Activities of Michel REIMON related to 2014/2158(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Annual report on EU competition policy (debate) DE
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Annual Report on EU Competition Policy PDF (214 KB) DOC (151 KB)
Amendments (23)
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas too many sectors within the single market remain divided by national borders and artificial barriers, while on the other hand important issues of subsidiary sustainable economic impact, e.g. social dumping or structural fund use, raise concerns and should be addressed within the framework of EU competition policy;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas competition policy is an essential tool to enable the EU to have a dynamic, efficient, sustainable and innovative internal market and to be competitive on the global stage, as well as to overcome the financial crisis;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the successful development of SMEs under conditions of free competition is one of the most essential preconditions for job creation, sustainable growth and investment;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the essential role of competition policy enforcement in productivity and innovation, creating a level playing field across the single market in full. Furthermore enhance harmonisation measures with respect of national diversities;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Commission to assess the effect of the restrictive scope exemptions to State aid rules in the field of social housing; limiting it to disadvantaged citizens or socially less advantaged groups; calls on the Commission to focus towards Member States that experience difficulties with their social housing sector because of this restriction;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Reiterates that the Commission must be provided with appropriate staff resources to significantly widen and deepen its investigations into fiscal state aid such as tax rulings and tax avoidance to give competition a sufficient proactive stance, and to have proficient legal resources to identify gaps that we have witnessed through the reveal of the targeted tax schemes practiced by various Member States in the Union;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission to assess State aid provided to the banking sector related to the reduction of the balance sheet composition , size and complexity; to keep a proper focus on the effect on retail lending to consumers and SME´s; monitor transparency on cost, fee structures and margins and how this effect the competition in the single market; to monitor the distribution of dividends, securitisation or reuse of assets and the banking sectors annual tax contributions; requesting that these conditions should be explicit, imperative as well as assessed and summarized on an ex post basis in the forthcoming annual Competition reports;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the Commission to tackle the flaws found in the pre-crisis legal system, in particular as regards the financial sector as well as to remedy distortions’ created over the financial and economic crisis; reiterates that the subsidised implicit guarantee from governments and central banks have resulted in gains to be privatised and losses socialised; and notes the need to ensure the functioning of the single market to benefit the real economy are in focus when banks are receiving State aid;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Urges the Commission to assess the systemic risk posed to capital markets by assessing the complex interconnections of securitised finance through the overhang of un-burnable carbon. and potential risks within the financial market due to the increased exposure to climate change and the lack of investor information regarding this risk when choosing to invest. This creates an uneven playing field in the financial market for sustainable investments;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that SGEIs represent a significant share of total service provision in Member States, and maintains that their more efficient provision can deliver significant gains; stresses the Commission’s responsibility to ensure that compensation granted to SGEIs is compatible with EU state aid rules; expresses its concern regarding the exemption of too many services from the scrutiny of competition authorities;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Urges the Commission to increase the effectiveness of the penalty system, and assess the opportunity of introducing individual sanctions such as individual fines and directors disqualifications, against companies and their executives;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls for cleardevelopment of guidelines on timetables, deadlines and formal rights for all implicated victims and parties in antitrust and cartel cases, with due stress on the principle of the presumption of innocence and introduction of collective redress procedures to private damages claims for the enforcement of infringements to Article 101 and 102 of the Treaty;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Urges the Commission to provide reporting of fossil fuel reserve and potential CO2 emissions by listed companies and those applying for listing within the single market. To make correct and reliable environmental reporting by aggregate and publish the levels of reserves and emission using appropriate accounting guidelines is essential to assure a level playing field in the sustainable investment market;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Calls on the Commission to examine the extent to which the concentration of critical raw materials suppliers may create an uneven playing field and be harmful to the activity of client sectors and more eco- efficient economy. This hence some of these are of paramount importance for the deployment of eco-efficient technologies and innovations needed to achieve environmental goals;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)
Paragraph 12 c (new)
12c. Reiterates that the Competition Policy should contribute at promoting transparency, open standards and interoperability in order to prevent technological lock-in of consumers and clients by any market players in the energy sector: urges the Commission to closely monitor the level of competition since the three largest players still represent about 75 % in the electricity market and above 60% in the gas market, despite the gradually opening of markets since the mid 1990s and calls on the Commission to assure proper competition in the energy market in order to improve State support to innovation and access to renewable energy sources;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Urges the Commission to take the lead in progressing fair competition in the digital market through procurement of Free Software and Open Standards in ICT and Media solutions for the EU institution; stresses for trust and security reasons the European IT capacity should be based on Free Software and Open Standards, making the whole supply chain, from processor design to application layer, transparent and reviewable;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Invites the Commission to develop an enforceable legal standard to secure ‘net neutrality’ by establishing EU-wide rules on transparency, switching and traffic management on Internet; to ensure a public free and open Internet infrastructure not favouring data and securing all websites´ content are delivered to all users at the same speed; by preserving wired and wireless networks as an open public platform for innovation and expression, providing certainty and predictability in its marketplace; to oversee the public interest standard ensuring the Internet remains as the engine of free expression, innovation, economic growth and sustainable digital job opportunities enhancing neutral competition by equal access;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission to closely monitor the financial sector to enhance competition, investor and consumer protection in the European banking and investment market. The consolidation in the banking sector has increased the market share of several financial institutions to grow bigger than pre-crisis level, and the financial investment industry have grown simultaneously without any gain to the real economy within the Union. This to maintain a fully functioning single market, a level playing field for actors in the financial industry and to avoid decreased transparency and cartel-like constructions to develop;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Urges the Commission to monitor closely State aid to accelerate developments in the transport sector not to provide unfair competition by supporting unsustainable projects or resulting in an uneven playing field among its actors, hampering the international commitment towards reaching environmental goals;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Expresses its concern at the abuse of cabotage regulation in road transport and at potential social dumping within various transport services, and believes these problems must be addressed;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Welcomes the Commissioner for competition’s role in promoting the real economy, jobs and growth, as well as the digital single market, energy policy, financial services, industrial policy and the fight against tax evasion;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Urges the Commission to combat tax rulings and tax evasion through Competition Policy in the EU and reticent Member States with mandatory rules on tax transparency by country-by-country reporting through a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB); and to accompany the proposal with a European Minimum Corporate Tax Rate to prevent aggressive tax avoidance and legal comfort hunting resulting in uneven competition within the national market or the single market for corporate companies operating in the same sectors;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27b. Calls on the Commission to legally assess if abandoning national tax-level by the national governments in Member States to some actors distort competition in the segments areas. Additionally, weather yielding Member States are in breach of their Treaty obligations at the expense of other EU countries by this practice. This hence the practice reduces their national GDP and thereby reduces their obligated financial contributions as Member States in accordance to Treaty agreements;