Speeches

Madam President! Commissioner, please! A pleasure! Digitalisation is becoming increasingly important in our society, in our everyday lives and in our economy. But even though digitalization has already changed a lot in our lives, we must dare to go even further. Digitalisation ensures jobs, growth and prosperity. That is why I welcome the ambitious goals set out in the programme. If the EU is to be at the forefront of the digital transformation, and I think it should be, then we need more digital experts, the internet for everyone, and more businesses and public services to use digital solutions. I myself come from one of the world's most digitised countries, and therefore I also know about the back of the medal. There are some who lose their jobs when they are automated, and there are some who lack digital skills to be able to join. Therefore, it is also important that we ensure that no one is left on the platform. No one should be left behind in digitalisation, which is why we need to make a special effort to ensure it. We need to provide training for those who lose their jobs, and we need to provide people with the skills they need to participate in digitalisation. Perhaps even offer that you can access public services without having these skills. So we need to be more digital, while protecting those who find it difficult to join. This is the prerequisite for our success in the European Union.

Madam President! Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you for a good introduction and for acknowledging the major challenges of diabetes in the EU, where almost every ninth EU citizen has diabetes - either type one or type two. That is why it is very important and good that we are debating this today and are now also adopting a new resolution. There is a lot we can do and there is a lot we should do. This is especially true for people living with diabetes. They must have a better quality of life. But it's also serious for our health care systems. Worst of all, we can do something about it! In my opinion, we need to break the curve in the European Union in relation to the number of people with diabetes. Type two in particular can be prevented by healthier lifestyles, and we actually have a lot of things we can do in the EU. We can help create better consumer information for our foods, we can reduce the salt and sugar content in many of our processed products, etc. Risk factors, for which we have a responsibility in the European Union. But first of all, we need to think about the patients living with diabetes, and they need to be able to live a better life. Diabetes is a serious disease. Let us also take it seriously politically, please.

Madam President! Commissioner Vestager! The EU must be at the forefront of digital development. This ensures growth, prosperity and well-being. But with digitalization comes new challenges. We have become more vulnerable to digital threats. As for example, as we also heard Mr. Løkkegaard say, our country Denmark the other day has been hit by a hacker attack, which put large parts of the train traffic at a standstill. Unfortunately, the example is not unique. Every day, European companies and authorities are exposed to hacker attacks. We need to step up the fight against the digital threats coming from all over the world Putins. Especially when it comes to critical infrastructure. And that is exactly what we are doing with the Nice II Directive. The Directive imposes very specific requirements on the IT security of companies, on the security of supply chains and on supplier relationships. And that's absolutely necessary. Support for digitalisation is in jeopardy if we do not give citizens, businesses and consumers the certainty that cyber and information security in the EU is top notch. Thank you for the word.

Mr President! International shipping is one of the sectors where CO2 emissions have increased most significantly since the 1990s. And by 2050, emissions are expected to increase by up to 130% in shipping. We therefore desperately need a green transition of shipping. New technologies and new types of green fuel have been taken up in other sectors. We need shipping to set in motion a similar development. It's urgent. The European Commission recognises that with the current legislation it will be difficult to achieve the reductions in shipping CO2 before 2030, and that is simply not good enough. In ENVI, we therefore suggest that we both need the EU to legislate on ambitious reduction requirements, while at the same time helping to boost innovation for the sector so that we can get the necessary development off the ground. We really need to push everyone in the maritime sector to contribute, both suppliers and operators. Everyone needs more green fuel. Otherwise, shipping will not be included in the green transition in time. We need shipping, but we need it to run on green fuel.

