On Wednesday 3 June, the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) adopted the own-initiative report by Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew Europe, French) on European competition policy by 41 votes to 2, with 12 abstentions.
The report sets out key messages such as “adapting merger control to enable the emergence of European champions in strategic sectors; strengthening the application of the DMA (Digital Markets Act) to the major digital platforms; exploring the creation of a European competition authority independent of the Commission”.
In particular, Parliament points out that the EU lacks large-scale companies capable of competing globally in many strategic areas, and considers “the emergence of European champions and their rise to prominence within the single market to be a strategic imperative”.
It notes that structural barriers to scaling up within the EU can lead to the takeover of innovative European companies by non-European players, with potential negative effects on long-term competitiveness and innovation capacity in the EU. Merger control must therefore take full account of global competitive dynamics, international market definitions and the ability of European companies to invest in innovation.
Competition policy must not create unnecessary obstacles for companies that need to develop in order to compete on a global scale, adds Parliament.
Competitiveness must above all result from fair competition, rigorous application of competition law and deepening of the single market, says the text, which also calls on the Commission to apply merger and competition policies dynamically.
Parliament is therefore calling for an ambitious and evidence-based revision of the EU Merger Guidelines, capable of competing on a global scale, so that they are better aligned with new market realities and the priority objectives of EU industrial and sectoral policy.
The elected representatives deleted a reference to European preference and preferred to emphasise the need to establish “a level playing field” in strategic sectors. They called on the EU “to use all available tools, including the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, public procurement rules and a robust merger review framework to ensure that European firms can compete on merit and that third-country market participants are not advantaged by foreign State subsidies. They also stress the importance of strengthening the resilience, diversification and security of European supply chains in strategic sectors promoting European capabilities and solutions, where appropriate, without compromising open markets”.
With regard to the DMA, the report calls on the Commission, among other things, to use the investigation into the market for cloud computing services to adjust the DMA obligations and ensure that they effectively remove the obstacles preventing users from changing supplier.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/m6e (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)