Rita Wezenbeek Director Platforms and acting Director Connectivity, DG-Connect, European Commission
Rita Wezenbeek is Director of Platforms in DG CONNECT. The Platforms Directorate is in charge of policies and regulations applicable to online intermediary services, including the supervision of the implementation and enforcement of the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act (the latter jointly with DG COMP). These two new Regulations establish strong rules to ensure a safe, fair and open platform economy for European citizens and businesses, and give the Commission significant regulatory powers over “gatekeepers” as well as very large platforms and search engines.
Rita is also Acting Director Connectivity in DG CONNECT. The Connectivity Directorate’s mission is to ensure widespread access to and take-up of gigabit and 5G networks for all citizens and businesses of the European Union, as one of the key targets of the Commission’s Communication “The 2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade”. As such, the Directorate deals with the preparation of a collaborative governance framework for the Digital Decade. It also develops policies in the area of electronic communications, fostering private and public investment in gigabit networks, and ensuring that Member States efficiently manage and use harmonised spectrum. Furthermore, it shares the responsibility for monitoring and reviewing the digital parts of EU Member States’ Recovery and Resilience Plans. More broadly, the Directorate deals with the application and enforcement of the European regulatory framework on electronic communications.
Rita joined the European Commission in 2002. Before moving to DG CONNECT in December 2020, she was the head of the units dealing with Anti-Trust and Telecommunications (2017-2020) and Retail Financial Services and Payment Systems (2010-2017) in DG Competition.
Before joining the Commission, Rita worked for sixteen years as a private lawyer, specialized in European and corporate law, in a Dutch/ Belgian law firm. She also was a Member of the Commission on European Integration, an independent advisory body on foreign policy to the Dutch government and Parliament.
