What Deirdre spoke about.

22

Apr

2024

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Common rules promoting the repair of goods (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, the right to repair – rather than the alternative to throw away or to replace something – that is going to be absolutely welcomed by consumers, not just because of a cost-saving measure, but also, importantly, because of the positive impact on our environment. It is estimated that EU consumers lose up to EUR 12 billion each year by opting to buy new goods instead of repairing, and the option to repair is not always available. This legislation will remove those obstacles by ensuring that products can be repaired within the legal guarantee, that consumers have easier and cheaper options to repair goods when the guarantee is expired, that strong provisions will be in place to ensure independent repairers can easily repair products without restrictions by the manufacturers. This will be supported by provisions to ensure affordable spare parts that are there available, that manufacturers must disclose repair details and offer spare parts and tools at fair prices. Consumer awareness is to be facilitated through a new European online repair system, allowing them to locate repair facilities in their own State. And, of course, another major benefit of this legislation must be the impact on our environment: less waste, less use of limited natural resources. The Commission figures tell us that 261 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions are generated each year by the loss of electronic waste, resulting in 35 million tonnes of waste in the EU every year. So this proposal will address those challenges, be a major contributor to our sustainability, to our circular economy, and ensure the consumers have more money in their pockets.

22

Apr

2024

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Preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution (debate)

Madam President and Commissioner, tomorrow, this Parliament will vote on the world’s first ever piece of legislation aiming to prevent spillages of plastic pellets at all stages along the supply chain. Losses of these plastic pellets, which are the base material for manufacturing plastic products, are the third largest source of unintentional microplastic releases in the EU. According to the European Chemicals Agency, almost 180 000 metric tons of plastic pellets are accidentally or unintentionally released into the environment each year. Microplastic pollution is not only a serious problem for the environment, but also for public health. Once microplastics enter our environment, it is almost impossible to get rid of them. That’s why I’m supporting this measure – and I’d urge that we all would tomorrow – because it will prevent microplastic spillages in road, rail and maritime transport. It is a practical, realistic proposal that will work, and the new law is particularly timely given the millions of plastic pellets that were washed up on the coast of Spain and Portugal, the north-western Galicia region, in January of this year. The incident has caused major disruption, threatening to endanger wildlife and posing a serious risk to the livelihoods of fishery communities and tourism communities in that area. So the proposal, which will address the release of plastic pellets into our environment, will apply to European and non-European operators. It will set requirements for best handling practices. Mandatory certification and self-declaration will be measures which will be put in place. Importantly, however, lighter requirements will apply to micro and small operators. This regulation is expected, as it is been said, to reduce the release by up to 74% of microplastics. It would result in healthier ecosystems, contributing to plastic-free rivers and oceans and, of course, reducing risks to human health. I am a strong believer that prevention is the best solution, and here we have a very practical proposal, and I want to thank the rapporteur and the other shadows for all the work that he did and that we did on this file.

13

Mar

2024

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Establishing the Union Customs Code and the European Union Customs Authority, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (A9-0065/2024 - Deirdre Clune) (vote)

Madam President, I won’t take two minutes, but with our vote today, Members, we can move to establish a single customs authority for the European Union – one agency responsible for overseeing our customs code, coordinating customs authorities across the EU, and providing support to our national customs authorities who supervise all goods entering and leaving the customs union 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And with the exponential rise in e-commerce, these declarations are also increasing. So we need to have a coordinated, risk-based approach to our customs controls, and this new authority will identify risks and carry out controls to ensure that our EU rules are enforced and support national authorities in their work. The proposal will also establish an EU customs data hub, a centralised repository for Union customs data, thus allowing businesses to implement their declarations once to a single window rather than multiple times to different Member States, and so make it easier and more efficient to trade in and out of our European Union. I ask you to support this proposal to make our customs union fit for the digital age, give better protection to our consumers from unsafe and illegal products, support our national authorities in their work, and contribute to a more efficient single market.

