· web view{econ}committee on economic and monetary affairs 2020/2223(ini)

European Parliament2019-2024

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

2020/2223(INI)

3.2.2021

AMENDMENTS1 - 356Draft reportDerk Jan Eppink(PE661.935v02-00)

Competition policy – annual report 2020(2020/2223(INI))

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Amendment 1Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionCitation 5 a (new)

Motion for a resolution Amendment

- having regard to the 2030 Greenhouse gas emissions target of the EU as endorsed by the EU leaders in December 2020,

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Amendment 2Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionCitation 5 b (new)


- having regard to the Commission Communication and roadmap of 11 December 2019 on the European Green Deal2a,

_________________2a https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:b828d165-1c22-11ea-8c1f-01aa75ed71a1.0002.02/DOC_1&format=PDF

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Amendment 3Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionCitation 5 c (new)


- having regard to the Commission Communication of 20 May 2020 on EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 to protect the fragile natural resources on our

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planet3a,

_________________3a https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0380&qid=1612254399004

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Amendment 4Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionCitation 5 d (new)


- having regard to the Commission Communication of 11 March 2020 on a new Circular Economy Action Plan for a Cleaner and More Competitive Europe4a,

_________________4a https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0098&qid=1612254510514

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Amendment 5Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Ondřej Kovařík, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionCitation 10 a (new)


- having regard to the Council conclusions of 22 March 2019 on "Jobs, Growth and Competitiveness",

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Amendment 6Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionCitation 12 a (new)


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- having regard to the Commission Notices to Stakeholders of 2 December 2020 and 18 January 2021 on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom and the EU rules in the fields of competition and State aid,

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Amendment 7Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionCitation 16 a (new)


- having regard to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority's research paper of 19 January 2021 entitled "Algorithms: How they can reduce competition and harm consumers",

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Amendment 8Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionCitation 16 b (new)


- having regard to the Commission’s decision of 17 December 2020 to clear the acquisition of Fitbit by Google, subject to conditions,

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Amendment 9Gunnar BeckMotion for a resolutionCitation 18 a (new)


- having regard to Commissioner Vestager´s comments in Handelsblatt of 1 December 2020, "EU-Kommission bremst bei Staatshilfen für die Deutsche Bahn",

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Amendment 10Gunnar BeckMotion for a resolutionCitation 18 b (new)


- having regard to General Court rulings T-778/16 and T-892/16 regarding the Commission´s tax package,

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Amendment 11Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionRecital A


A. whereas EU competition policy is designed to maintain an open market economy with free, fair and effective competition favouring an efficient allocation of resources;

A. whereas EU competition policy must benefit all EU citizens, while promoting innovation and fair competition in the single market, paying particular attention to the SMEs and a level playing field;

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Amendment 12Alfred SantMotion for a resolutionRecital A



A. whereas EU competition policy is designed to maintain an open market economy with free, fair and effective competition favouring an efficient allocation of resources to the benefit of all EU citizens, especially those in a weak consumer position;

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Amendment 13

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Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital A



A. whereas EU competition policy is designed to maintain an open market economy with free, fair and effective competition favouring an efficient allocation of resources; whereas this fundamental objective remains relevant also in crisis conditions;

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Amendment 14Markus FerberMotion for a resolutionRecital A a (new)


A a. whereas consumers benefit from competitive markets resulting in lower prices and wider choices of products;

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Amendment 15Pina PiciernoMotion for a resolutionRecital B


B. whereas the Commission responded to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis promptly by adopting special competition rules which should remain temporary;

B. whereas the Commission responded to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis promptly by adopting special temporary competition rules in response to a a serious disturbance of the European economy;

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Amendment 16Bogdan RzońcaMotion for a resolutionRecital B

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B. whereas the Commission responded to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis promptly by adopting special competition rules which should remain temporary;

B. whereas the Commission responded to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis promptly by adopting special state aid rules which should remain temporary;

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Amendment 17Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Paul Tang, Evelyn RegnerMotion for a resolutionRecital B a (new)


B a. whereas exceptional and temporary measures to respond to the pandemic should not be applied in disguise of anticompetitive behaviour, nor be exploited by financially already unhealthy companies to receive additional aid without the necessary and effective restructuring plans and whereas all aid should be designed and granted in an economically and socially responsible manner; whereas in the long run, companies should commit to resume their contribution to sustainable development goals for social, economic and environmental wellbeing and for the fight against climate change;

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Amendment 18Pina PiciernoMotion for a resolutionRecital B a (new)


Ba. whereas there is a need to remedy this serious disturbance through the targeted use of aid instruments, in order to promote employment and business competitiveness;

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Amendment 19Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital B a (new)


B a. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of digitalisation;

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Amendment 20Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionRecital B b (new)


B b. whereas competition policy should address efficiently social, digital and environmental challenges, and must be in line with the priorities outlined in the European Green Deal and the objectives of the Paris Agreement;

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Amendment 21Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionRecital B c (new)


B c. whereas the rapid emergence and evolution of digital markets poses new challenges to the effectiveness of competition policy, especially in the field of antitrust rules where so far, ex ante interventions are not allowed;

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Amendment 22Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner,

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Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionRecital B d (new)


B d. whereas data scandals, investigations and evidence have shown how personal date is being collected and stored often in an excessive data storage manner, as well as used and sold to third parties by platforms and how dominant technology players and platforms have been tracking consumers online systematically;

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Amendment 23Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionRecital C


C. whereas smart reconciliation of the Union’s competition rules with its industrial and international trade policies is essential for re-shoring value chain activities and bolstering global competitiveness;

C. whereas smart reconciliation of the Union’s competition rules with its industrial and international trade policies is essential for reaching the objectives under the European Green Deal and the Pillar of Social Rights while securing and creating decent jobs in the EU and third countries; whereas the Commission is currently carrying out a general review of competition policy enforcement effectiveness including antitrust regulations, a number of State aid rules and guidance, and the evaluation of merger control rules and the review of the Merger Definition Notice;

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Amendment 24Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionRecital C

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C. whereas smart reconciliation of the Union’s competition rules with its industrial, environmental, digital and international trade policies is essential for ensuring a level playing field in all sectors, re-shoring value chain activities and bolstering global competitiveness;

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Amendment 25Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital C



C. whereas a smart reconciliation of the Union’s competition rules with its industrial and international trade policies is essential for re-shoring value chain activities and bolstering global competitiveness, thus contributing to an SME-friendly trade environment;

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Amendment 26Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital C a (new)


C a. whereas the increasing challenges of competing with a deeply subsidised big economy like the Chinese one require measures to strengthen EU companies facing non-EU competitors;

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Amendment 27Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionRecital C a (new)

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C a. whereas the European Council endorsed a new binding 2030 target of a net domestic reduction of at least 55% in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990;

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Amendment 28Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital C b (new)


C b. whereas an open market architecture in trading and clearing allowing for genuine competition amongst market infrastructures is key for preserving and strengthening the resilience of EU capital markets, incentivising market-led innovations, and thus delivering better outcomes for pensioners, businesses and investors;

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Amendment 29Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionRecital C b (new)


C b. whereas full coherence between the Union’s policy goals in the framework of the Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals on the one hand and competition rules on the other is necessary;

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Amendment 30Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Alfred SantMotion for a resolution

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Recital D a (new)


D a. whereas given that recent data scandals, investigations and evidence have shown how personal data is being collected, used and sold to third parties by platforms and how dominant technology players and platforms have been tracking consumers online systematically;

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Amendment 31Paul TangMotion for a resolutionRecital D a (new)


D a. whereas analysts predict1a Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet Inc. (Google) will collectively capture 61% of all digital advertising in 2021, representing a doubling of share since 2015;

_________________1a GroupMWorldwide, Inc. (2020), This Year Next Year: The End-Of-Year Forecasts December 2020. https://www.groupm.com/this-year-next-year-global-end-of-year-forecast-2020/

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Amendment 32Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital D a (new)


D a. whereas some undertakings, which benefit from a dual status as both platforms and suppliers, abuse their position to impose unfair terms and conditions on competitors;

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Amendment 33Gunnar BeckMotion for a resolutionRecital D a (new)


D a. whereas a State intervention can only be considered state aid when it meets all the criteria laid down in Article 107(1) TFEU;

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Amendment 34Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital D b (new)


D b. whereas a level playing field between financial services firms and technology firms is needed to ensure competition on equal footing, following the principle of ‘same risk, same activity, same regulation’;

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Amendment 35Paul TangMotion for a resolutionRecital D b (new)


D b. whereas Facebook and Alphabet Inc. (Google) earn respectively 98,53 and 83,3 per cent of their revenue with digital advertising 1a;

_________________1a Statista (2020), Statista dossier about Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft (GAFAM), Article number: did-47704-1, https://www.statista.com/study/47704/goo

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gle-apple-facebook-amazon-microsoft-gafam/

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Amendment 36Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionRecital D c (new)


D c. whereas algorithms can greatly enhance efficiency and allow firms to deliver better products and services to consumers; whereas, however, intentional or unintentional misuse of algorithms can cause harm to consumers and competition;

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Amendment 37Alfred SantMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1


1. Highlights that a competition policy aiming to ensure a level playing field in all sectors, drive innovation and give consumers more choices, is crucial for guaranteeing the proper functioning of the single market;

1. Highlights that a competition policy aiming to ensure a level playing field in all sectors, drive innovation and give consumers higher quality choices, is crucial for guaranteeing the proper functioning of the single market;

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Amendment 38José Gusmão, Manon AubryMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1


1. Highlights that a competition policy aiming to ensure a level playing field in all sectors, drive innovation and give consumers more choices, is crucial for guaranteeing the proper functioning of the

1. Highlights that a competition policy aiming to ensure a level playing field in all sectors and to promote the development of each Member-States’ productive structures, drive innovation and give

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single market; consumers more choices, is crucial for guaranteeing the proper functioning of the single market;

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Amendment 39Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1


1. Highlights that a competition policy aiming to ensure a level playing field in all sectors, drive innovation and give consumers more choices, is crucial for guaranteeing the proper functioning of the single market;

1. Highlights that a competition policy aiming to ensure a level playing field in all sectors, drive innovation and give consumers more choices, is crucial for guaranteeing the proper functioning of the single market; expresses its concern with the increase in industry concentration in Europe; observes in this regard that between 2001 and 2012 the average industry across 10 European economies saw a 2-3-percentage point increase in the share of the 10% largest companies in industry sales; warns that increase is observed for both manufacturing and nonfinancial services and is not driven by digital-intensive sectors; notes that increase in industry concentrations lead to higher mark-ups associated with higher profits at the expense of the European consumer;

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Amendment 40Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 a (new)


1a. Calls on the Commission to impose penalties for all forms of economic boycott in a Member State against products from a specific geographical area, recognising the boycott as a serious

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form of distortion of competition;

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Amendment 41Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 a (new)


1 a. Considers that the treaty-based competition rules must be interpreted in the light of the wider European values underpinning the Union’s social market economy, notably environmental and social protection, equality considerations, consumer protection and public health, as mandated by Article 7 TFEU; takes the view, therefore, that activities which cause negative social and environmental externalities create market distortions that need to be addressed by means of competition law while, conversely, activities which bring social or environmental benefits should be explicitly taken into account when assessing treaty-based competition provisions;

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Amendment 42Marc Angel, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 a (new)


1 a. Notes that competition policy is not solely about ensuring “fair” or low prices for consumers but also about providing quality, innovation and sustainability; urges the Commission in that regard to strengthen the role of the European Consumers Centres Network (ECC-Net) in the spirit of the ECN+ Directive1a;

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_________________1a OJ L 11, 14.1.2019, p.3.

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Amendment 43Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 b (new)


1 b. Observes that there are many areas for concern in the EU such as low inflation, stagnating labour productivity, increasing inequality, unfair foreign competition and the climate breakdown; emphasises that the EU needs to use an investment-led and innovation-led policies to tackle these issues, in particular the EU needs more not less strategic spending; notes that key drivers of productivity are education, research, and training; believes that EU competition rules should facilitate and enhance the ability for Member States to take the risks of co-creating new markets focusing on such long-term societal issues; notes in this regard that innovation-led growth is not just about fixing a market failure but also about setting direction and creating new markets; warns that even with mild deficits, debt to GDP can increase due to lagging growth making the dynamics of long-term investment, not the deficit, the key concern;

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Amendment 44Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 c (new)


1 c. Highlights that a broad reflection

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on a smart industrial policy that can help reallocate resources to certain key sectors (e.g. health) in a way that does not distort competition between firms can also help to lay the ground for a resilient and sustainable economy in the long term; stresses that restoring effective competition in the medium to long term is also key to ensuring that the recovery is rapid and consistent;

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Amendment 45Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 d (new)


1 d. Urges the Commission to mainstream green, digital and industrial strategies in setting the conditions for future state aid by the Member States; is concerned with the insufficient integration of the EU’s objectives for a green, social and digital EU in state aid policies, in particular, the revision of the energy and environmental rules will have to facilitate appropriate measures further promoting a modern decarbonised and circular economy;

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Amendment 46Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 e (new)


1 e. Stresses that beyond strengthening the single market, competition policy should be considered and applied under the wider European values regarding environmental standards, social affairs, climate policy and consumer protection;

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welcomes consequently the EC’s public consultation on Competition Law and the Green Deal as a step forward towards enhanced public policy cohesion; calls on the Commission to come forward with a forward-looking, comprehensive action plan on how competition and state aid rules should be revised;

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Amendment 47Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 f (new)


1 f. Stresses that EU consumers’ interests go beyond the availability of cheap products, and include, among others, a heathy environment in the EU and abroad and the proliferation of fair trading relations;

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Amendment 48Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 1 g (new)


