unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Isabel Benjumea Benjumea
Political group: PPE
Country: Spain
Language: ES

Señor presidente, señora comisaria, como ya se ha analizado en este informe, la coherencia normativa entre los Estados de la Unión, la simplificación burocrática, la eliminación de barreras al libre mercado y las inversiones transfronterizas son pilares sobre los que se debe seguir construyendo una Europa más competitiva. En este sentido, creo que merece especial mención el programa de los fondos NextGenerationEU. Estos fondos no solo fueron una respuesta rápida y acertada a la crisis económica derivada de la pandemia de COVID-19, sino que también una herramienta única y nunca antes aplicada en la Unión, puesta al servicio de los Estados para que estos sean más competitivos en una economía global de mercado, más resistentes a los períodos de crisis y contracción económica, y capaces de generar oportunidades de empleo y crecimiento.  Cabe destacar que los principios fundacionales de los fondos de recuperación son coherentes con las líneas generales de este informe en materia de competencia. No olvidemos que las reformas incluidas en los planes nacionales de recuperación han de buscar la simplificación normativa y administrativa y la reducción de la burocracia en aras del buen funcionamiento del mercado interior. Por eso, debemos preguntarnos: ¿las reformas pactadas y aplicadas en los Estados, bajo el paraguas de estos fondos, están permitiendo lograr estos objetivos ? ¿Las inversiones que se están realizando están logrando la transformación económica pretendida o, por el contrario, están aumentando el gasto público y estructural a medio y largo plazo que dificultará la competitividad de nuestra economía e implicará futuros problemas en las economías nacionales de la Unión? No es el momento de la autocomplacencia; es el momento de la exigencia.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Paul Tang
Political group: S-D
Country: Spain
Language: NL

Voorzitter, Fitbit-horloges, Instagram-story’s en Giphy-gifjes zijn stuk voor stuk niet bedacht, maar wel overgenomen door bigtech. Londen heeft de overname van Giphy door Facebook teruggedraaid, maar Brussel heeft bigtech geen strobreed in de weg gelegd. Waar was u, commissaris Vestager? Techreuzen zoals Google en Facebook vergroten hun macht niet door te innoveren, maar door agressief potentiële concurrenten op te kopen. Het Parlement verzoekt in dit verslag dan ook om optreden tegen de agressieve opkooppraktijken van techreuzen, zeker wanneer er gegevens in het geding zijn. We moeten als uitgangspunt nemen dat dit niet door de beugel kan en optreden tegen de concentratie van gegevens, en met name persoonsgegevens. Het is moeilijk te bevatten dat de Commissie dit anno 2023 nog altijd als irrelevant beschouwt bij fusies en overnamen. Alleen zo kunnen we nieuwe gevallen zoals Giphy en Fitbit voorkomen en ervoor zorgen dat bigtech minder machtig en concurrerender wordt. And now I switch to English, because one last remark, Commissioner. There has been a study commissioned by the Commission on the digital advertising market. It shows all the problems that we have seen in other reports: huge concentration of market power by big tech leading to high margins on digital advertising, roughly 50 cents in every euro, much to the detriment of SMEs, much to the detriment of traditional media. So my question to you is this – we’re nearing the end of the mandate. Will be your legacy to introduce a digital advertising bill? I hope you will confirm.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Johan Van Overtveldt
Political group: ECR
Country: Spain
Language: NL

Voorzitter, een van de grootste verwezenlijkingen van de EU is de interne markt, die stoelt op het beginsel van vrije mededinging. De interne markt heeft voor groei en welvaart gezorgd. Sommigen lijken deze succesformule echter de rug toe te keren. Overheden zouden meer vrijheid moeten krijgen om bedrijven staatssteun te geven. Dit werkt niet alleen in het voordeel van grote lidstaten met diepe zakken, maar verergert tevens de hardnekkig hoge inflatie. Bovendien vallen de uiteindelijke resultaten van een dergelijk dirigisme vaak nogal tegen.  De sluipende veranderingen ten opzichte van oorspronkelijke, duidelijke doelstellingen – de zogenaamde “mission creep” – zijn een bijzonder kwalijke ontwikkeling in het economisch beleid. Monetair beleid is bedoeld om de prijsstabiliteit te bewaken, niet om klimaatbeleid te voeren of de biodiversiteit te bevorderen. Hetzelfde geldt voor mededingingsbeleid, dat moet zorgen voor een eerlijke marktwerking ten voordele van consumenten. Om efficiënt beleid te kunnen voeren, moeten we een eind maken aan de voortdurende “mission creep”.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Andreas Schwab
Political group: PPE
Country: Poland
Language: DE