Madam President! Commissioner, please! We've been talking about it for a long time, as we've just heard. In fact, almost as long as I've been a member of this house. But now it's finally happening: We get this common charger for our electronic devices, and I think we can be proud of that. I think we've all been in this very frustrating situation. The mobile phone has run out of power, and the charging jack we borrowed doesn't fit. Or when we travel and we struggle to find space for our chargers for mobile phones, headphones, camera, laptops, tablets, etc. An endless jungle of charging jacks and cables. We're going to put an end to that. Lightning or USB B, or whatever the different charger connectors are now called, will be replaced by a single type of charger in the form of USB C. And consumers will be able to choose whether to buy a new product with or without a charger. Life gets easier, and it's good for the environment, and it's good for our wallet. A common charger will not only reduce our ecological footprint, it will also save consumers money. More concretely, as we have already heard earlier today, we will reduce our amount of electronic waste by around 11 000 tonnes per year, while consumers will save around EUR 250 million per year overall. Money that can instead be used to fill other gaps in the household budget. So the legislation we have here is a win-win. The only ones who lose on this are the greedy companies that have been allowed to capitalize on the many different chargers for far too long. It's over now, Apple! That is why I would also like to thank our rapporteur, Alex Saliba. It is a fantastic job you have done and I am convinced that the legislation will serve both the environment and consumers very well.

Madam President! The biggest test for a community is how to deal with the crises you face together. And if Putin thought that with his invasion of Ukraine he could divide us, could divide the EU, then he was wrong! We have proved that when international rules and European values are attacked, we stand together. We did that during the coronavirus, and now it is the inflation and energy crisis that is threatening. Companies are threatened with their existence. People are threatened with leaving their homes and homes. We need to solve that. But the crisis is not only threatening the economy of all of us. It also threatens our future. Several in the EU speak openly about relaxing our green ambitions, postponing some of our green initiatives. This is not the right way to go. My message today is very simple: The inflation and energy crisis must not become a barrier to the green transition. It has to be a stepping stone. We're not going to slow down, we're going to increase it. The EU has shown that we are united when it comes to this. It is also time for us to show that unity in relation to the climate crisis.

Mr President, thank you, colleagues, for a very good debate today and to you, Margrethe. I was going to say the same as you just said here – finally, we are at the end of the beginning, because tomorrow we vote and then we have the legislation in place. And then the hard work will begin. And I count on you, Mr Breton and Ms Vestager, I count on you – you need to do a very good job. It will be tough to implement and it will be even tougher to enforce it. But we need it because otherwise we will not get the tech industry under democratic control. And I will follow it, together with the Parliament; we will make sure that you will be pushed and we will look over our shoulders and follow your work, because this is very important. But I have to say that I am extremely proud that we together have made history and we together have made landmark legislations that will impact the whole digital world and a lot of citizens will really feel the difference. So we need to be proud. I am proud. Thank you very much for the cooperation.

