Speeches

The development of artificial intelligence, the implementation of AI systems in various branches of the economy, including healthcare, the use of AI by companies and the entry of AI into our daily lives is no longer a futuristic vision, but a reality. To date, no legislation has regulated the rules for the creation, marketing and deployment of AI. Nor did any law specify the safety requirements that AI systems should meet. This legal gap needs to be filled and a coherent framework developed for the development, marketing and risk management of AI-enabled products and services. The main concerns relate to the use of AI in citizens’ lives, the implementation of high-risk models, the lack of control of self-learning algorithms, technological deficiencies, discriminatory outcomes, the lack of oversight of data collection and user privacy. Future regulations must, on the one hand, support innovation, especially Polish SMEs operating in this area, and, on the other hand, minimise the real risk posed by the use of systems in society and the economy. The EP proposal strikes the right balance between new administrative obligations for businesses and safety, consumer rights, freedom to research and develop this technology. It is important that the EP ensures the free operation of regulatory sandboxes, which are safe and closed spaces for testing European AI-based innovations, and guarantees measures to help SMEs use this technology.

Madam President, I'm sorry. During this session, we are debating a report on the persecution of religious minorities in the world. This topic is very broad, important and at the same time extremely difficult to enclose in a single document. When working on the original text, my assumption was to develop the most complete picture possible of the situation on different continents, a kind of map of persecution or problems faced by representatives of different faith groups or non-believers. This, of course, required the adoption of a certain methodology and a kind of gradation of problems through the prism of religions most often victims of attacks, which is also connected with the number of followers and countries in which such events are most common. As a result of a very in-depth analysis of many available studies and documents, it seems to me that such a gradation has been achieved. It turned out, which is probably not surprising to anyone, that the most persecuted religious group are Christians. Not far behind them are followers of Islam, and in the third place Judaism. The former were victims of violence in 145 countries. By comparison, according to available sources, non-believers were repressed in 18. I am putting this information in order because, unfortunately, it was deleted in the final version of the report. Most groups, I don't know if because of political correctness or fear that someone might be left out, have decided not to mention any minorities or any countries where this persecution is taking place in their report on the persecution of religious minorities. Unfortunately, this has become the standard for many of the documents in these annual reports on human rights in the world, in which we have not mentioned any countries for years. In my opinion, this weakens Parliament's position very much. Nevertheless, the report that we managed to negotiate together still contains many important points that need to be highlighted. It exhaustively lists, for example, the different forms that persecution can take, points to the plight of women in many countries and stresses that any violence or discrimination on the basis of religion should be met with a strong response from the authorities of the country concerned and the international community. It talks about the destruction of cultural heritage and places of worship in armed conflicts, and even refers to the 1948 United Nations Convention on Genocide. The report also contains very concrete proposals for the EU institutions on how they should respond to violations of the rights of religious minorities, including by working extensively with governments, churches, faith groups, NGOs and human rights defenders. Guidelines on freedom of religion or belief are also an important instrument and should be periodically assessed and updated in cooperation with all the parties I have just mentioned. Religious persecution should also become an important part of the European Union's national strategies, and our delegations in different parts of the world should pay particular attention to these issues. To sum up, I believe that the report I have submitted fulfils its role, which should be to draw the attention of the EU institutions and the public to the problem of restrictions affecting various faith groups and non-believers and the attacks that they suffer in many places around the world. I regret that it has not been possible to obtain much more precise and specific provisions indicating individual countries and authorities, although in many places in the report it is very easy to read the references to very specific situations from the context. I also know that Members have signed requests for separate votes on several paragraphs and tabled two amendments to the text on the situation of Christians in the world. As rapporteur, I believe that these proposals are valid and I would like to encourage my colleagues to support them. Finally, I would also like to thank shadow rapporteurs from other political groups, advisors and members of the secretariat of the Subcommittee on Human Rights for their cooperation.