Press Releases

Athens, 23 November 2020

Virtual Conference of Parliamentary Committees for European Union Affairs of parliaments of the EU (COSAC) with European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager

In the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the German Presidency of the EU Council, an informal virtual conference was held Monday, 23 November 2020, between the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Mrs. Margrethe Vestager and the Chairpersons of the Parliamentary Committees for European Union Affairs of parliaments of the EU, to exchange views vis-à-vis a) reviewing European competition policies, b) the Commission's industrial strategy and c) the digital transformation of the European economy. The Hellenic Parliament  was represented by Mr. Manousos Voloudakis, MP, a member of the Special Permanent Committee of European Affairs.  

Mrs. Vestager, responsible for digital transformation and competition policies, in her intervention, pointed out, inter alia, that the European Commission since last March has adopted more than a thousand executive and legislative acts to address the economic impact of the pandemic, including directives and decisions on state aid in order to protect businesses and the single market. Furthermore, she underlined that the European Commission places great emphasis on digital transformation and the promotion of public and private investments in this sector, pointing out the need to enhance digital skills, digital security and digital services. 

Mr. Voloudakis, in his intervention, underlined that open trade should not mean accepting unfair competition conditions, underlining that in some cases European businesses are up against unfair practices by third countries, as is the case of Turkey, with which the EU has signed a Customs Union Agreement. In particular, Mr. Voloudakis pointed out that the European Commission in a relevant Report recognizes the lack of compliance by Turkey towards the European rules on state aid, while he referred to specific cases of such aid, e.g. the 2019 announcement by the Turkish government of a 33 billion dollar programme to provide grants and loans to Turkish enterprises or third country businesses in order to promote investments in Turkey. Summing up, Mr. Voloudakis requested that immediate measures be taken. 

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