[autom.vertaling] Fusies: Kroes belooft vaste maar eerlijke toepassing van de regels van de EU (en)

In the light of a series of recent controversial takeover bids and the reaction of various European governments to them, MEPs debated merger policy in the internal market with the Austrian presidency and with the Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes. She promised to be tough on Member States who break European rules.

Hans Winkler,  State Secretary in the Austrian Foreign Ministry, spoke for the Council: "As the Commission applies the new competition rules, it bears a heavy responsibility. We trust they will implement them in a way which helps the Lisbon strategy. When it comes to mergers, we need to bear in mind the medium and long term effects. An economy is a dynamic thing: there are 23 million companies in EU, every day new ones and opened and other close. 99 per cent of our companies are SMEs, they account for some 80 per cent of employees. Our competitive edge has an enormous effect on labour market. Competition on internal market must not be distorted. The completion of the internal market, economic and monetary union can all mean company restructuring and concentration, which can be welcome if it helps meet the challenge of a dynamic economy and improves the conditions for growth and raises living standards. This subject is topical, especially in energy sector: consumers are most concerned about price trends and also job security. Competition is the only way to avoid unjustified price increases. Long term job protection means having competitive companies. We need a policy based on the four freedoms. Concentration must not cause lasting damage to competition, which is why community law has provisions on concentration which interferes with internal market. What is critical for European industry is rule of law and predictability of legal decisions, so we do need more economic based approach. We cannot cover every case in regulation; there is always a degree of abstraction. The Commission, we assume, will leave some discretion in the rules and will exercise it with care."

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: "Europe thrives from breaking down barriers between Member States and not erecting them. Open markets are the key. Companies which are successful in the internal market are better placed to compete globally. The Commission is always concerned at governments interfering, whether directly or indirectly in cross border restructuring. The treaties say there should be no unjustified impediment to the four freedoms, notably including free movement of capital and freedom of establishment. Companies have the fundamental freedom to restructure, including by change of ownership. To deny this to companies on principle or by failing to implement EC legislation would amount to a serious restriction on the chance to adapt to the challenges presented by the integration of markets, rapid advances in technology and generally to evolve the dynamics of doing business in Europe today. European industry is rising to these challenges including by creating more cross-border businesses. Mergers must be decided on an individual basis, case by case, but mergers between Member States are likely to increase competition in Member States concerned, they can lead to concrete benefits for consumers, through greater choice and lower prices. On the energy market, last week the Commission's paper said we needed a sustainable, competitive and secure energy supply. This cannot be done without open and competitive energy markets based on competition between companies looking to be Europe wide competitors rather than dominant local players. Cross border restructuring enhances the prospects of EU business. Any unjustified and non-legitimate interference by governments would risk serious damage of the prospects of benefiting from market integration and globalisation. To deal with such situations we have single market rules and Article 21 of the merger regulations. We have a duty to enforce rules wherever appropriate. As the guardian of treaty and as the institution responsible for EU level merger controls on competition grounds we are determined to see EU companies benefiting from the Internal Market. The enforcement of these provisions is and will remain one of the Commission's central preoccupations."

Klause-Heiner Lehne (DE) opened the debate for the EPP-ED group: "The Internal Market is being tested: in the energy sector it is endangered. Promoting national champions means creating national monopolies with no competition - so not competition across the Internal Market for all consumers. A company which cannot compete at European level cannot compete on the world stage either. It also makes life worse for other companies who have high energy bills. I appreciate the Commission's efforts, but the Commission's possibilities are limited. Any change to the two thirds rule would need unanimity in Council. Member States must implement EU legislation - this has nothing to do with political influence. EU competition decisions are not on political grounds."

Ieke van den Burg (NL) spoke for the Socialist group: "Let's imagine next weekend Mr Barroso holding a press conference to announce the merger of Deutsche Borse, Euronext and the London Stock Exchange. That is rather improbable isn't it?"  Addressing the Commissioner, she said, " Barroso, you and your colleagues should not be sleeping when it comes to mergers and acquisitions, whether in energy or other sectors. We in the Socialist group believe the state has a role to play as a facilitator and as a defender of the public interest. There is a political role in silent diplomacy, creating the right conditions in dialogue with companies and anticipating as well as reacting to what is happening. We don't like your exclusively negative approach of just preventing authorities interfering - they should also have proactive approach. We need a debate on industrial policy - not just on shareholder democracy but other aspects and the balance between the European and national approaches more aspects."

For the ALDE group, Vittorio Prodi (IT) said Europe was faced with a crucial issue. "Member States continue to give the impression that the national domain is the most important and should always prevail, when in fact we should be steering towards more European cooperation. I don't understand the problems with mergers of banks in Poland; we in Italy have accepted the takeover of BNL. There is a conflict of interest, especially regarding companies in the public sector. Immediate political benefits are put ahead of long term interests of consumers and of Europe. There is just this conflict of interest in the ENEL/SUEZ case. W need to rationalise and restructure our companies into big groups, able to withstand world level competition. These efforts are being thwarted for short term political interest"

For the Greens/EFA group, Claude Turmes (LU) said he fully understood the anger of Italy and Spain facing German and French energy imperialism. "It is Germany and France that are the greatest victims of this, though. Austrian power prices are lower than in Germany because of lower grid costs and more competition. The answer is not European energy champions squeezing out ever more money from consumers and businesses. The only answer is competitive markets enforced by strong competition and competition authorities."

Roberto Musacchio (IT) spoke for the GUE/NGL group. He said we did not need liberalisation but valid and shared policies: "The world has had wars for oil in the past and now these conflicts are moving into Europe. The solution is not protectionism. We need a fairer sharing out of energy and energy saving - and to avoid nuclear power. Reducing everything to a mercantile approach is a mistake. We want an energy policy shared across Europe."

Adam Bielan (PL), for the UEN group, denounced the merger involving a Polish bank which had created a group four times larger then before: "This will not help more investment in Polish economy. The takeover has violated Polish sovereignty. Poland should have prohibited it; it should defend its interests better. I know I will be accused of economic nationalism or protectionism but that is not our concern: the banking sector still has an important national role."

In his response to the debate Austrian Minister Winkler added that the Austrian and Finnish Presidencies were organising an event on competition law and merger control in Vienna on 19 July, European Competition Day.

Commissioner Kroes said she was grateful for those speakers who had backed Commission policy, though she accepted that not all agreed. "Open and competitive markets are, I hope, seen by all as key for growth and jobs in Europe. The Internal Market has enormous potential and we must let our businesses and industries employ it to the full - and this includes corporate restructuring. We must look beyond the Internal Market to global competitiveness," she said. "The Commission will uphold single market rules on free movement of capital and we will be tough on Member States who fail properly to apply EU legislation on sectors like energy telecoms and banking.... We test mergers on competition grounds only and this is the basis on which the Court reviews our decisions. Article 21 also gives us a tool to deal with any undue interference by national authorities on corporate restructuring. We will not hesitate to use it if needed." On the two thirds rule, she said there was a risk of inconsistent decisions being taken by different authorities but any changes were only at the consultation stage. "My goal is fair and equal treatment. The Commission has a duty to enforce the rules wherever appropriate. We will do our job firmly and fairly. We need to do our job as quickly as possible - it is quite hectic in merger country."