Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Margrethe Vestager
Language: EN

This is a Parliament for cohesion, for resilience and, of course, for a successful green and digital transition. And competition policy is one of the tools to reach these goals.  Reading this year’s reports give me comfort. I see that the rapporteur and the shadows share the Commission’s view that we need a robust EU competition policy to stay competitive. The report is mindful of protecting the level playing field, recognises our efforts to tackle anti-competitive behaviours to prevent mergers that impede on competition. And the report welcomes the new and the revised rules that we have put in place, calls, of course, for competition policy to develop.  Of course, coming from an ambitious and forward-looking Parliament, the report called for even more effective actions and enforcement, for increased speeds and for further revision of our rules. I welcome this positive, this ambitious message.  The Commission is committed to ensuring that the rule book remains fit for purpose. In antitrust, we are currently evaluating our procedural regulation. In this context, we are also looking at our remedies policy, our interim measures, and we will present, of course, the results of this evaluation before the end of this mandate.  We plan to adopt the revised market definition notice before the end of the year. It takes account of the fact that markets are increasingly digital and that an interconnected world is the one we live in. And, of course, sets out more explicitly the Commission practice as it has developed since the last market definition notice.  We recently adopted a merger simplification package. The new rules, they will come into effect by September. But simplification doesn’t mean relaxation. It doesn’t mean that we will see through concentrations that will mean higher prices, less competition, less innovation for consumers. But what it means is a reduction in the administrative burden. It frees resources to investigate the much more complex and problematic cases that we also see.  And mergers in the digital sector, they raise specific competition risks, adding products or services to a digital platform or ecosystem that can create competition concerns in different ways. There are so many different issues, be that the cloud gaming market, be that the variables in the digital health space, be that the customer relationship management software – there is enough to look at. And these are important things to tell market power that you can just not consolidate into more.  Our assessment framework has so far proven its flexibility in remaining effective but, of course, must be followed. Instead, they control the debate as, of course, centred on the response to the crisis, to decarbonisation of industrial processes and boosting the emergence of a competitive green tech industry.  In March, we put in place the temporary crisis and transition framework. It gives flexibility to Member States. It gives speed to Member States. It is temporary. It is targeted to what we want to achieve. And this is important. Exceptional crisis rules. They should end with the exceptional times.  And, last but not least, we are approving more and more of the important projects of common European interest – now, in total, six. This is a rollout of cutting-edge innovation, truly strategic projects. We now see smaller businesses participating. We now see many more Member States participating. Last week, we approved around 8 billion of public funding, unlocking another 12 billion of private investment when it comes to microelectronics and communication technologies, the biggest IPCEI so far and now, in total, a public and private investment of EUR 75 billion. And in doing so, saving taxpayers EUR 8 billion to make sure that businesses get what they need for the processes to move ahead but not more, not what is necessary.  Last but not least, on chips manufacturing, because this is absolutely strategic for Europe. In February 2022, we launched the Chips Act communication. And the Commission have now applied the existing state aid rules to enable Member States to provide the necessary support to attract semiconductor manufacturing in Europe. This is approach based on the treaty, based on the existing state framework. And now we have already two proven cases. Last October, we approved aid to first-of-a-kind wafer production in Catania in Italy. And in April this year we approved aid for the construction and operation of a new chips factory in France. This is important. This is progress. And this is done within competition policy.  I want to thank the rapporteur, René Repasi, for his work. I want to thank the shadows, and I’m looking very much forward to our debate.