What Deirdre spoke about.

24

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Revision of the Medical Devices Regulation – how to ensure the availability of medical devices (debate)

Mr President, colleagues, I absolutely want to see the full and effective application of the Medical Device Regulation, because it is extremely important for patients and for those providing their medical care to give assurance on the safety and the effectiveness of these devices. But I do not want to see a situation develop whereby there will be a shortage – or, as some fear, an unavailability – …

24

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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Establishing the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 (debate)

Madam President, I would say that COVID has really demonstrated the value of digitalisation and technologies, how important they are to our societies. We’ve seen the benefits of bringing people together, delivering services, allowing business to continue, and indeed delivering particularly our education services. But we can’t stop there. We need to do more. And I very much welcome the programme, t…

10

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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A high common level of cybersecurity across the Union (debate)

Madam President, this directive seeks to improve levels of cybersecurity across the European Union and it’s a welcome response to some of the most consequential cyberattacks which Ireland and Europe have faced in recent years, threatening our information and communications technology and supply chains. And Commissioner, as you said this morning, you’ve outlined that this is a particularly timely d…

18

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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UN Climate Change Conference 2022 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt (COP27) (debate)

Mr President, at the world’s climate summit taking place next week or next month, it’s important that progress is made there to tackle climate change. And an international challenge such as this can only be tackled with international cooperation and collaboration. We need governments, business, the public and private sectors to be involved if we are to deliver on our targets of 1.5 degrees. It’s v…

6

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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COVID-19 – Sustaining EU preparedness and response: looking ahead (debate)

Mr President, in the light of the lessons learned from COVID, one of those is prevention. Prevention is at the heart of fighting health threats. But to ensure this, we must continue to strengthen our European Health Union. Prior to the COVID—19 pandemic, national health systems were fragile and unprepared for the crisis such as the one we have faced. Now we have an opportunity to look at what we d…

4

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Radio Equipment Directive: common charger for electronic devices (debate)

Madam President, a common charger for portable electronic products is a good news story. Why? Because it is a practical intervention by the European Union that empowers consumers while also doing something positive for the environment by reducing electronic waste and indeed the pressure on scarce sustainable resources. Having so many different types of chargers for our various devices is, as we kn…

15

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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State of the SME Union (debate)

Madam President, SMEs are the backbone, and it’s a term that we’ve used, but they actually are the backbone in our cities, towns and villages in all our communities, and it shouldn’t be overlooked, the vital role that they also provide in services to the large firms and multinationals in our sectors as well, and to their employees. They’re a really important part of our industrial and our commerci…

3

May

2022

EN Speech

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Artificial intelligence in a digital age (debate)

Mr President, I want to thank Axel Voss and the chair of the committee for bringing us to this point. We look forward to dealing with the regulation on artificial intelligence. ‘What is it and what is it about’ is a topic that has so many answers and so many approaches, but it does have so many potential benefits for our societies, for our economy and for development. Climate can be addressed ther…

2

May

2022

EN Speech

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Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (debate)

Madam President, at the outset I would like to thank our rapporteur, Mr Hojsík, for his cooperation and for bringing us all together. And we have, I hope, a balanced report tomorrow that will get the approval of this House, as persistent organic pollutants, or POPs, are carbon-based compounds that remain in the environment for a long time, toxic organic compounds, and because of their very slow br…

7

Apr

2022

EN Speech

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Mental Health (debate)

Mr President, as we discuss mental health it is so important that we take time to reflect on the Ukrainian people at this time and the horrendous experiences that they’re going through, experiences that will leave them both young and old, severely traumatised. And I say to the Commissioner: you’ve outlined how we can help in this area through effective strategies that require political leadership,…

7

Apr

2022

EN Speech

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Right to repair (debate)

Madam President, this week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted that we need to reduce emissions now across all sectors. We need to make the ambitions of the circular economy a reality. That means ensuring that products last longer and can be repaired. Consumers, of course, want to be empowered to make decisions based on the environmental and the overall cost of a prod…

