Activities of Beatrix von STORCH related to 2016/2100(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the annual report on EU competition policy PDF (554 KB) DOC (121 KB)
Amendments (28)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas a strong and effective EU competition policy has always been a cornerstone of the European project;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas a market-friendly competition policy keeps markets efficient and open, thus leading to lower prices, better-quality products and services and greater choice for consumers, also promoting innovation and growth;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas competition policy can and should make a significant contribution to key political priorities such as boosting innovation, quality jobs, growth and investment, protecting consumers and reinforcing the single market, with particular regard to the digital single market and the Energy Unionshould focus on preventing and correcting anti- competitive behaviour;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas EU competition policy is also defined by the values of social fairness, political independence, transparency and due process, thereby promoting justice and social justice;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the annual report by the Commission on competition policy, which can help to restore a sufficient level of investment and innovation by creating a fair competition environment; also reiterates that Europe’s future should be based on innovationfair competition environment, especially by highlighting legal barriers to market entry and distortive state aid measures;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the Commission’s goal of opening up new opportunities for citizens and businesses by allowing people, goods, services and capital to move freely within the single market;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Reiterates that all market players should pay their fair share of tax; Welcomspects fully the tax sovereignty of Member States; notes the Commission’s in-depth investigations into anti-competitive practices such as selective tax advantages or excess profit ruling systems; welcomes any tax competition between Member States; rejects the notion of the supposed necessity to coordinate tax policy between Member States as being detrimental to tax competition;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to take more ambitious steps to eliminate legal obstacles to online competition, in order to ensure barrier-free online shopping for EU consumers purchasing from sellers who are based in another Member State or outside the EU;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that the sharing economy is offering EU consumers numerous innovative products and services; reiterates that beside the taxation and security aspects, the Commission should also examine itsthe Commission should remove obstacles for market entry of businesses in order to create a more intense competition aspects; underlines that national or EU rules must not impose the same conditions for different kinds of services;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. WelcomNotes the Commission’s investigations into certain anti-competitive practices by a number of companies, in particularly Google, Amazon, Qualcomm and other media companies, film studios and TV distributors of the network and media economy; calls on the Commission to speed upconduct all procedures against behaviour which infringes EU antitrust rules with appropriate diligence;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Considers that ending roaming charges in the EU is not sufficient and that intra-EU calls must be also regulated on the same level as local calls; calls on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal forare based on different economic and tax conditions in the Member States; considers that in a completed Digital Single Market competition would be so intense that roaming charges would vanish without regulatingory intra-EU callservention;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the overhaul of the state aid rules; reminds the Member States, nonetheless, that the aim was to better target aid measures towards economic growth, quality job creation and social cohesion; also reminds the Commission of the need to prevent certain governments from acting in bad faith as they do when misspending EU funds;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that – as the Commission has stated for the sixth time in its annual competition report – the temporary state aid granted in the financial sector was deemed necessary for the stabilisation of the global financial system, but must quickly be reduced, or totally removed and scrutinised, once the Banking Union is completed; warns in that respect that the mistakes of the past must not be repeated and that state aid of any kind to stabilise banks should never be granted again;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Insists that any revision of the rules on deposit guarantee scheme would have to comply with state aid rules; insists that future banking crises have to be solved without burdening taxpayers, in order to comply with state aid rules;
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission to keep its cartel enforcement record strong and effective in all cases where it has sufficient evidence of infringement; welcomes last year’s five decisions relating to a total of EUR 365 million in fines; also calls, however, for extra vigilance regarding airlines’ ‘anti- competitive cooperation practices’;
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that the number of notified mergers increased significantly in 2015; asks, therefore, for the relevant services to be provided with the necessary resources enabling them to continue to deal effectively with this situationexpects this number to go down in future, as the number of mergers is strongly correlated to the business cycle;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the different antitrust investigations, in particular those into against Gazprom and Bulgargaz, aimed at ensuring market integration in the Eenergy Union; regrets, however,sector; welcomes the practice on the part of certain Member States of buying gas through offshore companies, as being a typical example of tax avoidance and an act that is contrary toan effective way to ease the burden energy prices have on consumers, which should be the aim of a properly functioning Energy Union;
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. WelcomDeplores the effortactions of the Commission to promote theso called market integration of renewable energy sources in order to avoi, which in the end distortions of detrimental to competition; underlines, however, the responsibility of Member States in that Member States should neither be promoting andnor financing the production and use of renewable energy, because any governmental intervention in the energy market hurts consumers as well as producers;
Amendment 360 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that excessive taxation of the agri-food industry could, just like any inappropriate taxation, easily destroy competition and would be against the interests of consumers;
Amendment 395 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Welcomes the decentralised enforcement of EU competition rules in Europe, but considers that the effectiveness of the protection of citizens and companies from anti-competitive practices should not depend only on the Member State in which they are resident;
Amendment 398 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Considers it essential, therefore, that the national competition authorities in the EU have the means and instruments they need to be effective enforcers of EU competition rules, including the tools to detect, tackle and sanction infringements and the leniency programmes that will be essential if companies are to come clean about cartels across Europe;
Amendment 401 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
Amendment 430 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27