Speeches

Dear President, honourable Members, free and fair elections are the cornerstone of democracy and democracy is a fundamental European value according to Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union. Democracies today face many vulnerabilities, as recently witnessed during the Romanian presidential elections. Democracies face threats from hostile actors both within the EU and also from abroad. The Commission actively supports democracy in the EU. Protecting elections is at the heart of our work. Electoral matters are the competence and also the responsibility of the Member States. However, the Commission can support Member States in many ways. Ahead of the 2019 European elections, the Commission established the European cooperation network on elections to support exchanges between Member State authorities. The network has been activated following recent events. In 2020, the first comprehensive framework to protect democracy in Europe – the European Democracy Action Plan – was adopted. In 2021, a package strengthening the integrity of elections, including a regulation on the transparency of political advertising, was proposed. This regulation will become fully applicable in October 2025. It will give us more tools to address disinformation, manipulation of information and foreign intervention in electoral campaigns. And finally, last year, the Commission adopted the defence of democracy package. It includes recommendations on inclusive and resilient elections. The recommendations include encouraging election integrity and fair campaigning, protecting election-related infrastructure and information and minimising the risk of interference from third countries. As election campaigning happens more and more online, we need to make full use of the Digital Services Act adopted during the last mandate. It is important to note that the DSA does not regulate content. Instead, it established a risk management framework for very large online platforms and for very large online search engines. The DSA fully respects the freedom of speech under the DSA. Ahead of the many elections taking place this year across the EU, in April 2024 the Commission issued guidelines for electoral processes. These guidelines recommend measures which the platform and search engines can take to protect elections in accordance with the DSA. These recommendations are on, for example, recommender systems, integrity of services, third party research and data access, cooperation with national authorities, independent experts and civil society. The Commission also works closely with the Digital Service Coordinators, the national DSA enforcement authorities, especially when elections are scheduled or under way in any of the Member States. Regarding the recent elections in Romania, the Commission expressed concerns when there started to be signs of coordinated online influence operations targeting the elections, especially on TikTok. We took swift action under the DSA. We have now sent three requests for information to TikTok on its management of the risks of information manipulation during elections, including on risks of inauthentic or automated exploitation of its service, its recommender systems and also political advertising. The Commission has also issued a data retention order. It orders TikTok to preserve data related to the management of systemic risks that the design, functioning or use of its service could pose on electoral processes and civic discourse in the context of national elections in the EU Member States. Thanks to this order, we will be able to request and assess relevant evidence concerning the management of risks related to national elections in the Member States of the EU, taking place between 24 November 2024 and 31 March 2025. Now, we have carefully reviewed the evidence provided by TikTok on the measures taken in the context of the Romanian elections. On this basis, we have sufficient grounds to suspect that TikTok may have been in breach of their obligations under the DSA to properly assess and mitigate risks related to electoral processes and civic discourse. Therefore, today, the Commission decided to open an investigation. This concerns, in particular, the issues of political ads and the manipulation of TikTok's recommender system. At the same time, signatories of the Code of Practice on Disinformation, including both online platforms and civil society organisations, have activated the rapid response system for the Romanian elections. The system ensures good cooperation in ensuring electoral periods and quick exchange of information between civil society organisations, fact checkers and online platforms. The Romanian case has also been discussed with the European Board for Digital Services and there have been exchanges with the Romanian authorities. Honourable Members, moving beyond elections in Romania, the Commission has previously opened also three investigations, notably against X, Facebook and Instagram. Regarding X, the investigation focuses on the measures to tackle risks following from the actual and foreseeable negative effects on civic discourse and electoral processes stemming from the design and functioning of X in the EU, including also the effectiveness of its user-driven moderation, also risks linked to dissemination of illegal content, such as illegal hate speech and terrorist content, and also the measures to mitigate inauthentic platform manipulation, such as the use of fake accounts and bots. Regarding Facebook and Instagram, the investigation focuses on their practices related to deceptive ads, disinformation campaigns and the visibility of political content. The Commission is also investigating Meta's election monitoring tool. The Commission is carrying out in-depth investigations on the cases as a matter of priority, respecting all procedural and legal obligations. In cooperation with national Digital Service Coordinators, the Commission is very closely monitoring the platforms' compliance with the DSA ahead of upcoming elections in the EU Member States. We have also stepped out of alert level on cyber threats, and we are ready to coordinate our actions to enhance cyber security around electoral campaigns. We are ready to use all tools available if needed. Honourable Members, as President von der Leyen has said, our democracy is a constant work in progress. We have started work on the new European democracy shield under the leadership of Commissioner McGrath, by bringing together contributions from across many policy areas. The shield will aim to combat foreign information manipulation, interference and disinformation. We need to become better at detecting, analysing and proactively also countering threats. We will increase efforts to strengthen media freedom and the safety of journalists. We will reinforce also the resilience of societies and preparedness and we will better equip our citizens with skills to navigate the information space, especially online. I would like to thank you, honourable Members of the European Parliament, for supporting democracy in your work, including with the new special committee you are setting up. We are looking very much forward to cooperating with the new committee. I want to assure you that the Commission is very committed to protecting democracy. I remain fully available to hear your views as we work together to achieve this common goal.

