According to President Karis, this concerns, for example, state aid. “Large Member States can provide large amounts of state aid that small countries cannot compete with,” said President Karis. “Even if we’re able to provide state aid, businesses in small countries feel that their opportunities are not as good as those of large companies in countries that are able to provide more aid.”
President Karis said that it’s important to provide similar opportunities for all on the EU internal market. “No one should be in a race for state aid, there must be a level playing field for all,” he said.
The other topics discussed at the meeting included reducing the administrative burden on businesses and simplifying the regulatory environment. According to President Karis, automatic digital reporting should be used as much as possible in the European Union. “Existing data must be reused and cross-used when the reporting obligation is performed and we must follow the principle that if the data are already there, people will not be asked to submit them again,” President Karis explained.
As a vice-president, Margrethe Vestager is responsible for the strategic management of the European Union’s digital, internal market, industry, including defence, and space policy, as well as competition issues.
