Speeches

Madam President! Thanks for that. This summer, we are seeing the consequences of the climate crisis even more clearly than ever before. Europe is thirsty. The rivers are drying up, the water table is sinking, agriculture is under pressure and nature is suffering. There's a fight for the water. Climate action in Europe is therefore crucial. We must do what we can to avoid further climate change while compensating for what we have already seen. But it is also crucial that we take good care of the drinking water we have. In many places, drinking water is polluted. That is what the Commissioner said. Among other things, it is contaminated with PFAS. In my homeland there is an island called Fanø. And here the drinking water was so contaminated with PFAS that it was harmful to health to drink it. Now the waterworks has invested in a filter that can remove PFAS from drinking water. This is good news for the residents of Fanø. But it's symptomatic treatment, but at least you do something. I believe that we need to act more actively at European level to protect the drinking water we already have. And we should do that by introducing a full PFAS ban. I would therefore like to ask the Commission whether the Commission is willing to revise the REACH Regulation so that we can have this ban on PFAS so that we can protect the water we already have. This act of acting here and now in relation to PFAS is really, really important. The drinking water we have must be protected, and then, in the long run, with our climate change, we must prevent things from getting even worse.

–Mrs President! We need companies to invest in Europe. We need to produce more ourselves in Europe. This is vitally important. This is especially true at a time when the United States to the west is trying to attract European companies, and China and Russia to the east are rattling with the sabers. We need to do better on our own. We have to be in our own right, but so can we. Men derfor er investeringer i Europa også nøglen til fortsat vækst og til at forbedre vores konkurrenceevne og sikre en grøn og bæredygtig omstilling af vores samfund. But I would also like to stress that our market is more attractive than it sounds here today. We have well-educated employees and we have a well-functioning society. We have a strong single market with millions – 100 million – of consumers, and we have plenty of support money. We also have political predictability. But, of course, we need to make better use of our single market to promote the green transition, and this needs to be done in a social and responsible way. We must also dare to make demands on the companies that want to participate. They need to be sustainable, they need to be resilient, they need to make sure that employees have a good life and a good working life too. But in return for that, they actually get good researchers, good economy and good predictability. I think we need to be better at telling how good it actually is to invest in Europe and then just fine-tune our internal market, because that is, of course, what is needed. But we're doing it far, far better than it sounds here today. But we need the green transition, and that is why we need investment to come to Europe as well.

Madam President! Batteries are a crucial part of the green transition. They are, so to speak, the fuel tank of our electric cars and, in the long term, also our trucks. They are crucial for the future energy storage of solar and wind, and therefore we need to get better at recycling them. Batteries are filled with strategically important materials such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, etc. These are materials that we do not have sufficient access to in Europe. We are totally dependent on importing them, including from China. That is why this law is so good that we now ensure that batteries also become part of the circular economy. Now we are going to legislate on the entire battery life cycle from design to last charge, and when we recycle the waste batteries better, we need to import fewer materials from China. It is good for the climate, it is good for the environment, and it is vitally important for Europe's independence. I don't think China should be the gatekeeper to Europe's green transition, and now we're starting to get some better batteries.

Madam President! Time has run out from buying, using and throwing away the culture. Instead, we want consumers to trade green. In fact, companies understand this as well. And that's why it abounds with products in brown wrapping paper with self-invented labelling schemes and printed lots of words that praise the product's sustainability, recyclability and biodegradability. But underneath can hide products that are outdated too early or are harder and more expensive to repair. As a consumer, it is really difficult to find the truly green products in the companies’ forest of ‘green washing’. It must be over now, and that is why I would like to thank Biljana Borzan for this really good report, in which we can, with this law, really put an end to completely unfair commercial practices that put consumers at a disadvantage in the green transition. Consumers need to be able to see how sustainable the product they put in the basket is. How long is the lifetime? Can it be repaired? Can I trust the labelling scheme? Consumers want these things to work in a better way. They finished buying, using and throwing away. Producers also need to support this, so they have to do it better, and they have to do it more honestly.