1 g. Points out that even when products or services are supplied for free, consumers may still have to endure unjust behaviour, such as a degradation in quality or extortive practices; calls therefore, for the purposes of the cases under consideration, for the formulation of a 'theory of harm', which should transcend price-centric approaches and account for broader considerations;

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Amendment 49

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Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolutionParagraph 2


2. Believes that a strict and impartial enforcement of EU competition rules by independent competition authorities can make a significant contribution to key political priorities; emphasises its importance also in crisis conditions;

2. Believes that any intervention regarding imbalances, to protect fair competition, should be mitigated in order to protect freedom of contract, which is fundamental to the well-being of businesses;

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Amendment 50Markus FerberMotion for a resolutionParagraph 2



2. Believes that a strict and impartial enforcement of EU competition rules by independent competition authorities is crucial for the Single Market, European consumers and businesses, in particular SMEs; highlights that competition policy should be neutral and must not be used to further other policy goals; emphasises its importance also in crisis conditions;

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Amendment 51Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 2



2. Believes that a strict and impartial enforcement of EU competition rules by independent competition authorities can make a significant contribution to key political priorities, such as social inequalities or the climate crisis; emphasises however the importance of flexibility in crisis conditions;

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Amendment 52Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 2



2. Believes that a strict and impartial enforcement of EU competition rules by independent competition authorities can make a significant contribution to key political priorities such as a deeper and fairer internal market, a connected digital single market, and the Union’s global competitiveness; emphasises its importance also in crisis conditions;

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2. Believes that a strict and impartial enforcement of EU competition rules by independent competition authorities can make a significant contribution to key political priorities; however, believes that these rules should be reformed in order to promote greater industrial development and convergence within the European Union; emphasises its importance also in crisis conditions;

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Amendment 54Andreas SchwabMotion for a resolutionParagraph 2


2. Believes that a strict and impartial enforcement of EU competition rules by

2. Believes that a strict and impartial enforcement of EU competition rules by

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independent competition authorities can make a significant contribution to key political priorities; emphasises its importance also in crisis conditions;

independent competition authorities can make a significant contribution to key political priorities; emphasises its importance also in crisis conditions; underlines moreover the importance of the cooperation between national competition authorities ("NCAs") and the European Commission through the mechanism of the European Competition Network ("ECN") in order to strengthen the enforcement of competition law within the EU single market;

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Amendment 55Marc Angel, Joachim Schuster, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 3


3. Considers that ensuring a level playing field for undertakings in the single market also depends on decisively and effectively combating social dumping;

3. Considers that a level playing field for undertakings in the single market and on the international level is key for European companies, especially SMEs, and for the creation of decent and sustainable jobs within and outside the EU, respecting high labour and environmental standards; calls in that respect on the Commission to step up its efforts to establish a legal framework for a mandatory Human Rights and environmental due diligence instrument;

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3. Considers that ensuring a level playing field for undertakings in the single market also depends on decisively and effectively protecting the environment,

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combating social, environmental dumping, tax avoidance and tax evasion;

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Amendment 57Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Linea Søgaard-Lidell, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 3



3. Considers that ensuring a level playing field for undertakings in the single market and in global markets also depends on decisively and effectively combating social, and environmental dumping;

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Amendment 58Marco Zanni, Francesca Donato, Valentino Grant, Antonio Maria RinaldiMotion for a resolutionParagraph 3



3. Considers that ensuring a level playing field for undertakings in the single market also depends on decisively and effectively combating social and fiscal dumping;

Or. it




3. Considers that ensuring a level playing field for undertakings in the single market also depends on decisively and effectively combating social and tax dumping;

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Amendment 60Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Csaba Molnár, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 3 a (new)


3 a. Notes with concern the fragmentation in access to ultra-high-speed internet connections between rural and urban areas all over Europe; recalls that in order to close the gap, healthy competition in the telecommunication sector is needed; recalls that competition policy should not only aim towards fair prices for consumers, but must also promote innovation and sustainable investments and support activity small and medium-sized enterprises;

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3 a. Reiterates that taxation is being used to grant indirect state aid, creating an uneven playing field in the internal market; calls in the Commission to review its state aid guidelines on tax to assess whether tax advantages, such as tax exemptions or tax credits, do distort competition; calls on the Commission to look into the possibility to fine countries found in breach of EU state aid rules;

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3 b. Highlights that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the European economy, representing 99.8% of non-financial enterprises in the EU; notes that the strong contribution to job creation and value added make SMEs crucial to ensuring economic growth and social integration in the EU; regrets that despite their growth opportunities, SMEs may face difficulties in obtaining access to finance;

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Amendment 63Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4


4. Highlights that excessive tax burdens may stifle innovation and jeopardise the contestability of markets, especially for SMEs;

deleted

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Amendment 64Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Joachim Schuster, Pedro Marques, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4



4. Underlines that SMEs account for an estimated 30% of the EU’s goods exports to the rest of the world, while the internal market continues to be the most important market for SMEs; recalls that, in order to be efficient, competition policies should be reconciled with the Union’s industrial and international trade policies, in order to help SMEs cope with the greater challenges of entering new markets and enable them to compete on their own merits, aiming at economic

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diversity and an SME-friendly trade environment;

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4. Highlights that the tax system can, is some occasions, be an important element to provide incentives to specific industries; however, stresses that companies must pay their fair share of taxes in order to properly fund public investment and redistributive policies; notes that the EU needs to promote greater transparency and effectiveness in the corporate tax system, particularly with respect to multinationals;

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4. Highlights that aggressive tax practices by multinationals, harmful tax practices and tax advantages targeted at large companies can stifle innovation and jeopardise the contestability of markets, especially for SMEs; calls on the Commission to assess whether patent box regimes, super R&D deductions and tax credits distort the level playing field and competition in the EU;

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Amendment 67Gunnar BeckMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 4



4. Highlights that excessive tax burdens may stifle innovation and jeopardise the contestability of markets, especially for SMEs; calls on the Commission to scrutinize the distortive effects of high taxation with the same vigour as the distortive effects of low taxation;

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Amendment 68Antonio Tajani, Herbert Dorfmann, Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4 a (new)


4a. Is of the view that in the absence of a globally homogeneous competition policy, EU undertakings should be able to compete in global markets on an equal footing; calls on the Commission, therefore, to change its competition policy in order to promote serious industrial development, including by encouraging the emergence of European champions in sectors of strategic importance, while taking care not to favour certain mergers to the detriment of others;

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4a. Calls on the Commission to provide adequate protection for consumers in making informed choices of product by prohibiting misleading or evocative advertising which highlights ingredients that are not contained in the

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product, so as not to undermine the principle of competition, unless such a practice is for medical purposes;

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Amendment 70Costas Mavrides, Jonás FernándezMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4 a (new)


4 a. Notes with concern that some MS have not implemented effectively the Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts based on the Commission’s assessment, having a tremendous negative effect on consumers and being detrimental to fair competition; calls on the Commission to scrutinise the unfair clauses and practices employed, especially by the banking sector, in consumer contracts and to ensure the effective and swift implementation of this Directive using all means in place;

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Amendment 71Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Jonás Fernández, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4 a (new)


4 a. Is concerned with the rapid evolvement of the digital markets and that existing competition policy instruments cannot always provide for quick and efficient ex-ante detection and timely intervention, especially in antitrust-cases; welcomes in this regard the Commission proposal on DSA and DMA, and looks forward to further analysis on how competition policy and market monitoring tools can be adapted to the digital markets

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evolution;

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Amendment 72Joachim Schuster, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4 a (new)


4 a. Calls on the Commission to penalise unfair tax practices by companies and Member States and to take action against tax, social and environmental dumping and tax havens in Europe and internationally, as they thwart European competition law and destroy fair competition between multinationals and SMEs;

Or. en



4 a. Reiterates that it is deeply alarmed at the far-reaching concentration of the food supply chain to the detriment of consumers, farmers, the environment and biodiversity alike;

Or. en

Amendment 74Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4 a (new)


4 a. Recognises that resources for the Commission's Directorate General for Competition should be adequate to its workload and range of tasks;

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Or. en

Amendment 75Antonio Tajani, Herbert Dorfmann, Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolutionParagraph 4 b (new)


4b. Stresses that unfair competition between Member States hinders the proper functioning of competition policies and the single market;

Or. it

Amendment 76Gunnar BeckMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5


5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measures established in response to the COVID-19 crisis;

5. Takes note of the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measures established in response to the COVID-19 crisis;

Or. en

Amendment 77Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Ondřej Kovařík, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5



5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid and its amendements established in response to the COVID-19 crisis in order to enable Member States to support companies during the pandemic; stresses the need for the Commission to support efforts for a green and digital recovery in the on-going review of State aid rules;

Or. en

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5. Welcomes the adoption of the Temporary Framework for State aid measures and the various decisions to prolong and expand it in response to the unexpected developments related to the Covid-19 crisis over the past year;

Or. en




5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measures established in response to the COVID-19 crisis and takes the view that it should be extended even beyond the end of the movement restrictions for citizens, in order to allow for medium- and long-term intervention in all sectors that might suffer a negative economic impact in the coming years, in particular for SMEs;

Or. it

Amendment 80Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5



5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measures established in response to the COVID-19 crisis and supports its application for as long as the recovery is

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ongoing;

Or. en




5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measures established in response to the COVID-19 crisis; observes that state aid budgets differ substantially across EU Member States; stresses, however, that state aid given in response to the COVID-19 crisis should not undermine the EU’s capacity to achieve its climate and environment objectives by providing state aid to economic activities which are environmentally and economically not viable; calls on the Commission to require binding sustainability conditions for state aid to economic activities with a high carbon footprint;

Or. en

Amendment 82Raffaele FittoMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5



5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measures established in response to the COVID-19 crisis; stresses, however, that this has led to differences in the use of that instrument in relation to the fiscal space available to Member States and to the differing size of their respective economies, which is liable to broaden existing imbalances and jeopardise the integrity of the European single market;

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Or. it




5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measures established in response to the COVID-19 crisis; underlines that the Temporary Framework for State aid measures is a temporary tool designed to deal with the fallout of an unprecedented health crisis;

Or. en



5a. Calls on the Commission to legislate in relation to the ban on protecting intellectual property rights for inventions or discoveries concerning vaccines designed to treat endemic or pandemic infectious diseases in the world population;

Or. it

Amendment 85Alfred Sant, Tonino Picula, François Alfonsi, Alex Agius Saliba, Alicia Homs Ginel, Costas Mavrides, Josianne Cutajar, Ignazio Corrao, Demetris PapadakisMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5 a (new)


5 a. Underlines that the action of the European Commission aiming at eliminating the condition of monopoly and dominant positions and at limiting public funding to companies that could

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lead such conditions does not provide any solution to the issue of systemic and structural disadvantages that affect the competitiveness of businesses based and operating from European insular territories and outermost regions;

Or. en

Amendment 86Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5 a (new)


5 a. Welcomes the Communication from the Commission on a Temporary Framework for assessing antitrust issues related to business cooperation in response to situations of urgency stemming from the current COVID-19 outbreak, that brings more guidance and support with regard to antitrust rules, facilitating the necessary cooperation in order to overcome the crisis, the beneficiaries of this cooperation being the consumers;

Or. en

Amendment 87Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Linea Søgaard-Lidell, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5 a (new)


5 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that EU funding measures in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, do not favour monopolistic undertakings, notably in critical sectors such as telecommunications; urges the Commission to set up an oversight mechanism to verify any potential distortions of competition derived from

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inappropriate use of RFF funding;

Or. en

Amendment 88Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Jonás Fernández, Pedro Marques, Paul TangMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5 a (new)


5 a. Highlights the importance of policy coherence and for any aid granted to be issued only to companies enduring direct financial consequences of the pandemic; urges furthermore that companies using tax havens outside the EU for tax avoidance to be banned from accessing State Aid or financial support if they do not commit to changing their behaviour;

Or. en



5 a. Calls on the Commission to take measures in accordance to the conclusions and recommendations made in the study ‘Impact of state aid on competition and competitiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic: an early assessment’ by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the European Parliament;

Or. en

Amendment 90Markus FerberMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5 a (new)

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5 a. Takes note of the fact that the Temporary Framework is scheduled to expire on 30 June 2021, and the section enabling recapitalisation support is scheduled to expire on 30 September 2021;

Or. en



5 a. Is concerned that the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak might at the end not be that temporary;

Or. en

Amendment 92Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Costas MavridesMotion for a resolutionParagraph 5 b (new)


5 b. Recalls that recapitalisation, even under the temporary framework, should be considered only as the last resort solution by Member States, given the potential major distortive impact recapitalisation measures can have on the single market; is of the opinion that recapitalisation measures or any other public financial support to companies should be conditional upon the funding being used to benefit employees and that the recipient companies should refrain from bonuses to the management, paying out dividends or offering share buy-back schemes for as long as they receive such support;

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Or. en



5 b. Notes that the Temporary Framework for State aid measures includes certain conditionalities for certain types of state aid measures such as recapitalisation; welcomes in this regard conditionalities such as a ban on dividend distribution, bonus payments and share buybacks; regrets however that such conditionalities were not imposed on other state aid measures; calls the Commission to impose such conditionalities to all state aid measures in the Temporary Framework;

Or. en



5 c. Observes with concern that recent EU state aid cases hardly refer to the overall EU policy objectives of a green and digital transformation of the EU economy; regrets that most Member States do not make state aid conditional to long-term societal objectives such as tax compliance and sustainability; welcomes the Commission’s recommendation on state aid and tax havens in this regard; calls on the Commission to ensure that the Temporary Framework for State aid prevents undermining of key EU policy objectives such as the European Green Deal, the EU’s Digital Strategy and the European Pillar of Social Rights; in this

