“We are in the middle of a review of competition policy with unprecedented scope and ambition”, said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, on Thursday 18 November, at the adoption of the Communication ‘on a competition policy fit for new challenges’.
In this reform, said Ms Vestager, the aim is to “make sure all competition instruments remain fit for purpose – namely merger, antitrust and State aid control”. And the Commission will “complement the toolbox with new instruments to tackle foreign subsidies or digital gatekeepers”.
“We are currently reviewing more than 20 sets of competition rules and guidelines”, said Ms Vestager (https://bit.ly/3kOx3ap ).
To contribute to the ecological transition, the upcoming Climate, Environmental Protection and Energy Aid Guidelines aim at supporting industry’s efforts towards decarbonisation, circularity and biodiversity, as well as clean or zero-emission mobility and the energy efficiency of buildings.
In addition, the Commission intends to provide guidance and legal certainty for cooperation to ensure more sustainable products and production processes in the context of updating the Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations and Guidelines.
Antitrust enforcement is at the heart of what we do, said Ms Vestager, recalling the investigations into Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple. Last week, the EU courts upheld the Commission’s 2017 decision that Google abused its dominant market position by favouring its own price comparison service, “which is good news”, she stressed.
The Commission will continue to support Member States’ ongoing efforts to design pan-European Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) that jointly overcome market failures by enabling breakthrough innovation and infrastructure investments in key green and digital priorities, namely hydrogen, cloud, health and microelectronics. The upcoming IPCEI State aid Communication will further enhance the openness of IPCEIs.
Semiconductors. Given the exceptional situation of the semiconductor sector and the dependence on a limited number of suppliers in a difficult geopolitical context, the Commission may envisage approving support to fill potential funding gaps for the establishment in particular of European first-of-a-kind facilities in the semiconductor ecosystem. Such aid based on Article 107(3) of the Treaty would be subject to strong competition safeguards as well as ensuring that benefits are shared widely and without discrimination across the European economy.
“There are strong safeguards to ensure such aid is necessary, appropriate and proportionate, and undue competition distortions are minimised”, Ms Vestager said. “Each case for the supply of semiconductors will be rigorously assessed based on their own respective merits“, so as to “avoid a subsidy race within the Union and beyond”.
Responding to questions on French and German requests to favour European champions, Ms Vestager stressed that “the rules are mostly appropriate and where they are not, we propose changes”. She also said that she expects debates on the notice of market definition. “We don’t design the market, we assess it” she guaranteed. On the question of mergers, it is possible to acquire market share “when you accept competitors. The figures show that competition is increasing”, concluded Ms Vestager.
Link to the Communication: https://bit.ly/3kMb83I (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)