Oh, ma'am. The President! New technology has always changed the world. It has created amazing benefits and lots of opportunities, but with new opportunities, new challenges will also come. This also applies to our intermediary services. The digital has at the same time made the distance between us shorter, but also dug the ditches deeper. You can write to people from all over the world, but judging by the debate on social media, it's all too easy to forget that it's people you're writing with. All too often, social media algorithms promote hatred and division rather than hope and unity, and disinformation spreads like wildfire, amplifying echo chambers that reduce dialogue and understanding and challenge our democracy and our social model. And dangerous and illegal products find their way to European consumers far too easily through online marketplaces that exploit the gaps in our legislation. For too long, there have been far too few rules in our online world. The digital has evolved a bit into a wild west, where the biggest players decide the rules of the game. But with the DSA, there's a new sheriff in town. Now we are taming the tech giants, giving users better rights and taking care of our democracy. We open the black box of the algorithms so that we can look into the engine of the platforms' money machine. In the future, it will be a requirement for the largest platforms to risk assess their algorithms. Is the algorithm spreading illegal content? Does it promote eating disorders and self-harm? Does it promote disinformation and conspiracy theories? If there is a risk that this affects us negatively, then the platforms must correct the problem, just as they must give access to their algorithms to authorities, to the European Commission, as well as to researchers and NGOs, so they can help look over the shoulder of the tech giants. We require platforms to take responsibility for their algorithms. Algorithms and not just neutral mathematical formulas. They are designed to keep us engaged on the platform for as long as possible. It is a central part of the platform's money model. The longer we are online, the more data the platforms collect about us, and the more money they can make targeting ads to us. Let's take a look at the platform's business model. They can make money, but not at the expense of our health or our social model. First of all, we prohibit targeted advertising to children and minors based on their personal data. Platforms should not have a financial incentive to collect massive amounts of data about our children and young people and potentially sell them on. And by making this ban, we actually make it safer to be a child and young people online, and it also gives more peace of mind to us parents. Next, we prohibit platforms from using sensitive information about users, regardless of age, to target advertising. And we ban Dark Patterns, which manipulate us to make certain choices in various dialog boxes. And now the platform's money machine has to give way to democracy. Democracy must set the framework for the tech giants, not the other way around. This also applies to our online marketplaces. Nowadays, it is all too easy to click illegal and dangerous products into the virtual shopping cart. It undermines consumer protection and product safety and is therefore pleased that we have come closer to putting online shopping on an equal footing with offline shopping. In the future, online marketplaces will have to know their sellers, among other things, and they will have to carry out random checks of the goods offered on the platform, where the goods will have to be compared against existing databases and illegal products. It's no secret that I would have liked to go further myself, but I think we're taking a good first step here. Now I want to switch to English. I would like to thank everyone who made this new legislation possible. Thanks to all my shadow rapporteurs and all the associated committees for the cooperation, and a big thanks to the EU Commission and also to the French Presidency for a fruitful and constructive negotiation. It was not always easy, but I do believe that we can all be proud of the outcome. And finally, I would also like to thank our very hard—working and dedicated staff, and especially Mathias, Alexandra and Atanaska for their hard work. They’ve been working night and day to help us make this legislation possible. With the DSA, we will create a safer, a fairer and a more transparent online environment. We take back control from the tech giants and we establish a level playing field for businesses. I think that we can all be very proud of the agreement, and I do hope that a big majority here tomorrow will vote in favour of the DSA. With that, we have made history and we will make the online world much more safe.

Madam President! Colleagues, Commissioner! What do you see when you hear the term artificial intelligence? Robots taking over the world? A dystopia of Orwellian dimensions? Or maybe an app that can diagnose skin cancer just as accurately as experts? Or the Bluedot machine that predicted the COVID-19 pandemic before the WHO did it? Artificial intelligence, like everything else, has at least two sides. If used responsibly, it can benefit all of us. But if it is abused, it can have disastrous consequences. That is why it is important that we in the EU become leaders when it comes to the development of artificial intelligence, because we have a unique approach to technological development. We have people at the centre and insist that technology must be reliable. It goes hand in hand with high innovation, economic growth and greater competitiveness. But right now it is the United States and China that have taken the lead, and if we do not catch up with them, they will be the ones who will set the standard for how artificial intelligence should be and should be used. It's not supposed to be like that! The EU really needs to do this. The challenges of artificial intelligence today must not be turned into machine stormers. They must not become an excuse to be against progress and against technological development. What matters is that we make some demands on artificial intelligence. It must be developed and used in a transparent, ethical and responsible manner. That is the European way. Here we have the opportunity to take the lead back. I think the AIDA report is very good because it strikes precisely this balance. We are increasing investment in AI, we are making sure that European legislation is harmonised and we are addressing the risks inherent in the use of AI. I hope that in the future we can use artificial intelligence more in Europe. But this presupposes that it is human-centric and that we have legislation that ensures reliability in the way we use AI. With this, I warmly welcome the report.

