Activities of Barbara KAPPEL related to 2017/2191(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Annual Report on Competition Policy PDF (504 KB) DOC (105 KB)
Amendments (23)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Report on Competition Policy 2016 of 31 May 2017 (COM(2017)0285), which can help restore a sufficient level of investment and innovation by creating a fair competitive environment; points out, moreover, that the future of Europe should be based on innovation; notes that, as a rule, the European Parliament is only involved in competition law through the consultation procedure and its influence therefore remains very limited compared to that of the Commission;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that Parliament should also be given co-decision powers in competition policy and regrets that this area of Union policy in its democratic dimension has not been strengthened in recent treaty changes; calls, therefore, for the treaties to be amended accordingly and for the ordinary legislative procedure under the Lisbon Treaty to be introduced for competition law as well;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to monitor the implementation of directives linked to the completion of the single market, particularly in the energy sector, the digital single market, and transport sector, and to enhancimprove the enforcement of EU competition rules in order to avoid unevenchieve a consistent application thereof in the Member States;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to reallocate adequateWelcomes the efforts of DG Competition to continue building a sustainable and balanced workforce throughout 2016; welcomes the fact 2016 saw an improvement on the main human resource management issues facing the DG; welcomes the fact that staff turnover, which had been identified as a major point of concern, fell to its lowest level since measurement began (from 13.9% in 2015 to 10.8% in 2016); Calls on the Commission to continue optimizing financial and human resources to its Directorate-General for Competition in order to cope with this DG’s increasing workload; recalls that DG Competition has assessed the cost-effectiveness and reached a positive conclusion;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Welcomes the advances made by DG Competition in the field of equal opportunities, including 36% of female representation in middle management;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Calls on DG COMP to finalize the review of its financial circuits, in order to further improve the efficiency of its financial operations, in 2017 and present its findings before the competent committee in the European Parliament;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Takes note that EU rules do not establish target time frames for antitrust investigations as is the case for formal merger review deadlines and the common practice of many national competition authorities; notes that this implies that decisions are sometimes made too late, after competitors have been obliged to exit the marketnot made within due time;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to adopt guidelines to loptimitse the duration of antitrust investigations, in order to avoid uncertainty or excessive burden for businesses and shape a competitive landscape which is not detrimental to consumers;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Takes note that most of the decisions concerning antitrust issues and State aid are taken at national level, and believes that the Commission should guarantee the global consistency and independence of competition policy measures within the internal market, with the support of the European Competition Network (ECN); without disregarding the competences of the National Competition Authorities (NCA);
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Reiterates that all market players should pay their fair share of tax; welcomes the Commission’s in-depth investigations into anti-competitive practices such as selective tax advantages and excess profit ruling systems; stresses that the reduction of tax fraud and tax avoidance is fundamental in order to consolidate sound public budgetcan constitute anti-competitive practices;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Stresses that excessive tax burdens and tax rates hamper economic innovations and can constitute significant barriers to entry for new and small players;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Stresses that a comprehensive, transparent and effective exchange of tax information is essential to avoid aggressive tax planning; stresses at the same time that simplification of taxation systems at Member State level can be an essential step in order to create transparency and clarity;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Invites the Commission to make full use of its competition law powers to help Member States effectively tackle harmful tax practices;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Believes that the financial crisis has increased concentration in the banking sector and calls on the Commission to carry out a region-by-regioncountry-by-country study at European level to examine this phenomenon and its effects on competition;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission to ensure that Google implements this remedy effectively; believes that the greatest danger now would be if the Commission were to settle for a partially effective remedy, failing to truly restore the level playing field required for competition and innovation to thrive;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to intervene inlook into the other sectors, such as travel search and local search, where Google is allegedly abusing its dominance;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission to speed up and conclude the Android investigation by the spring of 2018; stresses that Google is accused of abusing its dominant position by imposing restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators, and that Google Search is pre- installed and set as the default or the only search engine on most Android devices sold in Europe;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Welcomes that in 2016, competition policy and enforcement actions continued to contribute to the implementation of the Digital Market Strategy; stresses that a single digital single market could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and generate € 415 billion per year; notes at the same time that traditional market models of competition policy are often inadequate for the digital single market; calls, therefore, for greater attention to be paid to the new business models of digital companies and the adoption of new criteria for the assessment of digital companies; also calls for greater attention to be paid to the specific market structures in the digital economy;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Stresses that, in line with the current Commission Guidelines, all airports financed by the EU budget should be based on a positive cost-benefit analysis to avoideliminate the financing of ghost airports in Europe; calls on the Commission to come up with a public list of such potential ghost airports;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission to open up competition in the transport sector in order to complete the single market, in particular in those Member States where public port and airport networks are managed and monopolised by thea central or regional government or where such networks persistently generate public deficits and operate at losses;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Stresses that, according to the Special report No 24/2016 from the European Court of Auditors, Member States have in the past largely failed to comply with state aid rules; this is due to the fact that while the Commission has simplified state aid legislation to reduce administrative burdens and increase transparency, this has led to many mistakes being made by Member States in the design and implementation of aid schemes; calls on the Commission to support Member States’ audit authorities in terms of compliance and quality control with respect to state aid rules; recalls that DG Competition has three remaining open recommendations of which two are very important;