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regard, calls on the Commission to take a stronger stance on these matters in the future, including restrictions on mass lay-offs;

Or. en



5 d. Highlights that the transparency and traceability of the state case evaluation process should be enhanced; observes that the motivation for approving cases as well as the conditions imposed are often only vaguely described, moreover, ask for a better and more systemic reporting on which Member States and which economic activities are entitled to which kind of public support;

Or. en



5 e. Stresses that the European Commission evaluates state aid cases on a case-by-case basis; highlights that there is a risk of interconnectedness between cases that can be neglected; asks the commission to evaluate the cases while taking into account previous cases submitted by the same Member State as well as similar case submitted by other Member State;

Or. en

Amendment 97

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Marc Angel, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 6


6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to launch a post COVID-19 roadmap for less and better targeted State aid;

6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to launch a post COVID-19 roadmap including a chapter on competition policy on, among others, how to tackle fragmentation, market distortions and an unlevel playing field in the single market caused by Member States’ asymmetric capacities to apply State Aid as well as clear guidance on how to best use competition policy tools to foster a recovery with sustainable jobs and sustainable transition of companies; calls furthermore for the roadmap to encompass a first assessment on the effect of the pandemic on, and thus the future of, EU competition policy;

Or. en




6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to launch a post COVID-19 action plan for fair and better targeted State aid;

Or. en

Amendment 99Pina PiciernoMotion for a resolutionParagraph 6


6. Calls on the Commission and the 6. Calls on the Commission and the

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Member States to launch a post COVID-19 roadmap for less and better targeted State aid;

Member States to launch a post COVID-19 roadmap for less and better targeted State aid in order to promote business competitiveness and safeguard jobs, in particular in areas where employment levels are abnormally low;

Or. it

Amendment 100Bogdan RzońcaMotion for a resolutionParagraph 6



6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to launch a post COVID-19 roadmap for less and better targeted State aid and analysis of the impact of Covid aid on the Single Market;

Or. en




6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to launch a post COVID-19 roadmap for less and an European Industrial Strategy, based on better targeted State aid;

Or. en



6 a. Observes with concern how the airlines and aviation sector stand out in state aid received under the Temporary

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Framework with an estimated €42.8 billion of state aid since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis; stresses that conditions linked to the objectives of the Green Deal vary between Member States thereby distorting a level playing field in the internal market; calls on the Commission to include binding sustainability conditions for large companies with substantial green house gas emissions such as airlines and airports in the revision of the Temporary Framework;

Or. en

Amendment 103Antonio Tajani, Herbert Dorfmann, Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolutionParagraph 6 a (new)


6a. Calls on the Commission urgently to define the concept of economic unit within the Temporary Framework for State aid measures, taking a substantive approach that takes into account the aid needed by individual undertakings irrespective of whether or not they are part of a group; is of the view that a clear definition of 'economic unit' is necessary in order to avoid differences in interpretation among Member States;

Or. it

Amendment 104Marco Zanni, Francesca Donato, Valentino Grant, Antonio Maria RinaldiMotion for a resolutionParagraph 6 a (new)


6a. Calls on the Commission to thoroughly assess the imbalances between Member States in the provision of State aid during the temporary regime, with regard to both the 2009 financial crisis

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and the current COVID-19 crisis; calls on the Commission to publish a historical report on the amount of State aid approved per country and per sector, with in-depth comparisons;

Or. it

Amendment 105Alfred SantMotion for a resolutionParagraph 6 a (new)


6 a. Emphasises the critical moment for the Union’s hospitality industry which has been from an economic and financial perspective the hardest hit throughout the ongoing crisis; in this context applauds state assistance directed towards the sector and calls for an EU policy aimed at reinforcing these efforts;

Or. en

Amendment 106Alfred Sant, Tonino Picula, François Alfonsi, Alex Agius Saliba, Alicia Homs Ginel, Costas Mavrides, Josianne Cutajar, Ignazio Corrao, Demetris PapadakisMotion for a resolutionParagraph 6 b (new)


6 b. Calls for a reflection on maintaining exceptional measures beyond the expiry date of the temporary framework for the sectors that have been mostly affected by the COVID-19 crisis (e.g. tourism, air and maritime transports);

Or. en

Amendment 107Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas MavridesMotion for a resolutionParagraph 7


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7. Reiterates the priority of ensuring that State aid rules are strictly and impartially adhered to, including when dealing with future banking crises, so that taxpayers are protected against the burden of bank rescues;

7. Welcomes the fact that State aid granted to banks within the Temporary State Aid Framework ensures the financing of the economy and helps guarantee financial stability while operating within the strong legislative framework provided by the BRR Directive and State aid rules;

Or. en




7. Reiterates the priority of ensuring that taxpayers are protected against the burden of bank rescues;

Or. en

Amendment 109Joachim SchusterMotion for a resolutionParagraph 7



7. Reiterates that European banking regulation rules must be respected and controlled, including when dealing with future banking crises, so that taxpayers are protected against the burden of bank rescues;

Or. en

Amendment 110Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 7

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7. Reiterates the priority of ensuring that State aid rules are strictly and impartially adhered to, including when dealing with future banking crises, calls on the Commission to examine swiftly the discrepancies between the rules on State aid in the area of liquidation aid and the resolution regime under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (‘BRR Directive’), and to revise its Banking Communication of 30 July 2013 accordingly, including in light of recent cases, taking into account the need to protect taxpayers;

Or. en




7. Reiterates the priority of ensuring that State aid rules are strictly and impartially adhered to, including when dealing with future banking crises, so that taxpayers and savers are protected against the burden of bank rescues; calls on the Commission to publish a historical report on the amount of State aid approved in the banking sector in the Member States, with in-depth comparisons;

Or. it



7. Reiterates the priority of ensuring that State aid rules are strictly and

7. Reiterates the priority of ensuring that State aid rules are strictly and

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impartially adhered to, including when dealing with future banking crises, so that taxpayers are protected against the burden of bank rescues;

impartially adhered to, including when dealing with future banking crises, so that taxpayers are protected against the burden of bank rescues; believes banks receiving state aid should be prohibited to distribute dividends and make bonus payments;

Or. en



7a. Stresses that EU funds allocated for the reconstruction of the economies of EU Member States affected by the pandemic must be assigned in accordance with EU competition rules;points out that, particularly with regard to the telecommunications sector, Recovery and Resilience Facility resources should not be assigned to vertically integrated operators which have a monopoly over infrastructure, as this would distort competition from alternative operators and ultimately have a negative impact on consumers;

calls on the Commission, to that end, to introduce monitoring and control mechanisms to prevent any distortion of competition rules in the telecommunications sector as a result of the allocation of Recovery and Resilience Facility resources;

Or. it

Amendment 114Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolutionParagraph 7 b (new)


7b. Calls on the Commission, in its revision of the Consumer Credit Directive

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(CCD), to ensure there is genuine competition between consumer credit operators, which is essential in order to foster post-COVID economic recovery, by promoting, inter alia, ease of access, comparability of offers and transparency in the cost of credit; recommends, in this regard, that a distinction be made, for the purposes of the total cost of the credit, between the direct costs incurred by the economic operators and the indirect costs incurred by consumers (such as taxes and charges for third-party services), which are therefore non-refundable;

Or. it

Amendment 115Antonio TajaniMotion for a resolutionParagraph 7 a (new)


7a. Calls on the Commission, in its revision of the Consumer Credit Directive (CCD), to ensure there is genuine competition between consumer credit operators, which is essential in order to foster post-COVID-19 economic recovery, by promoting, inter alia, ease of access, comparability of offers and transparency in the cost of credit; recommends, in this regard, that a distinction be made, for the purposes of the total cost of the credit, between the direct costs incurred by the economic operators and the indirect costs incurred by consumers (such as taxes and charges for third-party services), which are therefore non-refundable;

Or. it



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7a. Regrets that, despite the suspension of the Stability and Growth Pact, the Commission is continuing its moral suasion by stressing the need for rigour in public finances in the medium term, inducing countries with high levels of government debt to spend less than is necessary to support the economy against the background of an unpredictable crisis; points out that inadequate public intervention during lockdowns can destroy entire sectors of the economy and create deep and lasting structural and social crises;

Or. it

Amendment 117Carmen AvramMotion for a resolutionParagraph 7 a (new)


7 a. Stresses that EU aid measures in response to theCOVID-19 crisis, including through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, should not be given to companies that were inefficient and structurally loss making before the Covid-19 crisis, or favour monopolistic undertakings, notably in critical sectors and which have not committed to a change of behaviour or planned/performed the necessary structural reforms;

Or. en

Amendment 118Engin ErogluMotion for a resolutionParagraph 7 a (new)


7a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the public money which the Member States and the EU deploy to solve the COVID-19 crisis -

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including the Recovery and Resilience Facility - does not encourage the formation of monopolistic structures;

Or. de

Amendment 119Marc Angel, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas MavridesMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8


8. Calls for reflection on possible distortions of competition arising from the European Central Bank’s pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) and corporate sector purchasing programme (CSPP);

deleted

Or. en

Amendment 120Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8



deleted

Or. en

Amendment 121Antonio TajaniMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8


8. Calls for reflection on possible distortions of competition arising from the European Central Bank’s pandemic

8. Calls on the Commission and the European Banking Authority to allow a temporary modification of the 90-day term

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emergency purchase programme (PEPP) and corporate sector purchasing programme (CSPP);

relating to 'past due' rules and a temporary extension of the time frame provided for in the NPL rules with regard to so-called calendar provisioning in the Capital Requirements Regulation 2 (CRR2); points out that the aim of this is to avoid a credit crunch and an artificial reduction in competition;

Or. it

Amendment 122Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8



8. Calls on the Commission and the European Banking Authority to allow a temporary modification of the 90-day term relating to 'past due' rules and a temporary extension of the time frame provided for in the NPL rules with regard to so-called calendar provisioning in the Capital Requirements Regulation 2 (CRR2); points out that the aim of this is to avoid a credit crunch and an artificial reduction in competition;

Or. it




8. Calls for reflection on possible distortions of competition arising from the European Central Bank’s corporate sector purchasing programme (CSPP);

Or. it

Amendment 124José Gusmão, Manon Aubry

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Motion for a resolutionParagraph 8



8. Calls for reflection on possible distortions of competition arising from the European Central Bank’s corporate sector purchasing programme (CSPP) and the Temporary Framework for State aid, due to the evidence that Member States with higher fiscal space have benefitted disproportionately from it;

Or. en




8. Calls for an in-depth investigation into possible distortions of competition arising from

(i) the European Central Bank’s pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) and corporate sector purchasing programme (CSPP);

(ii) the European Central Bank´s public sector purchasing programme (PSPP), especially deviations from the capital key for the distribution of bonds purchases and its disproportionate effects across Member States;

(iii) disproportionate benefits to certain banks in certain Member States from negative interest rates on TLTRO loans;

Or. en

Amendment 126Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 8



8. Notes that EU competition rules should not be seen in isolation of monetary, trade and fiscal policies; calls for reflection on possible distortions of competition arising from the European Central Bank’s pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) and corporate sector purchasing programme (CSPP); asks the Commission to examine whether possible distortions of competition arising from the CSPP in particular hit SMEs;

Or. en




8. Calls for reflection on possible distortions of competition arising from the European Central Bank’s pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) and corporate sector purchasing programme (CSPP); emphasises in this regard that the notion of selectivity in State aid is an essential criterion that needs to be investigated thoroughly; further points in this regard to Article 4(3) TEU which contains the so-called principle of loyalty;

Or. en

Amendment 128Eva Kaili, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8 a (new)


8 a. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to developing a methodology to ensure that a minimum of 20% is

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earmarked in the expenditure of Member States’ National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) for investments in both infrastructure and digital capacities; stresses the need for the allocation of Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) resources through NRRPs to minimise risks of distortions to, or possible adverse effects on, competition; urges the Commission to strengthen its coordination with, and the reporting of, national competent authorities to better monitor the contestability of markets throughout the assessment and implementation of Member States’ NRRPs;

Or. en

Amendment 129Gunnar BeckMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8 a (new)


8 a. Expresses concern about the interest rates applied by the Commission to the payments for the Next Generation EU debt-financed programme, estimated at EUR 17.4 billion; recalls that the Commission's interest rates reflect a gradual return of the EU’s borrowing costs from their current levels to their averages before the recent decline in interest rates observable since the beginning of 2019; seriously questions whether it is prudent to set an interest rate at Q1 2019 levels under the current monetary and economic circumstances; calls on the Commission to investigate whether such yields are equitable and whether they could distort the bond market;

Or. en

Amendment 130Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Joachim Schuster, Margarida Marques, Csaba Molnár, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Victor Negrescu

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Motion for a resolutionParagraph 8 a (new)


8 a. Highlights the reinforcement of 11bn€ to reinforce the endowment of expenditure programmes in the MFF 2021-2027 that will come from a new mechanism linked to the proceeds from fines collected by the Union and will result in automatic additional allocations to the concerned programmes also resulting in a genuine increase of the MFF ceilings on a yearly basis, in line with Parliament’s long-standing demand for such revenues to finance the EU budget;

Or. en

Amendment 131Andreas SchwabMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8 a (new)


8 a. Recalls on the Commission that the State aid rules must be applied equally to all companies in particular in some strategic EU sectors (as i.e. transports), without any exceptions and regardless of the covid-19 situation in the MSs; stresses that State aids should not be granted to companies that were inefficient and loss making before the Covid-19 crisis.