Herr Präsident, Frau Vizepräsidentin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Der Jahresbericht zur Wettbewerbspolitik der Europäischen Union ist immer ein guter Gradmesser dafür, welche Themen im Parlament für die Aufstellung in diesem Bereich von Bedeutung sind. Und wir können, glaube ich, durchaus richtig feststellen, dass mit dem Gesetz über digitale Märkte für die diesjährige Arbeit der Kommission eine ganze Reihe von Entscheidungen vor uns liegt, die sicherstellen muss, dass das, was der Gesetzgeber beschlossen hat, auch so in die Umsetzung des Gesetzes eingebracht wird und dass die Umsetzung so gelingt, wie wir sie uns gemeinsam vorgestellt haben. Aber wir haben im kommenden Jahr auch weitere Gesetzgebungsvorhaben vor uns, die ebenfalls erhebliche Veränderungen mit sich bringen. Das ist einmal die Verordnung über die Fusionen – die Fusionskontrollverordnung –, und hier haben wir in diesem Falle eine Überschneidung mit dem Bericht, wo es um die Frage der Telekommunikationsmärkte geht. Und wir haben uns – und ich glaube, dass das auch eine Mehrheit finden wird – dazu entschieden, dafür zu sorgen, dass wir künftig in Europa einen voll integrierten Telekom-Binnenmarkt bekommen, bei dem nationale Grenzen viel geringere Rollen spielen – mit dem Ziel, ein noch attraktiveres Angebot sowohl für die Nutzerinnen und Nutzer, als auch für die betroffenen Unternehmer zu schaffen. Dafür brauchen wir Anpassungen bei der Fusionskontrollverordnung, auch in der Anwendung – und Frau Vizepräsidentin, da hoffe ich auf Ihre Unterstützung, weil wir damit, was den Wettbewerb im globalen Umfeld angeht, als Europäische Union einen großen Schritt nach vorne kommen. Wir werden uns dann natürlich auch die Marktdefinition anschauen, die im globalen Kontext eine große Rolle spielt. In diesem Sinne dem Berichterstatter herzlichen Dank.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Margarida Marques
Political group: S-D
Country: Cyprus
Language: PT

Senhor Presidente, Senhor Vice-Presidente, na resposta a grandes crises estruturais a política de concorrência precisa de uma coordenação abrangente e coerente, de forma a assegurar regras iguais para todos, mas, também, a proteger as famílias e as empresas mais vulneráveis e expostas. A recente crise inflacionista revelou que muitas empresas se aproveitam da subida dos custos energéticos para aumentarem de forma abusiva as suas margens de lucro, e em bens essenciais, como produtos alimentares e energia. O BCE descreveu esta atitude como a inflação da ganância –  Para proteger o mercado interno, a política de concorrência deve assegurar um
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Denis Nesci
Political group: ECR
Language: IT

Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, permettetemi innanzitutto di rivolgere, in questa importante Aula, un pensiero commosso per la scomparsa di Silvio Berlusconi, Presidente e fondatore di Forza Italia.  La sua personalità ha segnato la storia del nostro paese. Un visionario che ha saputo interpretare i valori della libertà come pietra angolare del suo impegno professionale e politico. Il centrodestra italiano ed europeo gli devono molto. La mia sincera vicinanza alla sua famiglia, ai colleghi di Forza Italia e ai colleghi del PPE.  Signora Commissaria, per quanto riguarda la politica di concorrenza, questa deve essere in grado di salvaguardare la competitività globale delle nostre aziende europee e, al tempo stesso, contribuire fortemente a difendere e tutelare il benessere dei consumatori, della comunità e delle persone più vulnerabili. Per conseguire questi obiettivi è evidente che le norme europee debbono essere concrete e realistiche, ponendo al centro sempre la difesa del consumatore.  Inoltre, è indispensabile che le normative europee garantiscano agli Stati membri la giusta flessibilità per incentivare la crescita ed evitare invece di adottare provvedimenti che violano il mercato interno. Pertanto, dobbiamo lavorare alla costruzione di un'Europa del consumatore sempre più vigorosa, più prossimale e soprattutto in grado di essere all'altezza del loro aspettative e delle loro esigenze.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Angelika Winzig
Political group: PPE
Country: Greece
Language: DE

