36 Amendments of Ivars IJABS related to 2020/2223(INI)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
- having regard to the Council conclusions of 22 March 2019 on "Jobs, Growth and Competitiveness",
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas smart reconciliation of the Union’s competition rules with its industrial, environmental, digital and international trade policies is essential for ensuring a level playing field in all sectors, re-shoring value chain activities and bolstering global competitiveness;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that ensuring a level playing field for undertakings in the single market and in global markets also depends on decisively and effectively combating social, and environmental dumping;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the adoption of a Temporary Framework for State aid measureand its amendements established in response to the COVID-19 crisis in order to enable Member States to support companies during the pandemic; stresses the need for the Commission to support efforts for a green and digital recovery in the on-going review of State aid rules;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that EU funding measures in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, do not favour monopolistic undertakings, notably in critical sectors such as telecommunications; urges the Commission to set up an oversight mechanism to verify any potential distortions of competition derived from inappropriate use of RFF funding;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Reiterates the priority of ensuring that State aid rules are strictly and impartially adhered to, including when dealing with future banking crises, so that taxpayers are protected against the burden of bank rescuecalls on the Commission to examine swiftly the discrepancies between the rules on State aid in the area of liquidation aid and the resolution regime under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (‘BRR Directive’), and to revise its Banking Communication of 30 July 2013 accordingly, including in light of recent cases, taking into account the need to protect taxpayers;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. EWelcomes the Communication “European economic and financial system: fostering openness, strength and resilience” and the possibility to consider additional policy options to further deter and counteract the unlawful extra- territorial application of unilateral sanctions by third countries to EU operators; emphasises the importance of global dialogue and cooperation on competition policy enforcement;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Expresses its concern about distortive state-funded competition from Chinese and other foreign undertakings acquiring European undertakings, especially those active in innovative technologies;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the Commission’s White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies; supports the 3 modules aiming at tackling foreign subsidies, including foreign acquisitions and public procurements; looks forward to the legislative proposal to be presented to further clarify the implementation and articulation with existing tools; recalls that the EU must ensure a level playing field with its international partners in terms of State aid and calls on the Commission to reinforce state aid chapters in future free trade agreements with more constraining rules;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Is of the opinion that the Union and the Member States need to enhance synergies between targeted EU policies and, investments to reindustrialise and re- shore jobs and value chain activitiesand competition policy to foster jobs and resilient value chains in order to achieve EU strategic autonomy in key sectors while preserving an open economy;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Welcomes the Commission’s determination to address unfair terms and practices of platforms acting as gatekeepers, act decisively, and eliminate illegitimate obstacles to online competition in the European digital single market; regrets the slowness of antitrust investigations compared to fast-moving digital markets;
Amendment 212 #
17. Takes the view that new competition tools might be needed to deal with structural competition problems across digital markets which current rules cannot address in the most effective manner; stresses the role of the European Competition Network to share best practices in this regard;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls onWelcomes the Commission to consider proposalsproposal for a Digital Markets Act to prohibit platforms from engaging in self- preferencing, building on past antitrust cases, or operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform, as well as to require platforms to make their services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability; calls on the Commission to address cases where remedies offered have clearly been ineffective to restore competition to the comparison-shopping market; stresses that enforcement of previous decisions is crucial to the effective enforcement of the Digital Markets Act and to creating a workable template to effectively address anticompetitive behaviours by online platforms;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Considers that the structural unbundling of Big Tech monopolies is desirablea last resort solution for restoring competition in digital markets; stresses that targeted and effective behavioural remedies offer a time-efficient solution; suggests implementing participative antitrust in order to foster continuous dialogue with all undertakings, increase legal certainty and ensure effective remedies;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Calls on the Commission to make a more regular use of interim measures to stop practices that would seriously harm competition and markets; Regrets that they have been used only once in 20 years;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Looks forward toWelcomes the Commissionʼs proposals for a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act; notes that the Digital Markets Act is a complementary tool to competition rules and aims to ensure fair and contestable online markets; stresses the need to be consistent with competition rules, including ambitious national competition laws, to ensure an effective enforcement and clarity;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Calls on the Commission to clarify the supervision of the upcoming Digital Markets Act with a special unit within the European Commission as well as an European forum, following the example of the European Competition Network, encompassing National Competition Authorities, national sectoral regulators, European Data Supervisory Board and consumer organisations in order to have a comprehensive and real time overview of online market developments and harmful practices while making the most of existing useful resources;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Considers that Parliament should play an active role in the political debate on competition policy, including through organisthe upcoming a public hearing with the CEOs of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple); notes that Parliament should be more involved in the activity of working parties and expert groups, such as the International Competition Network (ICN) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as an observer to get a better knowledge of the matter and keep it updated on the developments in order to be more prepared for its role as co-legislator; stresses that the European Parliament should participate in EU Competition Weeks; Notes that the Competition Working Group is a useful vehicle to