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indeed it is not just about modernisation of community law more than anything it is about transparency of decisions taken in individual cases about the possibility of decisions actually being able to implement decisions for the european competition policy will be dependent on the population' s acceptance together with that of the political bodies and enterprises concerned |
only without transparency there will be no acceptance indeed there can be no modernisation without transparency |
the competition report 1998 is not a bad foundation for this but in fact there is nothing that could not be further improved upon |
our motion will give you a great deal of food for thought commissioner but there is one point that i would just like to go into now transparency and accountability belong together |
i do not wish to call the distribution of competences between the commission and parliament into question |
the commission is the executive and parliament ought to have no desire whatsoever to take on this role for the sake of its own independence but parliament is a supervisory body and what better forum could there be in which to expound the reasoning behind one' s decisions than a democratically elected parliament indeed an ongoing parliamentary discussion |
here too we should continue along the path we have chosen strengthening and intensifying it |
there is one thing i would like to make quite clear though parliament is a legislative body but the fact that we have no more than the right of consultation in matters of competition law of all things is truly scandalous |
therefore i would urge the council and the intergovernmental conference to introduce the codecision procedure into legislation in this area |
i expect the commission to exploit every available opportunity for parliamentary cooperation and to involve parliament in doubtful cases even given the treaty status quo |
i also expect the commission to be pro active in supporting us in our call for codecision in legislative procedures |
this will be a good test as to whether there is reasonable cooperation between the two institutions |
with all due respect for the principle of competition competition is not however an end in itself |
competition is an instrument and does not always produce ideal solutions |
at the end of the day one of the fundamental tenets of economic theory is that the market is failing in many respects and anyone who takes issue with this is nothing more than an ideologue |
competition should bring about balance in supply and demand and should provide for the optimum distribution of economic resources and facts |
but optimum efficiency does not necessarily come about of its own accord |
framework conditions are indispensable when it comes to preventing abuses monopolies law being one example |
but on the whole this only serves to prevent abuses framework conditions alone cannot achieve socially legitimate goals in isolation |
competition yes restrictions in state aid where necessary and where possible |
however since state aid forms the lion' s share of the competition report 1998 i would still like regardless of mr jonckheer' s report to say one more thing about it |
it is certainly possible indeed it must be feasible for state aid to be given to small and medium sized enterprises involved in research and development for the purpose of educating them in regional and environmental policy |
indeed it must be permissible for state aid to be provided for such purposes provided it does not lead to unacceptable distortion of competition |
this is precisely the area where it is even more important than it is in monopolies and mergers law for decisions to be comprehensible |
it is not just that we should pillory state aid rather our approach must be one of drawing distinctions and we must assess the different types of state aid in accordance with the extent to which they help to achieve the above mentioned objectives |
my last comment was intended not so much for the commission as for the members of the group of the european people' s party |
mr president commissioner ladies and gentlemen the report which i have the opportunity to propose to you today is an opinion on the commission' s annual report on the state aid in force within the european union and for which the community is authorised under articles 87 88 and 89 of the treaties |
the commission report is essentially a descriptive report detailing the development of state aid in the manufacturing sector and certain other sectors according to various typologies such as the method of financing and the objectives pursued |
let me refer you to the explanatory statement for the quantitative aspects of the report and simply mention at this point that the annual level of state aid on average for the period under review is in the order of eur 95 billion corresponding to a reduction in the order of 13 in relation to the period 1993 1995 a reduction which is essentially due to a reduction in aid in the federal republic of germany |
to put it plainly the level of state aid declared roughly speaking is generally stable during the period under discussion and comes to approximately 12 of community gdp or more or less the equivalent coincidentally of the community budget for one year |
this being the case there are considerable disparities between states which may be measured in various ways such as for example as a percentage of added value and per wage earner |
i think it is also interesting to add state aid and community aid which may be assimilated in some way into state aid |
this clearly shows that it is the four countries which benefit from the cohesion fund among other things which come at the top of the list |
this being the case let me now come to the proposals made in the report |
we note first of all that the committee considers the data as presented in the commission' s annual report to be in too aggregated a form to enable an in depth evaluation of state aid policy which is simultaneously legitimate sensitive to national interests and extensive in terms of compliance with the rules of competition pursuant to the actual terms of the treaty |
the commission can only collate and analyse the data provided by the member states |
it is therefore down to the states and regions to ensure the quality of the data provided and our committee considers that additional efforts must be made in this respect |
it is in this spirit that our parliamentary committee for example has championed the longstanding idea of a public register of state aid accessible via the internet |
having better more detailed information available particularly with regard to the objectives pursued and the results recorded must make it possible for the european commission to itself proceed or to commission in a regular manner studies of the social and economic evaluation of national and regional state aid policies |
and insofar as such studies already exist to publish more openly its own comments with regard to the objectives of the treaties which are not only to ensure the competitivity of the european economy but also sustainable development and economic and social cohesion |
by stressing primarily the quality of the information provided our debate in committee and hence the report which it is my honour to present to you avoided a simplistic response in the form of an a priori statement that the level of state aid was in absolute terms either too high or not high enough |
most committee members have sought rather to find a balance between on the one hand the need to see that both states and businesses comply with the competition rules and on the other hand acknowledgement of the value of such aid with a view to contributing to the objectives of the treaty particularly as i have said already as regards sustainable development research and development and economic and social cohesion |
this being the case various amendments to the rapporteur' s initial draft report were adopted in committee particularly highlighting the need for effective reimbursement of aid found to be illegal as well as the establishment of a league table of results |