Madam President! In 2015, we were shocked by this scandal. Extremely shaken. Cars emitted much more NOx than they had to – deliberately manipulated by parts of the industry to circumvent the requirements. And it was a scandal because trust was broken. It was a scandal because in this way we allowed people to die prematurely because the cars polluted more than they had to. Totally unacceptable! Fortunately, we started at that time. In the European Parliament, we created a committee that looked at what had gone wrong and we revised our legislation, which, after all, gave us a better framework to ensure that this can be avoided in the future. But we still have a lot of cars that drive around out there and pollute. But the thing is, we have to learn from this. We still have a lot of old cars running around. It is unbelievable that we are allowing this and we still need to tighten up the rules. And now we see again, when we are in the process of tightening the Euro 7 rules, that the car industry is once again coming to our house and saying that it is not necessary and that it cannot be done, it is too expensive and everything possible. I believe that we need to do much more. We need and learn from Dieselgate. We need to test, and we need to monitor much more than we have done. Member States still have a responsibility, but so does the Commission. And then we need to have the Euro 7 legislation in place as soon as possible before the end of this mandate, although some people do not want this to happen. And then we have to phase out the internal combustion engine, because that's the problem in this. With an internal combustion engine, you also get NOx and other pollutant particles. Of course we should have done something about that. We need to show citizens that we take them seriously, that we take health seriously and that we take our own democracy seriously. That is why more needs to be done than what has happened at the moment, and that is why I hope that this House will help to support the delivery of Euro 7 standards – these are new standards that are needed – and that, moreover, we will continue the development we have in phasing out polluting vehicles for the benefit of our health and for the benefit of confidence in our system.

Madam President! Perpetuality chemicals are one of the greatest threats to our health and to our environment of our time. And it is a scandal that the EU has not done more to protect us from them. Toxic substances like PFAS are found everywhere in our everyday lives. They make us sick, they mess up our environment, and then they reduce fertility. Honestly, action is needed now! PFAS is a cross-border problem that can only be solved here in the EU community. But we've known about it for a long time. Why, then, have we done nothing more about it in the European Union? In fact, I think that the European Union is ignoring the precautionary principle when it has tacitly looked at the fact that our drinking water has been filled with PFAS. The Commission must take responsibility now so that we can adopt new chemicals legislation before the European elections. If we don't hurry, we run the risk that it will be years before we get to the end of this. And a lot of Member States have also been pushing for something to happen. In conclusion, therefore, I would like to ask the Commission directly: "What are we really waiting for?" Let's get that ban now!

Mr President! More and more Europeans are no longer buying their products in the local shops on the pedestrian street. They shop online in web shops and online marketplaces, and that presents us with a new challenge. Because while our product safety rules for many years have worked in the physical offline world and worked really well and been really good, the same does not apply online when shopping with the seller and not least from third countries. In short, the consumer risks buying the cat in the bag. Toys with carcinogens, flammable mobile chargers or hot blankets with bumps in. Our rules have not kept up with the times, which is why it is good that we are now taking action. And I am particularly pleased that we are ensuring that products imported outside the EU into the EU must now have the rules tightened up so that those who do this can be held accountable if the product does not live up to our rules. But that doesn't mean we're on target. We've only patched a few holes. I still believe that there is more to do in terms of securing products online when consumers shop. But it's good that we're getting started. And this is better than nothing.

Mr President! When I was a kid, the windshield on the cars was filled with insects and bees as you drove through the summer landscape. It was a sign of a healthy and diverse ecosystem. But it's not like that anymore. Insects and bees are endangered, not least because of our ruthless use of pesticides. More than 10 years ago, we adopted stricter rules on the use of pesticides in this House. This should reduce the use of pesticides and safeguard biodiversity and our valuable ecosystems. Today, it is clear to all of us that we have not achieved this goal. Science and the EU's own Court of Auditors have made it quite clear: Not enough has happened. It is crucial that we reduce the use of pesticides and transform our economy and production into a greener and toxic-free food system. And as we have called for here in the 'Farm to Fork' strategy: Action is needed. The citizens' initiative says so too, and I agree with them. Therefore, it is crucial that the ongoing revision of the SUD ensures that we reduce use, for the benefit of bees and for the benefit of future generations.

Madam President! Competition for green jobs has intensified. Inflation deduction act in the United States, solar cells and car battery production by China, are just a few examples. The EU's green jersey is challenged both from the east and from the west. Both because several countries have become aware of the climate challenges we face. That is good, but also because it has actually become a good business case, and therefore the EU is of course forced to react when the US pulls out the checkbook and encourages European companies to move their production to the US. Anything else would be unrealistic. But we need to do it in a way where we do not close ourselves and where the investments we make are both temporary and targeted. No one benefits from a State aid race, not even the EU. And the world has changed. We have to face that before it's too late. So dear Germany and dear EPP: This also applies to the phasing out of internal combustion engines in cars. The future is green, even when it comes to cars.