Or. en



8a. Calls on the Commission to explore temporary solutions whereby large corporations operating in online

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trading and deliveries, which have been excessively rewarded by the restrictions to contain the Coronavirus, can help support traditional retail and catering activities, which, on the contrary, have been heavily penalised;

Or. it

Amendment 133Andreas SchwabMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8 b (new)


8 b. Calls on the Commission to ensure and monitor the proper use and distribution of the different EU funding measures in response to the COVID-19 crisis without leading to any distortions of competition, in particular in some critical sectors as telecommunications, energy or transports;

Or. en

Amendment 134Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 8 a (new)


8 a. Given the Covid19 economic crisis and the realisation of the existential role of European farmers for our food supply and agriculture sovereignty; calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to any third country anti-competitive practices that risk penalising our agriculture sector and penalise our farmers; the same rules and standards should be requested from third countries when importing agriculture products;

Or. en

Amendment 135Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Marc Angel

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Motion for a resolutionParagraph 8 b (new)


8 b. Draws attention to the growing number of farmers’ protests and notes that the cumulative impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on the EU’s agri-food sector is one of their concerns; questions whether FTAs leave EU agri-food producers at a competitive disadvantage, given differences in social, health, labour, environmental and animal welfare standards in third countries; therefore calls on the Commission to present, as soon as possible, its latest report on the cumulative impact of ongoing and future trade deals, and calls for the application of the principles of reciprocity and compliance for agricultural products and for the protection of vulnerable sectors in future and ongoing trade negotiations, ensuring that all necessary inspections are carried out;

Or. en

Amendment 136Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 9


9. Emphasises the importance of global dialogue and cooperation on competition policy enforcement;

9. Welcomes the Communication “European economic and financial system: fostering openness, strength and resilience” and the possibility to consider additional policy options to further deter and counteract the unlawful extra-territorial application of unilateral sanctions by third countries to EU operators; emphasises the importance of global dialogue and cooperation on competition policy enforcement;

Or. en

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9. Emphasises the importance of an increasingly intense global dialogue and cooperation on competition policy enforcement, especially at the "International Competition Network" ("ICN") level;

Or. en

Amendment 138Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 9



9. Emphasises the importance of global dialogue and cooperation on competition policy enforcement and a common approach towards fair competition;

Or. en




9. Emphasises the importance of a structured global dialogue and cooperation on competition policy enforcement;

Or. en


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9. Emphasises the importance of global dialogue and cooperation on competition policy enforcement and reform;

Or. en



9 a. Stresses that dedicated cooperation agreements with third countries in the area of competition policy can meaningfully contribute to the effectiveness of competition policy; invites the European Commission to pursue more dedicated competition agreements, that allow for a more effective exchange of information between competition authorities;

Or. en

Amendment 142Marc Angel, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Jonás Fernández, Pedro Marques, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 9 a (new)


9 a. Stresses that competition policy decisions should not be used as a form of protectionist measure or non-tariff barrier to trade;

Or. en

Amendment 143Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Jonás Fernández, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 9 b (new)

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9 b. Calls for the EU and the UK to find common ground to continuously cooperate and strive towards fair competition and a level playing field;

Or. en



10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies;

10. Notes that state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies, must lead the EU to reconsider its industrial priorities and develop its own Industrial Strategy;

Or. en




10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies and the airline industry;

Or. en



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10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies;

Or. en





Or. en

Amendment 148Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Joachim Schuster, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 10




Or. en



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10. Calls on the Commission to pay more attention to the role of foreign-based state-owned enterprises that are supported and subsidized by their governments in ways that the EU single market rules prohibit for EU entities; expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies;

Or. en




10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies, and regrets the conclusion of the 'Comprehensive Agreement on Investment' negotiations with China, which fail to take sufficient account of these distortive aspects and of the more important issue of respect for human rights;

Or. it



10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative

10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative

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technologies; technologies and those active in promoting the green recovery, the use of renewable energy, decarbonisation and modernisation towards clean and circular industry;

Or. it

Amendment 152Fulvio Martusciello, Antonio Tajani, Herbert DorfmannMotion for a resolutionParagraph 10



10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies and those active in promoting the green recovery, the use of renewable energy, decarbonisation and modernisation towards clean and circular industry;

Or. it




10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies and those weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic;

Or. en


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10 a. Requests caution in the consolidation of the EU airline industry and the creation of EU industry leaders while taking into account the massive state aid allowed for certain EU airlines so as to ensure that on such a basis, the latter will not be enabled to eliminate or takeover smaller EU competitors; notes that peripheral regions and islands continue needing to have autonomy in regulating and supporting airlines that maintain their connectivity, even as these have been stricken hard by the pandemic; questions how major EU airlines are often granted grand scale requests in quick time while smaller airlines are repeatedly investigated and at length regarding any minimal request for assistance; stresses that state aid money approvals should include safeguards against predatory actions on other EU firms by the firms which have received state aid;

Or. en



11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies;

11. Notes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies;

Or. en

Amendment 156Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11


11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as

11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as

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regards foreign subsidies; regards foreign subsidies; expresses, therefore, its support for legal instruments aimed at addressing the distortive effect of foreign subsidies on the internal market;

Or. en

Amendment 157Raffaele FittoMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11



11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies; calls on the Commission to adopt as soon as possible instruments and policies to better address the distortive effects of foreign ownership and State aid in the internal market;

Or. it

Amendment 158Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11



11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies; supports the 3 modules aiming at tackling foreign subsidies, including foreign acquisitions and public procurements; looks forward to the legislative proposal to be presented to further clarify the implementation and articulation with existing tools; recalls that the EU must ensure a level playing field with its international partners in terms of State aid and calls on the Commission to reinforce state aid chapters in future free trade agreements with more constraining rules;

Or. en

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Amendment 159Bogdan RzońcaMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11



11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies as a preliminary step of the instrument that limit unfair competition from entrepreneurs supported by third countries to a greater extent than the current EU regulations allow;

Or. en




11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies; observes the continues foreign takeover pressure on European companies such as Carrefour; warns that urgent action on the matter is needed;

Or. en

Amendment 161Fulvio Martusciello, Antonio Tajani, Herbert DorfmannMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11 a (new)


11a. Stresses the need to protect competition on the European market from any form of unfair dumping - be it economic, social, fiscal or environmental - by non-EU economic operators who are not subject to compliance with environmental sustainability and health safety standards similar to those in

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Europe;

Or. it



11 a. Calls the Commission to support and increase public private parterships with the paper packaging industry in order to promote innovation in support of the milestones of the UE legislation, namely the Single Use Plastic Directive;

Or. en

Amendment 163Pina PiciernoMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11 a (new)


11a. Stresses the need to protect competition on the European market from any form of unfair dumping - be it economic, social, fiscal or environmental - by non-EU economic operators who are not subject to compliance with sustainability criteria similar to those in Europe;

Or. it

Amendment 164Raffaele FittoMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11 a (new)


11a. Calls on the Commission to adopt State aid instruments and policies in order to prevent possible hostile takeovers of European companies by foreign companies which are being subsidised by

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other governments, particularly in strategic sectors;

Or. it



11 a. Regrets that the Commission continues to negotiate free trades agreements at any costs;

Or. en

Amendment 166Fulvio Martusciello, Antonio Tajani, Herbert DorfmannMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11 b (new)


11b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States in this regard, pending consideration of the proposal on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), to adapt EU trade defence instruments in order to safeguard the public and private investments needed to achieve the EU's ambitious climate targets, while protecting the competitiveness of the industrial sectors involved in the green transition and ensuring the highest standards of consumer health protection and health security;

Or. it

Amendment 167Pina PiciernoMotion for a resolutionParagraph 11 b (new)


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11b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States in this regard, pending consideration of the proposal on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), to consider how to strengthen EU trade defence instruments to ensure that they can be used to safeguard the public and private investments needed to achieve the EU's ambitious climate targets, while protecting the competitiveness of the industrial sectors involved in the green transition;

Or. it

Amendment 168Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 12


12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need targeted policies and investments to reindustrialise and re-shore jobs and value chain activities;

12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need to enhance synergies between targeted EU policies, investments and competition policy to foster jobs and resilient value chains in order to achieve EU strategic autonomy in key sectors while preserving an open economy;

Or. en




12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need targeted policies and investments to strengthen value chain activities and EU industrial base;

Or. en

Amendment 170Claude Gruffat

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on behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 12



12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need targeted policies and investments to reindustrialise certain strategic industries and re-shore jobs and value chain activities;

Or. en




12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need targeted policies and investments to reindustrialise and re-shore jobs and value chain activities; notes that an Industrial Strategy based on public investment and public subsidies directed to strategic industries can be crucial for the EU’s reindustrialization process while helping to achieve the green transition targets, thus promoting climate sustainability, employment and economic development;

Or. en

Amendment 172Fulvio Martusciello, Antonio Tajani, Herbert DorfmannMotion for a resolutionParagraph 12



12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need targeted policies and investments to reindustrialise and re-shore jobs and value chain activities; points out that these policies and investments should aim to protect and promote, in particular, those sectors and

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jobs that are involved in protecting consumers' health and achieving the objectives of the Green Deal and in Europe's transition towards a circular economy;

Or. it




12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need targeted policies and investments to reindustrialise and re-shore jobs and value chain activities; points out that these policies and investments should aim to protect and promote, in particular, those sectors and jobs that are involved in achieving the objectives of the Green Deal and in the transition towards a circular economy;

Or. it




12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need targeted policies and investments to reindustrialise and re-shore jobs and value chain activities; considers it a matter of priority in this regard to eliminate the austerity constraints inherent in the Stability and Growth Pact;

Or. it


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12a. Calls for, accordingly, strong support for investment in research and development by European industry, as part of the transition to a sustainable development model based on renewable and recyclable energy and materials, aimed at supporting the competitiveness of European industry vis-à-vis non-EU competitors whose production processes are not subject to the same ambitious environmental sustainability criteria as those determined at the EU level;

Or. it



12a. Calls for, accordingly, strong support for investment in research and development and for technological innovation of products and production processes by European industry, as part of the transition to a sustainable development model based on renewable and recyclable energy and materials, aimed at supporting the competitiveness of European industry vis-à-vis non-EU competitors whose production processes are not subject to the same ambitious environmental sustainability criteria as those determined at the EU level;

Or. it

Amendment 177Marc Angel, Alfred Sant, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 13


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13. Invites the Commission to identify strategic dependencies, particularly in sensitive industrial ecosystems, and to propose measures to reduce these, including by diversifying production and supply chains, fostering production and investment in Europe, and ensuring strategic stockpiling;

13. Highlights the importance of Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI); calls on the Commission to identify strategic dependencies, particularly in sensitive industrial ecosystems, and to promote major IPCEIs in these areas; underlines the need to simplify the relevant procedures so that smaller industrial research projects can easily benefit from its support;

Or. en



13. Invites the Commission to identify strategic dependencies, particularly in sensitive industrial ecosystems, and to propose measures to reduce these, including by diversifying production and supply chains, fostering production and investment in Europe, and ensuring strategic stockpiling;

13. Invites the Commission to identify strategic dependencies, particularly in sensitive industrial ecosystems, and to propose measures to reduce these, including by diversifying production and supply chains, fostering production and investment in Europe, allowing greater space for public investment at Member State level and ensuring strategic stockpiling;

Or. en



13a. Reiterates the need, in this regard, to promote technologies and production policies at EU level that lead to a significantly reduced environmental impact, giving particular priority to scientific end-of-life assessments using objective, measurable and shared parameters that take account of the entire value chain;

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Or. it



13 a. Calls the Commission to work on programmes with the paper packaging industry to enable the industry to continue its pro-innovation goals and achieve best enviromental outcomes;

Or. en



13a. Reiterates the need to promote technologies and production policies at EU level that lead to a significantly reduced environmental impact, on the basis of scientific criteria using objective, measurable and shared parameters that take account of the entire value chain;

Or. it



14. Supports the inclusion in EU competition rules of a thorough State aid check on undertakings from third countries, while stressing that the Union should remain open to foreign direct investments complying with its legal framework;

deleted

Or. en

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14. Supports the inclusion in EU competition rules of a thorough State aid check on undertakings from third countries, while stressing that the Union should remain open to foreign direct investments complying with its legal framework and respect European social and environmental standards;

Or. en

Amendment 184Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 14



14. Supports the inclusion in EU competition rules of a thorough State aid check on undertakings from third countries, while stressing that the Union should remain open to foreign direct investments complying with its legal framework and not distorting competition;

Or. en



14 a. Supports the Commission’s strategy to eliminate the negative effects caused by extraterritorial measures of foreign countries on the EU supply chain and Internal Market;

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Or. en



14 a. Welcomes the entry into force of regulation 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union;

Or. en



14 a. Reiterates its support for international trade and investment agreements to include strong competition sections;

Or. en



14 a. Calls for a spillover analysis of EU state aid rules on the competitiveness of low and middle-income countries;

Or. en


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Paragraph 14 b (new)


14 b. Reiterates its call to the Commission and Member States to adopt reinforced trade defence instruments to combat unfair trade practices; calls, therefore, for unfair trading practices to be addressed effectively by making full use of the available instruments, including taking into account social and environmental dumping and developing new effective tools to tackle the distortive effects of foreign state ownership and subsidies in the internal market;

Or. enAmendment 190Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 14 b (new)


14 b. Supports an active participation of the Commission and the NCAs in the International Competition Network;

Or. en



14 c. Regrets that the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation agreement does not provide for a full level playing field as regards state aid and competition; notes with concern that compared to other trade agreements, such as with Switzerland, the EU-UK agreement is weaker;

Or. en

Amendment 192

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Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 14 c (new)


14 c. Considers that abuse of market power can take place even when products or services are supplied for free;