6

Apr

2022

EN Speech

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Data Governance Act (debate)

Madam President, this act will unlock the potential of data. It is so important to do so, but we must also protect individual rights and that’s the balance that this act will facilitate. We need to establish structures within which you can share data, both personal and non—personal. Data has a real value and not just a monetary value, but a value in that it can solve problems and the challenges in…

15

Feb

2022

EN Speech

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Implementation of the Toy Safety Directive (debate)

Mr President, we need to ensure that toys sold in the EU are safe and they’re manufactured to strict standards. We need to prevent illegal, counterfeit and dangerous products being offered for sale online and in our retail outlets. The Toy Safety Directive in place attempts to do this, but an evaluation report considered that it does have shortcomings, particularly when it comes to health and safe…

15

Feb

2022

EN Speech

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Human rights and democracy in the world – annual report 2021 (debate)

Madam President, the fundamental objective of the EU’s external actions is to advance democracy, the rule of law, human rights and freedom across the world. In this, our annual report, we look at how we fulfil that obligation. We look at the advances and the deterioration in human rights and outline how we can improve and where we need to improve our actions. To this point, the report calls for th…

15

Feb

2022

EN Speech

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Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer(debate)

Madam President, from COVID-19, the EU has proven that it can work as a collective in coordinating and collaborating when it comes to providing healthcare services, and we can do the same when it comes to dealing with cancer. We can share information, we can develop a code against cancer, developing standards that are for all across Europe, regardless of your address. Prevention can and does reduc…

19

Jan

2022

EN Speech

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Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

Mr President, the growth of digital services and their companies has been phenomenal. Nobody could have predicted 20 years ago, when the e-commerce directive was put in place, that such services and providers would have become so widespread in their presence, that literally they are household names on a worldwide basis. Whilst these new rules we are discussing today are focused on controlling and …

14

Dec

2021

EN Speech

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Digital Markets Act (debate)

Mr President, Commissioners, I would like to thank Andreas Schwab and his fellow shadows for bringing us to this point. We want to make our markets more open, more fair and more contestable, for businesses and for consumers. And that means, that those defined as gatekeepers due to their strong presence in the single market cannot abuse that dominant position they now hold. They cannot favour their…

24

Nov

2021

EN Speech

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Outcome of the COP26 in Glasgow (debate)

Mr President, the deal agreed in Glasgow is not perfect. Compromises never are, but it is a positive step forward, so much better than no deal, and the next COP27 will bring further opportunities. The targeted reduction in fossil fuel usage and increased funding for developing countries are really welcome, and to quote Alok Sharma, the President of COP, we have action on ‘coal, cash, cars and tree…

10

Nov

2021

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, those who survive cancer must not be punished twice. Insurance companies or banks should not deny cancer survivors who have beaten the disease access to financial services such as mortgages, or ask for additional and higher insurance premiums. Cancer survivors deserve the right to be forgotten. We must ensure that the right to be forgotten for cancer survivors is embedded into EU leg…

21

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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Insurance of motor vehicles (debate)

Mr President, my thanks to the rapporteur and our team for bringing us to this point today, which is a revision of the Motor Insurance Directive last revised in 2019, and that was a major advancement allowing EU residents to travel anywhere in the EU without the need for further insurance. So it’s a very important measure today for the single market, for provision of services, for those offering b…

19

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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The Right to a Healthy Environment (debate)

Madam President, the UN Human Rights Council has been mentioned here and it made a very important statement recently, recognising that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right. We all know that there’s a very strong correlation between environment and human health. Emissions from the vehicles we drive, particulate matter in our air, pollutants in our drinking wate…

5

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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State of EU cyber defence capabilities (debate)

Madam President, I thank the rapporteur for their report. We are all well aware of the prevalence of cyberattacks now and their potential implications, and the digitalisation of our economy and cybersecurity, they need to be developed in tandem. The data economy can only flourish when we have full trust and confidence in our products, our applications and our infrastructure and we need to do what …