[ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas competition raises companies’ productivity, by raising managers’ incentives to out-perform competitors and, therefore, is often associated with higher levels of total factor productivity;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)

Cb. whereas each year losses of EUR 181- 320 billion – approximately 3 % of EU GDP – accrue owing to the existence of cartels;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)

Cc. whereas tax evasion, tax fraud and tax havens are costing the EU taxpayers an estimated 1 trillion euros per year in lost revenue, distorting competition in the single market between those companies who pay taxes and those who do not;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Recital C d (new)

Cd. whereas in terms of energy costs the European single market performs worse than the US, with a price dispersion of 31 percent compared to 22 percent in the US;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Recital C e (new)

Ce. whereas in many Member States a severe credit crunch is still affecting SMEs, which represent 98% of the EU firms and 67% of employed people;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas in international air transport rules on fair competition and the regulation of State Owned Enterprises are lacking with respect to airlines from certain third countries operating to and from Europe dominating certain routes, causing considerable harm to European airlines and impairing connectivity of European hub airports, reducing choice for European consumers;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)

Db. Calls the Commission, considering the urgency of the matter, to present without unnecessary delays a legislative proposal for the revision of 868/2004 guaranteeing reciprocity fair and open competition among EU and non EU carriers;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)

Dc. Welcomes the EU unitary patent as a step forward to complete the single market and calls on all Member States to participate in it;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Welcomes the fact that Competition Commissioner Vestager wishes to develop, in close cooperation with the European Parliament, a competition policy as one of the key instruments of the European Union towards making the common internal market a reality; (close cooperation with the European Parliament is essential and should be reinforced)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Michael THEURER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Considers that the European Parliament should have co-decision powers in competition policy; regrets that Articles 103 and 109 TFEU provide only for consultation of Parliament; believes that this democratic deficit cannot be tolerated; proposes that this deficit be overcome as soon as possible through inter-institutional arrangements in the field of competition policy and corrected in the next Treaty change; (Considering the importance and impact competition policy has on our citizens, the European Parliament, as only democratically elected body, should be fully involved.)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Believes that the independence of DG Competition is of the uttermost importance to achieve its goals in a successful manner. Calls the Commission to re-allocate sufficient financial and human resources to DG competition from other less priority or overcrowded services in order to cope with the growing number of important cases they have to deal with;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Considers that TTIP and all other trade and investment international agreements should have a strong competition section;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1

~~Cartel proceedings~~Antitrust proceedings - Cases of abuse of dominant position (The title change is more appropriate considering the cases raised in following paragraphs)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Considers that the existing rules relating to fines for infringements could be supplemented by on-going penalties against those responsible; Calls the Commission to consider the possibility to complement cartel fines with personal sanctions aimed at company decision makers, as well as individual penalties for those employees responsible for actually leading their company to commit a violation of competition law. The Commission should, thus, be able to impose measures such as director disqualifications or personal pecuniary sanctions when necessary.

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. 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 calls on the Commission to incorporate the rules on fines into a legislative instrument;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10a. Believes that it is fundamental that companies related to the digital and sharing economy pay taxes and comply with regulations at the same level as all other enterprises to ensure a level playing field;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)

10b. Believes that the Commission needs to be strict with the introduction of energy market reforms to reduce its prices, particularly in those Member States under the excessive deficit procedure;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)

10c. Calls on the Commission to investigate if there is any kind of relationship between a high presence of politicians and former ministers in the governing boards of energy companies, and oligopolistic practices in the energy sector in some Member States;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 d (new)

10d. Asks the Commission to ensure that energy regulations and directives are transposed and applied correctly in all Member States; calls on the Commission to be particularly vigilant when prices reach above the EU-average, as high prices distort competition and harm consumers;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA, Michael THEURER

