Neelie Kroes - Agenda Setters 2008

Name: Neelie Kroes

Title: Europe competition commissioner

Position: 32    Last year: Not ranked

Why? Keeping tech giants in check

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• Jonney Shih
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• Edward Wray

Although Europe competition commissioner Neelie Kroes didn't earn a place in the Agenda Setters 50 last year, she's made several appearances over the years, mainly as a result of the Competition Commission's landmark antitrust case against Microsoft.

After taking over the case from former Commissioner Mario Monti in 2004, Kroes has proved she's not afraid to take decisive action, slapping Microsoft with a €899m fine when the company failed to comply with the Commission's 2004 decision.

Microsoft is not the only tech giant in Kroes sights, though: the Competition Commission is also examining the effect of the advertising tie-up between Yahoo! and Google on the European market.

Her ongoing work keeping tech giants on the right side of the antitrust line lands Kroes her Agenda Setter's spot this year. As one panellist put it, Kroes is "a key force for the return of competition into the European IT market".