What Maria spoke about.

6 Oct

2026

EN Answer

Effective measures to protect and empower children in the digital world (debate)

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As I understand, you are urging for parents to take more responsibility, but it cannot lay only on the parents because families can be very different and I want that our children are treated equal despite the family they live in. We have families with lots of problems and the parents just do not have the means to check what their children are seeing on their mobile phones. The example I gave where…

6 Oct

2026

EN Speech

Effective measures to protect and empower children in the digital world (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, we live in a world where parents are aware that if a kid is let out at night in a park, the park might pose problems. It can be a dangerous place. But at the same time, in the evening, a child has full access to the phone, to an internet world which can be even more dangerous. We have chatbots that look like Disney characters. Behind them, there are criminals trying …

5 Oct

2026

EN Speech

Protecting patients from illegal and falsified medicines sold online: strengthening enforcement and cross-border cooperation (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, the internet is full of snake oil sellers. When people are ill and at their most vulnerable looking for hope, too often they turn to falsified medicines that are marketed through ads on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. They become victims. We have the laws, but they are not respected. Platforms are obliged to remove illegal ads. By law, they are not allowed to profi…

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the Action Plan on Cybersecurity and AI (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, in Europe, in cybersecurity, our biggest vulnerability is believing that we are protected and that we have time, which we are not and which we do not have. As the rapporteur for IMCO on the Cybersecurity Act 2, I welcome the action plan Commissioner Virkkunen has presented today. European society needs to be defended from all angles. Our cyber ecosystem needs to be…

18 Jun

2026

EN Speech

International Day of Play: promoting children’s right to play (debate)

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Mr President, I thank the Commissioner for being here. I will begin with a short poem: 'We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, his senses are being developed. To him, we cannot answe…

18 Jun

2026

EN Speech

Joint Declaration on ‘Culture for Europe - Europe for Culture’ (debate)

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Mr President, I thank the Commissioner and everybody who has been giving birth to this vital declaration. Some of you might remember this quote: 'You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.' These are the words of Charlie Chaplin in the movie The Great Dictator. Culture is always a reflection and a catalyst of society's evolving va…

19 May

2026

EN Speech

Opportunities and challenges presented by a comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy for EU trade (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, representatives of the Commission, first of all, thank you, Brando, for this strong and timely report. Artificial intelligence offers enormous opportunities for European industry and innovation. It can also give our customs and market surveillance authorities better tools to protect consumers and ensure that our rules are respected. But if we want Europe to be able t…

19 May

2026

EN Speech

EU cybersecurity and preparedness in view of advanced AI systems (debate)

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Madam President, dear Commissioner, I think it's not exaggeration to say that we are living historical times. AI is affecting our societies in so many ways, including the nature of cyber warfare. Attacks are becoming faster, more autonomous, more precise and harder to detect. But our infrastructure, our network, our weapon systems are vulnerable. This is not science fiction; this is reality we're …

29 Apr

2026

EN Speech

Escalating trafficking and exploitation by criminal groups in Haiti

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Mr President, Commissioner, I was leading the negotiations and I'd like to thank all the colleagues who were at the same table. We found common ground between my group S&D, EPP, Renew, ECR and Greens, who all signed this Haiti resolution. Children should be allowed to be children everywhere in the world, and I know that the world will never be ready, but together we can make it a bit better place.…

9 Mar

2026

FI Speech

Gender pay and pension gap in the EU: state of play, challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fairer remuneration of work in female-dominated sectors (debate)

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Mr President, pay inequality pays women twice, first during their working lives and then again in retirement. I would like to highlight my own country, Finland, as a warning example. Finland is currently the number one country in European unemployment statistics. When care work is cut, or when school support services are cut, it is cut not only from those in need, but also directly from women and …

11 Feb

2026

EN Speech

International Day of Education, fighting inequalities in access to education (debate)

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Madam President, dear Commissioner Mînzatu, dear colleagues, education is not only about knowledge; it is about equal opportunities and the power to shape one's future, and yet, access to quality education is still too often determined by the circumstances into which you are born as a child. Among the most disadvantaged are children in foster and alternative care. Many face disrupted learning path…

10 Feb

2026

FI Speech

Presentation of the action plan against cyberbullying (debate)

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21 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Online piracy of sports and other live events: urgent need to address unsolved issues (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, online piracy might feel like no big deal – a simple anonymous click. But behind every illegal stream there is an athlete who trained for years, an artist who rehearsed throughout the night, a technician that set the lights before the dawn. Piracy is not abstract. It drains up to 30 billion globally every year. Piracy also leaves its users exposed, nearly 40 % of t…

