28 Amendments of Philippe LAMBERTS related to 2011/2094(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the financial and economic crisis which broke out in autumn 2008 has not yet been overcome,; whereas financial turmoil and recessionary fears have become once again acute over the last months;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Commission responded to the eruption of the crisis in a prompt and reasonable manner by adopting special State aid rules and using competition policy as a crisis management tool; whereas this was, and still is, meant to be a temporary regime although its timeframe has exceeded what was originally expected;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas between 1 October 2008 and 1 October 2010 the Commission took more than 200 decisions on State aid for the financial sector; whereas in 2009 the nominal amount of aid to the financial sector used by Member States constituted EUR 1 107 billion (9.3% of EU GDP); whereas the maximum volume of Commission-approved measures since the beginning of the crisis until 1 October 2010 (including both schemes and ad hoc interventions) amounts to EUR 4 588.90 billion;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the Commission introduced, from 1 January 2011, a requirement to submit a restructuring plan for every beneficiary of a recapitalisation or an impaired asset measure, irrespective of whether the bank is considered to be fundamentally sound or distressed;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the temporary regime applicable to State aid has been positive as an initial reaction to the crisis, but that it cannot be prolonged unduly, and that a new, permanent regulatory system and new State aid rules are necessary in order to tackle the flaws found in the pre-crisis legal system, in particular as regards the financial sector as well as to remedy distortions created over the financial and economic crisis;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the announcement of specific rescue and restructuring guidelines for the banking sector; recommends to the Commission that it take into account the impact of the liquidity support provided by central banks during the rescue stage, and provide for the orderly restructuring of banks, with shareholder and bondholder involvement, prior to the injection of public capital;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes that the ECB performed several non standard liquidity injections over the crisis; stresses that, without prejudice of the ECB independence, it is so far not possible to verify properly whether these measures could be assessed as State aid measures, as long as methods used to determine the ‘theoretical price’ of assets eligible as collateral have not been disclosed;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Underlines that, despite these unprecedented non-standard liquidity injections, such support measures received by banks during the whole year 2009 and beyond have not been included in the Commission’s compatibility assessment, whereas recapitalisation measures and guarantees were; therefore asks the Commission to assess such operations on a ex post basis and implement corrective measures whenever required in order to ensure a level playing field within the Single Market;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Welcomes measures adopted so far by the Commission in order to reduce the balance sheet size of certain too big or interconnected-to-fail institutions which have received State aid over the crisis; deems than more measures are required with that purpose;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Stresses however that the ongoing consolidation in the banking sector has actually increased the market share of several major financial institutions and, therefore, urges the Commission to maintain a close watch on the sector in order to enhance competition in European banking markets, including by imposing restructuring plans that imply the separation of banking activities where retail deposits allow these institutions to cross-subsidise riskier investment banking activities;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3e. Therefore urges the Commission to link the extension of the temporary State aid to the banking sector beyond 2011 with enhanced and more stringent conditions related to the reduction of the balance sheet composition and size, including a proper focus on retail lending as well as stronger restrictions on bonuses and distribution of dividends; deems that these conditions should be explicit, imperative as well as assessed and summarised on an ex post basis in the forthcoming annual Competition reports;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Welcomes the Commission’s work towards a coherent European approach to collective redress and calls in this context on the Commission to come forward with sector specific initiatives, as in the fields of competition, consumer protection and the environment, where a specific need has been identified, as well as with a framework including minimum standards for an EU-consistent system;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the use of the settlement procedure in cartel cases with a view to making the process more efficient; is concerned about the increased number of requests for fine reduction on account of an inability to pay, particularly from ‘mono- product’ undertakings and SMEs; deems that a system of delayed and/or split payments could be considered as an alternative to fine reduction;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of establishing a separate procedure for cartel cases with an independent tribunal presided over by a judicial panel, as a way to dispatch cases with greater speed;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Urges the Commission to increase the effectiveness of the penalty system for price-fixers, by assessing the possibility of introducing individual sanctions (such as individual fines or director disqualification) against executives, as well as providing less focus on the application of the turnover criteria in the calculation of fines and greater focus on the actual effect of the cartel on the market;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Encourages the Commission to consider greater incentives to encourage more applicants to come forward with evidence of cartel activity, including the protection of leniency applicants from civil claims, the adoption of an ‘Amnesty Plus’ procedure, and the abandonment of prosecutorial discretion as a way to foster legal certainty;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes that, as regards decisions on fines, the existence of robust compliance programmes should not have negative implications for the infringer beyond what is a proportionate remedy to the infringement;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses that, as regards recidivism, a clear connection should be established between, on one hand, the infringement under investigation and past infringements and, on the other, the undertaking concerned; emphasises that, most importantly, a maximum time-limit should be introducedtaken into consideration;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Believes that the economic and financial crisis cannot justify a more benevolent assessment of merger cases; calls on the Commission to ensure that mergers and in particular mergers designed to rescue or restructure ailing banks do not create more ‘too big to fail’ and more generally systemic institutions;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. WelcomesTakes note of the Commission's Energy 2020 initiative; urges the Commission to pursue the full implementation of the internal energy market package; encourages the Commission, insofar as an open and competitive single market in energy has not yet been fully achieved, actively to monitor competition in energy markets;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Recalls its invitation to the Commission during the early steps of the implementation of the third energy package to closely monitor the level of competition, since the three largest players still represent about 75 % (electricity) and above 60 % (gas) of the market, despite the gradual opening of the markets in the mid-1990s; invites the Commission to issue guidelines in order to improve the access of renewables to the energy network;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Recalls its invitation the Commission to examine in its next annual report the extent to which the concentration of critical raw materials suppliers may be harmful to the activity of client sectors and a more eco-efficient economy, since some of these are of paramount importance for the deployment of eco- efficient technologies such as photovoltaic panels and lithium-ion batteries;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15c. Deems that the forthcoming Commission proposal on EU 2020 Project Bonds could and should be a major vector for the development of services of general interest in the Member States as well as at European Union level; underlines that procedures established with that purpose should be explicitly laid down in a project eligibility framework to be defined following the ordinary legislative procedure;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
15d. Calls for the Commission to actively monitor developments in commodity- related markets following the conclusions of the European Council of June 2008 (paragraph 40) and to push forward ambitious legislative proposals within the revision of MiFID and MAD framework in order to tackle speculative practices which adversely affects European industry and generate distortion in the Single Market; asks the Commission to add a section in its next annual competition summarising its monitoring activities on potential market distortions related to developments in commodity- related activities;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)
Paragraph 15 e (new)
15e. Underlines that recent investigations carried out by US, UK and Japan regulators have revealed that, during the crisis, evidence has emerged that US and European banks have manipulated LIBOR rates; is therefore concerned about potential market distortions generated by such practices; asks the Commission in this regard to highlight in its next annual Competition report its preliminary conclusions and assessment on this matter;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 f (new)
Paragraph 15 f (new)
15f. Recalls its demands to the Commission to carry out a competition inquiry in the agro-food industry to investigate the effect of the market power that major suppliers and retailers hold on the functioning of that market;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 g (new)
Paragraph 15 g (new)
15g. Deems that competition policy should contribute to promoting and enforcing open standards and interoperability in order to prevent the technological lock-in of consumers and clients by a minority of market players;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 h (new)
Paragraph 15 h (new)
15h. Urges the Commission to examine the extent to which a too generous allocation of free EUA (European Union Allowances) permits in certain sectors may distort competition, given that these permits, whose efficiency has diminished since the slowdown of the activity, have generated windfall profits for certain companies while reducing their incentive to play their part in the transition to an eco-efficient economy;