Margrethe Vestager, the high-flying Danish politician who has taken on Apple, Amazon and Google, will stay in charge of Europe’s competition rules and take charge of EU digital policy.

Appointed to an unprecedented second term as the EU’s competition commissioner, Vestager will also oversee EU digital policy and will have the job title of “executive vice-president, Europe fit for the digital age”.

Vestager, who said she was “happy for and humbled by the task ahead”, has been one of the most high-profile members of the current EU executive. Her competition job – in charge of vetting mergers and breaking up cartels – has always been a powerful position in the EU commission, and the Danish politician has won renown beyond Brussels by forcing Apple to pay €14bn in unpaid taxes and fining Facebook for misleading regulators.

The appointment was announced by the incoming European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, as she unveiled her lineup of EU commissioners.

Von der Leyen said Europe had to catch up in some aspects of digital technology. “We need to make the most of artificial intelligence and big data, we have to improve on cybersecurity and we have to work hard for our technological sovereignty.”

Vestager won international recognition – and angered Donald Trump – when EU investigations found abuse of market power or underpayment of corporate taxes at big tech companies. “Your tax lady, she really hates the US,” Trump said in 2018 – an accusation dismissed by Vestager.

In an interview with the Guardian last year, Vestager described how she feared technology could “deactivate democracy” as people retreated into their private news and information bubbles.

The new commission is due to take office on 1 November and must be confirmed by the European parliament.

In another surprise announcement, Italy’s former prime minister Paolo Gentiloni was nominated as EU economy commissioner. His appointment, if confirmed, means he will have to enforce the EU’s strict fiscal rules against his home country, one of the EU’s most indebted states.

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Gentiloni will report to Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis, the current commissioner in charge of the euro, who has been made executive vice-president for “an economy that works for people”.

France’s Sylvie Goulard will take charge of the EU’s internal market policy, while the Dutch commissioner Frans Timmermans will be in charge of climate change policy and enacting Von der Leyen’s plans for a green new deal.

Ireland’s Phil Hogan has been put in charge of EU trade policy, meaning he will negotiate ongoing trade deals with Australia and New Zealand as well as any future deal with post-Brexit Britain. He told the Irish Times it would take “a number of years” to craft a trade deal with the UK.

European commissioners swear an oath to act in the EU’s general interest rather than that of any government. The British government, which traditionally sought big economic jobs on trade, competition or financial services, did not nominate a commissioner, in line with its goal of quitting the EU on 31 October.