Cecilio Madero Villarejo

Cecilio Madero Villarejo studied law at the Complutense University in Madrid. He started his professional life at Banco Bilbao (BB) in Spain where he worked for 5 years. In 1987 he joined the European Commission (DG Competition). As an official in charge of competition investigations, during the period 1987-1995, he was entrusted with the adjustment of State monopolies (oil, alcohol and tobacco) and regulatory and antitrust work related to the completion of the internal energy market (gas and electricity). In 1995, he was appointed Head of Division in charge of a State aid Unit supervising the textile, papers, chemical, pharmaceutical, electronic industry, mechanical engineering and other manufacturing sectors. Between 1999 and 2006, he was Head of Unit in charge of Information Industries, Internet and Consumer Electronics. In October 2006, he was appointed Director for Services, followed in August 2007 by his appointment as Director for Information, Communication and Media of DG Competition. In November 2010, he became Acting Deputy Director-General for Mergers and Antitrust and in May 2011, he was appointed Deputy Director-General for Antitrust and Cartels of DG Competition. Since then, he supervises the work of DG COMP on this key part of its activity (Antitrust and Cartels). He became Acting Director-General DG COMP between 1 June 2019 and 31 December 2019. He was Deputy Director-General for Mergers from 1 March 2019 to 31 May 2019 and from January to September 2020 when he retired. His experience with the Commission spans 32 years during which his career has been heavily focused on competition and single market policies and European integration.