Tough Confirmation for E.U.'s Ex-Antitrust Chief

With her aggressive antitrust prosecutions, Neelie Kroes, the European Union's former competition commissioner, should be one of the last officeholders on the Continent who needed to prove her pro-consumer credentials. But that is exactly what Ms. Kroes, a 68-year-old Dutch economist, is expected to do Thursday when she answers questions from a committee of the European Parliament considering her nomination as commissioner for the bloc's digital agenda, which includes telecommunications and the Internet. And despite bringing the technology giants Intel and Microsoft to heel, as well as reining in Europe's largest energy and asphalt companies, support for Ms. Kroes is not a given. Despite her successful five-year tenure, which cemented Europe's position as the world's technology regulator, Ms. Kroes remains relatively unknown among many in Parliament, who play no direct role in competition cases and until now have had few dealings with her.