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. ~~Querie~~Regrets the long duration of the investigations into ~~American Internet giant Google and regrets~~Google’s practices and the fact that these investigations have already dragged on for several years with ~~no result, because until 2014 the Commission was reluctant to indicate its intention to abolish market restrictions;~~ out any final results; welcomes, therefore, the Statement of Objections sent by the Commission to Google on comparison shopping service; calls on the Commission to continue to examine determinedly all concerns identified in its investigations, including other areas of search bias, as it is ultimately part of ensuring a level playing field for all market players in the digital market; (Among the antitrust cases, the Google antitrust case is a clear case of abuse of a dominant position. This case must be solved by the EC without losing 5 more years if it wants to be credible with its Digital single market strategy. It is essential to ensure a level playing field for all market players in the digital market.)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Andreas SCHWAB, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Points out that under Article 8 of the Cartel Proceedings Regulation, Regulation (EC) No 1/2003, the Commission may order interim measures when there is a risk of serious and irreparable damage to competition; calls on the Commission to determine how far such measures could be applied in protracted competition proceedings, especially on the digital market;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Recalls that net neutrality is of the uttermost importance to ensure that there is no discrimination between internet services and competition is fully guaranteed. Where ‘Net neutrality’ means the principle according to which all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independently of its sender, recipient, type, content, device, service or application; (This section exists because of the intent to ensure a neutral treatment of internet traffic and the issue of the existence of a net neutrality principle has been already settled in MS primary legislation and other legislation or equivalent around the world. It is crucial for this text to be clear, to minimise uncertainty and to protect against anticompetitive behaviour.)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Andreas SCHWAB, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)

11b. Welcomes the final adoption of the directive on actions for damages, as this is a good example of successful close interinstitutional cooperation in the competition policy sphere;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Andreas SCHWAB, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)

11c. Welcomes the Commission’s newly adopted amendments to Regulation (EC) No 773/2004, relating to the conduct of proceedings, and the related communications arising out the directive on actions for damages; considers it unfortunate that Parliament was not involved in the drafting of the amendments;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13a. Calls the Commission to open up an investigation on how TV licenses are distributed inside Member States in order to ensure fair competition in the media sector;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)

13b. Calls the Commission to investigate the relation between government subsidies to newspapers and the closeness of its editorial line to the ideology of the government in question;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Andreas SCHWAB, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Welcomes the new Guidelines on State Aid to Airlines and Airports in the EU, as part of the Commission’s State Aid Modernisation; calls on the Commission to urgently establish a similar set of rules for subsidised airlines operating from third countries to and from the EU in international agreements, in order to ensure fair competition between EU and third country carriers; calls on the Commission to urgently submit a proposal for the revision of EU Regulation 868/2004 for the protection against subsidisation and unfair pricing practices causing injury to Community air carriers in the supply of air services from countries not members of the European Community. (European legacy carriers have to continue to modernise and restructure becoming more efficient. However Status quo is not an option for the EU with regard subsidies and the kind of competition coming from third countries such the Gulf carriers. A binding fair competition clause should be included when the EC negotiates comprehensive air service agreements. Moreover the Commission is called to urgently submit a proposal for the revision of EU Regulation 868/2004 for the protection against subsidisation and unfair pricing practices.)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS, Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2 a (new)

Fair competition and level playing field in aviation: There is an urgent need for a range of effective policy tools for addressing unfair competition in the markets in which European carriers compete. Regulation 868/2004 which aims at protecting (safeguarding fair competition) the EU industry against subsidisation and unfair pricing practices which causes injury to EU carriers has proven ineffective or at least inadequate with regards the kind of competition coming from Gulf carriers. The Commission is aware that such amount of subsidies would clearly be considered illegal State aid if applied to any EU companies. The EU must act fast with regard unfair competition, ensure reciprocity and eliminate unfair practices, including subsidies and state aids to airlines from third countries that clearly distort the market; therefore: - Calls the Commission to announce the revision of 868/2004 guaranteeing reciprocity fair and open competition among EU and non-EU carriers. - Asks the Commission to include and insert a binding and transparent ‘fair competition clause’ in EU external aviation relations and in the future comprehensive aviation agreement with the Gulf States. - Requests the Commission to urgently revise the EU rules on the ownership and control of EU airlines in the context of the Aviation Package, in particular reviewing the ‘effective control’ vague and dated concept. The Commission should be empowered with additional investigative powers in order to request relevant information from third countries, also reconsidering the burden of proof for evidence to open an investigation on ‘effective ownership and control’. (International air transport competes as a service industry in an increasingly open global market, so sustainable competitiveness depends upon open and fair conditions of competition. Indeed, open and fair competition provides choice and value for money for consumers, supports quality, productivity, efficiency and innovation in the air transport sector. The EU must act fast with regard unfair competition, ensure reciprocity and eliminate unfair practices, including subsidies and state aids to airlines from third countries that clearly distort the market In the absence of a global framework at ICAO level, only bilateral air service agreements can ensure fair competition. The Commission should include and insert a binding and transparent ‘fair competition clause’ in EU external aviation relations and in the future comprehensive aviation agreement with the Gulf States.)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2 b (new)