12

Mar

2024

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Artificial Intelligence Act (debate)

Mr President, thank you, Commissioner, and thank you to our rapporteurs and all the teams that brought us to this point. The final adoption of the Artificial Intelligence Act today is a historic moment. This landmark legislation is a significant step forward in our commitment to responsible digital leadership and creating an ethical future for artificial intelligence in Europe. It provides a robust regulatory framework, promoting trust and transparency in AI systems, establishing clear rules for deployment and for use and development. We are fostering accountability and responsibility across the sectors and along our value chains, and this ensures that AI technologies serve the best interests of our citizens. Crucially, this legislation upholds fundamental rights in the digital age, with strong requirements for fairness, accountability and non-discrimination. We safeguard against unfair biases and injustices that may arise from unchecked AI systems. We can – and we will – unlock the potential of AI in healthcare, climate solutions and for economic productivity, but we also set clear guardrails, a ban on social scoring, discriminatory algorithms and manipulative techniques, and this ensures AI serves humanity and not the other way around. In addition, this act will encourage innovation and competitiveness by providing legal certainty and a level playing field, and we create an environment that is conducive to breakthroughs in AI technology, positioning Europe in this way at the forefront of global innovation. So this is not the last post; the AI Act is the foundation. And now comes the crucial task of implementation and increasing international cooperation. And that is the establishment of the AI area. We welcome that, Commissioner, and we look forward to continuing our engagement with our international partners to ensure that we have a global response to artificial intelligence.

29

Feb

2024

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Next steps towards greater patient safety by swiftly ensuring the availability of medical devices through a targeted transitional period (debate)

Mr President, the objectives of the Medical Device Regulation are not being met. It was developed to ensure patient safety, to give confidence to patients and medical practitioners that necessary devices were safe and fit for purpose, which I absolutely support. But there are problems with certification that is resulting in pressure on the sector to ensure availability of these necessary devices. Of course, extending transitional periods are welcome, but this is not a permanent solution. It will not give confidence to the industry to keep innovating and to keep producing. We need structural reforms to the Medical Device Regulation if we are to see any lasting effect. The current regulatory system, marked by its slowness and complexity, demands urgent action for European patients. In the first 100 days of the next Commission, the Commission needs to bring forward a proposal to fix this problem, or we will be left with a situation where Europeans are left without life-saving devices.

28

Feb

2024

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The murder of Alexei Navalny and the need for EU action in support of political prisoners and oppressed civil society in Russia (debate)

Mr President, this afternoon, we were part of an emotional exchange when we listened to the words of Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, the murdered opposition leader from Russia. In her words, he is dead, but his dream of a free Russia should not die with him. We must continue the fight for a free Russia. The fight against information, against lies, the fight against criminality, the fight against assassins. We must tackle those who continue to facilitate and hide Russian money. We must continue to defend democracies – our democracies. And in continuing this fight for a free Russia, we support our neighbours in Ukraine. They too are fighting for freedom, for democracy, against a brutal Russian regime. And they are fighting in our name. We need to understand that Alexei Navalny’s fight was just not for his dream of a free Russia, but for our freedoms and our democracies.

27

Feb

2024

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Human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter – annual report 2023 (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, this report underlines our unwavering commitment to fundamental values amidst the worsening human rights situation across the world. We must acknowledge and honour all those who courageously defend democracy and human rights. Particularly at this time, we think of the brave people of Ukraine, the people in the face of war crimes, serious violations of international humanitarian law, sexual violence, the deportation of their children, and the torture and killing of their neighbours who fight every day for human rights and a European future. We must remember the citizens of Gaza and their suffering today. They are being denied essential items such as food, water, fuel and medicine, and confined in an intolerable situation. And their situation is a violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law. We must continue to be vocal in defending human rights, particularly as we witness the prevalence of authoritarian regimes across our world and the repression of civil society. Regrettably, we can pinpoint to the erosion of women’s rights and the rights of minorities under such regimes. Globally, the number of democracies is shrinking and as a result, we are seeing more and more conflicts breaking out with devastating humanitarian consequences. In the face of these challenges, we must continue to systematically condemn human rights violations in all their forms and apply sanctions against offenders. And importantly, we must support those human rights defenders who continue to highlight and to support those who are victims of human rights violations in our world.

