--- description: Margrethe Vestager is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Helle Thorning-Schmidt wrote about the Danish politician. title: Margrethe Vestager by Helle Thorning-Schmidt: TIME 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbb544c8b64738eb/6988c3362dce017f2a9ed126/time-100-2017-margrethe-vestager.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 19, 2017 # Margrethe Vestager by Helle Thorning-Schmidt  Photograph by Eric Herchaft—Redux As a Prime Minister responsible for appointing the next Danish European Commissioner, I knew that I was looking for a high-profile politician who really understood what it takes to influence European policy­making, had a real passion for European cooperation and would make Denmark proud. Margrethe Vestager was the perfect candidate on all counts, and she has truly delivered. As the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe knows that the buck stops with her, and she makes the tough, controversial decisions as only a true leader can. But Margrethe is not a technocrat. She bases all her decisions on the values that are close to her heart: fair play and opportunity for all. Europe needs more women like Margrethe Vestager. _Thorning-Schmidt, a former Prime Minister of Denmark, is the CEO of Save the Children International_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742758/margrethe-vestager/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742758/margrethe-vestager/"},"headline":"Margrethe Vestager","datePublished":"2017-04-19T18:03:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:25.332Z","description":"Margrethe Vestager is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Helle Thorning-Schmidt wrote about the Danish politician.","url":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742758/margrethe-vestager/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbb544c8b64738eb/6988c3362dce017f2a9ed126/time-100-2017-margrethe-vestager.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbb544c8b64738eb/6988c3362dce017f2a9ed126/time-100-2017-margrethe-vestager.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742758/margrethe-vestager/","name":"Margrethe Vestager"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See All the TIME 100 Honorees in One Minute","description":"The TIME 100 honorees include actors, musicians, politicians, business leaders, activists and scientists, and together make a portrait of influence in 2017.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zZCdrcRA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-20T10:30:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zZCdrcRA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742758/margrethe-vestager/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742758/margrethe-vestager/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```