Activities of Peter SIMON related to 2011/2146(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
State aid rules on services of general economic interest (short presentation)
Reports (1)
REPORT on reform of the EU state aid rules on Services of General Economic Interest PDF (215 KB) DOC (129 KB)
Amendments (13)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
- having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 15 June 2011 on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on reform of the EU state aid rules on Services of General Economic Interest,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the successful implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy is bolstered by the provision of SGEI, and these services can help to reach growth targets in the areas of employment, education and social integration in particular, so that in the end the high level of productivity, employment and social cohesion that has been set can be achieved,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas social services of general interest (SSGI) play an important role in underpinning basic rights and make a major contribution to equality of opportunity,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the current EU legislation provides for exemption from notification for hospitals and social housing, i.e. SGEI meeting basic social needs,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas the Member States and their public authorities are responsible for determining the precise extent and the way in which SGEI are provided, and Article 1 of Protocol No 26 to the Lisbon Treaty explicitly recognises this right to regional and local self-government for SGEI,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas pursuant to Article 107 TFEU a compensatory payment is regarded as state aid only where it hinders trade between Member States,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas compensatory payments encompass all advantages granted by the state or through state resources in any form whatsoever,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Highlights the improvements in terms of application and comprehensibility that have been possible thanks to the measures taken in 2005, known as the Altmark package; points out that the public consultations have nevertheless shown that the legal instruments need to be even clearer and more straightforward, proportionate and effective;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that the outcome of the public consultation also indicates that, apart from the administrative burden, other factors possibly militating against application of the rules on state aid to SGEI have been uncertainties and misinterpretations, especially of key concepts in the rules, such as ‘act of entrustment’, ‘reasonable return’, ‘undertaking’, ‘economic and non- economic services’ and ‘internal market relevance’; welcomes, therefore, the Commission's statement that it intends to explain and clarify the basic concepts;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses that particular attention must be paid, when reviewing the rules, to ensuring that the Community concepts and terms used are clearly tailored to the nature of public services and the diversity of forms of organisation and stakeholders involved, and that they take proper account of the actual risk of an impact on trade between Member States;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the Commission’s concern to ensure, through a more diverse approach to the application of state aid rules, that the administrative burden placed on the public authorities and service providers is proportionate to the potential impact of the measure concerned on competition in the internal market; calls therefore, with reference to Article 106(2) TFEU, for the provisions to be framed in such a way as to ensure, on the one hand, that they are applied correctly and, on the other, that the undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general interest can perform in full the specific tasks assigned to them;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to devise specialcome up with special de minimis arrangements for social services of general interest (SSGI) that can be assumed to entail no detriment to trade between Member States; suggests, to this end, that appropriate higher thresholds be proposed for the amount of compensatory payments for local social services of this type;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the Commission’s assertion that it wishes to exempt in principle further categories of SSGI from the requirement that aid to them be the subject of notification; calls for an assessment as to whether such an exemption should extend to care facilities for elderly people or people with disabilities, orto child and youth welfare and to healthcare facilities;