33 Amendments of Aurore LALUCQ related to 2019/2131(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
- having regard to the Preliminary Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor of 26 March 2014 on ‘Privacy and competitiveness in the age of big data: The interplay between data protection, competition law and consumer protection in the Digital Economy’ and the Opinion 8/2016 of the European Data Protection Opinion of 23 September 2016 on ‘Coherent enforcement of fundamental rights in the age of big data’;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 b (new)
Citation 11 b (new)
- having regard to the Statement of the European Data Protection Board of 29 August 2018 on the data protection impacts of economic concentration;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas competition policy must be tailored to tackle digital, ecological, industrial and social challenges, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the EU green deal priority;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas European competition authorities should be equally attentive to avoid under-enforcement in digital markets as they are wary of over- enforcement;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Draws the Commission’s attention to companies benefitting from favourable treatment in their home market entering European markets, thus distorting competition in those various markets; Calls on the Commission to increase scrutiny of investments by entrants from countries granting advantages not available to European operators to combat unfair practices;
Amendment 56 #
3. Calls on the Commission to ensure reciprocity with third countries in public procurement and in investment policy, state aid, data protection and investment policy; all while paying particular attention to those least developed countries, which should not be harmed due to their inability to fulfil the reciprocity requirements;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls the Commission to strictly safeguard fair competition, level playing field and equal treatment by the dominant platforms operating and making huge profits in the EU 500 million consumers digital single market;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to ensure the balanced application of State aid control to European operators in order to avoid asymmetries with their foreign competitors, who are not subject to itat state aid control is applied equally to European and non-European operators and to prevent distortion of competition by firms receiving government subsidies abroad;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to review merger rules and strengthen antitrust action, taking into account the effects of market and network power on individuals, society and democratic values associated with both personal and financial data; proposes that every merger in the market for such data should be subject to prior monitoring, regardless of thresholds;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses that EU Competition rule should be reviewed in order to look into data concentration, aggregation and utilisation; when assessing digital antitrust and mergers, data utilisation1a by dominant platforms should also be looked at understanding potential negative affects on competition for new companies trying to enter and compete on a specific market; notes that the Commission should learn lessons from the past for example when they approved Facebook What’s- App2a acquisition and adapt their tools and criteria accordingly; _________________ 1ahttps://edps.europa.eu/press- publications/press-news/blog/sharing- caring-depends_en 2a https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/ cases/decisions/m7217_20141003_20310_ 3962132_EN.pdf
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that the buying-out of start- ups by dominant players operating according to business models, involving constant tracking, profiling and targeting of individuals which are incompatible with core European values and fundamental rights, dries up innovation and threatens sovereignty, and calls on the Commission to reverse the burden of proof with regard to such buy- outs;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Asks the Commission to assess how more demanding regimes of data access, including data interoperability, can be imposed in particular where data access opens up secondary markets for complementary services or when data is confined to dominant firms;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9 b. Stresses that concentration in digital markets for example for social media in favour of a few non-European companies has contributed to the dissemination of misinformation, online manipulation and the undermining of social cohesion and trust in democratic institutions;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12 b. Notes that European citizens have now realised that there is no such thing as “free services” offered by platforms; European consumers pay a high price for these online services with their personal data1a; underlines that some recent scandals have shown how personal data is being collected, used, sold to third parties and misused by platforms; _________________ 1ahttps://edps.europa.eu/press- publications/press-news/blog/sharing- caring-depends_en
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Notes that some dominant platforms have become gatekeepers of the Internet1a; addressing and solving urgently the abuses that certain dominant digital platforms exercise over smaller direct competitors is essential for the future of the European digital single market and most importantly in the interest of European consumers; platforms self-preferencing their own services over others or discriminating direct competitors such as competing Apps should be carefully assessed by competition authorities; _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/information_society/ newsroom/image/document/2016- 7/uclouvain_et_universit_saint_louis_140 44.pdf
Amendment 212 #
15 a. Notes also that in lengthy antitrust digital cases, fines have proven their limits in putting an end to certain discriminatory practices; underlines that fines are simply a calculated cost of doing business for dominant technology companies that see the European single market as a market worth paying for; urges the Commission to urgently look at alternative behavioural and structural remedies; in particular the cease-and- desist order should be much more prescriptive in upcoming remedies;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Welcomes the initiative of Commissioner Vestager to review the market definition concept; recalls that digitisation has indeed created new challenges; stresses that it can be difficult for consumers to switch from one ecosystem to another despite a specific ecosystem is not dominant apparently, however the ecosystems can leave consumers locked in, interoperability reduced and therefore consumer choices limited1a; _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/competition/publicati ons/reports/kd0419345enn.pdf
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15 c. Calls on the Commission to take a particularly careful look at closed ecosystems, where the same providers control different layers of the market, such as operating systems, intermediation services and vertical services, as also underlined in the report “Competition policy for the digital era”1a; _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/competition/publicati ons/reports/kd0419345enn.pdf