Mr President, Commissioner, there are two themes on which the European Union must focus in the coming years: strengthening overall security and improving the competitiveness of the economy. For the past 15 years, the European Union has been lagging behind the growth of the United States. We need to create a Europe that encourages innovation and investment in Europe. It is excellent that Member States have now put competitiveness very strongly on the agenda for the coming years. We need to do four things in order to succeed. First, the Member States must cease to compete with each other for State aid. Secondly, we need to create regulation that encourages investment and innovation in Europe. We have far too much bureaucracy, an administrative burden that hinders investment and innovation. We need to speed up permitting processes so that our new ideas can enter the market in such a way that investments can be triggered. We also need to ensure that Europe has a skilled workforce for companies in the future. We also need to invest more in research and development. Only in this way will the industry remain competitive here and we will be able to respond to major global challenges.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, on behalf of ITRE Committee, I would like to thank all the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs for your good cooperation on this very important file. Europe must strengthen our economic and security capabilities across all critical sectors. One of these critical areas is the pharmaceutical industry. It’s one of our most important industrial sectors. It employs directly more than 840 000 people in Europe and invests over EUR 40 billion annually in research and development. These figures are significant, but the pace of growth and investments in comparison to regions such as Asia and the United States are significantly higher. It means that incentives for pharmaceutical and development research and new innovations in Europe must be increased. Otherwise, there is a risk of new investments increasingly flowing to other parts of the world. It’s important to ensure the availability of critical medicines in all situations in Europe, and therefore ITRE Committee sees that in this legislation it’s particularly important to focus on our competitiveness, security of supply and the promotion of research and development and new innovations in this sector.

Madam President, I want to thank all the rapporteurs, shadows and all the committees who have been working with this very important report. This legislation gives now more flexibility for our tourist buses, and in the same time, we are also taking care of our single market and about our safety of transport. So I want to thank everybody and I think we find a balanced agreement with the Council, and I hope that everybody can support this result.

Madam President, Prime Minister Orpo, I wish to thank you, Prime Minister, for being here with us today, and thank you for your excellent speech. The three main priorities you highlighted – strengthening Europe’s strategic competitiveness, improving our comprehensive security and promoting a clean transition – are precisely the sectors on which the European Union must focus. We must create a Europe that encourages companies to innovate and invest in Europe. We need to strengthen our own capacity, both in the economy and in security, so that Europe has the ability to act in all situations. Finland is a good example of a model of comprehensive security where citizens, companies and the public sector work closely together to ensure preparedness, resilience and security of supply. Your proposal for a preparedness Union is indeed an excellent initiative that should be taken forward. Prime Minister, I fully support your words about Ukraine. The European Union must bolster up our support for Ukraine. Concrete decisions and action is needed. We must help Ukraine win the war.