Or. en



14 d. Calls on the Commission to ensure reciprocity with third countries, including in the respect of social and environmental standards, in public procurement and in investment policy; calls for the finalization of the EU’s international procurement instrument by 2021;

Or. en



15. Welcomes the Commission’s determination to address unfair terms and practices, act decisively, and eliminate illegitimate obstacles to online competition in the European digital single market;

15. Notes the Commission’s determination to address unfair terms and practices, act decisively, and eliminate illegitimate obstacles to online competition in the European digital single market; points out that every day, large digital corporations transfer huge profits without paying the right taxes in the countries where the transactions actually took place; regrets that some Member States encourage tax avoidance through their tax and legal systems;

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Or. it



15. Welcomes the Commission’s determination to address unfair terms and practices, act decisively, and eliminate illegitimate obstacles to online competition in the European digital single market;

15. Welcomes the Commission’s determination to address unfair terms and practices of platforms acting as gatekeepers, act decisively, and eliminate illegitimate obstacles to online competition in the European digital single market; regrets the slowness of antitrust investigations compared to fast-moving digital markets;

Or. en

Amendment 196Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Paul Tang, Jonás Fernández, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 15 a (new)


15 a. Highlights the importance of a European competition policy design fit to tackle new challenges linked to the use of data, algorithms and fast-moving markets in an increasingly digital environment, as well as strengthening cooperation networks between Member States' authorities and the Commission to support fair competition in the single market;

Or. en

Amendment 197Carmen Avram, Paul TangMotion for a resolutionParagraph 15 a (new)


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15 a. Regrets the slowness of some antitrust investigations compared to the fast-moving digital markets; underlines that the Google Shopping case started on the 30th November 20101a, stresses the damaging effect resulting from this situation and the financial consequences to which some actors have and are being exposed;

_________________1a https://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/isef/case_details.cfm?proc_code=1_39740

Or. en



15 a. Stresses the importance of clear measures to ensure effective enforcement and supervision of competition law at the EU level, especially in the context of fast- moving markets; underlines that the compliance of provisions must be reinforced with effective and proportionate penalties;

Or. en

Amendment 199Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 15 b (new)


15 b. Regrets that ten years after the opening of an investigation into Google search bias practices, the European Commission has still not completed the investigation; notes that antitrust

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enforcement actions in the United States of America by the Department of Justice and the Attorney Generals capture a wide range of Google's anti-competitive practices; deplores the limited scope of EU enforcement action which fails to protect European consumers; notes that the remedies proposed by Google have been rejected as inefficient by market players and consumer organisations across Europe; calls on the European Commission to file antitrust charges against Google for abuse of dominance in other specialised search services, including local search;

Or. en



15 a. Considers that in the digital economy, the concentration of data in a small number of companies leads to market failures, excessive rent extraction and blocking of new entrants;

Or. en

Amendment 201Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 16


16. Considers, while acknowledging efforts made, that problems linked to large technology undertakings’ excessive market dominance have so far been insufficiently addressed and need to be resolved urgently;

16. Considers, while acknowledging efforts made, that problems linked to large technology undertakings’ excessive market dominance have so far been insufficiently addressed and need to be resolved urgently; welcomes in that context the Commission's proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act;

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Or. en



16 a. Welcomes the introduction of new ex-ante rules, however the European Commission should make full use of its existing tools in competition enforcement; the DMA should not jeopardize the proper enforcement of competition law; in particular the Commission should address pending concerns with the Android decision and insufficient competition in online search;

Or. en



16 a. Recognises the challenges ahead for competition policy making and enforcement related to, inter alia, network effects, the concentration, aggregation and use of data in zero-priced markets, and pricing algorithms;

Or. en

Amendment 204Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 16 a (new)


16 a. Looks forward to seeing how the DMA and DSA will resolve in practice the structuring of big platforms and ensure adequate market oversight enabling

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intervention before a dominant position is established;

Or. en

Amendment 205Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 16 b (new)


16 b. Calls on the Commission to give due attention and careful consideration to structural competition problems relating to gatekeeping positions of incumbent payment networks, taking due account of their strategic importance and central role in the digital economy, which have only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic;

Or. en



17. Takes the view that new competition tools might be needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets which current rules cannot address in the most effective manner;

deleted

Or. en



17. Takes the view that new competition tools might be needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets which current rules

17. Calls on the Commission to assess the need of new competition tools to deal with structural competition problems across different markets which current

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cannot address in the most effective manner;

rules cannot address in the most effective manner;

Or. en

Amendment 208Joachim Schuster, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 17



17. Takes the view that new competition tools are needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets as the current rules cannot address them in the most effective manner;

Or. en




17. Takes the view that new competition tools are needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets which current rules cannot address in the most effective manner;

Or. en




17. Notes that traditional instruments used by competition authorities such as investigations into the possible abuse of a dominant market position take very long, which has proven to be a problem for fast-moving digital markets; therefore takes

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the view that new competition tools might be needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets which current rules cannot address in the most effective manner;

Or. en

Amendment 211Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 17



17. Takes the view that new competition tools might be needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets which current rules cannot address in the most effective manner and calls for careful Commission surveillance on these markets so as to be able to act fast on major issues and legal loopholes;

Or. en

Amendment 212Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Ondřej Kovařík, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 17



17. Takes the view that new competition tools might be needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets which current rules cannot address in the most effective manner; stresses the role of the European Competition Network to share best practices in this regard;

Or. en

Amendment 213Markus Ferber

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17 a. Notes that fines issued by competition authorities have often failed to have a deterring effect for large technology companies as they are merely considered as costs of doing business;

Or. en

Amendment 214Markus FerberMotion for a resolutionParagraph 17 b (new)


17 b. Stresses the need to look into the possibility of making more frequent use of precautionary measures to adapt to the rapid development of new markets and to stop any practice which would seriously harm competition;

Or. en



18. Calls on the Commission to consider proposals to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability;

18. Believes, however, that unilateral sanctions and trade barriers based on protectionist grounds, notably in the case of 5G, should be avoided ; calls therefore on the Commission and the Member States to uphold the main principles of the 5G toolbox, one of which is the need for all industry players to enjoy a level-playing field, without discrimination based on their origin, as long as they comply with the technical and facts-based criteria;

Or. en

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Amendment 216Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 18



18. Welcomes the Commission proposal for a Digital Markets Act to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing, building on past antitrust cases, or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability; calls on the Commission to address cases where remedies offered have clearly been ineffective to restore competition to the comparison-shopping market; stresses that enforcement of previous decisions is crucial to the effective enforcement of the Digital Markets Act and to creating a workable template to effectively address anticompetitive behaviours by online platforms;

Or. en




18. Welcomes the Commission's proposal, the Digital Markets Act, to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability;

Or. en

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18. Calls on the Commission to consider proposals to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing business practices (including mandatory bundling/pre-installation) or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability, data portability, and multi-vendor integration;

Or. en




18. Calls on the Commission to consider proposals to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability, including of core services, and data portability;

Or. en

Amendment 220Eva KailiMotion for a resolutionParagraph 18


18. Calls on the Commission to 18. Calls on the Commission to

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consider proposals to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability;

consider proposals to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability; considers a harmonised approach to cybersecurity certification and updated product safety provisions instrumental to provide users with trust and providers of digital services with technical, operational and legal certainty; notes that harmonised cybersecurity and safety provisions can further empower service compatibility, interoperability and data portability, fostering competition and the contestability of digital markets;

Or. en

Amendment 221Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 18



18. Calls on the Commission to consider proposals to prohibit platforms from engaging in self-preferencing or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability; moreover, the toolbox of the Commission as future DMA regulator should include the ability to ban abusive self-preferencing practices in the form of default settings; the Commission should have the ability to force a gatekeeping platform to substitute certain default settings by an effective and objective consumer choice architecture;

Or. en

Amendment 222Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques,

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Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 18 a (new)


18 a. Recalls that data driven advantages linked to data sharing and data selling, but also services set as default settings risk conferring some companies the position of a so-called “gatekeeper” in the digital markets and need to be addressed effectively by the DMA and DSA;

Or. en



18 a. Calls for further EU action as regards the lack of interoperability of digital devises with the aim of avoiding the situation whereby consumers are locked with one provider;

Or. en

Amendment 224Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 19


19. Considers that the structural unbundling of Big Tech monopolies is desirable for restoring competition in digital markets;

19. Considers that the structural unbundling of Big Tech monopolies is a last resort solution for restoring competition in digital markets; stresses that targeted and effective behavioural remedies offer a time-efficient solution; suggests implementing participative antitrust in order to foster continuous dialogue with all undertakings, increase legal certainty and ensure effective

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remedies;

Or. en




19. Considers that behavioural remedies and structural unbundling of Big Tech monopolies as an action of last resort might be desirable for restoring competition in digital markets;

Or. en

Amendment 226Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc Angel, Andreas SchwabMotion for a resolutionParagraph 19



19. Considers that the structural unbundling of Big Tech monopolies is desirable for restoring competition in digital markets given the limits of fines and the failure of passed behavioural remedies in certain antitrust cases;

Or. en




19. Considers that the structural unbundling of Big Tech monopolies is desirable for restoring competition in digital markets, guaranteeing greater transparency in terms of data management and consumer protection;

Or. en

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Amendment 228Eva Kaili, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 19



19. Considers that the structural unbundling of Big Tech monopolies is desirable for restoring competition in digital markets; calls on the Commission to consider proposals for real-time disclosures and standardised data monetisation reporting for platform activities including, but not limited to, online advertising and e-commerce in order to prevent possible risks of distortions to competition;

Or. en



19 a. Urges the European Commission to speed up procedures and notes that while it is important to ensure due process and the right of defence of undertakings under investigation, there is a need to make administrative procedures faster and more efficient. When this is not possible due to the complexity of the cases, the European Commission should make use of interim measures to prevent that the abusive conduct caused an irreparable harm on competition;

Or. en

Amendment 230Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 19 a (new)


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19 a. Calls on the Commission to make a more regular use of interim measures to stop practices that would seriously harm competition and markets; Regrets that they have been used only once in 20 years;

Or. en



20. Looks forward to the Commissionʼs proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act;

deleted

Or. en

Amendment 232Marc Angel, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 20



deleted

Or. en

Amendment 233Paul TangMotion for a resolutionParagraph 20



20. Welcomes the Commissionʼs proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act for having a distinct approach towards all digital services, very

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large digital services and gatekeepers; regrets however that the approach towards very large digital services and gatekeepers lacks effectiveness in regulating platforms operating as online advertising (intermediary) services; furthermore regrets that interoperability measures as a tool for stimulating competition are only taken into account for gatekeepers ancillary services and not for its core platform services; calls on the Commission to use interoperability and interconnectivity measures as a method to stimulate competition;

Or. en




20. Welcomes the Commissions proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act; the objective of these proposals is to ensure fair and contestable digital markets in the EU; this objective is complementary but distinct from the goal pursued by competition law, namely the protection of undistorted competition on the market and a level playing field; notes that the first enforcement action under the new DMA Regulation will only be possible in five years; therefore urges the European Commission to pursue its antitrust enforcement in new and pending cases involving gatekeepers in the digital environment;

Or. en



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20. Welcomes the Commissionʼs proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act; notes that the Digital Markets Act is a complementary tool to competition rules and aims to ensure fair and contestable online markets; stresses the need to be consistent with competition rules, including ambitious national competition laws, to ensure an effective enforcement and clarity;

Or. en




20. Welcomes the Commissionʼs proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act; in particular points out that the aim of the latter is to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market by promoting effective competition, a level playing field in digital markets and a fair and contestable online platform environment;

Or. en




20. Welcomes the Commissionʼs proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act as a good starting point for a much needed update of the legislative framework for the platform economy;

Or. en

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20. Welcomes the Commissionʼs proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act;

Or. enAmendment 239Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 20 a (new)


20 a. Calls on the Commission to clarify the supervision of the upcoming Digital Markets Act with a special unit within the European Commission as well as an European forum, following the example of the European Competition Network, encompassing National Competition Authorities, national sectoral regulators, European Data Supervisory Board and consumer organisations in order to have a comprehensive and real time overview of online market developments and harmful practices while making the most of existing useful resources;

Or. en

Amendment 240Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 20 a (new)


20 a. Insists on the enforcement framework in the DMA; as regulator, the Commission should be sufficiently resourced and the process should be participatory among all actors; the identification of remedies should not be

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left to the sole appreciation of the incriminated company but instead be subject to a strict compliance mechanism;

Or. en



20 a. Considers that the DMA proposal should not jeopardize the proper enforcement of competition law already in force nor prevent the Commission from making full use of its existing tools in competition enforcement; refers in this regard to pending concerns on the Android decision and insufficient competition in online search;

Or. en

Amendment 242Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 20 b (new)


20 b. Calls on the Commission make full use of its competition policy instruments to guarantee a fair level playing field and by addressing potential gatekeeper effects with regards to access to key enabling technologies for artificial intelligence and data;

Or. en



20 b. Highlights the importance of an

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adequate enforcement framework in the future DMA, whereby the design of remedies should not be left to the sole appreciation of the incriminated company but instead be subject to a strict compliance mechanism;

Or. en

Amendment 244Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 20 c (new)


20 c. Considers that the toolbox of the Commission as future DMA regulator should include the ability to ban abusive self-preferencing practices in the form of default settings; expresses its support for entrusting the Commission with the ability to force a gatekeeping platform to substitute certain default settings by an effective and objective consumer choice architecture, thus putting consumers in the driving seat;

Or. en



21. Considers that Parliament should play an active role in the political debate on competition policy, including through organising a public hearing with the CEOs of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple);

