He was also Commissioner for Transport, from 2008 to 2010 when he initiated the new EU Regulation on Passenger rights. From 2010 to 2014 as Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, he directed European initiatives on the real economy (services, professionals, manufacturing industry, SMEs, agriculture, fisheries, tourism). In this context, he promoted a strategy for an “Industrial Renaissance for Europe.”

Antonio Tajani decided to give back in November 2014, 468,000 euros which he was entitled to receive as a former European Commissioner. In the letter written by Tajani and addressed to Barroso, then President of the European Commission, he said that “in difficult time, the politicians should give the example of sobriety and solidarity to the European citizens who are obliged to take sacrifices.”