14 Amendments of Maria GRAPINI related to 2017/0087(COD)
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Article 337 TFEU provides for the Commission's power, within the limits and under the conditions which the Council may lay down acting by a simple majority, to collect any information required for the performance of its tasks. However, in Case C-490/10 European Parliament v Council, the Court has clarified that where the collection of information contributes directly to the achievement of the objectives of a given European Union policy, the act laying down the conditions for such collection must be based on the legal basis which relates to that policy. This Regulation provides not only for a framework in which the Commission can collect information from undertakings and associations of undertakings, if they agree to respond to the requests, but also for measures to enforce the requests for information. Therefore, while taking fully into account the fact that the Commission derives its power to collect information directly from the Treaty, this Regulation should be based, in addition to Article 337 TFEU, on the provisions of Articles 43(2), 91, 100, 192 and 194(2) TFEU and also of Article 114 TFEU, which provides for the adoption of measures necessary for the establishment and functioning of the internal market, including where differences between national rules are such as to obstruct the fundamental freedoms or where it is necessary to prevent the emergence of difficulties in the establishment and functioning of the internal market.
Amendment 85 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Where detailed, comparable, up-to- date, and often confidential market information could only be obtained from market players in a timely manner, it appears therefore appropriate, as a last resort, to empower the Commission, within the limits and under the conditions laid down in this Regulation, to request Member States to ask undertakings and associations of undertakings to directly provide it, in a timely manner, with comprehensive, accurate and reliable quantitative and qualitative market information where other sources of information have proven unavailable, insufficient or inadequate. To this effect, the Commission should first adopt a decision stating why other means to obtain the necessary information have proven ineffective. It is understood that the notion of undertaking has the same meaning as in other areas of EU law, in particular competition law.
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) To ensure that the operation of this Regulation will involve Member States, reflecting the principle of sincere cooperation between the Commission and the Member States stipulated in Article 4(3) TEU, it is appropriate to provide that any Commission decision stating its intention to use the power to request information from undertakings or associations of undertakings, which may provide it on a voluntary basis, under this Regulation shall be notified to the Member State or the Member States concerned without delay.
Amendment 103 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) When issuing requests for information to undertakings and associations of undertakings, the Commission is required to undertake a careful selection of addressees of the requests, so that requests are only addressed to undertakings and associations of undertakings that are capable of providing sufficiently relevant information, notably larger undertakings in the relevant Member States. These requests for information are aimed at solving a presumed, i.e. based on the available information, serious problem with the application of Union law in the areas of the internal market, agriculture and fisheries (excluding the conservation of marine biological resources), transport, environment and energy. Their aim is not to prosecute undertakings for the underpinning behaviour, if any, or for not wishing to respond. Accordingly, sanctions provided for in the instrument are designed to address exclusively two instancesmay be applied only if the undertaking has agreed to submit information and has intentionally responded in an incorrect or misleading manner. They only cover an intentional or through gross negligence lack of a response to a request for information and an intentionally or through gross negligence incorrect, incomplete, or misleading reply. The collected information, if relevant, could also be used to provide insight into situations where undertakings find it difficult to comply with the legislation, with a view to improving the proper application of the internal market rules. With a view to avoid disproportionate administrative burden for micro-undertakings, which are anyway unlikely to be in a position to provide sufficiently relevant information, the Commission should be precluded from issuing requests for information to this category of undertakings. When issuing requests for information to small and medium-sized undertakings, the Commission should take due account of the principle of proportionality. Whilemicro- undertakings and small and medium-sized undertakings. SMEs are unlikely to operate at a larger scale enabling them to significantly affect market outcomes, and the information gathered from SMEs cwould not prove valuable in informing the Commission on difficulties in establishment and functioning of the internal market. Information readily available to SMEs might be of anecdotal nature but it could still alert the Commission about single market difficulties SMEs might suffer from. SMEs would normally not and should not incur any significant additional costs of data gathering in response to this tool. Given their relatively weaker bargaining position in value chains, SMEs might be more forthcoming with information when granted a procedure duly respecting confidentiality and anonymity. Resolving a difficulty in the single market establishment and functioning could in particular benefit SMEs as it is often the small innovative firms which face the greatest barriers when trying to start up and scale up across the single market. For reasons of consistency and legal certainty, the definitions of ‘micro-undertaking’, ‘small undertaking’ and ‘medium-sized undertaking’ of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council29 should apply. __________________ 29 Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.6.2013, p.19).
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) The disclosure of information about an undertaking’s business activity could result in a serious harm to the same undertaking. Therefore, the Commission should take due account of the legitimate interests of undertakings, in particular the protection of their business secrets. To ensure that business secrets and other confidential information provided to the Commission are treated in compliance with Article 339 TFEU, any undertaking or association of undertakings voluntarily submitting information should clearly identify which information it considers to be confidential and why it is confidential. The Commission should not be able to disclose confidential information provided by such respondents to the Member State concerned by the request unless it has previously obtained their agreement to disclose that information to that effect. The respondent concerned should be required to provide the Commission with a separate non-confidential version of the information that could be disclosed to the relevant Member State. In cases where information marked as confidential does not seem to be covered by obligations of professional secrecy, it is appropriate to have a mechanism in place according to which the Commission can decide the extent to which such information can be disclosed. Any such decision to reject a claim that a piece of information is confidential should indicate a period at the end of which it may be disclosed, so that the respondent can make use of any judicial protection available to it, including any interim measure. The rights of the respondent should be safeguarded by giving it the opportunity to make known its views before any decision to reject the confidentiality claim is taken.
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Where a serious difficulty with the application of Union law risks undermining the attainment of an important Union policy objective referred to in Article 2 of this Regulation, the Commission may request information from undertakings or associations of undertakings, as provided for in Chapter II, for the purpose of addressing the above-mentioned difficulty; information will be provided by undertakings or associations of undertakings only if they agree to the voluntary submission of information.
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
The undertakings or association of undertakings concerned by the request as referred to in Article 4 are obliged tomay provide only information that is at their disposalbut cannot be obliged to do so.
Amendment 243 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
The Commission shall not issue requests for information in accordance with this Regulation to micro-undertakings and small and medium-sized undertakings, unless they are part of a group of undertakings which qualifies at least as small group as defined in Article 6(5) of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Amendment 256 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 2
2. The simple request referred to in paragraph 1 shall state the legal basis and its purpose, specify what information is required and, prescribe a proportionate time limit within which the information is to be provided and prescribe its voluntary nature. It shall also refer to the fines provided for in Article 9(1) for supplying incorrect or misleading information.
Amendment 263 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
The decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall state the legal basis, the purpose of the request, specify what information is required and prescribe a proportionate time limit within which the information is to be provided. It shall also indicate the fines provided for in Article 9(1) and the periodic penalties payments provided for in Article 9(2), as appropriate.
Amendment 286 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 1
1. The undertakings or associations of undertakings providing information following a Commission’s request for information based on Article 5 shall submit their voluntary answers to the Commission in a clear, complete and accurate manner.
Amendment 340 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
The Commission may, by decision, impose on undertakings or associations of undertakings periodic penalty payments where, even though it had agreed to do so, an undertaking fails to supply complete, accurate and not misleading information within the prescribed deadline as requested by the Commission by a decision adopted pursuant to Article 6(3).
Amendment 343 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Amendment 351 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 5
Article 9 – paragraph 5
5. Where the undertakings or associations of undertakings have satisfied the accepted obligation which the periodic penalty payment was intended to enforce, the Commission may reduce or waive the amount of the periodic penalty payment.