Madam President! One planet is not enough if the whole world lived as we do here in Europe. If the whole world built houses, bought cars, clothes and electronics, as we do in Europe, then we would need 2.8 planets. It goes without saying that the way we live, produce and buy in Europe is not sustainable. We need to get away from this use-and-throw-away mentality. An important step towards more sustainable production and consumption is, among other things, the right to repair. I am, of course, pleased that the European Commission is considering various options under pressure from us in the European Parliament. There are many things that prevent us from repairing and consuming more sustainably. It is time consuming, it is difficult to get spare parts, and the price of spare parts is actually also high. But we need to change things. We need our products to live longer and also can be repaired. So I would like to call on the Commission, in its work towards a legislative proposal, not only to give us a right to information on repair, but to ensure that we as consumers have a real legal right to have our products repaired. I really believe that consumers can be used to push this green transition forward. If we have an opportunity as consumers to demand that the product be repaired, then there are also more who will do it, and if there are more who will do it, then we will really get the circular economy going. There is good business in it, and it may be that there are a few who lose his job, but then there are some other jobs that come in instead. This is a very good thing, and we also know that this is what consumers are looking for. In fact, 77% of consumers in the EU prefer to have their products repaired rather than buy new ones. So everything indicates that there will also be a lot of support for it. In addition, of course, we must also do everything else that we have proposed and that I support. We need to design the products so that they last longer. We need to make sure that the public sector buys much more green, we need a product passport and all these things. But frankly, fundamentally, it is important for us to get a right to have our products repaired.

Madam President! Commissioners, colleagues. The pictures from Butja are horrific. The killing of innocent civilians. A man on his way home with a bag of potatoes. Another who comes cycling, piles with female next to the road, naked and burned. The pictures are so gruesome that they are hard to describe. We lack words, but right now we need words, we need political words and we need action behind the words. What we see in Bucha looks like war crimes committed by Putin, and it must have consequences. Those behind these brutal attacks and killings must be held accountable. This applies to both those with military power and those with political power. That is why, dear friends, we need to step up the sanctions against Russia and Belarus once again. In close coordination here in the European Union, but also with our allies in general. We need to put thumbscrews on Putin. It must be felt when you violate international rules. Colleagues here today have talked a lot about energy sanctions. I totally support it. We need to step up sanctions, but we can also do more. In fact, we also need to look at digital sanctions. Every day, Russian tech companies reap sensitive data from millions of smartphones, including smartphones here in Europe. It is data that could potentially be used against Ukrainians fleeing or Russians working against Putin's regime. For the road from the Russian data harvest to Putin's desk in the Kremlin is quite short, even if the mobile phone is located in Europe. In this way, every single app containing components from a Russian tech company poses a potential danger to anyone working for a peaceful Ukraine and a democratic Russia. Therefore, we also need to look in the toolbox for digital sanctions now. We need to introduce a data embargo in the EU and in the West so that the data flow from Russian tech companies can end as soon as possible. We need to take all weapons out of Putin's hands, including the digital weapons he uses against his own citizens and against the Ukrainians. I hope we can stop it now.

Madam President! Every year, Earth Overshoot Day moves forward. The day marks when we have used the amount of resources that the Earth can regenerate in an entire year. In 2021, the day was already 29 July. We must dare to have high ambitions if we want a green planet with resources that our children and our grandchildren can live good lives on - also in the future. And that is precisely what is contained in the 8th Environment Action Programme on which we are voting. Pressure from the European Parliament has ensured that the ambitions for the environment and sustainability are higher than in the Commission's original proposal. At the same time, we have ensured that there is a holistic approach where climate and the environment are not seen as decoupled from the economy or from the way we should organise our society. The objective is clear: By 2050, we must all be able to live good lives without draining the planet of resources. The EU must be climate neutral and circular, and biodiversity must be enhanced. The gaps in our society need to be narrowed. These are important but crucial goals for our future. But we also need to make sure we get there. That is why we also have clear targets for what we need to achieve already by 2030, and we demand that the Commission come up with proposals by 2024 on how to concretise the milestones. With the 8th EAP, we are taking further important steps towards a more sustainable world. A world where we become free from pollution and dangerous chemistry and leave a greener planet than the one we have taken over.