21. Considers that Parliament should play an active role in the political debate on competition policy;

Or. en

Amendment 246Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 21



21. Considers that Parliament should play an active role in the political debate on competition policy, including through the upcoming public hearing with the CEOs of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple); notes that Parliament should be more involved in the activity of working parties and expert groups, such as the International Competition Network (ICN) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as an observer to get a better knowledge of the matter and keep it updated on the developments in order to be more prepared for its role as co-legislator; stresses that the European Parliament should participate in EU Competition Weeks; Notes that the Competition Working Group is a useful vehicle to foster exchanges between the European Parliament and DG Competition on technical issues;

Or. en




21. Considers that Parliament should play an active role in the political debate on competition policy, including through organising a public hearing with the CEOs of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) on their corporate strategies in the field of competition and taxation practices;

Or. en

Amendment 248Fulvio MartuscielloMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 21



21. Considers that Parliament should play an active role in the political debate on competition policy, including through organising a public hearing with the CEOs of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung);

Or. en




21. Considers that Parliament should play an active role in the political debate on competition policy, including through organising a public hearing with the CEOs or CFOs of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple);

Or. en

Amendment 250Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 21 a (new)


21 a. Further encourages the structured dialogues with the Executive Vice-President for Competition and the efforts by the Commission to maintain close co-operation with the members of Parliament’s competent committee; considers the Commission’s annual report on competition policy an indispensable exercise in terms of democratic scrutiny; recalls that in recent years Parliament has been involved through the ordinary

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legislative procedure in shaping the framework for competition rules; notes that Parliament should begiven co-decision powers to shape the framework for competition rules; recalls its previous request to amend the treaties accordingly;

Or. en



21 a. Recalls EU General Court rulings T-778/16 and T-892/16 regarding the Commission´s tax package; notes that the Court ruled that the incomplete and occasionally inconsistent nature of tax rules are not, in themselves, sufficient proof of the existence of an advantage for the purposes of Article 107(1) TFEU; underlines that the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage for the purposes of Article 107(1) TFEU;

Or. en



22. Stresses the importance of helping consumers and users to gain greater control over, and take responsibility for, their own data and identity, and calls for a high level of protection of personal data while increasing the levels of transparency and accountability of digital services;

22. Stresses the importance of helping consumers and users to gain greater control over, and take responsibility for, their own data and identity, and calls for a high level of protection of personal data while increasing the levels of transparency and accountability of digital services; calls in this regard for a mandatory data sharing framework providing consumers with tools to rightfully take ownership and manage their own data in a simpler and

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more effective manner;

Or. en

Amendment 253Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 22


22. Stresses the importance of helping consumers and users to gain greater control over, and take responsibility for, their own data and identity, and calls for a high level of protection of personal data while increasing the levels of transparency and accountability of digital services;

22. Stresses the importance of helping consumers and users to gain greater control over, and take responsibility for, their own data and identity, and calls for a high level of protection of personal data while increasing the levels of transparency and accountability of digital services; recalls that consumers have no other choice than giving their consent if they do not want to lose access to some services offered by online platforms;

Or. en

Amendment 254Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc Angel, Andreas SchwabMotion for a resolutionParagraph 22 a (new)


22 a. Calls on the Commission to review its merger and acquisition rules when it comes to assessing personal data; calls, in particular, on the Commission to fully consider and assess personal data assets as all other traditional physical assets when it decides on digital mergers and acquisitions; invites the Commission to learn from recent mergers such as Facebook and WhatsApp or Google and Fitbit acquisitions;

Or. en

Amendment 255Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles Boyer

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22 a. Calls on the Commission to review its merger and acquisition guidelines when it comes to assessing personal data; calls on the Commission to fully consider personal data assets as all other traditional physical assets when it decides on digital mergers and acquisitions; Urges the European Commission to take a broader view when evaluating digital mergers and assess the damaging effects of data concentration;

Or. en

Amendment 256Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc Angel, Andreas SchwabMotion for a resolutionParagraph 22 b (new)


22 b. Regrets the European Commission's decision to approve Google’s takeover of wearable fitness device company Fitbit; notes that the remedies proposed by Google and endorsed by the European Commission are insufficient to ensure effective competition in wearables and digital health, which are becoming increasingly important in consumers’ lives; urges the European Commission to take a broader view when evaluating digital mergers and assess the impact of data consolidation; notes that the acquisition of targets with specific data resources can bring about a concentration in control over valuable and non-replicable data resources and result in better data access for the merging parties than for their competitors; stresses that data consolidation via mergers may strengthen a dominant position or allow the acquiring entity to leverage market power, and sometimes raise foreclosure

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concerns;

Or. en

Amendment 257Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 22 b (new)


22 b. Notes that in several specific markets for financial data (credit rating, financial indices, consolidated feeds…), there are multiple vendors and, although none of them has a dominant market share, competition remains very low; notes also that some financial market data vendors positioned as data aggregators could act as gatekeepers and as such could control access to data and restrict usage for customers; calls on the Commission to assess those oligopolistic and gatekeepers situations and develop measures restoring competition, supporting price transparency and avoiding unfair and unreasonable commercial practices;

Or. en

Amendment 258Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Alfred Sant, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 22 c (new)


22 c. Calls on the Commission to update its antitrust tools especially on merger control and adequate them to new realities of digital and technology markets and to change the assessment of market power, merger notification thresholds, measurement of merger effects on consumer privacy, industrial data and investigation of abuse of dominant position;

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Or. en

Amendment 259Carmen Avram, Paul Tang, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 22 d (new)


22 d. Calls on the Commission to investigate the advertising technology at the heart of big tech companies business model, in particular asks the Commission to look into how Google and Facebook are collecting, accessing, processing, using and monetising personal data. Moreover, calls the Commission to investigate Google’s practices in the advertising technology (“ad tech”) value chain, and its position in relation to advertisers, publishers and intermediaries, and competitors in search advertising, display advertising and ad tech services;

Or. en



23. Calls for the Union’s infrastructure capacity in critical digital sectors to be enhanced;

deleted

Or. en




23. Calls for the Union’s infrastructure and operational resilience capacity in critical digital sectors to be enhanced;

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Or. en

Amendment 262Eva Kaili, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 23



23. Calls for the Union’s infrastructure capacity in critical digital sectors to be enhanced; emphasises the need for harmonised operational and security standards to empower cross-border synergies and digital infrastructure development; notes with concern the inherent risk of monopolistic dynamics to emerge in the network and digital infrastructure markets; considers sustainable competition in the aforementioned markets vital for Europe’s digital transition, economic recovery and competitiveness;

Or. en




23. Calls for the Union’s infrastructure capacity in critical digital sectors to be enhanced; including by encouraging fair competition and promoting fair software licensing principles in European cloud markets;

Or. en



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23a. Stresses that competition and the avoidance of monopolistic structures is important in order to improve infrastructure and connectivity;

Or. de



24. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the notion of ‘abuse of dominant position’ and the ‘essential facilities’ doctrine remain fit for the purpose in the digital age;

24. Calls on the Commission to review and adapt the methodology used to assess an ‘abuse of dominant position’ and ensure that the notion of ‘essential facilities’ doctrine remain fit for the purpose in the digital age;

Or. en



24. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the notion of ‘abuse of dominant position’ and the ‘essential facilities’ doctrine remain fit for the purpose in the digital age;

24. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the notion of ‘abuse of dominant position’ and the ‘essential facilities’ doctrine remain fit for the purpose in the digital age; invites the European Commission to consider complementing the concept of dominance with concepts such as dependency and/or relative market power;

Or. en



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24 a. Notes that some oligopolistic structures have developed in the area of financial services, and also that some large technology undertakings have become important players in the financial services market; calls on the Commission to monitor and investigate how the competitive advantages inherent to these operators may distort competition in the market, and harm the interests of consumers and innovation;

Or. en

Amendment 268Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 25 a (new)


25 a. Recalls, with view to its report on competition policy 2019 (2019/2131 (INI))2a that abuse of market power can take place even when products or services are supplied for free or in exchange of private data; believes that the passing on of private data to third parties for marketing or commercial purposes is frequently done without the consumer’s proper consent, as alternatives to sharing data are often not provided; considers that in the digital economy, the concentration of data in a small number of companies leads to market failures, excessive rent extraction and a blocking of new entrants;

_________________2a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2020-0022_EN.html

Or. en

Amendment 269Paul TangMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 25 a (new)


25 a. Welcomes the investigation of the Commission into Google’s online advertising ecosystem; Emphasises the importance of investigating the process in which Google matches advertisers with websites that offer space for displaying advertising, so-called real-time bidding systems; highlights the absence of adequate measures against advertising intermediaries in the draft Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, lacking coherence of the Commission's policy;

Or. en

Amendment 270Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 25 a (new)


25 a. Points out the need for the Commission to allocate adequate resources to be able to effectively enforce EU competition rules; notes the need to ensure specific expertise on digital issues and online platforms practices with behavioural economists, algorithms specialists, engineers and data scientists; underlines the need to ensure a swift cooperation with national competition authorities and build on their growing expertise;

Or. en



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25a. Notes with concern an increasing fragmentation and divergence in the Member States' telecommunications policies and fears that this will undermine the common market, and calls on the Commission to prevent attempts to re-monopolise the European telecommunications markets in some Member States;

Or. de

Amendment 272José Gusmão, Manon AubryMotion for a resolutionParagraph 25 a (new)


25 a. Highlights the importance of reforming the current taxation system and develop an effective digital tax, so that digital multinationals finally pay their fair share of taxes in the countries in which a part of their value is created;

Or. en



25 a. Emphasises the need to monitor price caps, for example in sectors such as online platforms for accommodation and tourism;

Or. en

Amendment 274Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionSubheading 4 a (new)


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Competition rules supporting the European Green Deal;

Or. en



25 a. Notes that to ensure the competition policy’s alignment with the European Green Deal, the state aid regime must be revised, taking the Union’s 2050 climate neutrality and new 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, as well as zero pollution and circular economy strategies into account; notes that mobilising investments at the scale needed to meet the 2030 emission targets will require in certain appropriate cases the provision of state aid as recognised by the Commission; calls therefore on the Commission to make sure that the alignment to the Green Deal should be reflected on all state aid regulations and not only on those for environmental protection and energy;

Or. en



25 b. Welcomes the implementation of Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) such as the European Battery Alliance; calls on the Commission to further promote major IPCEIs in disruptive technologies, to simplify the relevant provisions and to streamline its requirements so that smaller industrial

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research projects are also approved;

Or. en



25 c. Calls on the Commission, as part of its upcoming revision of the Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy to include nuclear energy fossil fuels and subject aid granted to them to strict necessity tests; calls furthermore on the Commission to provide for greater flexibility for aid granted to citizen-generated renewable energy in line with the EU’s climate commitments, notably concerning thresholds and technology neutrality for tendering procedures; underlines that further guidance is needed on repowering, hybrid projects and electricity storage;

Or. en



25 d. Underlines the existing market failures to trigger the necessary investments in energy efficiency and savings, especially in the building sector; notes that renovation models such as those proposed by energy service companies (ESCOs) have proven successful in achieving benefits; deplores however that the General Block Exemption Regulation and existing guidelines provide little guidance on state

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aid in this context; calls therefore on the Commission to provide further guidance and an enabling framework for further investments in energy efficiency and building renovation;

Or. en



25 e. Calls on the Commission to review its guidelines on state aid for airports and airlines, in order to align them with EU’s climate commitments and the Paris Agreement; urges the Commission to not extend the transitional period, from 2014 to 2024, in which airports can receive operating aid, preferably this transitional period should end in 2022; calls on the Commission to exclude from the scope of the General Block Exceptions Regulation aid granted to airports and ports;

Or. en

Amendment 280Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 25 f (new)


25 f. Recalls the need for a roadmap for better-targeted state aid especially for the delivery of services of general economic interest including energy, transport or telecommunications;

Or. en

Amendment 281Claude GruffatMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 25 g (new)


25 g. Calls on the Commission to continue its in-depth analysis on the extent and effect of buying alliances on the economic functioning of the agricultural and food supply chain, taking particular account of the effects on small suppliers;

Or. en

Amendment 282Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 25 h (new)


25 h. Expresses concern for unsustainable downward pressure on farm prices resulting from excessive processor or buyer power downstream in agricultural supply chains; encourages the Commission to revise its approach in assessing the abuse of dominant market positions, to include cases which place unsustainable downward pressure on farm prices, whether or not they result in higher consumer prices;

Or. en

Amendment 283Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 25 i (new)


25 i. Considers that competition policy should better integrate the value of public good in food pricing in light of the growing demand for more sustainable food systems; calls for EU competition policy to consider broader consumers'

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interests, beyond the factor of price alone; calls on the Commission to provide, in the context of the revision of the horizontal guidelines, legal certainty for horizontal and vertical cooperation initiatives with the aim of improving factors such as sustainability and fair labour standards in the food supply chain on the conditions under which such arrangements are admissible;

Or. en

Amendment 284Claude Gruffaton behalf of the Verts/ALE GroupMotion for a resolutionParagraph 25 j (new)


25 j. Reiterates its call for coal regions to be identified as assisted areas in accordance with Article 107(3) (a) and (c) of the TFEU and for EU aid rules for these special regions to be adapted so as to enable measures to be taken to deal with structural change; insists that coal mining companies and coal power plant operators having received and still receiving public support for mining and burning coal must not be subject to a privileged state-aid treatment, including for traditional corporate responsibility activities such as ground water restoration, landscape refurbishment or other cleaning-up sites related activities; calls on the Commission to provide clear guidance and conditionality in line with EU climate commitments;

Or. en



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26. Notes that State aid policy is an integral part of competition policy and that State aid control reflects the need to maintain a level playing field for all undertakings carrying out activities in the single market;

