20 Amendments of Andreas SCHWAB related to 2013/2075(INI)
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that imposing fines is an important tool for competition policy and that quick action is needed for the success of investigations; believes that legal certainty is crucial, and therefore reiterates its calls on the Commission to incorporate the rules on fines into a legislative instrumentRegulation (EC) No 1/2003, especially considering the legal action filed in front of the German Constitutional Court in January 2013 claiming the violation of the basic legal principle "nulla poena sine lege" requiring that a company cannot be fined for a cartel infringement when these fines are not defined by law;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Reiterates the Parliament's call for a general review of the Commission's fining guidelines, taking into account six years of practical experience and suggests again that it evaluate principles such as: - taking into account that the implementation of robust compliance programmes should not have negative implications for the infringer beyond what is a proportionate remedy to the infringement; - taking into account the interaction between public and private liabilities under EU antitrust law; the Commission should make sure fines take into account any compensation already paid to third parties; this should be also applicable to undertakings benefiting from leniency; furthermore the infringer could be encouraged to pay damages on an out-of- court settlement basis before the final decision on the fine is taken; - specifying conditions under which parent companies who exercise decisive influence over a subsidiary but are not directly involved in an infringement should be made jointly and severally liable for antitrust infringements on the part of their subsidiaries; - requiring, as regards recidivism, a clear connection between, on one hand, the infringement under investigation and past infringements and, on the other, the undertaking concerned; a maximum time- limit should be taken into consideration;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Believes that in terms of regulating the interaction between public and private liabilities, the Commission, which after all is best placed to evaluate the overcharge imposed by a cartel that it has investigated, should take into account the level of illicit profit and loss incurred by those being affected when setting the fine; this would not only be an effects based approach but would also help in speedy resolution of follow-on private actions;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Notes that the use of global turnover for the 10% ceiling can lead to cumulative sanctions being imposed for the same infringement given the increasing global number of Competition authorities; notes that therefore an EEA-based turnover would be more appropriate rather than the global turnover;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Reiterates that the number of requests for fine reduction on account of an inability to pay has increased, particularly from 'mono-product' undertakings and SMEs; deems again that a system of delayed and/or split payments could be considered as an alternative to fine reduction in order to avoid putting undertakings out of business;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5e. Still awaits an adaptation of the fining guidelines concerning 'mono-product' undertakings and SMEs; welcomes though that recently the Commission has taken into account the specific needs of "mono-product" undertakings in its decision on "Mountings for windows" (COMP/39452 of 28/03/2012);
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5f. Calls on the Commission to ensure that their fining and enforcement policy achieves restoration of a balanced market and incentivises companies to identify infringements internally and implement restorative action voluntarily; urges the Commission to take into account the level of illicit profit and loss incurred by those who were affected;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading 4
Heading 4
State aid to banks and effects on the real economy
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Believes that State aid control during the crisis should focus both on stabilising the banking system and on tackling unfair segmentation of the credit conditions and discrimination of SMEs in the single market; calls on the Commission however to ensure that the goal of stabilising the banking system will not lead again to an increase of public debt;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Points to the lack of clarity in some Member States as to whether public funding to European Consumer Centres (ECCs) can be considered as an unjustified state aid within the meaning of Union competition law; is concerned that this puts Member States' support to ECCs at risk and has already resulted in the temporary suspension of funding for ECCs; urges, therefore, the Commission to ensure the proper functioning of ECCs by clarifying as soon as possible that this type of funding does not qualify as state aid in accordance with Union law given that ECCs do not engage in economic activities but ensure support services for consumers;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Welcomes again the Commission's communication on State Aid Modernisation (COM(2012)0209) and the recent Council adoption of revised state aid rules on block exemptions and procedures; calls on the Commission however to ensure that stimulating economic growth as one of the overall aims of this reform will not lead again to an increase of public debt;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Shares the Commission's view that State aid procedures need to be accelerated to allow more concentration on complicated cases with serious effects for competition on the internal market; takes