Mr President, Commissioner, yesterday, for the first time, the European Environment Agency published a European climate risk assessment. The message of the evaluation was quite harsh: extreme heat, drought, forest fires and floods are worsening in Europe, even in the most optimistic scenarios, affecting living conditions across Europe. Risks are elevated in the areas of the environment, food safety, health, infrastructure, as well as the economy and finance. There will no longer be any doubt anywhere in Europe as to why we need effective joint action not only to combat climate change but also to adapt to it. I am very glad that when the Commission published its own 2040 climate plan and target a few weeks ago, it had a more technologically neutral approach. For the first time, nuclear power was taken as an equal source of energy with renewable energies and also took an active grip on new technologies such as carbon capture and storage. We need this type of technology to effectively combat climate change, but we also need to adapt to change and tackling climate risks is an important part of the overall security of the European Union as a whole. We need to strengthen resilience. It is part of our strategic autonomy. The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have also shown how many different crises and hybrid threats Europe needs to prepare for. We should develop the European Union towards a Union of readiness. Member states should be able to prepare for different crises in a coordinated manner and not only respond to emergencies. Finnish continuous preparedness and security of supply thinking could serve as a good example in this regard.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this process of negotiating the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive has been very difficult and it is worth thanking all those involved for putting the proposal on a much better track than the Commission's original proposal. The directive is still quite ambitious. The goal is that new buildings should be zero-emission by 2030 and public buildings by 2028. Initially, the problem was that the Commission did not really take into account the different regions and their conditions in Europe at all. It did not take into account the fact that we have very different buildings, energy forms and infrastructures and that climate conditions vary across Europe, but rather the Commission set out very schematically to insist that everyone has to renovate a certain number of buildings, regardless of the baseline in terms of energy efficiency. And that didn't make any sense financially. In my own country, Finland, for example, buildings are by definition very energy efficient because the climate is cold. In Finland, the majority of buildings are heated with electricity, and more than 90 per cent of electricity is already emission-free, meaning that buildings are very environmentally friendly and energy efficient in many ways. The Commission's original proposal was also too micromanaged. It went into too much detail to determine how to install solar panels or electricity charging posts. These are issues that should not be decided at European level. They must be decided nationally, in regions, perhaps in cities or in the property itself. We need to focus on the big lines, and I think that here the directive is now back on better track. This gives Member States the freedom to determine for themselves the most efficient way to achieve energy efficiency and how to renovate buildings. We must ensure that, when we make these reforms, they are always economically and socially sustainable.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, as the first legislation of its kind, the Cyber Resilience Act is much called for and necessary for the security of digital products in the EU internal market. Currently, many digital products that originate from third countries are sold in the internal market, but the level of the cybersecurity and possible software updates is unknown. The trilogue outcome of the Cyber Resilience Act is a balanced agreement that will provide better consumer protection and boost also fair competition. It will ensure that all digital products that are put on the EU market, both hardware and software, are cyber-secure throughout their whole life cycle and will receive security updates. Promoting innovation is crucial for ensuring European competitiveness. We need to make sure that our smallest enterprises are not faced with an overly heavy administrative burden. Necessary flexibility and legal certainty is needed for small businesses to operate and grow. The CRA will ensure that our micro- and small enterprises are supported, especially through training and in conformity assessment procedures. The number of cyberattacks is consistently growing and they are becoming more sophisticated every day. Small businesses and critical institutions are targeted by cybercriminals. Cybersecurity concerns all sectors of society. Common rules and standards can significantly reduce vulnerabilities and risks related to digital products. Cybersecurity by design can help ensure our overall security. I would like to thank our rapporteur, Mr Danti, and all the shadow rapporteurs for their excellent cooperation on this very important file.

Mr President, Commissioner, strengthening competitiveness is the most important theme of the European Union's next term. The rise of international tensions, the war, has increased the importance of the geo-economy and a new kind of blockade of the global economy is underway. Europe needs to strengthen its own capacity to act, both in economic and security terms, and to reduce its high-risk dependencies. We need to create a Europe that attracts innovation and investment in Europe. We know that at the moment we are not doing well enough in this competition. We need to reduce the administrative burden on businesses. We need to speed up permitting processes in order to mobilise investment. We must ensure that good projects in Europe receive competitive, efficient funding without at the same time breaking the internal market, and above all we must ensure the availability of skilled labour also in the future.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, for Europe to stay competitive we need to do more to encourage innovation. This requires continued investment in research, development and innovation. When talking about innovation, the importance of patents needs to be recognised. Therefore, it is important to maintain a balance between the interests of patent holders and the users of standards. Reducing patent protection will increase risks as it will discourage European companies from participating in the development of global standards by undermining patent protection. I have to say that this proposed regulation can have a negative impact on Europe’s competitiveness, especially in the development of 5G and 6G technologies, where standard essential patents play a crucial role. We know that 5G and 6G technologies are extremely important to the EU in developing its strategic autonomy and its global competitive edge in digital technologies. If Europe wants to keep its innovative edge we need to have stable and meaningful intellectual property rights such as patent rights. I have to say that this proposed compromise does not take into account patent protection and creates too much regulatory burden, especially to the standard essential patent holders.