26. Notes that State aid policy is an integral part of competition policy and that State aid control has been particularly detrimental to periphery Member States with weaker productive capacities, given the fact that it prevented these countries from investing in their domestic industries;

Or. en



26a. Considers that aid for maintaining employment and achieving full employment, which is necessary to compensate for the external diseconomies present in areas that are considerably lagging behind, is also consistent and coherent;

Or. it



26 a. Repeats its calls that allowing state aid in the context of services of general economic interest (SGEI) remains essential for the survival of several communities across Europe especially in the context of state support dedicated to isolated, remote or peripheral regions in the Union;

Or. en


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26 a. Welcomes the European Commission's vigilance in enforcing state-aid rules in the area of taxation; points out that Commission rulings are often challenged in court and therefore need to be thoroughly prepared;

Or. en

Amendment 289Alfred SantMotion for a resolutionParagraph 26 b (new)


26 b. Welcomes the Commission’s open consultation regarding government subsidies (small amounts) for essential public services and the eventual extension of rules to 2023;

Or. en

Amendment 290Alfred SantMotion for a resolutionParagraph 26 c (new)


26 c. Is concerned about the untimely revision proposals in the context of the new Regional Aid Guidelines 2022 -2027 whereby the Commission is aiming at reducing population coverage; notes that this proposal will especially impact in a negative manner European peripheral regions that have already been disproportionately affected by the ongoing economic downfall;

Or. en

Amendment 291Alfred Sant, Tonino Picula, François Alfonsi, Alex Agius Saliba, Alicia Homs Ginel, Costas Mavrides, Josianne Cutajar, Ignazio Corrao, Demetris Papadakis

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Motion for a resolutionParagraph 26 d (new)


26 d. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to launch a territorial assessment on the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the context of the application of state aid rules and the relevant ongoing revision process; in this regard, special attention should be paid to analyse impacts on enterprises based in EU islands and outermost regions according to the provisions of Articles 174 and 349 TFEU;

Or. en



27. Calls on the Commission to give careful consideration to sectors which are the basis of many other industries, as well as the Union’s social and economic value chain; is concerned that excluding too large a number of such sectors from eligibility for State aid, including through the revised EU Emission Trading System State aid guidelines, may put the Union’s international competitiveness at risk;

deleted

Or. en

Amendment 293Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Victor Negrescu, Joachim SchusterMotion for a resolutionParagraph 27


27. Calls on the Commission to give careful consideration to sectors which are the basis of many other industries, as well

27. Calls on the Commission to give careful consideration to sectors which are the basis of many other industries, as well

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as the Union’s social and economic value chain; is concerned that excluding too large a number of such sectors from eligibility for State aid, including through the revised EU Emission Trading System State aid guidelines, may put the Union’s international competitiveness at risk;

as the Union’s social, sustainability and economic objectives and to ensure that support for the greening of the economy and climate-neutral production in Europe will be possible under competition law and state aid rules;

Or. en




27. Calls on the Commission to give careful consideration to sectors which are the basis of many other industries, as well as the Union’s social and economic value chain; is concerned that current state aid regimes contradict the European Green Deal objectives by neglecting to factor in external costs such as climate, pollution, environment and health, including through the EU Emission Trading System’s free allocations and indirect cost compensation mechanisms;

Or. en




27. Calls on the Commission to give due attention and careful consideration to sectors and subsectors which are the basis of many other industries, as well as the Union’s social and economic value chain; is concerned that insufficient attention for the trade intensity criterion and the aggregate impact of climate-related costs (direct and indirect), and excluding too large a number of sectors and subsectors

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from eligibility for State aid, including through the revised EU Emission Trading System (ETS) State aid guidelines, may put the Union’s international competitiveness at risk;

Or. en

Amendment 296Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Jonás Fernández, Pedro Marques, Paul Tang, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 27 a (new)


27 a. Reiterates that taxation is sometimes used to grant indirect State aid, creating an uneven playing field in the internal market; deplores the abuse of tax rulings, points out that royalties as a financial product do not only risk to facilitate money laundering but also to undermine competition in the single market; recalls that aggressive tax planning does not solely harm fair competition but also undermines the proper functioning of social systems in general; insists that the Commission has access to the information exchanged between the Member States’ tax authorities so as to better detect violations of competition rules; recalls that examination by the Commission of a tax ruling under a State aid point of view does not constitute tax harmonisation;

Or. en

Amendment 297Bogdan RzońcaMotion for a resolutionParagraph 27 a (new)


27 a. In this context, it seems necessary to change the approach to energy-intensive industries. Taking into account

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the need for much greater control and sovereignty of the EU and its Member States in value chains, energy-intensive industries should also be supported in order to be able to undergo the climate transformation in such away as to avoid the carbon leakage;

Or. en

Amendment 298Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 27 a (new)


27 a. Considers that the revision of General Block Exemption Regulation could better support the greening the economy; calls on the Commission to increase the aid intensity for Research and Innovation as well as consider increasing the maximum aid intensity to reward projects for their positive externalities for the environment or for the overall energy system;

Or. en

Amendment 299Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 27 a (new)


27 a. Considers that State aid policies also have the potential to bring a significant contribution in reaching Green Deal long term objectives, introducing new state aid instruments in order to increase the incentive effect and bring more flexibility towards the transition to a climate-neutral economy;

Or. en

Amendment 300Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru,

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Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 27 b (new)


27 b. Welcomes the consultation launched on competition supporting the Green Deal to better take into account the green and sustainable efficiencies when dealing with state aid, mergers control and antitrust rules; believes that the revision of the Environment and Energy Aid Guidelines should put in place concrete incentives and conditions to continue on the path of decarbonization and revitalization of the economy by 2050 and should take into account broader policy objectives such as climate ambition, resilience and security of supply; stresses the need for the Commission to prevent any potential negative side-effects where larger companies use public aid granted in view of ‘greening’ their business models for other objectives such as reinforcing its dominant position in a given sector;

Or. en

Amendment 301Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Ondřej Kovařík, Linea Søgaard-Lidell, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 27 c (new)


27 c. Supports the carbon border adjustment mechanism to prevent carbon leakage as it helps ensure a level playing field between producers inside and outside the EU, and enhance transition to climate neutral modes of productions;

Or. en

Amendment 302Claude GruffatMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 28


28. Notes with concern that the recovery of illegal State aid remains a lengthy and cumbersome process;

28. Notes with concern that the recovery of illegal State aid remains a lengthy and cumbersome process; calls on the Commission to impose a new framework for fines, including the possibility for fines on member states;

Or. en

Amendment 303Paul TangMotion for a resolutionParagraph 28 a (new)


28 a. Recalls the state-aid complaint tabled in 2019 on the confidential tax ruling of the Dutch revenue service and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, letting the latter route its shares through a trust in the Channel Island of Jersey to avoid tax on dividends; recalls that the complaint states the ruling is at odds with the Dutch law on dividend tax of 1965; regrets that no public investigation has started or decision has been taken since the complaint was lodged; calls on the Commission to investigate the Shell complaint and publicly communicates about it;

Or. en

Amendment 304Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 28 a (new)


28 a. Stresses the importance of state aid framework for important projects of common European interest (IPCEI) to allow massive investments in

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breakthrough technologies; calls on the Commission with regards to the upcoming revision of the IPCEI Communication to clarify selection rules for these projects, to revise some implementation criteria as well as to allow the possibility to more easily mobilize co-financing from the EU, in particular to facilitate the participation of partners from small Member States;

Or. en

Amendment 305Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Aurore Lalucq, Jonás Fernández, Pedro Marques, Paul Tang, Margarida MarquesMotion for a resolutionParagraph 28 a (new)


28 a. Welcomes the Commission repeal of the Apple ruling; Is of the opinion that the Apple case shows once more the need for sound state aid rules, taking into account beneficial tax regimes; repeats its call for a minimum effective tax rate and a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) and public country-by-country reporting (pCBCR); awaits the results of the ongoing international negotiations on a digital tax;

Or. en



28 a. Regrets Commissioner Vestager's comments in Handelsblatt of 1 December 2020, attacking German budgetary policies; underlines that bad budgetary policies in other Member States should not affect the discretion of Member States with sound budgetary policies to provide State Aid;

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Or. en



28 a. Recalls that, in order to help SMEs cope with the greater challenges of entering new markets and enable them to compete on their own merits, EU trade and competition policy should contribute to an SME-friendly trade environment;

Or. en



28 b. Stresses that the concept of a ‘fair price’ should not be equated with the lowest consumer price possible, but instead should be reasonable and enable the fair remuneration of all actors; considers that a focus on lowest-possible consumer prices ignores the negative externalities associated with certain types of production; stresses that consumers have interests beyond low prices alone, such as environmental sustainability or quality and nutritional value of food;

Or. en

Amendment 309Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 28 b (new)


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28 b. Calls on the Commission to inform the European Parliament on the allocation of human resources between State aid control, merger control and antitrust; acknowledges the extra workload regarding State aid control due to the pandemic but calls on the Commission to ensure a reasonable allocation of resources to ensure that all aspects of competition policy are treated equally;

Or. en



29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice 97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and potential future competition in its competitive assessments;

29. Notes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice 97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and potential future competition in its competitive assessments;

Or. en

Amendment 311Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 29


29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice 97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and

29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice 97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and

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potential future competition in its competitive assessments;

potential future competition in its competitive assessments; recalls in that sense that in cases of mergers, the Commission should not only look at prices, output and innovation but also pays attention to the social and environmental costs of such transactions in light of TFEU principles, and to pay particular attention to environment protection;

Or. en



29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice 97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and potential future competition in its competitive assessments;

29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice 97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and potential future competition in its competitive assessments; calls on the Commission to adopt a more dynamic approach when revising the 1997 Communication on market definition, making the innovation criteria as a core element of the relevant market analysis when it comes to European merger control;

Or. en



29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice

29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice

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97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and potential future competition in its competitive assessments;

97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and potential future competition in its competitive assessments; highlights that in the past, the Commission's definition of the relevant market might have been too narrow to sufficiently take into account dynamic competition in global markets;

Or. en

Amendment 314Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 29 a (new)


29 a. Calls on the Commission to revise mergers guidelines to take into account efficiency gains linked to mergers, including the challenge of EU industrial competitiveness; Welcomes the role of the Priorities and Strategic Coordination Unit at DG COMP in order to draw on the expertise of all the Commission’s DG during the investigation of cases by the DG Competition; believes that expertise of the Commission's industrial or sectoral strategy could be strengthened in support of the DG Competition's investigation teams to identify the feasibility and consequences of remedies with regard to the Commission's priorities;

Or. en



29 a. Recalls on the Commission to carry out an evaluation of the Damages

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Directive (2014/104/EU), once sufficient experience from the application of the new rules has accumulated in all Member States in order to assess the eventual need to make some changes for a more effective and harmonized enforcement of damages actions across the EU;

Or. en



29 a. Urges the Commission to remain vigilant and strictly enforce article 102 prohibiting the abuse of a dominant position as well as its merger control procedures, enshrined in Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings;

Or. en



30. Agrees with the ECA that, overall, the Commission makes good use of its enforcement powers in merger control and antitrust proceedings, although improvements are necessary in a number of areas;

30. Agrees with the ECA that, overall, the Commission makes good use of its enforcement powers in merger control and antitrust proceedings, although improvements are necessary in a number of areas; notes in particular that the turnover thresholds might not be suitable to detect all cases that should be reviewed by competition authorities;

Or. en


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30 a. Stresses the need of a more systematic use of specific measures such as interim measures as well as other structural and behavioral remedies in a ex-post antitrust enforcement view -in addition to fines-, in order to prevent irreversible distortions of competition capable of irrevocably destroying the competition on the market; in this regard, reminds that in the annex of the ECN+ Directive the Commission identified "interim measures" as "a key tool for competition authorities to ensure that competition is not harmed while an investigation is on-going"; recalls on the Commission to revise the Notice on Remedies (2008/C 267/01) by taking into account the developments and evolution of the digital sector over the last past years;

Or. en

Amendment 319Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas MavridesMotion for a resolutionParagraph 30 a (new)


30 a. Considers in particular antitrust proceedings as too lengthy, slowing down much needed market corrections and consequently negatively impacting effectiveness of competition law enforcement, especially in the case of rapidly growing digital markets; calls therefore for faster antitrust proceedings and asks for cooperation on this not only from the Commission but also from the companies under investigation; condemns in that context that some companies under investigation artificially prolong investigations by systematically requesting prolongations of deadlines and by replying to requests for information only

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with substantial delays or by submitting ineffective proposals for commitments they would take;

Or. en



30 a. Considers that merger decisions put increasing pressure on limited resources; calls on the Commission to consider charging a fee on companies that file a merger notification as an alternative financing source for its enforcement activities, following the example of NCAs in a majority of EU Member States as well as in third country jurisdictions such as the US, Canada, and Australia;

Or. en

Amendment 321Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 30 b (new)


30 b. Welcomes the introduction of the “eLeniencytool” by the Commission to further improve the effectiveness of competition policies implementation; recalls that with the swift development of the digital markets, new challenges arise when it comes to the implementation of competition policies; recommends in that sense the Commission to look into the possibilities to intervene ex ante, especially in the digital markets and to provide EU and national competition and regulatory authorities with the necessary means to gather data anonymously so as to be able to better detect market failures

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in due time;

Or. en



30 b. Notes that the European Court of Justice interprets Article 101 TFEU taking into account the different aims of the Treaties; points in particular to the Wouters judgment (C-309/99) in which the general interest was predominant and therefore limitations of competition were considered to be justified; welcomes and encourages that EU competition practice does not solely focus on price-centric consumer welfare; stresses the importance of the proportionality principle, meaning that limitation of competition cannot go beyond what is necessary to achieve the general interest;

