Debate: Competition policy – annual report
Date: MONDAY, 7 JUNE 2021
Speaker: Margrethe Vestager
Language: EN

The time and effort put into this report show the Parliament’s interest in competition policy and how this is seen as an important policy area. That’s because it goes to the very heart of the choices we need to make for Europe to recover from the pandemic. We need to recover in a way that is strong and sustainable, and of course to continue to offer Europeans what they deserve: societies that include them and provide for them. This is also a Europe that seizes the opportunity that comes with the green and digital transitions that give companies of all sizes a fair chance to compete on their merits on a level playing field, to the benefit of the businesses themselves and obviously for us as consumers. The past 15 months have put a strain on every individual, every human that lives on this planet. Our societies and our economies have been under great strain and, as it happens, it has shown the importance of well—functioning markets for things to continue, for value chains to deliver, for goods to be brought to supermarkets, for hospital equipment to be available, and for protective gear to be there. Competition policy is essential to reach that goal. The passing months have also shown that our rules remain relevant, that they serve us well and that they can be swiftly adapted if need be. When the crisis hit, our state aid rules enabled quick and effective support to address the economic consequences of COVID—19, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the single market. The State Aid Temporary Framework enabled Member States to make use of the full flexibility of rules to support their businesses. Since March 2020 the Commission has adopted more than 500 decisions and approved over EUR 3 trillion in aid. The temporary framework is currently set to apply until the end of this year. We continue to monitor its ability to offer the necessary support, especially for those sectors that are hardest hit, and we know that has everything to do with humans travelling, sleeping, eating – in short, hospitality, culture, tourism. We will continue to look at it because obviously it is important that we can still give support where the crisis has hit, while progressively phasing out the crisis rule once the situation allows for it. But this year we have not only dealt with the crisis. Along with keeping up the pace of our enforcement, we have worked to ensure that our competition rule book remains fit for the challenges, including those from the green and digital transition. We have launched a reflection process on how competition rules can contribute to the objective of the European Green Deal, and indeed we did it in the Parliament. We are now in the process of reviewing key state aid rules to ensure that they are fully fit for purpose. Just today, we have launched a public consultation on the new climate, energy and environmental state aid guidelines. They will play a key role in enabling the green transition, while maintaining a level playing field in the single market. We also looked at the jurisdictional and procedural aspects of our merger rules, and we have issued new guidance on the application of the referral mechanism by Member States to the EU level, to work very closely with national competition authorities to enable us to review what we sometimes call killer acquisitions, including in digital markets, things that would otherwise go unnoticed. We are revising our market definition notice to take stock of developments, and also, of course, revising our vertical and horizontal block exemption regulation. So it is indeed a busy year. Looking forward, not only do we look at competition rules as such, and not only do we enforce them vigorously, but we also seek regulatory solutions to address systemic behaviours arising on large digital platforms with a gatekeeping role. In December last year, we adopted the Digital Markets Act proposal. It aims to ensure that digital markets within our Union remain open and contestable so that companies, both large and small, have fair opportunities to compete online, as they do offline. The Digital Markets Act will tell the very large gatekeepers what to do and indeed what not to do. It will enable us, in close cooperation with national competition authorities, to act and to sanction gatekeepers who do not respect the rules. The proposal has progressed very well in Council, and I am very happy to see how the pace is picking up in Parliament. I really appreciate that engagement and that interest because we need the regulation and we need it fast. I very much look forward to continuing the discussion with Parliament’s committees and Members over the coming months. Last, but not least, in addition we’ve just tabled a proposal to deal with foreign subsidies because they can be very distortive. As you will know by heart, for 60 years our state aid rules have been ensuring that aid granted by Member States is targeted, proportional and does not undermine fair competition in the single market. But similar rules for subsidies do not exist for subsidies granted by foreign states, so our proposal aims to make this imbalance a thing of the past. Companies that receive subsidies from non—EU countries will need our approval before they implement big mergers in Europe, in addition to clearance under the EU merger regulation. Companies will have to tell us what subsidies they have received when they bid in large public tenders and, again, won’t be able to win and to close those tenders without our OK. We’ll have the power on our own initiative to investigate any company to see if it has received foreign subsidies that harm fair competition in Europe. We have a lot on our plate. I appreciate your interest and engagement, and I think it is really well reflected in the report that is the basis for today’s discussion. Thank you very much. I am committed to continuing to work closely with you and I look forward to today’s debate.