What Christel spoke about.

Mr President, thank you very much to all of you here today for participating in this debate about this very important own-initiative report. First and foremost, I will say that I heard no one say that the internet is safe for kids today. So I think we all agree that it is not a very safe space, and therefore we need to do something. We might differentiate about what we need to do, some of you say that it is up to the parents to make sure that their kids are safe online, others of us believe that that task is too big for parents, for individual parents, when they're up against big, big, big tech companies and their algorithms. Therefore, I want to say to all of you who share that idea, let's see what we can do. We will not take away the responsibility from parents, but we need to help them, making sure that their kids are safe. And it is possible also to have an age limit and some kind of age-assurance mechanisms that are privacy-preserving, that are robust and that are accurate, and that is what we need. No one says that it is a quick fix, that it is a silver bullet, but we believe that we need to do more than we are doing today. Therefore, I also want to say a big thanks to the Commission, and Commissioner McGrath and Executive Vice-President Virkkunen for being here today, but also for your remarks that even though we have a lot of good laws in place, that more needs to be done, we need to close the loopholes. But I could also say that the more, faster and better you're enforcing the existing rules, the smaller the loopholes are. So that's also a signal to you, please do whatever you can already today to help our kids to be safe and let's together work and do more, because we need to do more, because today our kids are not safe when they're online.

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Executive Vice-President Virkkunen, we are in the middle of an experiment. An experiment where American and Chinese tech giants have unlimited access to the attention of our children and young people, for hours every single day, almost entirely without oversight. No one in this Chamber can ignore the impact that screens have on our children and young people. Here are some facts: we know that almost 80 % of minors look at their phone hourly, almost 50 % of them do it constantly. These services are highly addictive and carefully engineered to keep attention. Algorithms and endless data collection track every behaviour, making it almost impossible to put down the phone. How are the children rewarded for staying online? Well, a hit of dopamine. The price for putting down the phone? Emptiness and anxiety. And what do our children see online? In Denmark, 50 % of young people report seeing violent and offensive content. They can end up in rabbit holes, seeing murder, violence, suicide and self-injury. And if it's not violent content, it's commercials – 50 % of content viewed online is commercial. The platforms are becoming an ever-increasing commercial environment for our minors. Who is behind this experiment? Well, pick your favourite villain. For some, it's Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. For others, it's the Communist Party in Beijing and their tech proxies at TikTok. And the children? Well, at least in Denmark, they say: 'help us.' In Denmark, almost 70 % report that they want to spend less time on social media. And the parents? The message I hear from parents is the same: 'we need support, we need your help.' Because no parent and no child can stand alone against the raw forces of these algorithmic systems. Only we politicians have the power to end this experiment. I'm proud of this Parliament that we can stand together in protecting our minors online. I want to thank the brilliant shadow rapporteurs working on this file. Thank you for taking responsibility, thank you for standing on the side of parents and children. I hope the rest of you will join us in supporting this report. Remember also, many Member States are taking actions. Some are introducing age limits on social media, others are removing phones from classrooms. The Commission is also paying attention. I am pleased to see President von der Leyen's expert group on this issue. The European Parliament cannot, and should not, be silent on this topic, and therefore this report is important and it has been built through broad cooperation across almost all political groups. The report follows a clear logic: it must be safer for children and young people to use online services, also on social media, and services should not be accessible for children under 16 years unless the parents have given consent. I know that the age limit will dominate headlines, but colleagues, this report is so much more than that. Let me give you a few examples: we want legislation requiring age-appropriate design and safety by design; we want a ban on loot boxes and other forms of randomised manipulative content; and we also want a ban on engagement-based recommender algorithms and the most harmful addictive design practices. Together with the strong enforcement of the Digital Services Act, these measures will raise the level of protection for children dramatically. And with this report, we finally draw a line. We are saying clearly to the platforms: 'your services are not designed for children, and the experiment ends here.' I look very much forward to hear the debate, and thank you very much for the attention, and especially thanks for the cooperation so far.

The next item is the debate on the report by Andrzej Halicki and Matjaž Nemec on the joint text on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 approved by the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure (11216/2025 – C10‑0206/2025 – 2025/0210(BUD)) (A10-0235/2025).

Mr President! Our democracy is under pressure. We live in a digital age where large platforms act as arenas for public debate. But the platforms are not designed for information or proper debate. They are designed for attention. The more extreme attitudes you express, the more you are seen and shared. It has also become harder to figure out what is really on social media, and this is undermining trust in the democratic institutions we should be able to trust. That is why we need a democracy shield. Particularly important is the new European Centre for Democratic Resilience. It will help strengthen authorities, electoral bodies and civil society. But a democracy shield only works if the foundations are in order. And it takes four things. It requires free media. It requires enlightened citizens. This requires clear rules and frameworks for platforms. This requires a strong civil society. We must not take our democracy for granted. We have to fight for it, and we have to start now.

The minutes of today's and yesterday's sittings will be submitted to Parliament for its approval at the beginning of the next part-session. If there are no objections, I shall forward forthwith the resolutions adopted at today's sitting to the persons and bodies named in the resolutions.

The first item is the debate on the oral question to the Commission on Audiovisual Media Services Directive obligations in the transatlantic dialogue, tabled by Nela Riehl on behalf of the Committee on Culture and Education (O-000026/2025 - B10-0010/25) (2025/2776(RSP)).

I have received from the Council its positions at first reading regarding the safety of toys and the European Maritime Safety Agency. I have also received the reasons which led to their adoption and the positions and opinions of the Commission. The full title will be published in the minutes of today's sitting. The three-month period available to Parliament to adopt its position begins tomorrow, 24 October 2025.

Madam President! We talked about it two weeks ago in this room, but it is important and it requires action. The peace as we knew it is over. Insecurity and hybrid attacks are the new normal. Europe must therefore be able to stand on its own feet and defend itself. Preferably now, but by 2030 at the latest. Our intelligence services say that Russia may be ready to attack a European country within five years. That is why, in Europe, we cannot wait ten or twenty years to get ready, and that is why the Commission's plan for Readiness 2030 is an incredibly important step. A common drone defense, an air and space shield. A strengthened east flank. We need to do more. But the fact is that the further away you get from the Ukrainian border, the less willing European countries are to go in and make an effort. We have to act. We need to be able to protect ourselves, and that is why we need to make sure that we are ready for it, and that is why I support this plan.