Brussels, 07/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 6 May, the European Commission published its annual report on competition policy for 2013, which paints a positive picture of how competition policy has fostered growth and competitiveness in the European economy.
The report states: “The Commission continued to be very active in its fight against cartels, which can harm consumers and impair Europe's competitiveness and growth prospects by artificially inflating input costs”. The report lists a number of decisions in 2013 against companies guilty of price-fixing. In July 2013, for example, the Commission fined five car-part suppliers for their participation in cartels for the supply of wire harnesses, which conduct electricity in cars, to Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Renault. Following the manipulation of the LIBOR and EURIBOR benchmarks scandal, the Commission fined eight banks a total of more than €1.7 billion and a draft directive was recently endorsed by the European Parliament to make it easier to take cases to court for damages following infringement of anti-trust and abuse of dominant position rules (see EUROPE 11063).
State aid can create an uneven playing field, but the Commission says that well-targeted state aid can be positive, provide solutions to market shortfalls and establish incentives for investment and business ventures that would otherwise never get off the ground. EU policy in this domain aims to ensure fair play. In June 2013, the Commission introduced new regional state aid guidelines. In July, the Council of Ministers adopted two regulations, one making procedures more efficient, and another enabling the Commission to exempt new categories of aid from prior notification. New rules were introduced for banks - those with a capital shortfall will have to obtain shareholders and subordinated debt-holders' contribution before resorting to public funding.
The Commission keeps a close eye on mergers and acquisitions and introduced new rules in December 2013 to simplify merger control. Important competition decisions were taken in 2013, particularly in the energy sector. Cooperation with competition authorities around the world is continuing and, in some cases, being strengthened, as the Commission's signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for competition law cooperation with India attests. (EL)