foster exchanges between the European Parliament and DG Competition on technical issues;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses the importance of helping consumers and users to gain greater control over, and take responsibility for, their own data and identity, and calls for a high level of protection of personal data while increasing the levels of transparency and accountability of digital services; recalls that consumers have no other choice than giving their consent if they do not want to lose access to some services offered by online platforms;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Calls on the Commission to review its merger and acquisition guidelines when it comes to assessing personal data; calls on the Commission to fully consider personal data assets as all other traditional physical assets when it decides on digital mergers and acquisitions; Urges the European Commission to take a broader view when evaluating digital mergers and assess the damaging effects of data concentration;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22 b. Notes that in several specific markets for financial data (credit rating, financial indices, consolidated feeds…), there are multiple vendors and, although none of them has a dominant market share, competition remains very low; notes also that some financial market data vendors positioned as data aggregators could act as gatekeepers and as such could control access to data and restrict usage for customers; calls on the Commission to assess those oligopolistic and gatekeepers situations and develop measures restoring competition, supporting price transparency and avoiding unfair and unreasonable commercial practices;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls for the Union’s infrastructure capacity in critical digital sectors to be enhanced; including by encouraging fair competition and promoting fair software licensing principles in European cloud markets;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the notion ofreview and adapt the methodology used to assess an ‘abuse of dominant position’ and theensure that the notion of ‘essential facilities’ doctrine remain fit for the purpose in the digital age;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Points out the need for the Commission to allocate adequate resources to be able to effectively enforce EU competition rules; notes the need to ensure specific expertise on digital issues and online platforms practices with behavioural economists, algorithms specialists, engineers and data scientists; underlines the need to ensure a swift cooperation with national competition authorities and build on their growing expertise;
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Considers that the revision of General Block Exemption Regulation could better support the greening the economy; calls on the Commission to increase the aid intensity for Research and Innovation as well as consider increasing the maximum aid intensity to reward projects for their positive externalities for the environment or for the overall energy system;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27 b. Welcomes the consultation launched on competition supporting the Green Deal to better take into account the green and sustainable efficiencies when dealing with state aid, mergers control and antitrust rules; believes that the revision of the Environment and Energy Aid Guidelines should put in place concrete incentives and conditions to continue on the path of decarbonization and revitalization of the economy by 2050 and should take into account broader policy objectives such as climate ambition, resilience and security of supply; stresses the need for the Commission to prevent any potential negative side-effects where larger companies use public aid granted in view of ‘greening’ their business models for other objectives such as reinforcing its dominant position in a given sector;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 c (new)
Paragraph 27 c (new)
27 c. Supports the carbon border adjustment mechanism to prevent carbon leakage as it helps ensure a level playing field between producers inside and outside the EU, and enhance transition to climate neutral modes of productions;
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28 a. Stresses the importance of state aid framework for important projects of common European interest (IPCEI) to allow massive investments in breakthrough technologies; calls on the Commission with regards to the upcoming revision of the IPCEI Communication to clarify selection rules for these projects, to revise some implementation criteria as well as to allow the possibility to more easily mobilize co-financing from the EU, in particular to facilitate the participation of partners from small Member States;
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28 b. Calls on the Commission to inform the European Parliament on the allocation of human resources between State aid control, merger control and antitrust; acknowledges the extra workload regarding State aid control due to the pandemic but calls on the Commission to ensure a reasonable allocation of resources to ensure that all aspects of competition policy are treated equally;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to review its 1997 Notice 97/C 372/03 on the definition of relevant market in the Commission’s merger and antitrust enforcement; encourages the Commission, on a case-by-case basis, to take into account a longer-term vision encompassing the global dimension and potential future competition in its competitive assessments; calls on the Commission to adopt a more dynamic approach when revising the 1997 Communication on market definition, making the innovation criteria as a core element of the relevant market analysis when it comes to European merger control;
Amendment 314 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Calls on the Commission to revise mergers guidelines to take into account efficiency gains linked to mergers, including the challenge of EU industrial competitiveness; Welcomes the role of the Priorities and Strategic Coordination Unit at DG COMP in order to draw on the expertise of all the Commission’s DG during the investigation of cases by the DG Competition; believes that expertise of the Commission's industrial or sectoral strategy could be strengthened in support of the DG Competition's investigation teams to identify the feasibility and consequences of remedies with regard to the Commission's priorities;
Amendment 325 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Recalls that cartels represent some of the most serious violations of competition law and monopolies the most concerning form of market concentration that the European Union has been seeking to break down by sector-specific regulation and competition law enforcement;
Amendment 333 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Suggests looking into ‘killer acquisition’ practices that could jeopardise innovation; welcomes the announcement of the European Commission to start accepting referrals from national competition authorities of mergers that are worth reviewing at the EU level; calls on the Commission to review and to issue guidelines on its referral practice based on Article 22 of Regulation 139/2004 in parallel with the obligation to inform about concentrations foreseen in the Digital Markets Act;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. Underlines the importance of Transparency Register to ensure public scrutiny of lobbying efforts in the aim of preventing distortion of competition; calls for an enhanced EU transparency Register with information related to funding of companies or associations to prevent stakeholders from acting on behalf of other companies without specifying it;