32 Amendments of Alfred SANT related to 2015/2140(INI)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 8 October 2015 on mortgage legislation and risky financial instruments in Spain (based on petitions received) (2015/2740(RSP)),
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the European Union is established as an open market economy with free competition aimed at increasing consumer welfare and the standards of living of all EU citizens;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the strong application of competition-law principles under the EU Treaty has the aim to primarily benefits consumers, and promotes innovation and growth, and by controlsling and restrictsing unfair market practices as well asresulting from monopolies and dominant market positions;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas in recent years, in particular, the dynamism in the digital economy but also distortions of competition as a result of national taxation policy which is deemed to causinge considerable harm to the internal market have brought with them new challenges for the Commission and all market players;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the fact that Competition Commissioner Vestager wishes to develop competition policy as one of the key instruments of the European Union towards making the common internal market a reality, so long as proper care is taken not to let internal EU competition policy hobble EU firms in their endeavours to compete on global markets with non-EU players;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that a successful competition policy must not be directed exclusively towards bringing down prices for consumers, but must also be mindful of the innovativeness of the European economy and, special competitive conditions for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as specific economic, social and geographic conditions which call for a different approach in the application of competition rules;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that the social impact of pro- competition decisions must be taken fully into account, and should be specifically described and assessed when such decisions have an impact on employment, the economic condition of neighbourhoods and populations living in remote or isolated areas, as well as in cases where social and cultural deprivation is rife;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Considers that the specific nature of the digital economy, characterized by decreasing and tending to zero marginal costs and by strong network effects, favours the increase in the level of concentration in key markets; invites the EC to adapt its competition policy to the specificities of this sector;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses that free and fair competition is an indispensable pre-requisite for the creation of a true digital single market; encourages the EC to encompass the key concepts of interoperability and net neutrality into all its future proposals on the digital single market;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Recalls that the data economy is an important part of the digital economy; considers that the property of user generated data should stay with the users and that portability of data should be ensured; highlights that accessibility of user generated data, in an anonymous and aggregated form, is instrumental in ensuring competition in this market segment is maintained;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to refine the internal market in areas where it is still fragmented and incomplete, and to end market restrictions and distortions of competition as soon as possible wherever they are found; However also calls on the Commission to ensure that one size fits all calculations do not define competition policies, since these undermine social cohesion across the Union, promote policy options that potentially are economically flawed, and in the medium term, inhibit the Union’s competitiveness vis-à-vis other continental trading and investment blocs;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to increase its efforts as regards to investigations on the abuse of dominant market positions towards consumers in the EU;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Considers that no action was taken so far by the Commission to address the abusive clauses and practices used by the banking sector in consumer contracts; calls on the Commission to take effective measures towards prevention and their elimination, especially on those Member States with systematic infringement of the Directive 93/13/EEC, in order to guarantee the full compliance of the Directive by national authorities;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Recommends that ongoing efforts are maintained by the Commission to reduce all forms of bureaucratic and regulatory red tape in the management of competition policy, as well as to continually strive to simplify and streamline reporting procedures that define regulatory and monitoring exercises in areas relevant to competition policy;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Believes that further thought should be given to how European companies must be supported as they compete on a global basis with other like sized operations from different parts of the world, which do not have to follow the same competitive rules that European entities must satisfy on their home turf;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Queries the long duration of the investigations into American Internet giant Google and regrets 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; Supports Commission actions aimed at stronger interoperability and portability across all digital sectors avoiding a winner-takes-all scenario; Stresses the importance of equipping the Commission with the right tools to keep an up-to-date overview of the swift development in the digital market;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission, in the Member States and at regional and communal administrative levels, to actively promote compliance with European competition policy and to explain the legal position; sees a need for action particularly in raising awareness in all parts of the European Union with regard to the classification and granting of illegal State aid; considers however that isolated and/or peripheral regions and islands should be allowed wider margins for the implementation of state aid provisions than is currently being done, not least under conditions of double isolation or insularity, especially when such provisions would have limited to