Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-04-Speech-2-247"
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"en.20060404.23.2-247"2
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".
The President has pointed out that I am taking this question on behalf of my colleague, Mrs Kroes.
The Commission has significant powers to ensure that Member States fully respect the internal market rules and do not create unlawful obstacles to cross-border mergers. If a Member State violates internal market rules, the Commission can launch an infringement procedure pursuant to Article 226 of the EC Treaty. This procedure may require a certain time, as the Commission has, at two separate stages, to grant the Member State the opportunity to express its view before introducing an action before the Court of Justice, which then has to take the final decision on the alleged infringement. Where justified by the circumstances of the case, the Commission can act more speedily by giving very short deadlines to Member States in the pre-litigation phase and asking the court to grant interim measures. Even in that case, the Commission is obliged to take into account the observations of the Member States, including late responses, as it is settled case-law that the proper conduct of their pre-litigation procedure constitutes an essential guarantee required by the EC Treaty, not only in order to protect the rights of the Member State concerned but also to ensure that any contentious procedure would have a clearly defined dispute as its subject-matter.
Moreover, in cases where a Member State intervenes with regard to concentrations with a Community dimension, the Commission has special powers to adopt a decision under Article 21 of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004, known as the Merger Regulation. Pursuant to that provision, the Commission has the exclusive competence to assess concentrations with a Community dimension. Member States can adopt measures which could prohibit or prejudice
or
such operations only if, first, the measures in question protect the interests other than those taken into account by the Merger Regulation and, second, those measures are necessary and proportionate for the protection of interests compatible with EC law.
Public security, plurality of media and prudential rules are considered to be interests compatible with EC law. Measures adopted in pursuit of those interests must in any event be necessary and proportionate, and the Commission may seek information from the national authorities about the intended measures in order to verify this. The other interests must be communicated to the Commission before the adoption of those measures. The Commission must then decide, within 25 working days, whether the national measures are justified for the protection of an interest compatible with EC law.
The Commission considers that the abovementioned provisions can allow it, in a timely manner, to act against any unlawful protectionist measures adopted by Member States. The Commission is, moreover, firmly committed to use all the powers at its disposal to ensure full compliance with EC law."@en1
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