5

Feb

2024

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, the Medical Devices Regulation aimed to establish a robust and transparent framework for medical devices. It was welcomed by patients and by practitioners alike at the time, prioritising safety, health and innovation. However, after more than six years of implementation, the objectives of this legislation have not been fully realised. Short-term challenges – and I acknowledge there has been some attempt to address this – but there has been a serious lack of availability of some products and the current framework lacks predictability and it lacks efficiency. It fails to keep pace with the required innovation to develop new medical technologies, resulting in increased costs that have a disproportionate effect on SMEs. The converse are alarming for European patients: they are at risk of losing access to the latest technologies, with Europe no longer the choice to launch products, so clinicians are already facing delays and lack of availability of devices. This is having a disproportionate effect on smaller patient populations, rare diseases and paediatric patients, and the difficulties in establishing this framework need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

18

Jan

2024

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Recent ecological catastrophe involving plastic pellet losses and its impact on micro plastic pollution in the maritime and coastal habitats (debate)

– Mr President, Commissioner, as we speak today, hundreds of workers and volunteers are working day and night to clean up those millions of plastic pellets that have washed up on their shores in Galicia. They are doing so because they want to protect their environment, their fishing, their shellfish industry and their livelihoods in the tourism sector. They’re asking questions, such as: how did this happen? Could it have been prevented? Could the extent of the damage that we are seeing today have been reduced? Why was there such a delay before they saw action and support from their government? What happened from the 8 December 2023 to 3 January 2024? Why did it take so long for their regional government to be informed so that they could take action? They want to know what’s to be done at European level, to prevent, to minimise and to better coordinate a response to such a serious event in the future. It has to be noted that the company responsible for the transport of these pellets did act and inform as soon as they could. They will investigate how it happened and they will contribute to the clean—up. I am glad to see that the Spanish Public Prosecutor has started an investigation. We must provide answers, but we must also give direction as to how such a scenario can be avoided or reduced in the future. This spillage has brought into focus the regulation on preventing microplastic pollution that’s currently being considered here in this Parliament, a regulation that aims to see measures applied across the plastic industry chain to reduce pellet lost by up to 70%. I want to see the adoption of this report, a practical regulation that will be effective. We must act to prevent such spillages, we must commit to containing spillages and to reducing their impact in the environment, and we must have a coordinated clean—up response to help and support those vulnerable communities who suffer and bear the brunt of these environmental spills.

23

Nov

2023

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International day for the elimination of violence against women (debate)

Mr President, on this International Day, when we remember violence against women and we acknowledge that it does exist, we should think of all those women and young girls in war-torn conflict areas who are victims of unspeakable torture and violence. Violence against women in all its forms is a weapon of war, and is being used as we speak today as a weapon. Here in Europe, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence. Many of it goes unreported due to issues such as silence, stigma and the reluctance to share, because of its reception in our societies. It is crucial that we break barriers to ensure effective intervention, and the Istanbul Convention was designed to do that. It, with all its requirements, will need to be implemented across the European Union – and all Member States need to recognise that. The Convention recognises all forms of violence, psychological, stalking, physical, sexual, including rape and sexual harassment. We need to provide support for victims of violence, and help them to engage with our legal services to share their stories, and we thank all those who have come forward, who have been brave. They have empowered others. They have also shone a light on the issues surrounding violence against women, particularly in the area of rape and sexual assault. So, today, we think of all those women who are victims of violence and assault in our communities, and we call on all Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

18

Oct

2023

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Fighting disinformation and dissemination of illegal content in the context of the Digital Services Act and in times of conflict (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, societies are facing unprecedented challenges in the form of disinformation and the rapid spread of illegal, misleading and harmful content and the DSA is a powerful tool that we can use to safeguard the integrity of information. The spread of disinformation poses a severe threat to the foundations of our democratic institutions: false narratives, fake news, misleading propaganda can erode trust in our political processes, mislead citizens, and create an environment of uncertainty. As we have seen, in times of conflict these consequences are even more pronounced. Meta, X, TikTok and others cannot disregard EU rules on harmful content. The Digital Services Act has established a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital services, will hold platforms accountable for the content that they host, and they must adopt proactive measures to detect and remove information. If large online platforms fail to swiftly remove illegal content, there are consequences, including fines totalling up to 6% of the company’s revenue. So, I want to acknowledge the Commission and thank them for writing to X, Meta, TikTok, Alphabet and YouTube, reminding them of their obligations under this legislation. I hope that you will not hesitate, Commissioner, to robustly enforce these requirements. With so much at stake during times of conflict, we cannot stand by and tolerate unchecked, misleading or illegal content that will make matters worse.

