Activities of Sharon BOWLES related to 2012/0342(NLE)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty PDF (228 KB) DOC (204 KB)
Amendments (12)
Amendment 19 #
Recital 1 a (new)
(1a) It is important that the Commission focuses its attention on State aid cases with the potential to distort competition within the internal market. That aim is consistent with the Commission's communication of 8 May 2012 on EU State Aid Modernisation (SAM) and was endorsed by the European Parliament in its resolution of 17 January 2013. It follows that the Commission should abstain from involvement in measures where the main aim of those measures is to fulfil social objectives which do not distort the single market. The Commission should therefore be able to decline to examine such cases and complaints brought to its attention unless multiple complaints are raised.
Amendment 26 #
Recital 9 a (new)
(9a) Member States should have an incentive to notify state aid measures and they should not be penalised unduly if the Commission takes excessive time to examine notified aid. Therefore, if a decision by the Commission is not received within six months of notification, any future recovery decision would need to demonstrate that the original notification was not sufficient.
Amendment 27 #
Recital 11
(11) Complainants should be required to demonstrate that they are interested parties within the meaning of Article 108(2) TFEU and of Article 1(h) of Regulation 659/99. They should also be required to provide a certain amount of information in a form that the Commission should be empowered to define in an implementing provision. Where complainants fail to submit comments or provide information indicating the existence of unlawful aid or the misuse of aid with the potential to distort competition within the internal market, the Commission should be able to deem the complaint withdrawn.
Amendment 29 #
Recital 11 a (new)
(11a) The Commission shall consider investigation of a third party complaint if a sufficient body of evidence is given to show a distortion to competition within the internal market.
Amendment 30 #
Recital 13
(13) In order to ensure that the Commission addresses similar issues in a consistent manner across the internal market, it is appropriate to complete the existing powers of the Commission by introducing a specific legal basis to launch investigations into sectors of the economy or into certain aid instruments across several Member States. For reasons of proportionality, sector inquiries should be based on a prior analysis of publicly available information pointing to the existence of State aid issues in a particular sector or concerning the use of a particular aid instrument in several Member States, for example, that existing aid measures in a particular sector or based on a particular aid instrument in several Member States are not, or no longer, compatible with the internal market. Given that, through direct links to their constituencies, Members of the European Parliament can also be alerted to possible divergences of State aid practices within a given sector, the European Parliament should also be given the power to request the Commission look into this sector. In these cases, to keep the Parliament informed on investigations, the Commission shall send interim reports to the Parliament detailing the progress of those investigations. Such inquiries would enable the Commission to deal in an efficient and transparent way with horizontal State aid issues.
Amendment 32 #
Recital 16 a (new)
(16a) The appropriate interest rate set by the European Commission for the recovery of aid is not intended to be punitive.
Amendment 36 #
Article 1 – point 2
Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
Article 6b – paragraph 1 – point (a)
Article 6b – paragraph 1 – point (a)
(a) they supply incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, or purposely omit relevant information, in response to a request made pursuant to Article 6a(3);
Amendment 37 #
Article 1 – point 2
Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
Article 6 b – paragraph 1 – point (b)
Article 6 b – paragraph 1 – point (b)
(b) they supply incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, or purposely omit relevant information, in response to a decision adopted pursuant to Article 6a(4), or do not supply the information within the specified time limit.
Amendment 40 #
Article 1 – point 4
Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
The Commission shall examine without undue delay any complaint submitted by any interested party in accordance with Article 20(2). The Commission shall consider examination of a complaint submitted by a third-party if there is sufficient evidence given to show a distortion to competition within the internal market by alleged unlawful aid of misuse of aid.
Amendment 42 #
Article 1 – point 9
Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
2. Any interested party may submit a complaint to inform the Commission of any alleged unlawful aid and any alleged misuse of aid. To that effect, the interested party shall duly complete a form that the Commission should be empowered to define in an implementing provision and provide all the mandatory information requested in it. The Commission shall consider investigation when presented with sufficient evidence by a third-party as to the alleged unlawful aid or misuse of aid.
Amendment 43 #
Article 1 – point 9
Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 20 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 45 #
Article 1 – point 10
Regulation (EC) No 659/1999
Article 20 a – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 20 a – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
The Commission mayshall publish a report on its website on the results of its inquiry into particular sectors of the economy or particular aid instruments across various Member States and invite the Member States and any undertakings or associations of undertakings concerned to submit comments. Where the European Parliament requests an inquiry, the Commission shall send an interim report to the European Parliament. The Commission, when publishing its reports, shall respect the rules on professional secrecy, in accordance with Article 339 of the Treaty.