Madam President! The last move on internal combustion engines in cars is very good for the climate, and it is an absolutely necessary decision if we in the EU are to achieve our climate goals and comply with the Paris climate agreement. Men EPP er imod loven, fordi de frygter, at vi taber jobs i bilindustrien. I'm for the law. Because if we do not adopt it, we will lose jobs in the automotive industry. The green transition is the way forward both for the climate, but actually also to ensure growth and secure jobs. The future is in the green transition. There is no point in trying to hold onto a polluting old-fashioned technology. Because with this phase-out date, we're actually sending a clear signal to the industry: Now a new competition is starting, who can produce the best zero-emission car? This creates new opportunities for businesses in the EU, but also for the climate, and it creates lots of new green jobs. Come on into the fight for the future, EPP. We need this legislation for the climate, but also to secure jobs in the future.

Madam President! We are still not on target when it comes to fighting corruption in the European Union, nor in this House. Qatargate is a clear proof of this. Every stone must be turned, and no solution must be rejected in advance. The same is true when it comes to NGOs. We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that it was precisely an NGO that ran and organised the corruption scandal that is still joking and shaking in our Parliament, and that is why we need to look at whether the rules need to be tightened. But just as we cannot turn a blind eye to the role of NGOs in the corruption scandal, so they must not blind us either. Lack of transparency applies not only to NGOs but also to business organisations. We saw this, for example, in the context of negotiations on the DSA and the DMA, where organisations allegedly representing small and medium-sized enterprises were in fact financed by Big Tech. So Qatargate is not just about individual MEPs or NGOs, it is about structure, and here more transparency and more control are key to solving that problem.

Mr President! Russia’s attack on Ukraine marked a breach of decades of peace in Europe. The images from Ukraine of civilian casualties, bombed cities and weeping relatives have affected us all. Where there used to be wars in other parts of the world, it has now moved very close to the EU's borders. The war has changed the state of the world. Energy policy has become security policy and industrial policy has become foreign policy. We have to take cutlery off that. Solar cells and wind turbines no longer just produce green energy, they produce freedom energy. By freeing ourselves from fossil fuels, we become independent of the world's tyrants, and that is our best weapon in the new security reality. But at a time when the world is changing, we must also remember that we must hold on to our allies. And here I am thinking, among other things, of Japan, which is experiencing many of the same challenges as us. Our strategic cooperation with our global allies is not a weakness, but a strength that can help us through times of crisis. We must not forget this in our quest for independence. Thank you.

Mr. President! Commissioner, colleagues. Have you tried to lose interest in hobbies and friends because all you wanted was to play computer games? Or have you experienced periods when all you thought about was playing again? The vast majority of us here will probably say no, we haven't tried that. And that's not because we're better at resisting temptations, but because we're not quite as young anymore. But the reality is different for our children and young people. In recent years, more children and young people have become addicted to computer games. And even though my own generation may find it difficult to relate to it, it speaks into a major crisis we have in our society, namely the whole well-being crisis. Too many children and young people today suffer from loneliness, insomnia and depression. Far from it all, of course, can be attributed to computer games, but some of it can. Therefore, we also need to look at how we can reduce the risk of becoming addicted to computer games. For example, it could be a demand for better parental control, a ban on the use of dark patterns and other addictive patterns and not least a showdown with the so-called loot boxes. Because it's not just your mental health that's at stake when addiction strikes. It also affects our wallets. The payment for computer games has changed quite considerably over the last 20 years. Once you bought a game in a store for a one-time payment. Nowadays, many games use micropayments as loot boxes. Here, young people and children are nudged to spend a lot of money on digital packages that can lead them further in the game. Common to them is that users do not actually know what they contain, and that they are often designed in a way like what is known from casino games, such as roulette and one-armed bandits. It shouldn't be like that. Computer games should not become children's casinos, and children should not be looted when they use their computer, and that is why we need to solve it. That is why I thank the rapporteur for a very good own-initiative report, and I hope that the European Commission will help to look at how we can work together to find solutions so that we can reduce gambling addiction without, of course, banning computer games. Thank you!