Madam President! In 1991, batteries were something we put in the remote control, in the alarm clock and in the walkman. Today we have batteries in everything from mobile phones to electric scooters and electric cars, not to mention batteries in industry. And the consumption of batteries will not be less preliminary. It is important for our green transition that more things are powered by electricity in the future - and thus also by batteries. In fact, everything suggests that by 2030 world demand for batteries will be 14 times higher than today and that as much as 17% of this demand will come from the EU. Batteries don't grow on trees. Many of the batteries' ingredients are produced by mining, and very often the resources available to us are limited. Therefore, it goes without saying that we need to ensure a significantly better use of our batteries. We must recycle them, which is why it is also good that the European Parliament's report manages to include more types of batteries, both from the household and from industry. Many more than the Commission had proposed. It is important that the vast majority of batteries are covered. At the same time, we also ensure that the requirements for hazardous chemistry remain in the battery legislation. We will have standards for chargers and we will have CO2 labelling and so on. We do a lot, a lot of things. If it comes to the European Parliament, we will have a European battery law that covers the entire life of the battery. It is a circular economy at its best.

Oh, ma'am. The President! The fight against disinformation and fake news has never been more important. We are seeing right now how Putin's propaganda machine is an active part of the war in Ukraine. Disinformation is a direct threat to our free and democratic world and has become the tool of choice for authoritarian regimes to undermine election results, citizens' decisions and trust in society. We must not turn a blind eye to this. That is why I welcome the very good proposals in the INGE report. As rapporteur on the DSA, I particularly welcome the report's focus on the role of social media in spreading disinformation. For too long, the algorithms of social media have spread hatred, division and fake news. Instead of removing or downplaying problematic content and the accounts that spread it, social media has created an algorithmic megaphone that gets the content out to even more people. And at the same time, they have made money from this business model of spreading the harmful algorithms. It has to stop now. Many of the good proposals in the report I am struggling to get into the final DSA legislation: algorithms must be made transparent, platforms must be accountable, dark patterns must be removed, and deep fakes and online advertising must be clearly labelled. We need to ban targeted advertising to minors, and then we need to look at the business models of the platforms, because it is they who are responsible for part of the problem we have. Better today than tomorrow.

Mr. President! The EU's single market provides jobs and growth. It also ensures good consumer protection, it ensures a green transition and it ensures fair and social progress. I believe that this is one of the greatest achievements of the European Union with the single market. This is the engine of our collaboration. In many ways, the internal market is absolutely crucial for us. We also need the internal market to continue to develop. We need to protect it and do it better. That is why we must not accept protectionism or unjustified obstacles that hinder the completion of the internal market, and that is why this report is good to have. We will look at: What works and what doesn't? In my opinion, we need to look at whether there are any obstacles that we need to remove. For example, if there are unreasonable language barriers in the procurement or if there is otherwise insufficient enforcement of our common rules. And if there are unjustified rules and obstacles that are problematic, then of course they must be removed. Because we need a well-functioning internal market. But we also need to recognize that just because it's a rule, it doesn't have to be a barrier. We have many rules that are also important, which serve to protect workers, the environment and so on. So while addressing the barriers, we must also respect the right of Member States to ensure proper environmental protection, consumer protection or labour rights. But in many ways, I think this report strikes the right balance. Our good internal market needs to be made even better.

Mr. President! I would like to start by congratulating Mr Benifei on an extremely important and good report. In fact, it can be said quite simply. All toys purchased in and for the EU must be safe. Unfortunately, today we see that this is not the case. Toys from third countries, in particular, are being sold on online marketplaces that do not comply with our internal market rules at all. Parents can too easily click dangerous toys into the basket. Toys with carcinogens, with loose parts or with strong magnets that destroy the stomach of children. Just to mention some of the problems. It's not supposed to be like that. We must not accept that. Parents, grandparents and others must be able to shop safely online, and dangerous chemistry simply does not belong in our toys. Online marketplaces are increasing the availability of dangerous toys, making it probably one of the biggest challenges for safer toys in the EU. We need to close the legal loopholes. Platforms should become responsible, and I welcome the fact that the report also addresses this, among other things. We need to solve the problem so that people and children can play with safe toys.

