Langen: "Countries that play unfair tricks must not profit twice" / "Facebook and WhatsApp are a kind of huge data cartel"

The EPP Group in the European Parliament wants tax clawbacks from tax dodging, as in the recent rulings against Starbucks, Fiat or 35 Belgian companies, to go to the EU budget, not to the budget of the state who engaged in the controversial tax deal. "Countries that play unfair tricks must not profit twice," stressed Werner Langen MEP, Parliament's Rapporteur on the latest annual review of the EU's competition policy, today.

The report, drafted by Langen and adopted by the European Parliament today, also calls for modernised rules on competition in the digital sector. "We have examples that show clearly that access to data is relevant in competition. The current rules do not reflect this sufficiently," Langen explains.

Facebook and WhatsApp are a kind of huge data cartel

Werner Langen MEP

"When Facebook acquired WhatsApp, the European Commission did not see a competition problem, even though WhatsApp has one billion users. The Commission looked only into turnover and number of employees. But de facto, Facebook and WhatsApp are a kind of huge data cartel. EU competition policy must not be blind to the data view," Langen said today in Strasbourg.

The EPP Group also calls for cartel fines to be imposed not only on companies, but also on the managers who set up the cartels. "Managers must be personally liable and must not hide behind corporate curtains," Langen stressed.