note of the Commission's proposal to raise its level of discretion to decide how to deal with complaints; calls on the Commission to provide for detailed criteria how to distinguish important from less important cases in this context; points out that the adequate possibilities for this distinction are higher thresholds for the de minimis regulation as well as the extension of the horizontal categories in the enabling regulation and in the general block exemption regulation;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Takes note of the Commission's general intention to exempt more measures from the notification requirement; stresses however that Members States will have to ensure the ex ante compliance with State aid rules of de minimis measures and block-exempted schemes to preserve a sufficient level of control while the Commission will continue to exercise ex post control of such cases;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 d (new)
Paragraph 16 d (new)
16d. Underlines that the Commission has to ensure a better exchange with Members States in terms of quality and timeliness of submission of information and notifications' preparation; underlines that effective national systems have to ensure that State aid measures exempted from ex ante notification obligation comply with Union law; points out that the adequate possibilities for this distinction are higher thresholds for the de minimis regulation as well as the extension of the horizontal categories in the enabling regulation and in the general block exemption regulation;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 e (new)
Paragraph 16 e (new)
16e. Notes that so far relevant information for State aid control cases is delivered exclusively by the Member States; reiterates its demand towards the Commission to assess as to whether there will be a further need for additional human resources to extend its information gathering tools and to enable the Commission to receive direct information from market participants; notes however, that the Commission should not be able to include additional quality and efficiency considerations in the compatibility assessment; these decisions must be left to the granting authority;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Automotive sector Calls on the Commission to ensure a fair balance of bargaining power between manufacturers and distributors, while emphasizing the following: – the importance of combating discriminatory practices in the field of online distribution as governed by the Vertical Restraints Block Exemption Regulation (Commission Regulation 330/2010), so as to safeguard the ability of distributors to use innovative distribution methods and to reach a greater number and spectrum of customers; – the importance of dealers on the markets for the sale of new motor vehicles following the expiry of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1400/2002 on 31 May 2013; asks the Commission to insist on the need to develop principles of good conduct between manufacturers and dealers with regard to vertical agreements in the motor vehicle sector, particularly with regard to the protection of investments after termination of a contract and the possibility of transferring a business to another member of the same brand network, in order to promote transparency in commercial and contractual relations between the parties;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Urges the Commission to pursue the full implementation of the internal energy market package, given that an open and competitive single market in the energy sector has not yet been fully achieved; urges the Commission to be resolute in continuing the steps taken in light of the sector inquiry to bring competition rules effectively to bear on the energy sector; welcomes, to this effect, the ongoing competition law procedures in the energy sector, with the objective of completing the internal energy market in 2014 and eliminating obstacles re-established by energy suppliers;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Electronic Payments 24b. Notes that the European market for electronic payments is still fragmented both across and within national borders; takes the view that standardization should include measures necessary to ensure a more open, transparent, innovative and competitive single market that brings advantages to all consumers with regard to mobile payments, interoperability, costs and portability; therefore asks the Commission to assess possible ways of bringing new entrants - banks or non- banks - into the European market for card, internet and mobile payments while taking account of future technological innovations in this sector;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Welcomes the progress made in the Commission's investigation of Google's anticompetitive practices; urges the Commission to moveact decisively to addresson all concerns that have been identified, and to take, as a priority, all necessary measures to put an end to Google's harmful practices and restore competition in the online search and search advertising markets;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls onWelcomes the Commission to evaluate the's rejection of the insufficient commitment proposals offered earlier by Google in order to open internet markets in the interests of growth, innovation and jobs, given Google's market sh; urges the Commission to impose binding commitments on Google which address all four areas of over 90 % in most Member States and its abuse of its market dominance, in particular through the preferential treatment of its own products, as recognised in the Commission's preliminary findings of April 2013concern identified in its investigation, including search discrimination, in order to restore competition in the Internet search market given Google's market share of over 90% in many member states;