Mr President, I would like to thank my colleagues so much for a very good and very interesting debate. I really appreciated to listen to all your comments, and what I see and hear is that we are rather united. Of course, we have small differences, but there is big and broad support behind the proposal from the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) with all the associated committees. I think that is really important, and I’m so happy to hear that. Of course, we have the vote. I have already just voted, and I hope that this debate also will be reflected in the vote, and hopefully we will see that people will vote to support the IMCO report with a couple of extra things. But I am really happy, and I do believe that what we have here is, as Ms Vestager just told us, an example of a good, well—functioning democracy. Now we need to start negotiating with the Council. That’s not going to be easy. I’m sure that we will have differences, but there is no doubt that, by the end of the day, we will adopt a very good and very important and very needed legislation. We need it, and we need to do it speedily, because we have kind of a sense of urgency here – we have so many problems we need to tackle. But today is the first major step in taking back control from the platforms and creating a democratic rulebook for the platforms. I’m really happy to participate in that, and I’m looking so much forward to the discussion and negotiations with the Council. Thanks colleagues, I’m sure that we are standing rather united behind this.

Mr President! Now we are taking back control from the tech giants and bringing our digital EU legislation into the 21st century. We are building on the e-commerce directive that we adopted in 2000. At that time, the world looked very different. Facebook didn't exist, Mark Zuckerberg hadn't even got the idea, and Steve Jobs and Apple hadn't yet launched the iPod, let alone thought about the iPhone. Amazon was still a deficit business, and EU trade with China was significantly less than it is today. So it is time for us to fundamentally update our digital legislation. The DSA could become the new gold standard for the tech industry, not just in Europe, but around the world. Big tech nations like the U.S. and China are closely following what we are now agreeing on. Just like they did when we created GDPR. With the DSA, we take a fundamental stand against the Wild West that the digital has evolved into. For far too long, illegal products and content have spread online. Algorithms have fostered division, and recommender systems have destroyed young people's self-esteem. The digital has at the same time made the distance between us shorter, but dug the ditches deeper. You can write to people from all over the world, but judging by the debate on social media, it's all too easy to forget that it's just a person you're writing with. You can buy products from all corners of the world, but you can no longer be sure that the product you buy actually lives up to the rules we have in Europe. And just as easy it is to click the item into the virtual basket, just as difficult it can be to reach the seller if you experience problems. That is why we need strong new legislation. Legislation to ensure that what is illegal offline will also be illegal online in the future. We are now voting on that legislation in the European Parliament. The DSA contains an incredible number of important much-needed positive measures. I would like to emphasise here that we are improving consumer safety, that we are putting a stop to the endless harvest of data and that we are opening the black box of algorithms. Concretely, we are improving consumer safety in three areas: Firstly, we propose that consumers and citizens should be able to access the intermediary service through a single point of contact. It will give social media users better opportunities to get in touch with the services if, for example, their content is removed illegally or their account is blocked. At the same time, it will also allow consumers who have unknowingly bought an illegal or dangerous product online to get in touch directly with the online marketplace and not just with some chat feature. Secondly, we require online marketplaces to do more to protect consumers from illegal products. They must quickly and effectively remove the illegal products and contact the users who have managed to purchase these illegal products before they were taken down. And thirdly, we introduce a right to seek compensation directly from the platforms for both consumers and businesses if it is that the platforms do not live up to the provisions we set in the DSA. This is a significant improvement for both the consumers and the companies that live off the platforms and use the platforms. We are also slowing down the platforms' use of our data with a number of new rules. Targeted advertising for minors must be stopped. Minors' data shall not be harvestable and used for commercial purposes. We in this House are putting an end to this. At the same time, it should be easier to withdraw your consent if you have given it to targeted advertising. It shouldn't be harder to say no than it is to say yes. And finally, we want to ban "dark patterns". No more designing a dialogue box so that citizens' choices are determined and influenced in a certain direction. All of this gives us more control over our own data. Then we will also open the algorithms' black box and have both the Commission and the Digital Services Coordinator look at the reports on the consequences of algorithms. In the future, social media should make an assessment of what it means with the changes in their algorithms that they make. Does an algorithm, for example, promote eating disorders and self-harm? If it does, the platform must familiarise itself with it and correct the problem. The biggest platforms can no longer hide behind a veil of ignorance. Now they are forced to face the consequences of their algorithms. That's really important. We're taking back control of the tech giants. With the European Parliament's proposal for a new gold standard for tech, we are sending a very, very strong signal to the Council. We insist on legislation with two main objectives: We must protect users and consumers, and we must ensure that the digital economy can grow within a democratic, transparent and reliable framework. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved with this agreement in the European Parliament. A lot of people deserve a big thank you. First of all, I would like to say a big thank you to the shadow rapporteurs for the cooperation we have had in IMCO, also to the associated committees and to the coordinators' colleagues. I would also like to thank all the colleagues in my own group and other colleagues in this House who have contributed to proposals and to discussions, because this is such an important area. I'm glad you've been there. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the staff of the IMCO secretariat and of the S&D Group. Without their work, we would not have come here. I would also like to thank the two Commissioners, Mrs Vestager and Mr Breton, very much for their excellent cooperation. Finally, I would also like to thank the Presidency, both Portuguese, Slovenian and, for the time being, French. We have had a good cooperation so far, and I am sure that it will be very good when we start the trilogue negotiations shortly. I hope we can do it relatively quickly. European citizens deserve us to swiftly finalise this legislation so that we can have a safer and more secure internet. We all need that. Thank you!