5

Oct

2023

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Urban wastewater treatment (debate)

Mr President, I’d like to thank the Commission for their proposal here and thank you to our rapporteur and the other shadows for their work bringing us to this point. So this Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive will mandate countries to step up their efforts in removing harmful micro-pollutants. And we know that there is growing concern from consumers and from our citizens about the rising level of these pollutants in our waterways. It’s one of the most significant overhauls in EU water policy in over 30 years, and it does form the cornerstone of the EU zero-pollution package. The revision focuses on tackling new pollution threats, increasing the availability and transparency of pollution data, and requiring countries across Europe to alert each other about pollution events. This proposal will also see the wastewater treatment plants across Europe becoming energy-neutral by 2040, contributing to our Green Deal ambitions. So it’s a crucial new piece of legislation reducing pollution and improving water quality in European lakes, rivers and coastal areas and will significantly benefit our environment while improving the well-being and the health of our citizens. And it will be challenging for many areas, given the difficult terrain and also the scattering of our population settlements. So as part of the new legislative proposal, Member States, including Ireland, will now have to remove micro-pollutants from urban wastewater as well as routinely monitor for pathogens such as COVID-19. The principle of the polluter pays has been introduced here, and I welcome that. Up to 92% of the pollutants do come from pharmaceuticals, and the cosmetic industry has been identified by the Commission. I think we have reached a balance in our proposal as to how we move forward in this area, because we do need ambitious, pragmatic laws to continue to improve Europe’s water quality, and that exactly is what this legislation will do. So I welcome it and hope we’ll be moving on to the next stage and look forward to working again with my rapporteur and with the other institutions.

5

Oct

2023

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Financial services contracts concluded at a distance (debate)

Mr President, thank you to our rapporteur and to all those involved. I welcome these new provisions for the financial services that have been provided in the Consumer Rights Directive. We are all living through digitalisation of our financial services, and we know that consumer protection rules must now be fit for the digital age. These new rules will provide for stronger protection for consumers when they conclude contracts at a distance or by phone. It will be easier for consumers to make informed decisions. They must be given clear information before they purchase a financial service product, and they must get that information in good time before they finalise the contract. A major change introduced here will be the introduction of the right-to-withdraw function within 14 days for all digital contracts, and not just financial, as we want to have what’s legal the same offline as on the online space. So we now have the principle that it is as easy to withdraw from as it is to conclude a contract. I’m also glad to see the provision that there will be human intervention for consumers and those of us who can get caught in the labyrinth that can be when you try to deal with these complex services online. So thank you to all involved.

12

Sep

2023

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Single market emergency instrument (debate)

Madam President, the single market emergency instrument is a critical piece of legislation, and it not only draws on the lessons from COVID-19, but also equips the European Union to better prepare for future crisis. The pandemic revealed the inadequacy of national approaches to effectively tackle a crisis of such magnitude. We saw border closures, procurement hurdles and export controls. This Parliament has recognised that an instrument is needed for rapid and decisive action during times of crisis, and it introduces a system of alert levels that will foster collaboration between the European Commission and Member States. This collaboration approach is pivotal in both preventing and mitigating crisis and ensuring that the EU can respond swiftly to emerging challenges. We saw the value of collaboration during COVID. So during a crisis this instrument will empower the Commission to implement a range of measures aimed at safeguarding the principles of the single market: free movement of goods, services and people across Europe. Furthermore, it guarantees the availability of crucial crisis-relevant goods, something we learned during the pandemic. The instrument will facilitate the availability of essential goods by enabling priority orders and necessitates close coordination again among Member States in their crisis response. So we will have a clear framework for joint procurement, learning from the vaccines experience during the crisis. It builds on the lessons of the past, equips us with the tools we need to respond swiftly, decisively and collaboratively when we face a new risk or a new crisis, so we can ensure that our single market remains open and fair, and goods of vital importance remain available to meet the needs of the people of Europe.

