What Pablo spoke about.

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, Commissioner, this week we voted on the Digital Markets Act, one of the most important proposals for our single market in this legislature. I should like to congratulate the Commission, which, after twenty years, is finally bringing forward a proposal in line with the needs of the digital market vis-à-vis the internet giants. This proposal is of vital importance for our SMEs. Far from going against anyone, it seeks to create a balanced playing field for our SMEs, so that they can compete on equal terms and with the same rules of the game as the digital giants. To date we have not had clear legislation regulating how these giants act within our market. With this proposal we create legal certainty. Every company is, without a doubt, welcome, as long as it complies with our way of doing things, what we have called the «European way». The privacy of our data is fundamental and, therefore, we have opted for transparency. We want to have our own way of managing in the digital field and not the one imposed on us from outside. Until today we could only act in terms of competition a posteriori. With the mechanism ex ante Today we want to make it easier for our SMEs to grow digitally by generating jobs and wealth, while being globally competitive. The Digital Markets Act puts us at the global forefront. Europe is again an example in digital regulation, as we already are in data protection with the General Data Protection Regulation. I would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Andreas Schwab, and the shadow rapporteurs for having done so in the time set at the height of the pandemic, and I hope that it will be adopted as soon as possible and along the lines set by the rapporteurs, who have worked with a strong will to compromise.

Mr President, Commissioner, thank you very much for being here. I welcome the fact that, at last, we are dealing with this important debate that we have proposed from my parliamentary group - from the EPP - because it is undoubtedly one of the priority issues in Europe and it affects not only the transport sector, but all the links in the logistics chain and, ultimately, of course, all Europeans. The pandemic has caused transport costs to increase by more than 1 000 %, causing delays and blockages in the distribution of goods globally. This is creating great legal uncertainty for all actors involved. Added to this is the increase in energy costs and the scarcity of raw materials, which we in the European Union have to import and which mostly enter our ports. Indirect effects, such as rising prices and inflation, threaten the economic recovery, the pockets of our citizens and the competitiveness of our businesses. As I said, the crisis affects all sectors, of course food, but also automotive, construction or textiles, to name just a few. The threat of shortages is real and is expected to continue at least until summer 2022. At the same time, in the European Union, we are working on a new framework for the system of CO2 emissions – the so-called ETS – including maritime transport, the consequence of which will undoubtedly be the increase, even more if possible, of the already very high cost of maritime freight today. A relocation of current traffic to third countries not affected by the ETS system is foreseen, although this will already give us for discussions later. We know that the causes and solutions of the crisis are global. But, having said that, we cannot sit idly by waiting to see how things evolve. Action must be taken to contain the impact and ensure that our ports remain globally competitive. What does the Commission intend to do at European level to minimise the effects of this crisis on the single market, on our citizens and on our industry, and especially on our SMEs?