"We should not revolutionise competition law", even if it is possible to "strengthen" the European texts in force, said Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew Europe, France), at the end of January, in an interview with EUROPE.
The European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs is currently working on the draft annual report on competition policy drawn up by Ms Yon-Courtin. It will adopt its position on Tuesday 18 February with a view to a vote at the European Parliament plenary session in March.
Ms Yon-Courtin acknowledges that the failure of the Alstom/Siemens merger (see EUROPE 12188/1), which at least had the merit of launching a debate at European level on the adequacy of the rules for a globalised economy, has "left its mark". But "we have to go beyond that", the Rapporteur said.
Among the possible improvements to the rules, the French MEP believes that competition issues should have a stronger international dimension, particularly when negotiating trade agreements with international partners. This is one of the issues at stake in the discussions that are starting with the UK, to whom the EU is promising market access that is all the more significant as UK rules will respect European standards, particularly in the field of competition (see other news).
Another issue, according to Ms Yon-Courtin, since digitisation "disrupts everything", possible anti-competitive practices of a systemic nature must be detected as quickly as possible, for example via "a centralised monitoring system", and the analysis of a merger must go "much faster".
Finally, the rapporteur, who calls for closer involvement of the European Parliament in the implementation of competition law, welcomes the revision of EU state aid rules by 2021 to facilitate the implementation of the European Green Deal (see EUROPE 12388/1). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)