11

Sep

2023

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Consumer credits (debate)

Mr President, I thank the rapporteur and the shadows for this development to protect consumers in the credit market. It is really important and I really want to thank them for ensuring the inclusion of the right to be forgotten clause, which removes an obligation on individuals to disclose past cancer diagnoses to financial institutions such as banks or insurance companies, provided a certain period of time has passed. It is welcome that this provision is included, and I thank them for ensuring that we are at this point. This significant achievement will pave the way for greater equality and protection of cancer patients and survivors. Nevertheless, the journey is far from over. We now need every Member State, including my own Ireland, to introduce this measure so that financial service providers adopt appropriate practices at national level. I thank those countries that have led so far. I also thank institutions such as Insurance Ireland that have moved to adopt a code of conduct. But now we have a reality whereby the right to be forgotten for cancer patients and survivors will be adopted across Europe. That’s really one of the strengths of our BECA report, initially, to ensure that we protect cancer patients and survivors.

13

Jul

2023

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Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, it is clear that generative AI is coming at a speed like no other technology has: 100 million users in the first two months. Everybody with a smartphone or a phone can have access to ChatGPT. It has the potential to influence political discourse, shape public opinion and affect societal dynamics. While it can be a force for good through helpful automation, it also presents certain risks and can contribute to the spread of disinformation that could put our elections at risk, can pose new questions about our education systems, which will need to adapt, and prompt serious questions about employment and workforce adaptation. Globally, generative AI will have an impact on people’s lives, whether they choose to use it or not, and this requires a global approach, in turn. This Parliament recently adopted its position on the AI Act, seeking to ensure transparency, protect fundamental rights and support innovation at the same time. ChatGPT was in its infancy when the Act was first proposed and not really in the public consciousness. This has changed in the past months and now everybody is using it. In Parliament, here we were the first to try and truly tackle this fast moving and evolving technology with a concrete legislative proposal on how to address powerful foundation models to build trust, provide transparency and oversight on these powerful systems. The AI Act will likely enter into force at a later date, whereas a global convergence on how to approach generative AI in a safe, responsible manner can take place already, and it can use Parliament’s approach as a blueprint on how to do so. This means transparency, risks, audits and other technical details for companies developing this technology. So there’s also procedures of tension between innovation and regulation when it comes to the EU and some of our partners, especially when it comes to new technologies, but diverging approaches between like-minded partners can create barriers to innovation. Therefore, I welcome the approach at international level under the Trade and Technology Council to develop guardrails, code of conduct, framework, whatever, but we need common standards that we can all work to.

11

Jul

2023

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COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future (debate)

Mr President, (start of speech off mic) ... our rapporteur and all those shadows that were involved in bringing us to this point. It’s important that we look back to learn the lessons and to provide recommendations to ensure that the next pandemic we encounter will not have such a significant impact on our health, our societies and our economies. Most importantly, we want to ensure that we will not allow such a situation to reoccur. So with better sharing of information from our regions, our states and with our international partners and organisations, we can move more quickly to stop such a crisis, with better focus on innovation of medicines and therapeutics so we can be better prepared to prevent and to treat illness. And so I do welcome the move to a stronger European Health Union. This is one of the lasting outcomes of the pandemic and we are now better equipped to deal with any future health crisis today. Today, it’s important that we should remember all those who died during the pandemic, those who suffered significantly and those who are today living with long COVID. We also acknowledge the significant impact on the mental health of so many of our people, both young and old. We can do better by building on the successes and by learning from the lessons of the COVID pandemic.

15

Jun

2023

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The water crisis in Europe (debate)