Mr President, Commissioner, the promotion of women's rights and gender equality is a core part of the EU's fundamental values, and it is important for us to promote this not only within the European Union but also globally. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. Equality is far from being achieved. An estimate was made here that at this rate, gender equality would be achieved in Europe in 60 years and globally at this rate it would take 300 years. It is clear that progress needs to be accelerated. It is good to note that important and important steps have been taken in the European Union in recent years, particularly the decision taken last year by which the European Union finally acceded to the Istanbul Convention, which now includes funding, policy and legislative measures. Similarly, this week agreement was reached on a directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence. This is the first legal instrument at EU level that now criminalises physical violence and psychological, economic and sexual violence against women across the EU, including online. Female genital mutilation and forced marriage are also criminalised as separate offences. It is also important that the new rules criminalise the most common forms of cyber violence, such as non-consensual sharing of intimate images, including forgery as well as cyber harassment, cyber espionage, misogyny and cyber flashes. So much has been achieved, but we still have a lot to do.

Mr President, Prime Minister, two withdrawals from the programme of the Belgian Presidency. Firstly, respect for the EU's fundamental values, the rule of law and democracy. You have promised to continue discussions with Hungary. I encourage you to move forward in this process and to find among the member states that Hungary is seriously and permanently violating the fundamental values of the EU and its right to vote must be suspended. This is necessary to restore the EU's capacity for action and credibility. Another important theme is the EU's decision-making capacity in foreign policy matters. In this international context, the European Union must be able to act quickly, uniformly and effectively. The fact that all foreign policy decisions currently require the full unanimity of the Member States makes the European Union too slow, rigid and uneven. You have also promised to promote the debate on the transition to qualified majority voting in EU foreign policy. This would already be possible if the European Council decided to do so. I encourage you to move forward. This is very important in this international context.

Madam President, dear colleagues, as the rapporteur, I would like to ask the report to be referred back to the Transport Committee for the start of interinstitutional negotiations.

Mr President, thank you to all the negotiators for the excellent result and the speedy handling of this legislation. I regard this initiative to secure critical raw materials as one of the most important initiatives of this parliamentary term. In any critical sector, the European Union must not be overly dependent on an individual supplier, a third country. It is important that we increase the production of critical raw materials in Europe and the processing and recycling in Europe. It would be irresponsible to drive the green transition and try to outsource all its disadvantages to the rest of the world. We know that in Europe we are able to produce, process and recycle these raw materials in a responsible way, both from an environmental and labour perspective. It is equally important to invest more in research and development in this area and to seek substitute, sustainable raw materials and actively engage in partnerships with like-minded countries so that we can be sure that we have the capacity to act in all circumstances.

Madam President, I want to thank my shadow rapporteurs for the collaboration on this file. We have now a broad majority, which I hope will support the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN Committee) result in the vote tomorrow. Why do we need this regulation? I think we all know that transporting people is very different from transporting goods. And this is the reason why the Parliament has asked and the Commission has proposed this revision of the existing driving and resting time rules for the occasional passenger transport sector. At the TRAN Committee, we support the Commission’s view that some more flexibility is needed here, both for the drivers and for the passengers. Occasional passenger transport, meaning usually tourist bus services are characterised by seasonality and changing circumstances during the trips. Flexibility is in the essence of those services, and it is also the reason why the passengers have chosen that service and not the regular passenger service. At the same time, we must continue to always preserve road safety and ensure proper working conditions for the drivers. We should also keep in mind that the regulation on driving and resting times has been revised only a few years ago, as a part of the Mobility Package. Therefore, these regulatory updates should remain limited and concern only the occasional passenger transport sector. With regard to the rules on brakes, the current rules do not, in practice, always match with the natural stops of occasional passenger journeys. Too rigid timetables adds stress to the drivers. In order to be able to provide a good quality transport service, the drivers need to adapt to changing circumstances. The TRAN Committee’s compromise on brakes now allows splitting the daily brake into two breaks of a minimum of 15 minutes each. These breaks can be divided in more flexible manner than in the current rules. On the rules on daily rests, the TRAN Committee supports the possibility for postponing the start of the daily rest with one hour in certain situations. The tourism journeys are usually going like that, that longer distances driven at the beginning and the end of the tour, and by shorter driving time at the place where the touristic activities are taking place. The one extra hour allows the driver to better respond also to passenger needs. The main negotiation point has been the condition of the number of days required to use this derogation. The Commission originally proposed that the derogation can be used on trips lasting eight days or longer. However, tourism trips in the EU on average are much shorter, only 4 to 5 days. For ensuring that the one-hour derogation can sometimes actually be used in practice the compromise brings the condition down to six days. One important objective of the EU rules on driving and resting times is to ensure fair competition within the EU internal market. Therefore, at the TRAN Committee, we support the Commission proposal to allow drivers to postpone their weekly rest up to 12 days on both international and national journeys. The alignment of national and international services also simplifies the enforcement and control of driving and resting rules. We all know that all these rules do not matter if they are not enforced and controlled properly. Already now, in practice, there are big challenges in several member States with enforcement and control of existing rules, both in freight and in passenger transport. Therefore, at the TRAN Committee, we have introduced measures to facilitate the work of control authorities with regards to, for example, digital journey forms and smart tachographs.