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses the slowness of the application of antitrust rules; stresses the financial and structural risk to which some actors are exposed if they initiate lengthy and costly proceedings; calls on the Commission to consider setting deadlines which take into account the economic timeframe of businesses; recalls that for example the antitrust investigation into the Google Shopping began in 20101a, while fully guaranteeing the right of defence, clearly competition authorities need to act faster if we want to avoid further Regulations; _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/competition/publicati ons/annual_report/2017/part1_en.pdf
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Urges the Commission to be more attentive to the phenomenon of companies grabbing significant market shares through questionable practices; whilst antitrust rules cannot stop companies from exploiting workers, operating without the required licenses, ignoring data privacy regulations, or circumventing taxes, any position built on violating the law or fundamental rights should be considered illegitimate;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Deplores the fact that, despite repeated requests, the Commission has still not completed the investigation into Google Shopping which began in 2010; stresses that, in the absence of targeted and effective behavioural remedies that have been tested in advance with the undertaking which is the victim, a complete structural separation of general and specialised research services may be necessary; Given the limits of "cease and desist" orders; encourages the Commission to prescribe an effective behavioural remedy to address the abuse in Google Shopping1a and restore competition to the comparison shopping services market; _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/competition/publicati ons/annual_report/2017/part1_en.pdf
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18 b. Reaffirms the need for the EC Directorate General for Competition to be fully equipped also with experts on artificial intelligence and tech engineer’s specialists in order to fully understand and evaluate the remedies that are presented by the dominant technology companies with the aim to ensure fair competition in the digital sector;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Reiterates that taxation is sometimes usedDeplores the usage of tax rulings and advanced pricing arrangements to grant indirect State aid, creating an uneven playing field in the internal market;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Stresses that in order to achieve a more coherent EU economic policy; fair tax policy should be implemented at the European level in particular with regard to digital businesses; recalls the principle that companies should be taxed where their profits are generated should be applied; supports the commitment of the Commission President to propose an EU solution for a fair taxation in a digitalised and globalised economy, should an international deal not be reached by the end of 2020, on the condition that this EU solution is not limited to digital businesses; understands that such solution would strengthen the Single Market through the establishment of a minimum level of tax that would prevent unilateral measures;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to fully mobilise the state aid modernisation strategy, in particular for the energy transition and apply flexibility when Member States will want to give state aid to companies for green sustainable projects trying to achieve EU green deal targets, in particular for the energy transition and taking into account the EU Green Deal; stresses the need for the Commission to also monitor potential negative side-effects where certain big companies will go “green” but then use public aid for other objectives such as reinforcing its dominant position in a given sector;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. With regard to the food sector, calls on the Commission to guarantee fair competition and greater transparency in supermarket and hypermarkets chains commercial practices; European farmers should receive a fair price for their products; stresses the need for the Commission to look at hypermarkets powers in the distribution chain and commercial practices in placing competing products on the shelves;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21 b. Calls on the Commission to devote special attention to supermarkets and hypermarkets bargaining powers with their clients and suppliers; notes that supermarkets and hypermarkets actions often serve their own interests and not necessarily those of their customers; in particular, hypermarkets sovereignty may permit deliberate damage to brand value, restrict product choice, cut corners on their own brands quality, limit price comparability, restrict innovation and allow for the manipulation of prices to distort category price architectures in their favour;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Calls the Commission to have a close look at the banking sector in Romania where consumers face high interest rates and lack of transparency when it comes to loans because of potential bank cartels tendencies when it comes to deceptive selling practices of credit; notes that Romanian banks have the highest margin between deposit interest rates and loans interest rates in the EU, this is twice the European average as stated by the European Banking Authority in its 2018 report1a; _________________ 1a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/E-9-2019-002931_EN.html
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22 b. Calls on the Commission to bring forward a proposal requiring competition, data protection and consumer authorities to cooperate proactively with each other, including in enforcement cases raising questions of compliance with more than one area of law; in particular, the competition authorities should carefully assess antitrust and merger cases where there may be negative impact on both the interests of consumers and the democratic rights of citizens;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Insists on a more regular and transparent exchange with Directorate General for competition and its responsible Commissioner beside the existing structural dialogue inter- institutional agreement; notes that the Economic committee competition working group could be an appropriate place for a deeper and more detailed cooperation; stresses that the European Parliament representing directly the500 million EU citizens should be considered a privilege partner for the Commission, precisely because competition has consumers at its heart;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls on the Commission to organise multisectoral and interinstitutional forums involving national regulators and national consumerincluding data protection authorities and national consumer groups and civil liberties groups and to decompartmentalise competition policy;
Amendment 332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28 a. Recognizes that preventing distortion of competition as the paramount objective of EU competition policy requires a measure of political independence for the Commission and public scrutiny of lobbying efforts in all EU institutions, reiterates calls for an enhanced Transparency Register;