minimal effect on the wider European market, and when they are intended to help stimulate economic activity and social cohesion in ways that would not otherwise be feasible in the short to medium term;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Welcomes the simplified procedures utilised for the purpose of state-aid assessment of projects funded by the EFSI; highlights that the EFSI aims to overcome current market failures by addressing market gaps, thus favouring the well-functioning of the markets;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Considers that the Commission, particularly in State aid proceedings, must examine more rigorously the facts which States provide and improve fact security, since attempts are increasingly being made to flout the legal position and the conditions or to seek more or fewer borderline compromises on the understanding that such examination should be premised on a realization that states need to ensure total security and continuity of supply and provision for all their citizens in strategic and vital sectors like energy, transport and health care;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Stresses that state aid is sometimes necessary in order to assure the delivery of services of general economic interest (SGEI) including energy, transport and telecommunication; Emphasises that state intervention is often the best possible policy tool to assure services crucial for the support of economic and social conditions in isolated, remote or peripheral regions and islands in the Union;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the adoption by the Commission in 2014 of the new Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy and its implementation of this as the general block exemption regulation (GBER); Points out the need to differentiate conceptually and policy-wise between competition rules and social policy of the respective Member State; Recognises it is every government’s obligation to intervene in order to avoid energy poverty on its citizens;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Welcomes the inclusion of social aid for transport residents of remote regions in the GBER where the problem of connectivity is being recognised; Stresses that the connectivity of peripheral island regions is also essential for sustaining and developing acceptable levels of economic and social initiative by maintaining vital business connections;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Considers that state aid under conditions of full transparency might be an optimal solution in ensuring that first entries in the digital market can consolidate their market position, thus guaranteeing a better competitive scenario in the digital market;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Requests a separate study from the Commission to assess whether EU state aid provisions are inhibiting the consolidation and strengthening of competitiveness among European firms vis-à-vis their global competitors, not least with regard to state procurement mechanisms, and also in the perspective of the recent conclusion of the TPP;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers that particularly in the digital economy additional new criteria must be introduced in assessing mergers, such as the purchase price, possible market entry barriers and network effects, social aspects such as workers protection, job creation and job retention, as well as the control of personal data; Calls on the Commission to give particular consideration to the commercial model of businesses in the digital economy and possible market entry barriers;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that the temporary State aid in the financial sector for the stabilisation of the global financial system was necessary but on completion of the Banking Union must be quicklyphased out on the understanding that such reducedtion or totally removed and scrutinised removal of temporary state aid does not serve to provide undeserved windfall profits or benefits to private entities;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Considers that remarkable disparities between Member States in the use of State aid in the financial sector in recent years, can potentially distort competition in this sector; invites the EC to clarify the rules and the procedures under which State aid in the financial sector can be authorised;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the investigations initiated by the Commission in 2014 into unlawful State aid through unfair tax competition favouring certain individual companies over others and calls on Member States in future to present the Commission with information about their taxation practice in good time and ultimately to comply with the obligation to declare special arrangements to the detriment of other Member States;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Considers that, in order to grant fair competition among companies, in line with the Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, companies located in regions experiencing temporary or permanent disadvantages should be supported and increased flexibility should be granted to Regions experiencing severe economic problems, such as the Regions included in the Convergence and in the Competitiveness Objective, and to insular regions;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
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 taxat; Notes that this should be done while in the same time appropriate transfer mechanisms are being set up to compensate for the increasing structural economic divergences between different regions and harmonised tax basesstates of the Union, especially the eurozone;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Considers that in view of an estimated volume of tax fraud and tax avoidance of up to one billion euros a year the Member States must ultimately tackle and restrict this practice; Requests an assessment of the economic, financial and competitive impact on the EU and on national economies, of the funds that were deviated by firms from tax payments in 2014 and earlier, by way of their having been held as corporate cash, deployed for investment purposes, used to fund takeovers etc.;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
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 mentalitytake a constructive position on this issue keeping in mind that different Member States must respond to different policy imperatives on the basis of their situation, size, physical and other endowments, as well as their state of economic and social development;