Speeches

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, from time to time Europe not only issues what I have so often referred to as 'eurofollies', but also adopts sensible measures such as this one, which bans products made with forced labour on the EU market. Forced labour is a serious scourge of society affecting an important part of the world's population. According to the International Labour Organization, there are millions of people in the world, including millions of minors, forced into forced labour, and the profits from this exploitation amount to almost 220 billion euros each year and these profits have increased by 37% in a decade. Slavery is widespread all over the world, in Africa and in the Asian Pacific area, in the Arab States, where the total number of people enslaved compared to the total population rises drastically. Particular attention is due to the millions of products that enter the European market every year deserves China and some of its regions, where minorities of Muslim faith have been victims of serious human rights violations for years. More than 1 million people are detained and forced into forced labour. Their forced labour contributes to the production of numerous goods for various multinationals, goods sold mainly in Western European markets, therefore at home. And if these situations put the chills, there's worse: Exploitation of children. Millions of children exploited. Millions, while our children and grandchildren go to school to play sports or have fun. Fortunately, it is a phenomenon that is being tried to stem, but in some countries certain numbers cry out for revenge. In Thailand, 32% of the entire workforce is made up of children. There are nearly 60 million child labourers in India. In Nepal, 60% of children work in jobs that prevent their development. 7 million children work in Brazil. That is why I have welcomed this measure with confidence, which also provides guidelines for economic operators and authorities to help put an end to slavery in modern times.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, around 600 million nights are booked online every year: So every night, more than 1.5 million people stay in short-term accommodation. The issue is relevant for countries with a strong tourist vocation, such as Italy, and we are satisfied with this proposal, even if it is a relationship that began with controversial content, because it is not up to Europe to solve the problem of possible housing shortages. The negotiations brought it back to its original intent: a mapping of dwellings useful in the future to reshape short-term rental policies. There will also be greater transparency to protect consumers, who are often – as the news reports tell us – victims of fraud. With registration it will be easier for consumers to understand where to turn in case of disruptions. We are confident that this will help to increase consumer confidence and improve the overall short-term rental sector.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let us be clear, with the aim of encouraging movements, this measure also aims to facilitate the practice of the 'rental womb' even where it is prohibited, as in Italy and in many Member States, without being able to invoke public order. In fact, it is provided for the recognition of filiation in any way the child was born or conceived, therefore also through the practice of the "rent uterus". And let it not be said that women lend their uterus out of solidarity, as is the case with organ transplants, it is not so: It's a baby, not an organ or tissue. If one wanted to compare it to organ or tissue donation, the same criteria should be used, but this is not the case: who wants a child chooses the donors on the catalog, selecting those with the desired characteristics as well as the surrogate mother, while in organ transplantation the recipient does not choose the donor, almost never this happens. Contracts are concluded where the body of a woman often in precarious economic conditions is exploited and Article 3 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the right to the integrity of the person, which provides for the prohibition of making the human body, or parts of it as such, a form of profit, is forgotten. The catalogs with the prices are online and you can choose where to buy the baby depending on your economic possibilities. And we remember the sad story of children ordered with a deposit and to be collected after the balance and who, due to the coronavirus, have remained in storage abroad due to the impossibility of picking up the package. These were children booked and paid in installments. Children are no longer subjects of law, but objects, and we forget the dignity of women and I'm not there!

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we understand that in times of crisis, such as the present one, there must be greater attention to the removal of illegal content. For the rest, I have always been critical of the overall structure of the text, and not because it is contrary to the fight against disinformation or in favor of fake news, but because the line between freedom of thought and what is considered disinformation is often ideologically oriented and we wonder whether so-called trustworthy flaggers will be able to operate objectively. Especially in the political sphere, it is easy to label a free manifestation of thought as hate speech, especially if the thought expressed is different from the single thought. The norms certainly cannot be used, as we have often seen happen, in an instrumental way, to politically strike those who have a different thought, perhaps under the pretext of the fight against terrorism. fake news. Despite the reassurances, we still do not know what will happen in view of the upcoming elections. Finally, we hope that censorship will not become a political tool: It is permissible to disagree, but it must be done with the intellectual instrument that is criticism, not with censorship.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the development of new technologies has certainly facilitated access to financial products and the pandemic has further accelerated this process, leading to the growth of online purchases. The era of fax exchange now belongs to prehistoric times. Conversely, consumers buying online have become more vulnerable to manipulative practices, such as the use of interfaces designed to deceive them and divert their attention to products or services they didn't actually want to subscribe to. That's why it was critical to ban financial service providers from pushing consumers to make choices that might be contrary to their interests through website design. Very often to push to conclude a contract relies on the sense of urgency and the invitation to act immediately so as not to lose strangely advantageous loans, promises of easy earnings and offers at bargain prices, and then you find yourself stuck. And we know it well: Unclear contracts, once signed, are difficult to revoke, or rather, were difficult. The goal we have set ourselves is also to make consumers more aware of their right of withdrawal and to ensure that withdrawing from a contract is no more onerous than entering into it.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, in Italy, where there are almost one and a half million craft companies, you have long expected this legislation. I would therefore like to thank the rapporteur and her colleagues. We are talking about products with unique characteristics, present in every Italian region, of artifacts with a strong territorial roots that will now finally have a protection. We have fought hard to introduce the obligation that the main production phases take place in the place of the geographical area of reference. For us it was essential to give greater attention to strengthening the requirement of the link between the product and the territory. The different sensitivity on the importance of the craft world of the different European countries has not allowed this result to be achieved. Despite this, it is a step forward that will benefit all Italian craftsmanship, because in the homologation brought by globalization, the mastery expressed by the ancient crafts is to be safeguarded as well as works of art.