Mr President, Commissioner, I am very pleased that, in recent years, the attitude towards nuclear power has also become much more positive at European level. However, despite the fact that more than a third of zero-emission electricity in Europe is generated by nuclear power, the use of nuclear power has very strongly divided the positions of the Member States and the Commission has also been rather reluctant to promote nuclear-related projects. I think that the climate here has now changed clearly, because we need to get rid of fossil fuels and we need efficient, clean ways to produce energy securely and evenly. Nuclear power is just such a solution. This positive attitude is demonstrated by the fact that last week ministers in the Council took the position that nuclear power should be included in the list of net-zero technologies, i.e. to promote nuclear-related technologies. Parliament took a similar position earlier. This attitude is also demonstrated by the fact that this very good report by Mr Bogovič on small-scale nuclear power plants received very broad support in the vote in the Committee on Industry and Energy. These modular small reactors now have a very high international interest at the global level. These investments are smaller than conventional nuclear power plants. We have the opportunity to produce these in series, to locate them more flexibly than traditional large nuclear power plants in different locations, and this production is also easier to regulate. But now much more needs to be invested in R&D to keep Europe in this competition. We, too, have many Member States in Europe that have developed projects in this area, but we need a European framework in which we support research, product development and innovation in this area. Similarly, we need a framework to promote joint licensing and flexible permitting processes so that we can actually start serial production and quickly mobilise investments to effectively reduce emissions in Europe and produce our own energy.

Mr President, Commissioner, Council, over the past period, almost 600 initiatives were included in the work programme of the European Commission. That's a huge amount. While we have rightly promoted Europe's green and digital transitions, the Commission has produced a huge number of new directives, regulations and delegated acts, and I am not saying at all that the European Parliament would have been in any way better at this reduction of bureaucracy. As a result, there has been a huge amount of overlapping, cross-border legislation and obligations on our industry and companies. The administrative burden is enormous for these large companies, but especially when we are talking about SMEs. We need to put a stop to this. We really need to lighten and reduce regulation, and not just talk about it nicely. We are well aware that, at the beginning of this period, the Commission undertook to implement: one in, one out -the rule, that is, whenever there is a new obligation, the second end is lightened. No results have been achieved from this. Now, as new, the Commission has promised to include a competitiveness check, a competitiveness assessment, in every new piece of legislation, as well as the SME test. We look forward to the results. Of course, it is positive that the Commission has now taken up this issue and made it a priority in its work programme for next year. But yes, we must set the goal of strengthening the strategic competitiveness of Europe as a whole for the coming EU term. This means that we need to create legislation that encourages investment and innovation in Europe. The additional administrative burden must be reduced and companies must be given the opportunity to come up with new ideas and create new ones.