seven amendments have been retabled for this plenary sitting |
most of them are an expression of the political differences among ourselves regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of state aid in view of the inadequacies acknowledged or not of private investment alone the market failures or inadequacies of the market |
there is in particular one amendment let me point out concerning the energy sector which in my capacity as rapporteur i see as particularly important |
i should like to conclude this presentation commissioner by stressing two things firstly a concern of the members of the committee and secondly a demand of our committee |
the concern involves the pre accession process for the countries of central and eastern europe in terms of competition policy and state aid |
this is undoubtedly a complex issue and one where we should like to see the commission informing us of the latest development in the matter particularly in terms of the capacity of the economies involved in the accession process to comply with competition rules and as far as state aid is concerned the need in all probability to have specific rules on state aid used to assist restructuring of their sectors |
and finally in conclusion our demand regarding the future responsibilities of the european parliament in the matters we are discussing competition policy and state aid in the context of the intergovernmental conference |
as you know commissioner our report argues that the codecision procedure should apply in the case of basic legislation on state aid |
mr president commissioner my contribution to today' s debate concerns the steel aid code that is the state aid in europe granted in accordance with this code and which was assessed by the commission |
there were a total of 27 cases in 1998 and the commission submitted its own report on these |
the ecsc treaty is due to expire shortly |
hence what we must focus on today is the question as to how state aid is to be managed in future |
the european commission' s decisions which feature in the report are welcomed by the european parliament as is the decision to ask for the money back in specific cases thus applying article 88 of the ecsc treaty |
the competitiveness of the european steel industry also forms the subject of the commission' s most recent communication which we have not yet debated in parliament |
as in other sectors the general ban on state aid according to article 87 (1) of the ec treaty also applies to the iron and steel industry |
according to this article state aid is irreconcilable with the common market in principle exemptions are only permitted in precisely defined cases |
under article 88 the commission is obliged to supervise state aid |
in 1998 the largest case concerned the supply of company capital totalling eur 540 million to the preussag in germany |
furthermore the member states must give the commission advance warning with regard to their intentions concerning state aid |
the rules pertaining to the steel industry were drawn up on 18 december 1996 |
these stipulate that state aid can only be awarded to the steel industry in particular precisely defined cases ie those involving aid for research and development aid for environmental protection social security to ease the closure of steelworks and aid to help non competitive enterprises cease trading altogether |
in addition there is a special provision of up to eur 50 million for greece |
however there were obviously problems with the practical administration of the steel aid code over the past few years that were not brought fully to bear in the report |
as far as parliament is concerned it is important for us to waste no time in getting down to a debate on the regulations that are to succeed this state aid code once it has expired |
there must be no watering down of the existing principles underlying the steel aid code |
no one wants an unimpeded subsidy competition in europe |
this would be to the considerable disadvantage of the internal market regardless of the fact that the steel industry has undergone consolidation in the past few years |
consequently parliament believes it is necessary for the steel aid code to be amended in the light of the industry' s claims about unequal treatment and for the commission to provide the council with follow up regulations |
we all know that so far the council has dragged its feet with regard to follow up regulations of this kind |
the reason for this is that people are under the impression that once the steel aid code expires they will be able to do their own thing again without the inconvenience of the european commission' s supervision |
we therefore demand that once the treaty expires steel aid must be regulated by a council regulation according to article 94 for that is the only way to create the necessary legal validity and clarity |
this is the only way to enforce the strict ban on all aid not covered by the code |
a council regulation that is directly applicable law must also be observed by the regional governments |
what we need to avoid doing in the future is compromising competition conditions and disturbing the balance in the markets |
we also need to criticise the commission' s practice of approving multiple aid packages for steel enterprises which in their view do not fall within the categories of the code even given the fact that the european court of justice approved this unequal treatment where certain individual decisions were concerned |
the commission will be called upon in a report that has yet to be compiled for the year 1999 to give a detailed explanation of its active role in the elaboration of restructuring plans and approved exemptions thus enabling a proper assessment of the overall situation to be made |
once the committee on economic and monetary affairs has adopted the draft report unanimously with two abstentions i would ask that we make full use of this opportunity which we have ourselves created in plenary sitting |
mr president ladies and gentlemen the internal market is not complete |
subsidies monopolies and barriers to competition are still impeding markets and development alike |
national governments provide subsidies and promise that this is the last time but then it happens again |
subsidies distort allocations both within and between countries |
a successive phasing out of state aid is required and more and more markets must be opened up to competition |
this applies to those which have been turned into monopolies both private and public |
public monopolies are more often than not phased out reluctantly |
increased competition and newly established organisations should be able to provide significant benefits in terms of welfare including within the spheres of education health care and social services |
public monopolies must be replaced by competitive structures |
europe must be modernised made more entrepreneurial in spirit and adapted in such a way that it becomes a more competitive environment for consumers and companies |
effective competition pushes prices down and raises standards of living |
it is precisely upon price levels that consumer policy has failed to focus sufficiently |
in fact competition policy and consumer policy belong together |
the internal market is the basis for our work |
its legislation is to apply equally to all to large and small countries alike |
a systematic survey of the various national regulations is needed if barriers to competition are to be dismantled |
the eu' s own regulations too may therefore need to be analysed |
the new model now being tested by the commission ought not to lead to a process of nationalisation pure and simple which would undermine the established competition policy |
in order to be effective it must be well anchored in the member states' national authorities |
in six months' time it may be appropriate to carry out an analysis of the outcome and also to look more closely at the new situation' s effects upon the commission' s role |