10.03.2009
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Do not import negative effects of the US system into the European Union!
On 10 March 2009 the European Parliament adopted the above-mentioned report ON COMPETITION POLICY REPORTS 2006-2007. Antitrust and State aid issues mentioned in the report are: The Parliament welcomes the publication of the White Paper on damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules, but urges that reform be pursued in such a way as to ensure that the negative effects of the US system are not repeated in the EU; Members of parliament call for clarification of the existing competition rules and their practical application in relation to services of general economic interest (SGEI); the report supports the Commission in its endeavours to further develop the European gas and electricity markets; the Parliament calls on the Commission to enforce behavioural constraints on financial institutions in receipt of State aid in order to ensure that such institutions do not engage in aggressive expansion against the background of the guarantee to the detriment of competitors; lastly, members of parliament continue to claim a more proactive role in the development of competition policy through the introduction of the co-decision procedure.