Madam President, Madam Commissioner, during November, more than 500 asylum seekers arrived in Finland from Russia. They are mainly young men from Syria, Somalia and Yemen. This is an organised activity where the Russians transport the persons in question by car near the Finnish border, and they cycle to the border. The situation is difficult because it is -20 degrees below zero in northern Finland now. This way, Russia is using migrants as a weapon at the Finnish border, trying to create chaos and confusion. This needs to be stopped. However, the situation at the Finnish border did not catch us off-guard. Fences have been built on the border and now, without delay, the Finnish Government has closed half of the border-crossing points with Russia. The Finnish Government is prepared to take strong actions following national laws and EU and international obligations. This situation underlines the need to reform international rules. We should have a unified EU model to respond to the instrumentalisation of migration. Effective and coordinated monitoring of the EU’s external borders is crucial to prevent neighbouring countries from using migrants for their own purposes, and to safeguard people’s fundamental rights. It’s crucial for the European Union to act together in this matter and make full use of the expertise and resources of Europol and Frontex.

Mr President, Commissioner, it is very important that we reduce emissions in the transport sector. We know that it is the only sector where emissions have only increased and trucks, heavy transport, are responsible for 25% of EU road transport emissions. It is therefore justified to pay attention to this. However, it is important that when we set these targets, we take into account the different circumstances in Europe. I represent the Finns here. You know that Finland has very long distances, sparse population and a cold climate. So it is neither realistic nor even cost-effective to think that we would quickly switch to electric trucks in these circumstances. Conditions are completely different in urban, distribution and bus transport, where electrification may very quickly be ahead. Due to the circumstances, exceptionally heavy, large trucks are used in Finland and this is a cost-effective way for us to reduce emissions, because we are able to produce less carbon dioxide emissions per tonne with a large truck than if we had two or three trucks carrying the same cargo. It is therefore important to take into account the different conditions in the regions when setting these targets. We are now aiming for 90% of new heavy-duty vehicles to be zero-emission by 2040. It is important that these largest combinations are now excluded, but we also need to increase technology neutrality, take biogas, renewable fuels into account and promote a life-cycle-based calculation model. I personally support the addition of the Carbon Correction Factor, a carbon correction factor that allows us to add a neutral dimension to this technology.

Mr President, Commissioner, when we look at the progress of the European Energy Union, we can welcome the many positive steps that have been taken in this regard. In particular, the fact that emissions have fallen by more than 32% since 1990, while at the same time the European Union's gross domestic product has grown by 67%, shows that sustainable growth is possible and that we are able to cut emissions. Similarly, the green transition has now been taken forward in many sectors. At the same time, it must be said that this has created a very heavy administrative burden for industry and businesses. In the coming months, an important task will be to dismantle the overly burdensome regulation and to dismantle the detailed regulation that has now come before us for quite a few green transition initiatives. Similarly, the European Union has succeeded in dismantling a very high level of dependence on Russia for energy. Imports of coal into the EU have been stopped. Oil imports have fallen by 90 per cent, natural gas imports by 75 per cent. But at the same time, liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports have even increased into the EU, and nuclear power has not yet been subject to sanctions throughout the period. There is also activity in this sector. We can say that the countries of the European Union still pay more than EUR 2 billion each month to Russia for fossil fuels alone, and this is unsustainable. We need to stop buying energy from Russia altogether and bring all energy activities under sanctions. The next time the Commission is preparing this twelfth package of sanctions, it will have to be extended to all energy production.

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, thank you for your speech. I can hear that even that you are very new in your position, you are taking this topic very seriously and you are trying to find answers and solutions for these important challenges. The New European Innovation Agenda is a very important idea, because it is supposed to position Europe at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovation and startups. Also, it is supposed to help Europe to develop new technologies to address the most pressing societal challenges and to bring them to the market. In this time of geo-economical competition, when we are speaking about critical technologies, this is especially important. The New European Innovation Agenda is rightly also designed to position Europe as a leading player on the global innovation scale. I’m also very happy that the Commission has stated that Europe wants to be the place where the best talents work hand in hand with the best companies, and where deep tech innovation thrives and creates breakthrough innovative solutions across the continent that will inspire the world. I very much agree with this vision, but to reach these targets and this vision, we have to do more. Especially, I want to underline two sectors to where we have to focus: first, fundamental research; and then, an innovation-friendly regulatory framework. First, about fundamental research, because we know that basic research is the basis for all innovations. I am very worried that when we look at our research and development investments in Europe, we are lagging behind the USA, Japan, Korea and even China. So, we have to encourage Member States to invest more in research and development, and a bigger European research programme is also needed. Secondly, we have to have a more innovation-friendly regulatory framework, that kind of framework and regulation that encourages new ideas, innovations and investments in Europe. This is not the case now. We are overregulating our industry and markets, and especially when it comes to startups and SMEs, the regulatory burden for them is too heavy. So it’s very promising that the Commission has now proposed an initiative to cut reporting obligations by 25% from SMEs, and is also committed to a competitiveness check of new legislation. So these are very important steps to include. But more has to be done to boost innovation.

