What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Changed:6. Underlines the importance of reducing energy costs to safeguard EU competitiveness, promoting net-zero energy sources in line with the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act12Act and the Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act13,Act, while ensuring that an open, competitive and sustainable single market is balanced with supply security and increased EU energy autonomy; stresses that fair, well-functioning, competitive, integrated and interconnected electricity markets are essential for strengthening the EU’s industrial competitiveness and supporting more stable and affordable energy prices; underlines the importance of the effective enforcement of competition rules in energy infrastructure and network access in order to safeguard the proper functioning of the single market and to ensure fair pricing and better protect consumers;

Changed:7. Notes the strategic role of critical raw materials for the energy transition and the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Act14Act in reducing geopolitical dependencies and strengthening supply chain resilience, and calls for competition policy to support competitive markets across the value chain and pan-European investments;

Changed:15. Welcomes the signing of the EU-UK Competition Cooperation Agreement15,Agreement, a key step in strengthening coordination between the respective competition authorities;

Changed:30. Calls on the Commission to examine, in the context of the implementation of the Digital Single Market Directive17,Directive, potential abuses by gatekeepers under the DMA in their negotiations with press publishers, and in particular to examine whether such negotiations comply with the FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) obligations, ensuring equitable remuneration, transparent terms and non-discriminatory access to online audiences;

Changed:32. Urges the Commission to make appropriate use of interim measures to stop any practices that harm competition, especially in fast-evolving digital markets; calls on the Commission to modernise Regulation (EC) 1/2003181/2003 and Commission Regulation (EC) 773/200419773/2004 to improve the efficiency, legal certainty and proportionality of EU antitrust enforcement; supports a clarified framework for interim measures in cases of serious and irreparable harm to competition, with appropriate due process safeguards;

Changed:35. Stresses the importance of effective actions for damages as a complement to public antitrust enforcement, ensuring that victims of infringements of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU can obtain full compensation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the effective implementation of the Antitrust Damages Directive20Directive and to remove remaining barriers to private enforcement;

Changed:36. Reaffirms the need for strong and effective cooperation between the Commission and NCAs within the ECN as well as with relevant private and public stakeholders and consumer organisations; underlines that NCAs must remain politically independent and adequately resourced, and that the ECN+ Directive21Directive should be fully and consistently transposed and implemented across all Member States; calls for enhanced convergence of enforcement standards, timely information-sharing, and clear allocation of competences to avoid duplicated proceedings; stresses that the ECN needs to move towards a fully integrated form of cooperation, with a view to enhancing cost efficiency and improving the handling of cross-border aspects, including by enabling joint investigations and joint decision-making; calls for the ECN to further guide companies, especially SMEs, in applying the competition rulebook;

Changed:38. Notes current investigations of non-EU companies, including the Commission’s preliminary investigation into Visa and Mastercard fees; calls on the Commission to ensure that the payments market remains competitive, transparent and accessible for consumers and businesses; emphasises the need to review the Interchange Fee Regulation22Regulation to assess its effectiveness in addressing rising fees; calls on the Commission to conclude ongoing investigations in the payments sector without undue delay; emphasises that the digital euro is a crucial opportunity to reduce the over-reliance on non-EU card schemes, and to strengthen competition and the EU’s strategic autonomy in the payments sector, including by helping to ensure more competitive pricing conditions for businesses, in particular SMEs;

Changed:39. Underlines the importance of competition in the banking sector and completion of the banking union; calls on the Commission to use all available instruments to ensure fair competition and monitor trends in the banking sector during high inflation periods; stresses the importance and urgency of the Commission’s upcoming report on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector and expects the Commission to adopt the report by July 2026; welcomes, furthermore, the upcoming assessment of the functioning of Directive 2002/87/EC232002/87/EC and the Solvency II Directive24Directive on aspects relating to the level playing field among insurance and banking market participants;

Changed:55. Expects the review of the General Block Exemption Regulation25Regulation to solve the current issues regarding the definition of ‘undertaking in difficulty’ and to modernise and simplify State aid rules in order to reduce red tape and boost the EU’s competitiveness; welcomes the opening of the public consultation to collect input on the scope and content of the review;

Changed:58. Notes the distortionary effects of aggressive tax planning and of tax systems, including preferential tax agreements, on fair competition, as they may stifle innovation and jeopardise the contestability of markets, especially for SMEs; welcomes the Commission recommendation of 14 July 2020262020 to not grant financial support to companies with links to tax havens, while protecting honest taxpayers; calls for companies established in countries listed on the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, as adopted by the Council, to be excluded from receiving State aid and invites the Commission to assess whether the current framework contributes to broader efforts to combat aggressive tax planning and tax haven practices;