Profile: Neelie Kroes

The radical break-up of Britain's banking system has been forced through by the campaigning EU competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes. Brussels has taken a strong line against state aid to EU industries and Kroes pressed the British government to win large concessions from the banks in return for their extensive state bailout.

Kroes is a former Dutch liberal politician who was appointed as the EU's top antitrust official – one of the most powerful jobs in Brussels – in 2004. Initially, she attracted controversy because of her close ties to big business, with her critics claiming she would not be tough enough. At the time of her appointment, she was on the supervisory boards of O2, Volvo, Thales, Lucent Technologies, Dutch Railways and Royal P&O Nedlloyd, but resigned from them all before taking the EU post.

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Brussels has far-reaching powers to rule on takeovers of large EU companies, government aid to business and industry competition. Kroes has not been cowed by powerful adversaries, tackling Microsoft about its clout in the software market and pushing for more competition in banking.

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