Debate contributions by Biljana BORZAN

Dear President, how do young people live today? Research shows a large increase in young people who describe themselves as unhappy. Statistics show an increase in self-harm among young people. Suicide is more common cause of death than car accidents. We are in a social crisis. Almost half of young people are constantly online, and just half an hour less online already has a positive impact on mental health. The business model of internet giants is to keep users online for as long as possible. Profit, profit, profit. They have no scruples in front of them. That is why we ask for the age of social media users to be limited to 13 years. The use of young people’s data for advertising and addictive design should be prohibited. Today we have heard a lot here that parents need to control children, so colleagues, let's ask ourselves who is controlling our children now, while we work here all day and can we do it as parents. The world has changed and we need to help parents protect their children.

Dear Chairman, while the word deregulation is ubiquitous, we must not forget why the European Union has the highest standards of safety and quality of products and services, as well as the highest consumer rights. These are achievements that we are proud of and on which we need to build the future. The problem of high food prices will not disappear on its own, they will not be solved by the invisible hand of the market. This is why this resolution calls for better application and complementarity of competition rules. Citizens also feel deceived by ‘shrinkflation’ and ‘shrinkflation’ and it is up to us to protect them. Safe internet, protection of minors, advertising transparency, accountability to users, video game addiction, online gambling – we all know there is still a lot to do. Let us not forget about our own citizens because of the race with others in the world.

Madam President, how many times does this Parliament have to say no before the Commission listens? Nearly 50 times we have opposed GMO authorisations, backed by science, by citizens, by the precautionary principle – and yet the Commission continues ahead, bypassing both political will and democratic legitimacy. This is not just a policy dispute; it is a democratic crisis. The Commission justifies decisions made without majority support, often relying on outdated or insufficient data, all while ignoring Parliament and fuelling public distrust in the EU institutions – and for what? To serve the interests of powerful agribusiness lobbies overseas while undermining the Green Deal, the Farm to Fork strategy, and the right of Europeans to safe, sustainable food. If Parliament's voice, elected by over 400 million people, can be ignored this easily, then what does democracy in the EU actually mean?

Dear Chairman, price increases are happening everywhere, but in the last four years prices have jumped the most in the countries of Eastern Europe. So the jump in Ireland is 20 percent, in France 25 percent, but that's why in Poland 55 percent, Bulgaria 63 percent, Latvia 62 percent, Hungary 87 percent, Croatia 45 percent. Are these price increases in the east of the EU because foreign retailers miraculously charge the head of salads equally in all shops? Or because our distributors cannot buy goods from anyone, but only from those for the Eastern market? Where is the European Union, where are the measures to protect competition? Food budgeting is the largest household budget item in Eastern European countries. These are the countries with the lowest wages and pensions. This is a problem that affects us all, but it is not the same when due to inflation you can not buy an expensive purse or a piece of meat for the family table.

Dear Chairman, Happy Consumer Day to all our citizens! Or maybe not everything? Because it is better to be a consumer in one part of the European Union than in another. Somewhere sales are real, and others are just a marketing trick. Some are easy to buy online and there may be no delivery for your country. Somewhere the price of a phone call is reasonable, and it is too expensive for you because the teleoperator has put you in the same basket with Morocco or New Zealand. Consumer rights always end at the same border, the one between Western and Eastern Europe. We are witnessing the highest increase in the prices of basic products in the countries with the lowest incomes. Half a kilo of pasta is twice as expensive in Croatia than in France. Toothpaste is three times more expensive in Bulgaria than in Germany. We are often told, you need to get to know your rights better. It's as if it's our fault that no one on the market works in accordance with them. What is worth to have the right to a refund if the trader does not want to return it. Consumer rights must not be a dead letter on paper. Only effective supervision and harsh penalties can bring about change.

Mr. Chairman, consumer organizations of as many as 17 countries have applied to the European Commission the latest Chinese giant Tema. It questions the safety of products, harm to health and even the sales chain in terms of selling illegal products. People continue to sell, people continue to buy. A few years ago, 18 consumer organisations reported Tik Tok to European authorities for harmful effects on minors, who make up 30 percent of their users. Impairment of mental health, causing addiction, encouraging unhealthy habits and behaviors in children are burning problems that require an urgent reaction. Despite this, the changes on the platform are minimal. How to force online giants to comply with European rules? Greater powers should be given to the European Commission in the event of infringements of consumer rights. Let's show citizens that they are not alone, that the impact on our people, the impact on our institutions and that they will respond quickly and efficiently where it hurts the most. The ones who make mistakes - we hit them on the pocket.

The Common Market is one of Europe's greatest achievements. Every crisis deepens market inequalities, the rich get even richer, the poor get even poorer. The cost of living is the biggest problem across the European Union, and inequalities between and within Member States in prices, wages, pensions and poverty rates are only increasing. The report highlights consumer protection as one of the conditions for a fair market, but geoblockingterritorial barriers, higher food price rises in Eastern Europe are just some of the most pressing problems. The report praises the Act on Empowering Consumers in the Green Transition, which I am proud of, but the solution is to enforce our rules in every part of the European Union. More than 80 percent of the citizens of my country think that consumers are unprotected against market players. We need to strengthen European tools, consumer associations, inspections and citizens' awareness of their rights. We can't be them out there in Brussels. We have to work for people.