Peter Altmaier, the German Minister of the Economy, and his French and Polish counterparts, Bruno Le Maire and Jadwiga Emilewicz, presented a joint proposal on the future of the European Union's competition policy in Poznań, Poland on Thursday 4 July.
This proposal follows the publication of the “Franco-German Manifesto for a European Industrial Policy for the 21st Century” (see EUROPE 12197/5), which already sought to reform competition rules in order to meet European and global challenges. This follows the European Commission's veto on the proposed merger between Alstom and Siemens (see EUROPE 12188/1). The European Council last March called on the Commission to present, by the end of the year, a document on European industry in 2030 (see EUROPE 12220/3).
This new position of Berlin, Paris and Warsaw is part of this framework and in a particular context, at a time when the political orientations of the next European Commission are taking shape.
“Modernising our competition rules is one of the main challenges that the EU will need to address in the coming months”, said the Mr Le Maire on this occasion.
Among the recommendations of the three countries, it should be noted that they would like, in particular, State support for certain companies from non-Member States to be taken into account in merger control, modernisation of this control to be undertaken, the conditions for the creation of joint ventures to be clarified, and the EU Council to have a greater say in competition policy.
Finally, according to the Ministers, behavioural remedies rather than structural remedies should be encouraged in the assessment of a merger.
To consult the document: http://bit.ly/2LBIyBy (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)