Mr President! It is deeply worrying that we continue to see new Corona variants creating problems for our health around the world. No one is safe until everyone is safe. That is why we in the European Union also need to do much more than we do today. As far as the EU is concerned, we need to make a huge effort. Here we do not lack vaccines, but we must make a great effort to overcome misinformation and scepticism against the vaccines, because that is what is the problem in terms of getting up and ensuring proper, good and broad coverage. It's about making an effort on social media. It is about creating more information. In terms of the global perspective, there is a lack of both vaccines and help in overcoming misinformation, and here I believe that the European Union must play an even greater role than we do today. We need to get more vaccines to the world, and we need to help them get rolled out. We must also work with them to combat misinformation and vaccine hesitancy, which is global. No one is safe until everyone is safe.

Madam President! Commissioners, colleagues! Then we are taking back the fight and control from the big tech giants. When we vote later today on the Digital Markets Act, the DMA, we are putting our foot down against the very biggest tech gatekeepers, who have been able to dictate the rules of our Digital Single Market for too long. We in the European Parliament want it to stop now. The rules must be democratic. Together with the Digital Services Act (DSA), the DMA sets the framework for a fairer digital sphere for the benefit of users, consumers and businesses alike. Now we ensure that the biggest tech giants' business model will benefit the users to a greater extent, and we will create the framework for a more free and fair competition, so that also new ones can come. We introduce requirements for interoperability. I think this is an important tool in the fight against the monopoly of platforms. And then we send a clear signal that the largest platforms need to rethink their business model based on harvesting and selling our personal data. With the DMA, targeted advertising against minors now becomes illegal for the largest gatekeepers. It is an important step in the fight to ensure that we stop the big platforms' extreme harvesting of our data. Finally, I am also very pleased that we managed to include a ban on the so-called dark patterns, in the DMA. Now it is forbidden for the largest companies to influence our decisions by designing their interfaces It's an unconscious way to get us to act. We need to stop that. So all in all, I think that the DMA is an important step for us consumers to regain control over our personal data and for us to ensure a much better and better functioning internal market. Let me conclude by expressing my sincere thanks to my colleague Evelyne Gebhardt for her hard work on this issue, but also for her 28 years in the service of Europe. I think that deserves a big thank you. Thank you for that and thank you for a great deal of work with the DMA, also to Mr Schwab.