Madam President, Madam Commissioner, water scarcity driven by climate change and unsustainable practice poses a significant threat to a way of life here in Europe. The sight of empty reservoirs, stranded boats, previously submerged infrastructure is becoming more and more common. And as of April, over a quarter of the continent was in drought. And it’s likely that the situation will further deteriorate in the coming months. And rising temperatures are making it so much harder to recover and creating that dangerous cycle. And we have heard it from many speakers here this morning from their own countries, rising temperatures, high temperatures that have never been seen before being recorded is becoming a daily occurrence in our media in Ireland with our mild climate and our coastal landscape is reaching warning levels of soil-moisture deficits. The deficit does have serious consequences for our agricultural industry as crops so much rely on sufficient moisture in our soils to thrive. So it is imperative that we take action to address the crisis here to address these challenges. Collaboration between policymakers, scientists, engineers, farmers producing our food is so important. Sharing knowledge, best practices and resources. We can develop sustainable climate-resilient agricultural systems and mitigate against water scarcity. So now so many cities and towns have been told that we have a hosepipe ban being implemented. That’s not good enough for our citizens. They need to see water storage facilities being developed. We all know where we are going on this and we need to react. Here in Parliament yesterday we had the AI vote that will help to address climate change. I, as a shadow, am working on the Wastewater Treatment Directive, we are prioritising the reuse of treated wastewater for agriculture and irrigation. Our Environment Committee is voting on the Nature Restoration Law this morning. All these are things that we can do here to improve our water quality and to address the serious deterioration in standards across Europe. So we need improved infrastructure. We must implement water management strategies because water is a natural resource and, to me, to preserve that is what we need to do for sustainable development for those future generations of our continent.

13

Jun

2023

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Artificial Intelligence Act (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner and colleagues, this is a ground-breaking piece of legislation. It is among the first global attempts to regulate AI, and AI has the capacity to solve the most pressing issues, including climate change or serious illness. And we want to lay the foundations for doing this here in the European Union. This law could become the de facto global approach to regulating AI and especially new types of AI like foundation models. We cannot do this entirely on our own, but we should be leaders in ensuring that this technology is developed and used in a responsible ethical manner, while also supporting innovation and economic growth. It is a clear signal of our openness and our willingness to engage with our international partners on AI that we have aligned the definition with that of the OECD. The AI takes a risk-based approach, and if an AI system is high risk, it must meet fairness, transparency and safety requirements. Systems that present an unacceptable risk will be prohibited. And underpinning all of this is an ambitious regime to support innovation in Europe. Our proposals on sandbox will help ensure that they are developed in a safe, responsible manner in areas that offer the most value and ingenuity in the EU. We are among the first to tackle the fast-moving and evolving technology with a concrete legislative proposal on how to address those powerful foundation models to build trust and provide transparency and oversight of these systems. The absolute minimum that we need to offer here is transparency. It must be clear that this content has not been made by human. And we also go one step further and ask developers of these large models to be more transparent and share their information with providers and how these systems were trained and how they were developed. This should address and alter the environmental sustainability of these systems. So this legislation will contribute to building public trust and certainty with AI by establishing a regulatory oversight body and ensuring that we have openness and transparency.

1

Jun

2023

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Coordinated action to address antimicrobial resistance (debate)

Madam President, AMR – antimicrobial resistance – is one of the biggest threats to public health today. The medicines that we use so widely and are so available, and that have had such an impact on our healthcare from minor to major illness, are becoming less effective as the bacteria that antibiotics are tackling are becoming increasingly resistant. We need more innovation and new developments in this area and the World Health Organisation has been critical of the lack of worldwide action in developing new medicines. So it’s significant and important, Commissioner, that the pharmaceutical legislation addresses this issue and aims to increase further development of antibiotics. But more and better medicines are not the only answer: they are part of a solution. We need a range of actions taking into account human health and welfare, animal health and production, and food and food safety. Today, we are all aware of the effects that a worldwide pandemic can have on our health, our societies, our economies. We did not see COVID coming, but we can see AMR coming and we need action now, urgently.

31

May

2023

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Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (debate)

Mr President, we need to support and enable businesses to act more sustainably and responsibly in their global and their EU activities. This proposal is a step towards doing that while also bringing legal certainty and a level playing field when compared to the existing situation, where there’s a varying degree of approaches taken across the Member States. Products and services that are a result of human rights and environmental violations should not be allowed on the European market. The EU is capable of setting high standards and having a strong influence on global supply chains, and we can use this influence to address human rights violations and breaches of social and environmental standards. I was concerned that the proposed directive took a minimum harmonisation approach because it leaves room for Member States to impose diverging obligations from those in this directive that may actually undermine legal certainty and that creation of that level playing field. So the improved text, with a dedicated article to fully harmonise the provision of this directive during its transposition, and thereafter there will be a revision of six years to assess whether it should be turned into a regulation, is an improvement and it will lead to an increase of harmonisation and cross—border cooperation.

