Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-29-Speech-3-072"
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"en.20020529.6.3-072"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the dossier that we are discussing today is, as we all know, fundamental. The draft Commission regulation, which seeks to revise the block exemption regulation on motor vehicles, concerns the future of an economic sector that is absolutely essential for many European Union Member States. Apart from the distribution of motor vehicles itself, several hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout Europe are at stake.
This brings me to my next point: the debate underway today is not only a technical debate in which specialists alone can take part, it is a political debate as well, there is no doubt about that. What is being discussed here is a specific concept of Europe, or to be more precise, the way that our fellow citizens perceive Europe. Consumers are entitled, therefore, to speculate on the true motives of the Commission, a Commission that is desperately trying to transform a distribution system which, everyone agrees, has not only proven its worth but has also respected the main principles of competition. Why withdraw the location clause and the concept of territory? Why break the essential link between sales and after-sales service? Why pursue this extreme notion of multi-branding? Why introduce even more competition, when our motor industry is already one of the most competitive in the world? In my view, all these inconsistencies arise from a terribly dogmatic approach to competition, an approach that can also be found in other dossiers, such as merger control, for example. In the specific case of motor vehicle distribution, the truth that the Commission is deliberately ignoring is that we cannot achieve ideal competition and preserve what is a determining factor for consumers, namely, a network of dealers selling and repairing motor vehicles that is as extensive as the one we have in Europe.
I urge all my fellow Members to draw their own conclusions, taking into account economic and social realities. We must therefore have a vigilant and cautious approach. We must demonstrate a more balanced and fair frame of mind in relation to this dossier in which many different factors are at stake, ranging from those relating to consumer safety to that of employment in all Member States, as well as in the most remote regions."@en1
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