Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner Breton, ladies and gentlemen, Europe is a growing target of cyber-attacks which, especially in the light of the geopolitical situation, represent a danger of hybrid warfare aimed at undermining the security of our strategic infrastructure. Cybersecurity has become a European issue that should rightly be read from the perspective of an integrated digital market, as has been done in this regulation. Our cyber security needs a synergistic partnership, involving all intelligence agencies, NATO and international partners. Cybersecurity is also a primary sector for the common European defence, for our Member States, for our society and for our industries, but not only! Also for the economic sector, where it is essential to guarantee the certainty of the common standards for all products, as well as those that have been indicated previously - from software, to open source and apps - which must be validated by specific procedures for verifying their conformity. The establishment of the European e-Skills Academy is also good, because Europe needs to rapidly increase its skills and training capacity in order to keep up with the new challenges. I would like to thank Mr Danti, with whom we have fought many battles in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the EPP Group and all our colleagues, because this legislative innovation has taken place through teamwork for the benefit of citizens and consumers.

Madam President, Commissioners, the safety and protection of consumers and their data are essential elements of compromises for us. In recent years, threats to the hardware and software components of products and cyber-attacks against European companies, public administrations and citizens have significantly increased, not only from a quantitative point of view, but also in terms of impact and complexity. Digitalization has entered into the daily life of all of us, facilitating many activities, not for this reason it must not be regulated, always to protect the consumer. This package must not be a limit to research and technological development, and it will not be, that is not the aim. However, the same rules are needed for all Member States in order to have a harmonised system. The security of digital products is directly linked to consumer safety, which we always put at the heart of our choices. We have done it for product labelling, we do it when we fight against synthetic meat and we do it also when it comes to sensitive data and the digital world, also starting from the privacy of each of us.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, strengthening energy independence, accelerating the transition to renewable energy, investing in the storage of sources are at the heart of the European Union's strategy. The aim is certainly to ensure greater independence from supply from third countries in order to avoid, as happened after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, putting a strain on the resilience of our system. In 2021 alone, we imported 83% of natural gas, but Europe was able to respond swiftly and adequately to the crisis, diversifying supplying countries, reducing dependence on Russia by almost 30% in just one year. The introduction of the price cap, which put an end to the large price fluctuations. We need a common European strategy, also from an energy point of view. We must act as a single purchasing center, thus having a certainly greater negotiating force to help families and businesses keep the price of bills low. If individual Member States act autonomously, this creates a disparity in the internal market. For this you need a unique and strong action at the same time. Europe must work to build a common, integrated and modern energy policy that is secure and capable of achieving independence through the energy mix in a few years.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Minister, if we are to achieve a genuine and sustainable energy transition, we must absolutely strengthen both our internal competitiveness and our independence from other states, including China and the United States. Europe currently supplies less than 1% of lithium batteries and only 2% of raw materials related to robotics. Critical raw materials are used in key industrial sectors, including steel production, defence, aviation and health. And these essential raw materials are mainly imported from a limited number of third countries, thus making us totally dependent on them. But there is more: these raw materials are also essential to ensure the achievement of the European Green Deal. However, the global market is currently unable to meet the rapidly growing demand. The increase in the price of raw materials is not only a problem for businesses, but above all for citizens, who bear the final cost of the product of the service. Thank you, Commissioner, because I am convinced that you will also have great sensitivity and cooperation on this issue on the part of all of us.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Madam Minister, this year the single market is 30 years old. When I was elected to the European Parliament, I was 26 and decided to participate in the Internal Market Committee, where, together with many colleagues – whom I thank and whom I still see here today – I continue to work with passion and commitment, because I believed and strongly believe that true Europe is built not only on an economic union, but on a solid political union. Roaming, the right of travellers, the recognition of professional qualifications, the Product Safety Directive, the Digital Markets Act, Erasmus were some of the measures appreciated by citizens, giving them guarantees, freedom and prosperity. In many sectors we are the first in the world to produce all kinds of goods and services that we export everywhere. The Single Market has harmonised hundreds of pieces of legislation and established standard consumer protection rules. Like all human creations, however, the single market is not and will never be perfect. There are open questions that we have to address at Community level, going beyond what are still national egoisms, such as the Fiscal Union, the Defence Union, the common cost of labour, a common industrial and energy policy, as well as a European migration policy. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, inflation and migratory waves require a European response, but one that is not wavelike, that is clear and precise. Precisely for this reason the precondition for all this objective is one and the dream is to arrive at the United States of Europe, which is the objective that all of us set ourselves and I hope that all of us will put ourselves together.