Herr Präsident, Frau Vizepräsidentin, Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Die Wettbewerbspolitik der EU muss sicherstellen, dass Europa weiterhin im Konzert der Weltmächte wie USA und China eine wichtige Rolle spielt.  China hat mit einem Anteil von 18,5 % am weltweiten BIP bereits die USA mit 15,6 % und die EU mit einem Anteil von 14,9 % auf die Plätze verwiesen. Das ist insofern besorgniserregend, als sich diese Entwicklung negativ auf unsere Arbeitsplätze, aber auch unsere Sozialsysteme und unsere Lebensqualität in Europa auswirkt. Der  Die Schaffung eines Souveränitätsfonds auf europäischer Ebene halte ich dennoch für gefährlich. Denn er birgt das Risiko, in eine Schuldenunion abzugleiten, was unsere Wettbewerbsfähigkeit weiter schwächen würde. Europa hat gute Voraussetzungen, um China und USA wirtschaftlich die Stirn zu bieten. Wir müssen jedoch die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit unserer Wirtschaft endlich wieder in den Mittelpunkt stellen, wobei die Aufweichung des Beihilfenrechts nicht die Lösung sein kann. Kurze Genehmigungsverfahren und endlich Bürokratieabbau – das ist jetzt das Gebot der Stunde.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Zbigniew Kuźmiuk
Political group: ECR
Country: Belgium
Language: PL

Panie Przewodniczący! Pani Komisarz! Ja chcę zwrócić tylko uwagę na jeden aspekt zawarty w tym sprawozdaniu. Mówił zresztą o tym pan sprawozdawca. Chodzi o szeroki strumień pomocy publicznej i głębokie zróżnicowanie tej pomocy, jeżeli chodzi o poszczególne kraje członkowskie. Oczywiście zdaję sobie sprawę, że dodatkowa pomoc publiczna była konieczna ze względu na skutki Covidu, teraz ze względu na agresję Rosji na Ukrainę i skutki tego dla gospodarek krajów unijnych, ale to zróżnicowanie jest naprawdę głębokie.  Tu zaprezentuję takie krótkie dane z tamtego roku. Przez siedem miesięcy – od lutego do października – Pani Komisarz zaakceptowała ponad 100 projektów na astronomiczną sumę chyba 435 miliardów euro. Z tego 90% przypadało na dwa kraje – Niemcy i Francję. Co więcej, te dwa kraje ogłosiły, że uruchomią kolejne transze pomocy publicznej rzędu odpowiednio 200 i 100 miliardów euro. A więc ta przeważająca pomoc publiczna w tych dwóch krajach będzie niestety kontynuowana. Oczywiście zdaję sobie sprawę, że są to dwie największe gospodarki odpowiadające za 40 proc. PKB. Ale Pani Komisarz, to rujnuje zasady równej konkurencji. I prosiłbym, żeby Pani się do tego odniosła.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Eugen Tomac
Political group: PPE
Country: France
Language: RO

