading Yon-Courtin to wonder “why should the European one be the exception?”This is done to avoid the politicization of antitrust decisions, although governments usually can initiate takeover investigations — as was the case in Belgium when Live Nation bid for Belgian music festival Pukkelpop, and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority’s probed the Daily Mail’s offer to buy the Telegraph.While there have been several calls to create a separate agency for competition, such a change would require a change in the EU treaties — for which there’s little appetite in EU capitals.The report was due to be presented on Wednesday to lawmakers in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, who can then propose amendments by March 20, according to a provisional timeline. The draft report, including the amendments, would go to a committee vote in June and then final approval in a plenary vote in July.