BETA

Activities of Michel REIMON related to 2015/2140(INI)

Plenary speeches (1)

2016/11/22
Dossiers: 2015/2140(INI)

Shadow reports (1)

2016/11/22
Committee: ECON
Dossiers: 2015/2140(INI)
Documents: PDF(462 KB) DOC(178 KB)

Amendments (30)

Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)

– having regard to the Directive (EU) No. 2014/104 of 26 November 2014 on rules governing actions for damages,

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the ~~European Union is established as an open market economy with free competition~~Union shall establish an internal market; whereas it shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment; whereas it shall promote scientific and technological advance;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas the strong application of competition-law principles under the EU Treaty should primarily benefits consumers, promotes innovation and growth, and controls and restricts unfair market practices as well as monopolies and dominant market positions; whereas fair competition requires fair trade rules and the avoidance of export subsidies to the agriculture sector;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
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 causing considerable harm to the internal market have brought with them new challenges for the Commission and all market players;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
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 sustainability and innovativeness of the European economy and special competitive conditions for small and medium-sized businesses;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Welcomes the regular dialogue which the Commission conducts with the European Parliament on competition matters, and calls again for the Commission to put forward required proposals for fundamental legislative directives and guidelines to be adopted in the co-decision procedure and in particular for those departments which draw up guidelines to be strictly separated from those which apply those guidelines in specific cases;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Calls on the Commission to refine the internal market in areas where it is still fragmented and incomplete, and to end unjustified market restrictions and distortions of competition as soon as possible wherever they are found;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Considers that the 2014 Directive on actions for damage claims could have gone further by allowing compensation for the probability of undetected cartels and unsuccessful damage actions, as treble damages do in the US;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8b. Considers that there is no conflict between the objectives of maximising deterrence and allowing full compensation to victims, therefore considers that the 2014 Directive on Damages, by hindering the access to leniency statements for victims, could undermine their ability to recovery their loss;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Considers that the existing rules relating to fines for infringements cshould be supplemented by ongoing penalties against those responsible, especially in sectors where the large gains from uncompetitive behaviours are much larger than fine size, limiting their ability of deterrence;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
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 lack of transparency and no result, because until 2014 the Commission was reluctant to indicate its intention to abolish market restrictions; Asks for the Commission to speed-up such process and deliver results within the next year;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Notes that the Google case has triggered a general discussion around the power of dominant internet platforms such as EBay, Facebook, Apple, LinkedIn, Amazon, Uber, Airbnb etc., their influence on markets and the public sphere alike, and the need to regulate them to protect both; points out that the aim of regulating internet platforms should guarantee higher user protection while maintaining incentives to innovate;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)

11b. Calls on the Commission to investigate in the market dominance of Google concerning direct hotel booking; points out that he company is seeking to have hotel searchers book and pay via Google rather than handing off the lead to a third party travel site or hotel site; underlines that this move is potentially controversial as it turns Google into an online travel agency or its equivalent charging booking fees; notes that most hoteliers would prefer direct bookings rather than through a third party site or aggregator; underlines that Google could leverage its dominant position and by the same token weaken competitors in travel markets and thereby harm consumers;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
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;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. ~~Welcomes~~Takes note of 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; is of the opinion that such guidelines could be further strengthened with a view of enhancing the promotion of renewables and the phasing-out of fossil and nuclear energy;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14a. Calls on the Commission to launch an encompassing State Aid investigation on the EU car sector and in particular regarding the VW scandal with a view of controlling whether car undertakings have benefited from illegal State Aid as a consequence of product eligibility to tax rebates and credits to the purchasers following fraudulent claims on clean technologies;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)

14b. Welcomes the current Commission inquiry regarding Deferred Tax Assets and Credits (DTA/DTCs) to the benefit of the banking sector in several Member States; is of the opinion that DTA/DTCs should be made retroactively authorised under State Aid provisions if they are tied to explicit conditions regarding financing targets for the real economy;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)

14c. Recalls its request to the Commission to examine whether the banking sector has benefited since the beginning of the crisis of implicit subsidies and State Aid by means of the provision of unconventional liquidity support;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. ~~Not~~Criticises that, in the digital economy, in the past assessment of mergers and takeovers has been predominantly on the basis of the turnover of the businesses in question, which is inadequate because businesses with low turnovers and substantial start-up losses may also have a large customer base and significant market strength, as the Commission’s precedent- setting unconditional approval of the takeover of WhatsApp by Facebook proves;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
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~~; calls for a completion of the Banking Union ~~must be quickly reduced or totally removed and scrutinised~~;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Welcomes the investigations initiated by the Commission in 2014 into unlawful State aid through unfair tax competition, including the opening in October 2014 of in-depth investigations into Gibraltar’s corporate tax regime, 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;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)

20a. Regrets that only a very limited number of cases of state aid related with unfair tax competition have been investigated since 1991, underlining the need to ensure broad access to information in order to trigger more investigations on suspicious cases; stresses its concern on the current resources of Commission’s competent services which may limit its ability to handle a significantly larger number of cases;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)

20b. Calls on the Commission to request the recovery of every euro missing in case of confirmation of illegal state aid in the ongoing investigations;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Stresses that State aid proceedings alone cannot put a permanent stop to the unfair tax competition in a number of Member States of the European Union; ~~further tangible results are required, such as~~stresses that after one year from the ‘LuxLeaks’ scandal, which triggered unprecedented public outrage in Europe and beyond, the response of the European institutions is still unsufficient: further tangible results are required, such as a common consolidated corporate tax base with formula apportionment, a consolidated basis of calculation for capital gains, a review of the VAT Directive in order to prevent fraud, the obligation on large international companies to report their turnover and profits on a public ‘country by country’ basis and calling on Member States to introduce greater transparency in their tax practices and mutual reporting requirements;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21a. Stresses that a committee of inquiry of the European Parliament should be set up to further investigate widespread harmful tax practices and tax rulings resulting in corporate tax base erosion and aggressive tax planning within Europe; stresses that in any case the European Parliament should continue its ongoing work to look into unfair tax competition in the EU;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

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; stresses that, within the internal market, new entrants and SMEs doing business only in one country are penalised as compared to MNCs, which can shift profits or implement other forms of aggressive tax planning through a variety of decisions and instruments, available to them only; notes with concern that, everything being equal, the resulting lower tax liabilities leave the latter with a higher post-tax profit and create an uneven playing field with their competitors on the single market, which do not have recourse to aggressive tax planning and keep the connection between where they generate profit and their place of taxation; stresses that promoting harmful tax practices through the creation of a European one-person- entity (SUP) which explicitly allows for having two different residences, a registered office in one place and an administrative headquarter is the wrong approach for the EU;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

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;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

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 and calls to revising state aid guidelines on taxation to cover cases of unfair competition going beyond tax rulings and transfer pricing; 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;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)

24a. Calls on the Commission to consider the introduction of sanctions, either against the state or the company involved, for serious cases of illegal state aid;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Stresses that the European Parliament should also be given co decision powers in competition policy, particularly where fundamental principles and binding guidelines are concerned, and regrets that this area of Union policy has not been strengthened in its democratic dimension in recent treaty amendments; calls on the Commission to put forwards proposals for the treaties to be amended accordingly;

2015/10/21
Committee: ECON