State aid and competition among airports: According to the European Court of Auditors (ECA) ‘EU-funded airport infrastructures: poor value for money’ report (1): The EU spent over EUR 4.5 billion on air transport-related investments between 2000 and 2013 via the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the TEN-T programmes, of which 2.8 billion was directly spent on airport infrastructure. 75% of this sum went to four Member States: Spain (24%), Poland (21%), Italy (17%) and Greece (13%)(1). These EU- funded investments in airports produced poor value for money; many airports (often in close proximity to each other) were funded and in many cases the infrastructures were larger than necessary. The investments did not lead to anticipated results; only 10 of 20 airports succeeded in increasing their passenger numbers between 2007 and 2013. - In the context of the new rules on state aid for airports; calls on the Commission to establish a public list of ‘Ghost’ and inefficient airports; - Considering that the Commission is responsible for the supervision and monitoring of the TEN-T projects, calls on the Commission to give and Ex-ante prior approval to all infrastructure projects in order to verify the cost-benefit analysis and viability of such EU funded project. (This is essential to stop wasting EU taxpayers’ money and to make the EU more competitive.) Or. en ((1) http://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/DocItem.aspx?did=30441)

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2 c (new)

Calls on the Commission to open up competition in those Member States that have port and airport public networks, particularly if their management is monopolised by the central government or if they persistently generate public deficits; Encourages the Commission to investigate whether certain practices with regard to the imposition of specific hub airports – based on the terms of the over 1000 existing bilateral air services agreements signed by Member States with non-EU countries – are detrimental to fair competition between carriers and airports, and are against European consumers’ interests;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2 d (new)

Calls on the Commission and the Members States to increase their efforts in order to guarantee the opening of the railway transport sector to fair competition, as well as a better quality of services;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18a. Calls on the Commission to further develop Article 107 of the Treaties regarding state aid to regions, as there are wide suspicions that sustained overinvestment for political reasons is creating distortions in the single market;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)

18b. Believes that road systems based on the Eurovignette are fairer and do not create distortions on the competition among market participants as they ensure that there are not unfair advantages link to their origin;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19a. Believes that the Commission should consider the possibility for state aid to banks to be linked to conditionality on credit to SMEs;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)

19b. Banking regulations should take into account that small institutions have fewer resources to ensure their compliance and thus should be as simple as possible in order to avoid creating distortions in favour of big banks;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)

19c. Urges the Commission to monitor closely those markets in the banking sector where concentration is high or growing, in particular as a result of restructuring in response to the crisis and to ensure that increased concentration does not end up in a decrease of credit for SMEs as data from some Member States seems to suggest;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 d (new)

19d. Calls on the Commission to follow closely the conditions to be proposed by the ECB to give new banking licenses to ensure that creates a level playing field without high barriers of entrance to the market; strongly believes that given the high concentration in the banking sector of some Member States, a higher number of banking entities would be good for consumers and SMEs;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Considers that healthy tax competition is one of the constitutive elements of the internal market of the Union but unfair tax competition must be prevented through ~~minimum rates of taxation and~~ harmonised tax bases;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Considers that in view of an estimated volume of tax fraud and tax avoidance of up to one btrillion euros a year the Member States must ultimately tackle and restrict this practice; Believes that the reduction of tax fraud and tax avoidance is fundamental to go forward in the consolidation of public budgets.

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Welcomes the intention of the Competition Commissioner to reorganise the control of State aid as part of a fair tax burden for all; Expects that prior to this reorganisation there will be an unconditional and complete evaluation and calls on the Member States to abandon their current blockade mentality and to provide to the European Parliament all the requested documentation regarding the tax rulings affaire;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)

24a. Calls on Member States to publish information on their tax rulings and to present it in a regional breakdown, to ensure that there is not an excess of tax rulings in some regions creating de facto state aid to them;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Michael THEURER, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)

25a. Calls for an EU legislative framework to prevent distortions of competition by aggressive tax planning and tax evasion; with a view to creating a level playing field, recommends to introduce an automatic mandatory exchange of tax rulings, a CCCTB and a guarantee that no profit leaves the EU untaxed;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Considers that all tried and tested and existing forms of dialogue held to date should be maintained, but an organisational separation of legislative and executive authority is inalienable for democratic reasons;deleted

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Michael THEURER, Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Considers that all tried and tested and existing forms of dialogue held to date should be maintained~~, but an organisational separation of legislative and executive authority is inalienable for democratic reasons~~;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Activities of Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS related to 2015/2140(INI)

Plenary speeches (2)

Amendments (44)

ParlTrack - 2011-2024