Activities of Markus FERBER related to 2022/2060(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Competition policy - annual report 2022 (debate)
Amendments (22)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 23 a (new)
Citation 23 a (new)
— having regard to the Competition State aid Brief, Issue 1/20221a, _________________ 1a Competition State aid brief. Issue 1/2022 – February 2022 https://op.europa.eu/en/publication- detail/-/publication/e77c8009-9460-11ec- b4e4-01aa75ed71a1
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas competition policy should aim to support the European Green Dealnot be guided by secondary objectives;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that EU competition policy protects market structures against concentrations and accumulations of market power, just as it advances consumer welfare by fostering innovation, keeping prices down and increasing consumer choice;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to safeguard the integrity of the internal market and is deeply concerned about the risk of increasing fragmentation within the internal market due to excessivean insufficiently targeted use of subsidies in response to the US Inflation Reduction Act; understands the need for additional public investments; considers the introduction of dedicated permanent, if necessary debt-financed, European investment funds to be a better policy response;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes that while the extraordinary support measures granted during the Covid-19 crisis, in response to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine and in relation to the US Inflation Reduction Act were necessary in light of unprecedented challenges, these extraordinary levels of public support must not become the new normal;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. ConsidersNotes that rising energy and food prices to binitially were the main drivers of the current hike in inflationinflation, while price rises have broadened recently; deplores some undertakings’ freeriding in the context of rising energy and food prices and reiterates that the Commission must make use of all the available tools under competition law to tackle market distortions and unfair price manipulation in the energy and food markets; calls for consumer vulnerability to be taken into consideration when assessing the abusiveness of a dominant undertaking’s conduct;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for the quantitative jurisdictional thresholds in the EC Merger Regulation to be reviewed and lowered; calls for the introduction of a rebuttable presumption that effective competition is significantly impeded by any concentration leading to a dominant position in a relevant market or any concentration involving a very large market operator or a gatekeeper; calls for matters of public interest, such as climate protection, sustainability and the rule of law, to be taken into account when examining the impact of a concentration on the internal market; calls for the inclusion of review clauses in decisions approving a concentration with a view to introducing more stringent conditionperiodically to reflect new market developments;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes that the international environment needs to be carefully analysed when deciding on the definition of the relevant market in competition and merger control cases; deplores that, in the past, the Commission has sometimes taken a too narrow perspective of the relevant market thus depriving European companies of the opportunity to effectively compete in a globalised arena;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the evaluation of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 and Regulation (EC) No 773/2004 initiated by the Commission; considers a legislative review of these regulations necessary; calls for strongeron the Commission to also consider the use of structural remedies, and therefore for the primacy of behavioural remedies to be removed from Regulation (EC) No 1/2003s remedies of last resort;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls foron the introductionCommission to analyse the merits of an explicit legal base for the unbundling of undertakings as a structural remedy of last resort for antitrust violations; considers unbundling to also be a structural remedy in situations where abuse of a dominant position on a relevant market cannot be ascertained, but conditions for competition would improve significantly if unbundling measures were applied;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that competition law remains relevant to digital markets despite the entry into force of the DMA; considers that violations of privacy rights can constitute abusive practices;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Deplores that several recent Commission decisions in high-profile competition cases have been annulled by the Courts; calls on the European Commission to prepare their competition policy cases more thoroughly so that they can hold up in a court of law;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Notes with concern that annulment of fines as well as retroactive payment of default interest in annulled cases also poses a budgetary risk for the Union;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 c (new)
Paragraph 20 c (new)
20c. 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 better exchange of information between competition authorities;
Amendment 256 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Deplores the distortive effects of aggressive tax planning on fair competition; calls for companies that usewelcomes the European Commission's vigilance in enforcing State aid rules in the area of taxation; calls for companies that engage in tax avoidance using third-country tax havens to be excluded from receiving State aid;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses that Parliament should be adequately involved in shaping competition policy; considers that more frequent use should be made of Parliament’s right to intervene in judicial proceedings concerning competition law; calls on the Commission to enter into negotiations for an interinstitutional agreement on competition policy;