Domnule președinte, doamna vicepreședintă, stimați colegi, consider că acest raport, de altfel foarte cuprinzător, în care se dezbate o chestiune esențială ce ține de prezentul și viitorul tuturor cetățenilor europeni, precum competitivitatea, mi se pare o temă extrem de importantă.  Cu alte cuvinte, întreprinderile din toate statele membre trebuie să aibă șansa de a concura pe picior de egalitate, doamna vicepreședintă.  Însă, vă întreb dacă piața unică europeană, care definește libertatea de circulație a cetățenilor, libertatea de circulație a bunurilor, a serviciilor, a capitalului, poate funcționa și poate fructifica în deplina ei valoare toate aceste oportunități, atât timp cât nu toate statele membre pot avea parte de aceste libertăți?  Și aici mă refer la țara mea, România, care nu poate beneficia de competitivitate și de concurență loială pe piața unică europeană, atât timp cât de 12 ani suntem ținuți în afara frontierelor Uniunii Europene și nu ne putem bucura de libertatea de circulație a bunurilor. România pierde anual peste 10 miliarde de euro și este obligația Comisiei ca, împreună cu Consiliul, să deblocheze această nedreptate, pentru că și noi ne dorim să fim parte a proiectului european și companiile noastre să se bucure de același tratament ca și restul companiilor europene.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Mick Wallace
Political group: The Left
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Mr President, this year’s report focuses on market competition and the fostering of competitiveness, competitiveness in the European industry and consumer welfare. However, it leaves many concerns about workers and the challenges faced under existing competition policy. With the cost of living crisis rampant across Europe, the statements within the text on market concentrations and market interventions to address the abuse of market power and price hikes are not ambitious enough. The monopoly of corporate power enables companies to hike prices to maximise profits, yet keep down working conditions and wages. The impacts of ‘greedflation’ have been felt by most ordinary citizens right across Europe. A report by the European Trade Union Confederation identifies how EU competition policy neglects workers through enforcement issues, anti-trust guidelines and market dominance. Ultimately, the report lacks a vision of the fundamental issues in EU competition policy, especially in regards to the cost of living crisis. There is a clear need for a more proactive approach centred on workers’ rights and we certainly need a much more positive approach to trying to develop dialogue and diplomacy with a view to bringing the war to an end, which is having a massive impact on the less well-off all across Europe.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Clare Daly
Political group: The Left
Country: France
Language: EN

Mr President, reading this report is really a little bit like hearing dinosaurs roar – competitiveness, productivity inputs, outputs, throughputs, profit, and above all, growth, all the sacred cows of the old and destructive economic model that everybody knows is utterly unsustainable. But we’re still banging the drum for it, and the occasional nod towards sustainability just doesn’t cut it, because unfettered growth is fundamentally unsustainable. It’s burning our planet. You can’t window dress your way out of that. You can’t window dress your way out of the savage exploitation of people in the Global South to fuel our growth mania. You can’t window dress your way out of the misery caused to workers all over the world, forced to be more competitive, more productive, work harder, work longer, work faster for less.  If we look around at the economic paradigm that we’ve got to, the misery of workers everywhere, a devastated planet, and it promises imminent mass extinction. It has to stop. If there ever was a time to be radical, it’s now. But we’re very much blowing our opportunity.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Margrethe Vestager
Language: EN

I very much agree with the fact that we should have a European single market for telecommunications. It would have been much better for decades to have such a thing. It is not easy to achieve because one of the things that obviously is needed is spectrum management. But it should be more than a dream. It should be something that we actively perceive in order to have better services, affordable prices and also companies which are well consolidated in order to invest. The next time someone criticises me for insufficient relaxation of State aid rules to enable the green transition or the answer to the Inflation Reduction Act, I will remember the words of Markus Ferber. Because that is the extreme opposite of what we are being accused of: that we are still too prudent; that we are too targeted; that we see this as a temporary measure. One of the reasons why it’s important that the temporary crisis and transition framework is indeed temporary is because what we need is acceleration. Because this is what the market will not deliver us and this is what we need in order to have a sufficient number of clean and green industries in Europe. Because the paradox is that there’s enough green industries for everyone. For the US, for Europe, for China, for India, for the African continent. Because otherwise we will not fight climate change. So what we need right now is for governments to take decisions to accelerate the private investment that is needed to make this happen. And that is the point of the temporary crisis and transition framework. And what we have done over the years enables more than 90 % of the State aid that is being paid out to be paid out by Member States without the touch of the commission, without notification. Because there is a recipe, there is a block exemption. This is how we can do it. Which of course means that when we do have a case, very often they are quite complicated. That is not an excuse for sometimes being consumed, but it is an explanation.  Last but not least, I also appreciate what was being said about the acquisitions when big companies try to swallow up the smaller ones, we will stay focused on getting that right. We have the tools to do that. We have done a number of investigations. We have found solutions. And of course, we will continue to do this because we also need businesses which come with the ambition to scale in Europe, to build their business in Europe. For that, we don’t need just competition. We also need an active capital market. But part of it is also that you cannot just be bought. One thing is a given, this parliament cannot just be bought. This has been a very wise, very wide debate. It’s a pleasure and an inspiration. And I want again to commemorate the rapporteur, René Repas, for his leadership and for the debate that it fosters in this parliament.
Debate: Competition policy - annual report
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: René Repasi
Country: Netherlands
Language: EN