Mr. President! These days we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the single market, and I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to say that it is very good for the European Union that we have had this single market for so long. This is the crown jewel of European cooperation. However, the management and transport of our waste is, in fact, an essential part of the proper functioning of the internal market. And that is why it is also important that we now have a thorough look at these rules for the transport of waste. In recent years, we have become increasingly aware that waste is a resource. But at least that is our responsibility first and foremost, and that is why I am very pleased that Mrs Weiss' report specifically takes account of the fact that we have to deal with waste differently. I am very pleased that we want to strengthen the circular economy and that we are actually tackling plastic waste in particular. Plastic waste is something we generate a lot of, and it must therefore be the EU's own responsibility to handle the plastic waste we create ourselves. And this is what we in the European Parliament are now saying, with Mrs Weiss' report, that this is what we want to make law. That's what we want to do about. And then we must hope that we can convince the Council of the same. But it is crucial that we get rid of the fact that others have to take care of our waste. And I know it's hard. I know it can be difficult. I know there may be business you've sent out of the EU. However, we have a responsibility for our own waste, and that is why I support this report, because it precisely ensures that we take care of special plastic waste.

Mr. President! Thanks for that. It is often said, and Mrs Vestager has also said it today, but it can withstand yet another repetition. The single market is nothing short of a crown jewel in European cooperation. Over the last 30 years, the single market has created jobs, prosperity and well-being in the European Union, and that is how I hope it will continue. We celebrate today and congratulations to all of us. But, as is the case with all good inventions, they must continue to be developed, including the internal market. Therefore, I want to talk about some changes that we can do, rather than keep scratching up on all the really good things we have done. Firstly, I think it is important that we need to transform the internal market into a new type of globalisation. We need to move from 1.0 to 2.0. Industrial policy has become geopolitics again, and the internal market must be better equipped to deal with this. And that is why we need to make sure that we can be more independent from other countries without closing ourselves down. Secondly, as has also been said, the internal market is facing two major transformations; Green and digital. During this mandate, we have been incredibly ambitious, we have adopted the DSA legislation, common chargers and others. But we must continue in that direction, to be a frontrunner is exactly what ensures that we also have a market in the future. And then, as Mrs Vestager also talked about, implementation is absolutely, absolutely crucial. Our Member States are not doing enough to implement our legislation. That is why we need to look at how we can ensure that the many good laws we have made in the single market are actually enforced properly. And in this way, I hope that we can also help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Single Market in 30 years' time.

Mr. President! Corruption. Interference in European decision-making processes. Elected people who do not live up to the trust that voters have placed in them. Yes, that is one of the things we have seen this week in the biggest scandal ever in this House. It does not belong in a democracy. It does not belong in the European Union and, of course, it does not belong in this Parliament. Autocratic regimes have been attacking our democracy for far too long, but they are in the process of further arming up, including on social media, with disinformation and with corruption in our parliament. But also in other areas. But seeing bags filled with money in exchange for supporting the disgusting interests of hostile powers is so problematic. We need to do something about it. There are a lot of things we need to do. Firstly, we must ensure that we elected representatives live up to the confidence of the electorate. It requires new rules in the house, but it also requires a change in our culture. Secondly, we must, among other things, put an end to the disinformation we see taking place online, which is aimed solely at destabilising our societies. With the Digital Services Act, we have taken a major step in the fight against disinformation online, and that is very good, but I believe that more needs to be done. We must take strong action against both those powers that are trying to destroy our democracy from the outside and those elected representatives who are also trying to destroy our democracy from the inside through corruption. Our democracy is under attack, and this requires us to take a wide range of initiatives, not only against disinformation, but also in relation to cybersecurity and so on. There is still a long way to go, but we have to do it. There is only one way we can safeguard our own interests, and that is that we have a proper democracy.

Mr. President! Ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We have now had the internal market for 30 years. We have managed – with an open economy – to create a fair framework for competition. A fair competition. It has created jobs and it has created growth. Now we are in a new global situation, where we are challenged from China with their state aid and from the United States with not least the new "Inflation Reduction Act". Ursula von der Leyen also spoke about it. My appeal here today is to be very, very careful in the solutions to be found for the Council meeting and in the Commission. We need to protect our internal market from fragmentation. It's a really, really important thing, but we also shouldn't build too many barriers to an open economy. We really need to ensure a proper balance in this. So when you're working on these things, try to do it well and fairly and openly and future-proof. And it is simply a matter of avoiding a fragmented internal market. I believe you can, but remember the balances. This is absolutely crucial. Otherwise, we cannot celebrate the next 30 years of the single market.

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.