European Parliament - Competition Policy Debate + Video
08 March 2010
Dutch Liberal MEP Sophia In't Veld has put forward a report setting out the Parliament's position on the Commission's 2008 competition policy.
The European Commission has overall responsibility for most laws relating to competition, cartels and monopolies within the EU.
In 2008, the Commission fined 34 companies a total of €2.271 million in seven cartel cases, with the highest being reserved for the so-called "car-glass" case.
Four firms - including the UK's Pilkington Glass - were fined for colluding over prices, market share and customer allocation between 1998 and 2003.
Ms In 't Veld welcomed the Commission's commitment to clamping down on cartels - she said "cartels are not smart, they are reprehensible".
She raised concerns over the amount of state aid that had been given out by member state governments during the economic crisis.
She warned that state aids would be paid back "for decades" and demanded for the Commission and member states to account for "every Euro cent spent".
© European Parliament, BBC