Madam President! Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. This is an incredibly important debate we are having tonight and I would like to thank the INGE Committee for raising this issue again in this House. Because we are in a situation where we need to do something to regulate social platforms. But let me start somewhere else, because do you remember when we called the social platforms “our virtual assembly house”? We hoped that they would help strengthen democratic dialogue and bring citizens closer to decision-makers. You could say that digital has made us more connected. More information is available. We can also discuss more with each other. That's good enough. But it is also as if the digital creates a kind of distance, where you very quickly forget that it is a real person you write to. It creates a harsh tone among many people, and it prevents many from wanting to participate in the democratic debate. At the same time, both misinformation and disinformation spread almost like dandelion seeds in the summer wind. Algorithms help spread this because conflict creates clicks, and algorithms interpret clicks as interest. Then they send the story out to even more people. Why do they do that? Because this is big business. There is so much money in this for the platforms that they are not interested in doing enough. We heard this the other day from Facebook's whistle-blower, and we also saw the consequences of this kind of misinformation and disinformation on January 6 in Washington. We need to do more. Fortunately, there is some legislation we are working on. I have the Digital Services Act. Here we can do something, but that is not enough, and I am not sure that what we have in it is actually good enough. We must also use this law to tighten up the rules considerably. We need to hold the platforms accountable. We cannot accept that they are completely running their own race. Thank you for the debate. I hope that together we will make an effort to resolve this, because we must - for the sake of democracy.

Madam President! Preparing the EU for the next health crisis is a serious matter. That's why I'm glad we're having a discussion about HERA here today. The way we have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic was indeed reactive. We were naturally acting backwards. Therefore, we need to be better at seeing the health crises before they hit. And we must ensure that we have the necessary production of medicines and protective equipment, etc. All of this is something we all agree on, and that is why it is also good that we are discussing it here today, because we need to be better prepared when the next pandemic strikes. But – it is therefore also a great pity that the Commission chooses to treat HERA as a matter of urgency and chooses to keep the European Parliament out of the discussion on how to organise it. We have been affected by this for over a year and a half. It takes time to find out what we can learn from it, and then it also requires better solutions. And for better solutions, the European Parliament should be involved. We're not. We owe it to each other to do this properly.

Mr President! The world needs all democratic forces to stand together, and the EU must therefore keep close to everyone who shares our values. This is not the time to push anyone away. The European Union and the United States share history and values, and there is no doubt that we also share the future. That is why the US is and must be the EU's closest trading partner, cooperation partner and security ally. But the United States is not the only ally of the European Union, nor should it be. As chairman of the Japan delegation, I must stress how important it is that the European Union also strengthens ties with all our democratic allies throughout the world, including in the Pacific region. We must maintain close contact with all those who share our struggle for democracy, fundamental human rights and multilateral cooperation. With increased European strategic autonomy, we can ensure that the EU becomes a strong and equal partner with everyone, including the United States. The two things go hand in hand, they are not each other's opposites.

Mr President! We have learned from the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic exposed and underlined both the strengths and weaknesses of the European Community. When the coronavirus hit Europe, we were too slow to react. We were too poorly prepared and had too few protective equipment, and a large part of our health production was distributed to countries outside the EU. This aggravated the situation. Never before in the history of the European Union has our cooperation faced such a great challenge. But over the last year and a half, we have gained new insights into what we can do in the collaboration. Both what we can do in the community and what responsibility the member states have for the community. We cannot politically decide how or whether the next pandemic will affect us, but we can politically ensure that we are better equipped. That's what we need. The initiatives we are voting on this week improve our European health cooperation, and that is necessary and good. We are strengthening the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ECDC. This means that we can detect health crises faster and better respond to them in time together. We are improving coordination between EU Member States. We are connected, and it makes sense that we coordinate the procurement of protective equipment, vaccines and such things together. Together we can ensure a better supply all the way through the production chain, and I think that is quite crucial, necessary and a good lesson. This week, therefore, we are voting to better equip the European Union against new health crises, and I am voting in favour of that.