Sittings · Document
30.4.2025 A10-0071/6
Amendment 6
Martin Schirdewan, Marc Botenga, Hanna Gedin, Jonas Sjöstedt, Manon Aubry
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
3a. Stresses that public ownership and public control of companies with strategic significance to the transition to a socially just and climate-neutral economy are vital to effectively guide, support and accelerate this transition and develop more democratic forms of production; calls on the Commission and the Member States to create an EU framework to facilitate public ownership and public control in such strategic economic sectors;
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/7
Amendment 7
Martin Schirdewan, Hanna Gedin, Jonas Sjöstedt, Manon Aubry
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
3b. Stresses that competition policy should not hinder the implementation of an active industrial strategy; calls for the EU and the Member States to pursue an active industrial policy underpinned by strong public investment to fight social and regional inequality, decarbonise industry and bolster autonomy in key economic sectors, while contributing globally to even and sustainable economic development;
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/8
Amendment 8
Pasquale Tridico
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
3c. Stresses that industrial policy cannot be confined to the scope of competition policy, which has so far been the EU’s primary focus; underlines that this narrow approach is no longer sufficient in the light of today’s global challenges and the urgent need to reduce the technology gap with the United States and China; calls for a renewed EU industrial policy centred on the identification of strategic sectors and technologies and aimed at achieving clearly defined environmental, economic and social objectives of public interest; notes that competition rules alone are inadequate to address the deep crisis affecting key sectors such as the automotive sector, which is leading to significant job losses; urges the Commission to develop industrial policy tools to support this strategic sector and the transition to sustainable mobility, in addition to employment protection instruments such as a scheme similar to SURE, which should be accompanied by clear social and environmental conditionalities for beneficiary companies;
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/9
Amendment 9
Pasquale Tridico, Hanna Gedin, Jonas Sjöstedt
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
5. Underlines the need for coordinated, targeted and truly European industrial policy to boost competitiveness; notes that this must not result in market dominance or abuse thereof, price distortion or economic inefficiencies, and points to the need for effective merger control procedures;
5. Underlines the need for coordinated, targeted and truly European industrial policy to boost industrial upgrading, to reduce the technology gap with China and the US, to preserve employment levels and to foster the green transition; notes that this must not result in market dominance or abuse thereof, price distortion or economic inefficiencies, and points to the need for effective merger control procedures;
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/10
Amendment 10
Martin Schirdewan, Marc Botenga, Hanna Gedin, Jonas Sjöstedt, Manon Aubry
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
11a. Stresses that State aid should not amount to a transfer of public wealth to the private sector; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that strict social and environmental conditions are imposed on companies receiving State aid, including prohibitions on closures, production cutbacks, relocations and the distribution of dividends to shareholders and bonuses to upper management, and the obligation to create high-quality, highly paid, unionised jobs with extensive labour participation rights and credible plans for the ecological transformation;
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/11
Amendment 11
Martin Schirdewan, Manon Aubry
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
14. Recalls that under the Treaty, the Commission is empowered to address exploitative abuses;
14. Recalls that under the Treaty, the Commission is empowered to address exploitative abuses; highlights that corporate profits have been significant contemporary drivers of inflation; stresses that profit-driven inflation, or greedflation, should be met with appropriate interventions, such as windfall taxes, price controls or antitrust proceedings, in order to mitigate its socially harmful impact on the cost of living; calls on the Member States and the Commission to immediately introduce permanent windfall profit taxes to combat profit-driven inflation in all sectors and to redistribute windfall profits to low-income households;
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/12
Amendment 12
Martin Schirdewan
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
18a. Deplores the significant number of cases in which large companies that have received substantial amounts of State aid are simultaneously announcing large-scale redundancies while distributing dividends to their shareholders; is deeply concerned that, in Germany, the 40 corporations listed on the DAX received public money of about EUR 35 billion between 2016 and 2023, while simultaneously earning billions in private profits; deplores the fact that Volkswagen is planning to cut more than 35 000 jobs, even though it received public support of over EUR 6 billion between 2016 and 2023 and distributed about EUR 22 billion to shareholders between 2021 and 2023; calls on the Member States to prohibit companies that receive substantial amounts of State aid from making mass redundancies and to ensure that their workers have effective participation rights in strategic company decisions;
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/13
Amendment 13
Pasquale Tridico
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
38. Notes the high-net profits of EU banks during this inflationary period, mostly driven by the delayed pass-through of the rapid monetary policy tightening to deposit rates;
38. Notes the high-net profits of EU banks during this inflationary period, mostly driven by the delayed pass-through of the rapid monetary policy tightening to deposit rates; expresses concern about the ultra-privileged rate on the excess liquidity of banks deposited into the European Central Bank (ECB), which allows profits to accumulate; highlights that the distribution of these windfall profits to banks has been unequal across Member States; calls on the Commission to propose measures to ensure that ECB policies do not disproportionately benefit certain banks or increase inequalities between euro area countries; proposes the consideration of policy tools to mitigate such distortions in bank profitability, including an increase of unremunerated reserve requirements, as suggested by the Governor of the Austrian Central Bank, to absorb excess liquidity without further remunerating it1a; notes that several Member States have introduced windfall taxes on banks’ extraordinary profits to address these disparities; encourages the ECB to assess the implications of such measures and explore coordinated approaches to ensure a balanced and equitable financial environment across the euro area;
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1a https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ecb-needs-stop-subsidizing-banks-holzmann-says-2024-04-03/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-20/ecb-s-holzmann-renews-idea-of-tenfold-hike-in-minimum-reserves?
Or. en
30.4.2025 A10-0071/14
Amendment 14
Martin Schirdewan, Manon Aubry
on behalf of The Left Group
Report A10-0071/2025
Lara Wolters
Competition policy – annual report 2024
(2024/2079(INI))
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)
Motion for a resolution
Amendment
39a. Regrets the Commission’s in-depth investigations into State aid rules in the cases of the public rail freight operators Fret SNCF and DB Cargo; regrets that the investigations put pressure on the operators to implement restructuration plans, which imply reducing activities and costs in order to comply with market logic, whereas freight transport should be a public service; laments that the restructuring has led to the loss of hundreds of jobs in Germany and France; calls on the Commission to consult the trade unions and to guarantee workers’ rights in such cases; reminds the Commission of the objectives set by the Sustainable and Intelligent Mobility Strategy under the European Green Deal, which aims to double rail freight transport and reduce overall transport emissions by 90 % by 2050; stresses that competition policy should not hinder progress in the green transition, for which rail freight transport is key; calls for a reform of competition rules on these grounds;
Or. en