29

Mar

2023

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General Product Safety Regulation (debate)

Mr President, thank you to the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs for bringing us to this point. Consumers in the EU should be able to buy from anywhere in Europe or the world and know that the products they buy are safe. This needs to become the norm. Toys, motor cars, cosmetics, clothing and electrical appliances top the list of dangerous products found in the single market, and half of those products come from outside the European Union. All products traded in the EU are subject to general safety requirements. But to keep up with challenges linked to digitalisation and the increasing amount of goods and products sold online, these rules are no longer suited to addressing current digital technological developments and the challenges. Thanks to this new legislation, marketplaces will be safer and we will have the tools to spot dangerous products and get them removed from online marketplaces quickly. Consumers will now be informed about recalls of products that they bought before it hurts them. This General Product Safety Regulation is future-proofed, as it covers all consumer products and also new digital ones. The new rules ensure that economic operators have to have a responsible product person for products sold online and offline, whether they originate in the EU or from a third country. If a product has proven to be unsafe, economic operators are required to immediately adopt corrective measures and inform market surveillance authorities and consumers accordingly. If a product has to be recalled, consumers will be entitled to repair, replacement or refund. These new rules for online marketplaces will increase safety, better protect consumers, and help us in reaching a level playing field when it comes to online and offline sectors.

17

Jan

2023

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Surge of respiratory infections and the shortage of medication in Europe (debate)

Mr President, as we can see, rising RSV, and cases of flu and corona have created enormous pressures on our health systems across Europe. And they’ve also highlighted a gap in terms of supply of essential medicines. The number of out—of—stock medicines in Ireland has risen to over 200 this week, and this is also in line with a pan-European shortage of critical elements that require a pan-European response. We need to evaluate our methods of procurement, purchasing, storage and distribution of these key medicines, and we need to move towards increasing domestic production in Europe to reduce our dependency on imports. Member States, led by the Commission, need to discuss common procurement, as we did during the pandemic. The people of Europe benefited from the common purchase of vaccines and they want to see this type of approach as well. As one speaker has said, we need to see more Europe in this area, a European approach now, to benefit all of our citizens.

17

Jan

2023

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Consumer protection in online video games: a European Single Market approach (debate)

Mr President, I think we should all acknowledge that the gaming industry plays a really important role in the European Union. In recent times, during the pandemic, we saw the real value of the industry in terms of the opportunity for socialising, for communicating, entertainment, the opportunities for jobs, businesses and also the real value in encouraging creativity and innovation. We see that 50 % of the population between 6 and 64 play video games, so that’s a strong industry, but we need to ensure regulation that will provide confidence to consumers, that their rights and that the online safety are concerns that they would have for their children are addressed. That’s why this report is asking that the current regulatory framework for loot boxes is sufficient, that will be examined, and that the situation of minors in particular is examined. With regard to loot boxes, a report for the IMCO Committee outlined the potential exposure to psychological and financial losses. This study was done by the policy department and also outlined if it can be exploitative, lack transparency, create unfair gaming advantages. So we need to have these findings and these concerns addressed to give security to EU citizens.

15

Dec

2022

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The humanitarian situation in Ukraine due to Russia’s attacks against critical infrastructure and civilian areas (debate)

Mr President, since 10 October, Russia has been targeting air and missile attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine on a nearly weekly basis. These attacks have caused significant damage to Ukraine’s power grid and energy stations, resulting in countrywide blackouts, telephone and Internet outages, and loss of water supplies. Ukrainians are facing those attacks in sub-zero temperatures, with families freezing in their homes. So increased humanitarian aid is needed. And, of course, many of those families are also displaced. Such attacks have also severely affected healthcare in Ukraine. And as of last week, the World Health Organization had documented 715 attacks on healthcare facilities since the beginning of this war. Doctors and medics are unable to treat patients, again worsening the humanitarian situation. Indeed, attacks on transport and energy infrastructure have restricted patients and mobility, and their access to these vital healthcare services. So they need support. We need more humanitarian aid to Ukraine, to those brave people of Ukraine, who I am sure sometimes cannot be brave all the time in these difficult, horrendous situations that have been caused by Russia’s horrendous attack on their country, their critical infrastructure in civilian areas. And that’s evidence that Mr Putin is unwilling to engage in meaningful diplomacy. We must do everything we can to support Ukraine now and into the future.