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Germany has taken over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at a time of major challenges for the competitive order in Europe. The COVID-19 crisis poses a long-term threat to economic stability. As a result of the recession and structural changes, market concentration will increase in many sectors. The surge in digitalisation accompanying the crisis will further strengthen the market power of the leading digital conglomerates. China is also placing a growing burden on European companies in the single market by supporting state-owned and private enterprises as part of its economic policy and influencing their actions. Strengthening the competition framework during the crisis will be one of the major tasks of the German Council Presidency. What is needed is an alternative to industrial policy approaches that would permanently damage competition in the single market and thus jeopardise a central element of the European economic order.