Mr President, digital platforms have a very great social and economic responsibility today. Digital platforms with their own algorithms largely decide what kind of content we see every day. We have found that fake news, propaganda, hate speech and disinformation are spreading through digital platforms at an ever-increasing rate, causing and inciting violence. This has been exploited by Russia, Hamas terrorists and jihadists. It is good that the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force in August. As a first step, it applies to very large online platforms (VLOPs), for which obligations now need to be complied with. These platforms shall ensure that illegal content is removed immediately. They need to increase their own transparency and continuously carry out risk assessments of their own systemic risks. It is very important that what is illegal in European societies is now up to the level of legislation, and that what is illegal in European societies is also illegal on the Internet. This principle and these rules must now be closely monitored.

Madam President, Commissioner, free independent media is a cornerstone of our democracy and we as politicians have to protect media freedom also in the cases when maybe they are criticising us in the news. Freedom of expression and rule of law are core values of the European Union. It’s a shame that we have Member States where journalists are oppressed or spied on or even murdered because of their work for sharing information. This Media Freedom Act is well needed. We have to protect media pluralism and freedom everywhere in the EU. Digitalisation poses also new challenges for journalism when citizens are often getting their news via social media, and then it’s actually the online platform that decides which content is shown for the users. We already have now the Digital Service Act, which brings more transparency to the very large online platforms. Now, this legislation on media freedom offers additional protection against the unjustified removal of professional media content. And this is well needed.

Mr President, Commissioner, it is good that we now have the ITS directive here to confirm. After all, the current directive dates back to 2010 and during these years, digitalisation has gone a long way and we have also created a lot of new digital services for transport. It is therefore good that we are now able to combine, under the framework of this directive, various information relating to transport infrastructure and different modes of transport and ticket reservation systems. Thanks to the digitalisation of transport, we are able to get much safer, more efficient and also more sustainable transport. Similarly, if we can plan transport well, it will reduce congestion and reduce emissions. In fact, digitalisation is one of the most important ways we can make transport more environmentally sustainable. In this context, as we begin to finalise the legislation of this parliamentary term and look more and more towards the upcoming legislative term, I believe that, in the upcoming legislative term, the EU will have to significantly accelerate the digitalisation of transport. It is now very much the responsibility of the Member States to see how fast the projects are progressing. It is clear that we need to invest more in innovation, research and development in this area, but we also need modern infrastructure to make digital services possible. We know that there is a very large shortage of labour in the transport sector across Europe, and when digitalisation is used efficiently, we can modernise logistics chains, automate, robotise, very significantly transport, and thus gain efficiency, safety, comfort, ease of transport. In the coming legislative term, accelerating the digitalisation of transport across Europe must become an even stronger priority.

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, small and medium—sized enterprises represent 99% of Europe’s businesses. They employ over 100 million people across Europe and produce nearly half of Europe’s GDP. The last few years have not been easy, and SMEs have faced many crises. They need our support. I would like to thank the Commission for preparing this SME relief package. It contains many important things, such as improving the current regulatory environment for SMEs. Of course, the package comes very late. In fact, in the PPE we have been urging the Commission to fulfil its promises to SMEs for years about appointing an SME envoy and following the ‘one in, one out’ principle. I am delighted that President Ursula von der Leyen earlier today in her State of the European Union speech was underlining the importance of SMEs to our economy, innovation and competitiveness, and committed to put promises into practice because Europe needs a regulatory framework that encourages investments and innovations in Europe. We have to cut red tape from our industries and especially from our SMEs, because small companies do not have capacity to cope with complex administration. It costs EUR 1 per employee for a big company to fulfil EU regulations, but EUR 10 for a small company. It’s crucial for them that we cut this and reduce the administrative burden for them. So I am welcoming the Commission’s new initiative to reduce reporting obligations at European level by 25% for our SMEs and add a competitiveness check to all our new pieces of legislation. Now it is time to move from promises to actions.