21 Jan

2026

EN Answer

Presentation of the Digital Networks Act (debate)

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Thank you very much for this very important topic and question. Finland shares a 1 300 kilometre border with Russia. We have lived in this shadow for decades and before we gained our independence, we were under their scrutiny. So, the matter for us is something that we take into account every day. You ask very justly, should we take a stronger approach to this? I think the more united Europe is on…

21 Jan

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the Digital Networks Act (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, 5G, cloud services, fibre, artificial intelligence and communication technologies are crucial components of our security. Our critical infrastructures are constantly under attack. From destroying our cables to hacking our networks, to us Finns, this is everyday life. In this unstable geopolitical environment, we have to better our digital sovereignty. We cannot le…

18 Dec

2025

FI Speech

European Democracy Shield – very large online platform algorithms, foreign interference and the spread of disinformation (debate)

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17 Dec

2025

EN Speech

Mass kidnapping of children in Nigeria, including from St Mary's Catholic school in Papiri

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Madam President, little girls forced into marriage, sold as slaves or abused sexually by jihadists. 303 children were taken from their beds at St Mary's school. Since 2014, more than 1 500 children have been abducted from Nigerian schools. All these children should have been safe, enjoying what all children in the world should have: a safe childhood and a safe school environment. Violence like thi…

17 Dec

2025

EN Speech

2030 Consumer Agenda (debate)

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Madam President, in just two years – in just two years – 92 % of Europeans have encountered online fraud or scams. This is a systemic failure for the EU. Unsafe products are only a click away, threatening our consumers' health and safety. Our children are targeted by aggressive marketing, by addictive design, by content and products that put their safety at risk. Our merchants are also facing unfa…

26 Nov

2025

EN Speech

EU response to the continuous airspace violations and sabotage of critical infrastructure in the EU originating from Russia and Belarus (debate)

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Madam President, our airspace is violated, our borders are probed, our cables are cut. This is hybrid war. And the aim of a hybrid war is simple: to sow confusion, to weaken trust, and to break the unity of the target before a single bullet is fired. It is outrageous that even within our own Union, Putin's useful idiots try to echo his narratives. Madam President, Finland knows the cost of a long …

26 Nov

2025

EN Speech

EU position on the proposed plan and EU engagement towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, history teaches us hard lessons. 1925 – Germany signed the Locarno treaties. 1934 – the non-aggression pact with Poland. 1938 – the Munich Agreement. All presented as peace efforts; all used to buy time for further aggression. So let's not forget, not every peace is a real peace. Today, we face a similar risk. The United States is leading talks on a proposal for Ukraine, and we se…

25 Nov

2025

FI Speech

Protection of minors online (debate)

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Mr President, what is unacceptable in the real world should not be acceptable online. What is illegal in the real world should also be illegal online. Algorithms are currently guiding children into dark alleys. Cyberbullying is commonplace and chatbots at worst encourage self-harm. With one click, the child can access harmful content, content that is dangerous to mental health. According to studie…

23 Oct

2025

FI Speech

Discontinuing seasonal time change (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, when a problem is so obvious, we should be able to resolve it politically as quickly as possible. This hasn't been the case. Clock shifting, depression, concentration disorders, sleep problems, even an increase in myocardial infarctions have been proven. Changing the clock causes all of these. In Finland, Timo Partonen, sleep researcher and research professor at the Nat…

20 Oct

2025

EN Answer

A new legislative framework for products that is fit for the digital and sustainable transition (debate)

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Thank you very much for the question. Simplification is in order in this manner, but also customers, and protecting Europeans from faulty products that can even endanger lives – for example, with children. If the toys – 80 % of them do not apply to our regulations. This is a big danger for the future of Europe, because children are the future of Europe. We need to educate our people, already at th…

20 Oct

2025

EN Speech

A new legislative framework for products that is fit for the digital and sustainable transition (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, in 2024 alone, the EU received 4.6 billion e-commerce parcels, mostly from outside our borders and many of them failing to meet European safety standards – the risk in millions of European homes – products that endanger consumers and harm our fragile environment. This alone is a call to action. The new legislative framework was adopted over a decade ago, and it no lo…

20 Oct

2025

EN Speech

The decision to impose a fine on Google: defending press and media freedom in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, media freedom: it's one of Europe's core values. It's the heartbeat of our democracy. And today, once again, we discuss Google's dominance, and we must remember what's at stake. Google controls much of how Europeans find news, how publishers earn on it. As a digital gatekeeper, it decides who is seen and who is silenced. Our media depend on visibility and fair revenu…