I think you made the right reference just in your remarks that there’s enough of green industry, but we need to accelerate. I do believe if there’s one thing about all these words about State and competition policy that we have heard today, that it is to learn that we need to use the power of the public money that we have, to force it into the right direction. And it makes it that we must make more use of conditionality for social and environmental goals so that State aid is directed into the right direction in order to precisely accelerate the green industry. I also believe the internal market doesn’t have to be totally afraid of the United States when we look at the Inflation Reduction Act, since we do have knowledge, since we do have experience in our internal market – it is not simply fiscal capacity that defines our strength, it is many more that defines our strengths. I believe you also rightly mentioned here now, it is also for the regulator to heal markets. But as you know, we as legislator, we are very much dependent on the Commission to initiate a legislative procedure so that we get proposals that we can work with. I therefore would like to reiterate the claim made by my colleague, Paul Tang, that when we look at digital markets and the main incentivising the digital tech giants, namely digital advertising, we need a proposal to work on this element that is distorting the digital markets without having an abusive practice. That is the problem that we see in competition law. Let me conclude, and I think you also experienced this here in this debate, that this Parliament has a lot of knowledge and understanding of EU’s competition policy, at times better than the Council and Member States’ governments. So I therefore think it is time to give the European Parliament its proper involvement by means of ordinary legislative procedure and make use of the passerelle clause in Article 48, paragraph seven, and simply transform all decision—making procedures that we have into an ordinary legislative procedure.
Debate: Large transport infrastructure projects in the EU
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Colm Markey
Country: Belgium
Language: EN

There are a number of key issues that have been identified through this report and indeed they have also been identified by a Court of Auditors report. The main issue is that we saw were cost overruns, for instance, which were exacerbated by the Ukrainian war, by material shortages and by the enhanced environmental, legitimate enhanced environmental ambition.  Regulatory delays are another key area that are of concern and the administrative burden that is associated with many of the projects and an excessive administrative burden along with these delays caused by planning objections. I know in my own country we have a significant issue with serial objections to planning that are delaying many of the projects. In many ways, this is sometimes due to a lack of early engagement that allows people to understand the nature of a project and allay fears at an early stage. This, in turn, has led to significant delays in many large-scale infrastructure projects. The Court of Auditors identified in many cases up to 11 years of a delay, which just quite simply is not good enough.  There is also a need to align EU and Member States strategies. In many cases, Member States prioritise particularly their transport networks around their capitals. But we need this to spread across the various countries. We need to tackle many of these issues around cost overruns, around regulatory delays and around the need to address, if you like, the effect of engagement with the ordinary public because if we don’t have large infrastructure projects will overrun and will run over time, and that that quite simply is not good enough.
Debate: Large transport infrastructure projects in the EU
Date: MONDAY, 12 JUNE 2023
Speaker: Angelika Winzig
Political group: PPE
Country: Greece
Language: DE

Ich bedanke mich bei Andrey Novakov dafür, dass er mit diesem Bericht wichtige Prioritäten und Empfehlungen für Verbesserungen bei solchen Projekten aufzeigt. Als Mitglied des Haushaltskontrollausschusses möchte ich insbesondere die Notwendigkeit eines einheitlichen, integrierten und interoperablen Informations- und Überwachungssystems hervorheben. Daten, die daraus gewonnen werden, können Kontroll- und Prüfverfahren, insbesondere bei Betrug und Interessenskonflikten, stärken und tragen zu einem effektiven Strafverfolgungsmechanismus bei. Weiter zeigen die Resultate des Berichts leider die Anfälligkeit von Infrastrukturvorhaben für Unregelmäßigkeiten bis hin zu Korruption schonungslos auf. Die enge und effektive Zusammenarbeit zwischen der EUStA und dem OLAF ist daher unerlässlich. Die Überwachungs- und Kontrollsysteme bei geteilter Mittelverwaltung müssen verbessert werden, und der Möglichkeit zur missbräuchlichen Inanspruchnahme von Finanzmitteln muss ein Riegel vorgeschoben werden. Ich erwarte mir, dass sich die Kommission diese Berichtsergebnisse zunutze macht und bei der Umsetzung der Empfehlungen keine wertvolle Zeit verstreichen lässt.