Or. en



31. Recalls that cartels represent some of the most serious violations of competition law;

31. Stresses the importance of tracking down cartels that represent some of the most serious violations of competition law especially in time of crisis;

Or. en



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31. Recalls that cartels represent some of the most serious violations of competition law and imply significantly higher costs for consumers;

Or. en

Amendment 325Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Dragoș Pîslaru, Ondřej Kovařík, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 31



31. Recalls that cartels represent some of the most serious violations of competition law and monopolies the most concerning form of market concentration that the European Union has been seeking to break down by sector-specific regulation and competition law enforcement;

Or. en




31. Recalls that cartels represent some of the most serious violations of competition law; believes that such infringements of competition law counteract the interests of EU citizens since they do not allow consumers to benefit from lower prices;

Or. en

Amendment 327Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Paul Tang, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn RegnerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 31 a (new)

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31 a. Points out that while the level of fines imposed by the Commission is amongst the highest in the world, nearly two-thirds of the fines imposed by the Commission in cartel cases since 2006 stayed below 0.99% of global annual turnover, thus well below the ceiling of 10% of a company’s annual worldwide turnover allowed3a; notes that while the ECA rightly points out that the amount of fines alone does not allow conclusions on whether they are effective deterrents, the ECA also underlines that the ceiling itself of possible fines can limit the deterrent effect in “serious cases”;

_________________3a https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR20_24/SR_Competition_policy_EN.pdf

Or. en



31 a. Highlights that in the face of a crisis, some firms may be tempted to reorganize the structure of an industry by entering into so-called "crisis cartels", i.e. agreements among most or all competitors to restrict output and/or reduce capacity to increase profitability and prevent market exit in times of crisis;

Or. en

Amendment 329Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Joachim Schuster, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn RegnerMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 31 b (new)


31 b. Recalls that even when heavy fines are imposed they are often not enough of a deterrent, also because they may be passed on to consumers; calls therefore on the Commission to evaluate the deterrence effect of its fines and the usefulness of fines of up to 40% of the worldwide annual turnover of companies to be imposed in serious cartel cases, as it is the case already in one Member State; urges moreover that non-compliance for recurrent infringers should lead to additional sanctions, such as alternative behavioural remedies or the obligation to take specific structural measures which could be a combination of recommendations from the Commission; stresses that the cease-and-desist order should be much more prescriptive in upcoming remedies;

Or. en



31 b. Asks the Commission to monitor closely any significant and rapid price increases. In the short term, this may include enforcement actions to identify where and when prices increased in the supply chain, as well as the use of interim measures or warning letters to stop the conduct quickly when appropriate;

Or. en


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Paragraph 31 c (new)


31 c. Asks the Commission to use its advocacy powers to highlight the risks of price control measures implemented by governments, including those related to distorting price signals that may encourage production and undermine incentives for new entrants to address shortages;

Or. en



32. Suggests looking into ‘killer acquisition’ practices that could jeopardise innovation;

32. Welcomes the recent Commission's initiative of encouraging a greater usage of the ‘Dutch clause’ of article 22 EUMR as first step to address the problematic ‘killer acquisition’ practices that could jeopardise innovation and the florishing of European start-ups and small entreprises;

Or. en

Amendment 333Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles Boyer, Caroline NagtegaalMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32



32. Suggests looking into ‘killer acquisition’ practices that could jeopardise innovation; welcomes the announcement of the European Commission to start accepting referrals from national competition authorities of mergers that are worth reviewing at the EU level; calls on the Commission to review and to issue guidelines on its referral practice based

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on Article 22 of Regulation 139/2004 in parallel with the obligation to inform about concentrations foreseen in the Digital Markets Act;

Or. en




32. Suggests looking into ‘killer acquisition’ practices that could jeopardise innovation; calls the Commission to review its thresholds rules in digital mergers and acquisition; moreover, when assessing personal data; calls on the Commission to fully consider and assess personal data assets as all other traditional assets when it decides on acquisitions; invites the Commission to learn from past controversial acquisitions decisions such as Facebook/WhatsApp or Google/Fitbit deals;

Or. en



32 a. Recalls that Member States can legally suspend the short selling of shares to protect a certain company or sector against speculation; argues that the suspension of short selling prevents these concerns from being valued in the market, and prevents investors from reassessing the real value of the firm they invest in; by suspending the company’s operations, the state therefore intervened and prevented the company from losing any further capital during and after the suspension period, which could therefore mean that

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State aid was provided; regrets that benefits from short selling suspensions fall outside the definition of State Aid1a; calls on the Commission to provide an impact assessment of bringing such benefits under the definition of State Aid and the scope of Article 107(1) TFEU;

_________________1a Asnwer to written Question E-003800/2020, 21 August 2020.

Or. en



32 a. Highlights the potential of the ongoing review of the Guidelines on Horizontal Cooperation Agreements to facilitate cooperation agreements for sustainability which may result in the achievement of legitimate environmental or social policy objectives in the EU and abroad (such as enhanced environmental standards or the achievement of living incomes or living wages in third countries); invites the Commission in particular to consider societal benefits and delayed benefits when evaluating the fulfilment of Article 101(3);

Or. en

Amendment 337Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Olivier Chastel, Ivars Ijabs, Engin Eroglu, Luis Garicano, Nicola Beer, Dragoș Pîslaru, Gilles BoyerMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 a (new)


32 a. Underlines the importance of Transparency Register to ensure public scrutiny of lobbying efforts in the aim of

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preventing distortion of competition; calls for an enhanced EU transparency Register with information related to funding of companies or associations to prevent stakeholders from acting on behalf of other companies without specifying it;

Or. en

Amendment 338Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Costas Mavrides, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 a (new)


32 a. Highlights the possibility of using interim measures to stop any practice that would seriously harm competition and welcomes the Commission’s first use of interim measures in the Broadcom-case; is nonetheless of the opinion that there remains a need to relax the criteria for interim measures in order to avoid any irreversible damage;

Or. en



32 a. Again reiterates its alarm at the concentration in the European food supply chain and emphasises that European consumers and small-scale farmers are those most negatively affected through a concentrated food market structure;

Or. en

Amendment 340Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolution

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Paragraph 32 a (new)


32 a. Notes that the definition of the energy mix of Member States remains a national competence; considers that a high diversification of energy mixes across the EU contributes to the EU's energy security;

Or. en

Amendment 341Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 a (new)


32 a. Welcomes Directive(EU) 2019/633 17 April 2019 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain, recalls that is an important first step in ensuring fairness between operators, combating dual standards in agri-food practices and in addressing the imbalance of the bargaining power within the food supply chain; stresses the need for the Commission to monitor the progress of transposition closely and to promote the sharing of best practices between Member States; encourages Member States to list further unfair practices as prohibited and set higher standards;

Or. en

Amendment 342Marc Angel, Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Margarida Marques, Aurore Lalucq, Pedro Marques, Eva Kaili, Costas Mavrides, Evelyn Regner, Victor NegrescuMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 b (new)


32 b. Regrets the fact that selling at a loss is not prohibited at EU level;

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highlights the important contribution made by primary producers in supplying high-quality food and delivering public goods to society; calls on the Commission to guarantee fair competition and greater transparency in offline platforms’ commercial practices, including supermarket and hypermarkets, so as to ensure that EU producers receive fair conditions and prices for their products;

Or. en



32 b. Asks the Commission to come forward with a revision of the EU Merger Regulation, so that it may be vested with the powers, much as a number of Member States are at present, to adopt measures to protect the European public order and the rights and principles of the TFEU and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, including environmental protection;

Or. en



32 b. Notes that taxation is a national competence, dependent on the political views and actions of governments and parliaments, based upon fiscal policies and political aspirations regarding public finances;

Or. en

Amendment 345

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Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 b (new)


32 b. With regards the food sector; calls on the Commission to guarantee fair competition and greater transparency in supermarket and hypermarkets chains commercial practices; European farmers should receive a fair price for their products; stresses the need for the Commission to look at hypermarkets powers in the distribution chain and commercial practices in placing competing products, including their own, on the shelves;

Or. en

Amendment 346Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 c (new)


32 c. Highlights EU-wide competition, choice and open access among market infrastructures across the entire execution value chain as fundamental principles for the CMU; supports a diversity of trading mechanisms catering to different trading strategies, market conditions, and investment objectives, both in the EU and globally; considers that failure to uphold such pro-competition choices in the upcoming discussions on the MiFID/R framework review would risk bringing back monopolistic national exchange structures, to the detriment of European economies and end investors, notably including pensioners;

Or. en

Amendment 347Marc Angel, Aurore Lalucq, Joachim Schuster, Csaba Molnár, Pedro Marques, Evelyn Regner, Victor Negrescu

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Motion for a resolutionParagraph 32 c (new)


32 c. Is concerned about the unveiling of a state-run oil company purchasing a leading press group, owing 20 leading regional newspapers, 120 weekly magazines, and 500 online portals4a in the concerned Member state; repeats its call on the Commission to Commission carry out a study on the concentration of media ownership in Europe, also in the context of multinational corporations buying out European media providers;

_________________4a https://www.dw.com/en/poland-state-run-oil-company-buys-leading-media-group/a-55859592

Or. en



32 c. Calls on the Commission to issue guidance on the interpretation of "Significant Impediment to effective Competition" under the Merger Regulation so that in cases of merger, the Commission does not only look at prices, output and innovation but also pays attention to the social and environmental costs of such transitions in light of the TFEU principles including environmental protection;

Or. en

Amendment 349Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 c (new)

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32 c. Calls on the Commission to devote special attention to supermarkets, hypermarkets and retail alliances’ bargaining powers with their clients and suppliers; notes that in some Member States supermarkets, hypermarkets and retail alliances’ sovereignty affects brand value and product choice, cuts corners on their own brands quality, limits innovation and price comparability, thus distorting price architectures;

Or. en



32 d. Calls on the Commission to consider revising the thresholds for a merger review in order to include, among others, factors such as the number of consumers impacted and the value of the related transactions as part of its ongoing evaluation of the Merger Regulation; calls on the Commission to also assess higher levels of concentration due to horizontal ownership by large asset management companies in its ongoing evaluation of the Merger Regulation and consider providing guidelines on the use of Articles 101 and 102 fo the TFEU in this respect;

Or. en

Amendment 351Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 d (new)


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32 d. Regrets the Commission’s decision to clear the acquisition of the wearable “smart” fitness devices company Fitbit by Google; is particularly concerned in this regard about the already significant presence of Google in the digital healthcare sector; considers that the approved merger gives Google a dangerous level of insight into and control over personal health data, thus creating too much potential for invasive monitoring and discrimination;

Or. en

Amendment 352Carmen Avram, Alfred Sant, Marc AngelMotion for a resolutionParagraph 32 d (new)


32 d. Calls on the Commission to make it compulsory for banks receiving State aid to retain their full retail banking/consumer banking services and to ensure that banks are not allowed to use the COVID-19 crisis as a pretext for permanently reducing such services;

Calls the Commission to have a close look at cases in the banking sector in certain Member States where consumers currently face higher interest rates and a lack of transparency when it comes to loans, potentially due to concentration of ownership in the banking sector, which could lead to deceptive selling practices of mortgages;

Calls the Commission to have a close look at the banking sector in Romania where consumers face high interest rates and lack of transparency when it comes to loans because of potential bank cartels tendencies when it comes to deceptive selling practices of credit;

Or. en

Amendment 353

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Derk Jan EppinkMotion for a resolutionParagraph 33


33. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the national parliaments and national competition authorities.

33. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the national parliaments and national, and where applicable regional competition authorities;

Or. en

Amendment 354Paul TangMotion for a resolutionParagraph 33 a (new)


33 a. Reiterates that it is negatively surprised by the Commission's approval of the FitBit takeover by Alphabet; observes a great inconstancy in acquisition assessment decisions compared to the aims of the draft Digital Markets Act (DMA), undermining the credibility of the DMA; worries about future processing of personal data from FitBit users, including data concerning health, that can be used for purposes of digital advertising; stipulates that data concerning health should be seen as a special category of personal data, as laid down in art. 9 GDPR1a; calls on the Commission to supervise and enforce compliance of/with the conditions of the takeover;

_________________1a Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation)

Or. en

Amendment 355Paul TangMotion for a resolutionParagraph 33 b (new)

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33 b. Deplores the acquisition in 2014 of WhatsApp by Facebook; recalls the Commission was lied to by Facebook on its technical capabilities to use data of WhatsApp for purposes of digital advertising during the process of assessing the take-over; stipulates that Facebook started in 2016 using meta-data of WhatsApp conversations for purposes of advertising; recalls the Commission fined Facebook in 2017 for having lied during its assessment process; reiterates art. 105 TFEU1a obliges the Commission to propose appropriate measures to bring an end to infringements of the principles in art. 101 and 102 TFEU; calls on the Commission to put forward appropriate measures to bring an end to the use of data of WhatsApp users for Facebook's advertising purposes;

_________________1a Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)

Or. en

Amendment 356Paul TangMotion for a resolutionParagraph 33 c (new)


33 c. Sees the increased interest of Facebook, Google, Amazon and other big tech businesses in using artificial intelligence for purposes of disseminating and ordering content on their platforms; stresses that these algorithms are often a ‘black box’ for competitors and users and lead to echo-chambers; calls on the Commission to use its competition framework to increase transparency over disseminating and ordering algorithms and user control over the content they see and on the way content is ranked to them,

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including options for ranking outside their ordinary content consumption habits and for opting out completely from any content curation; underlines furthermore the specific risks existing in the use of AI automated recognition applications, which are currently developing rapidly; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ban automated biometric identification, such as facial recognition;

Or. en

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