Madam President, first of all I would like to thank President Metsola for her words and her closeness to the affected regions. I also appreciated that the speech was done in Italian. I would also like to thank all my colleagues for their solidarity. Italy, unfortunately, for its conformation is certainly a territory at hydrogeological risk, but what happened is not a new fact. These disasters have been happening for years and often in the same places. Tuesday, May 16, I was in Bologna and I saw with my own eyes the power of the water that flooded the streets, that entered the houses, but it was not only water, it was mud, debris, branches. This is to say that yes, climate change is fine, but are we sure that this or only this is the cause? Every extreme rain event breaks a bank, and this time, unfortunately, more than one, and it's not a climate change problem. And I'm not the one saying it, but expert geologists. I would not like these tragic occasions to be used to impose new eurofollies. green. What do you need then? Not only do we need structural interventions, we also need to strengthen the offices responsible for the management of rivers and embankments, we need maintenance, and it is evident that what had to be done was not done, it had to be done because it was not the first time. I would also like to thank President von der Leyen and all the government officials who have visited to check on the situation. And the situation is unfortunately tragic: Destroyed houses, collapsed bridges, devastated crops and, unfortunately, dead. Fortunately, the government and the emergency machinery intervened promptly and we are waiting for Europe's help. Finally, my biggest thanks go to all the ordinary citizens who donated materials and food and helped as they could shoveling mud. On these occasions you can see the great heart of the Emilia-Romagna.

I hope I understood your French well because there was no translation here. However, gender ideology, LGBT and so on must not be introduced into schools, respect must be taught. A colleague here spoke well before, said that "respect for women is lacking especially in certain cultures" and it is certainly not by introducing LGBT or gender ideologies or discussing these things that we will help these women.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the dramatic problem of increasing violence against women must be a priority. While so many groups are talking about gender equality and fighting inequalities by putting forward little concrete proposals, we should all focus on concrete solutions that need to be given by the Member States. The Istanbul Convention is certainly not conclusive, where between the lines there is the desire to introduce gender ideology. What is needed is something else, not LGBT ideologies. I honestly don't think that a raped woman, an infibulated girl or a girl bullied on the internet is particularly interested in the distribution of teaching materials on non-stereotyped gender roles in schools. What is really needed is to find, for example, a prompt response from the authorities: We know that many times we do not complain about the slow response and the concern about the repercussions between the time of the event and the adoption of the measures. I've heard the phrase "okay, tell me to report it, but before decisions are made what do I do? Do I have to barricade myself in the house? This is why I am proud of the government of my party, because in Italy it was the promoter of the red code and, a few days ago, of the so-called "strengthened" code. This is what we need, because we have to say it clearly: the acceptable number of women victims of violence, of all types of violence, must be zero. (The speaker agreed to answer a "blue card" question)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, with all the problems we have in Europe today we are talking about this. I thought it would be a big problem for the European Parliament to talk about an Italian issue. I looked for accurate data, but I couldn't find it. Some articles speak of 150,000 children, but in reality there are far fewer. These are probably extended families, not first-time homogeneous families. So we do not have certain data, but only one certain data: There is no law in Italy, despite a decade of leftist governments. And what is even more certain is that a public official must enforce the law and judgments confirming that the practice of surrogacy is contrary to public order. As the government's rejection confirms on the proposal on European parenthood, such recognitions would only have the effect of letting in through the window what did not enter through the door: the abominable practice of the rented uterus and the commodification of the body of the most economically vulnerable women.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in order to achieve equality, and I do not like to call it gender, we do not need pink quotas or laws that reserve us some place, almost as if it were alms. For the European Union, the priority must be education, including digital education. Instead, in developed countries we often see battles to arrive at an inclusive language: "partner" instead of "husband" and "wife", "staff" instead of "workers". Instead of worrying about changing language to gender-neutral, let's worry about the more than 700 million people in the world who can't read and write, because of these 700 million two-thirds are women. So what is important? Only from basic education can women, young women, be given the same opportunities as men, in all fields, even in the digital one, because so often education means freedom.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this text is an excellent starting point for the protection of consumers, especially the youngest. The video game industry is growing rapidly and steadily in Europe and thanks to this sector almost one hundred thousand jobs have been created in our continent. This growth must not be discouraged, but at the same time the risks to our citizens, especially the most vulnerable, cannot be ignored, and I am referring to those who have become genuine new dependencies. We should not be afraid to mention the name of two video games: Fortnite and FIFA. These are titles with a low age target, often minors who are lured to spend money to be able to play. And in both cases we are not talking about small and medium-sized enterprises, but about American giants. We cannot continue to read articles about families who find themselves with huge debts caused by expenses made by their children, deceived by these types of titles that instill in consumers the idea of the pay-to-winIn order to win, you have to spend more and more money. We protect our small and medium-sized enterprises, we protect our citizens and we do not allow giants of industry to ruin the lives of families. These must be our goals.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in Italy we did not have to wait ten years to hear how many women should occupy decision-making posts. In Italy we already have effective legislation since 2011 that has allowed us to achieve one of the alternative objectives imposed by the early directive. Imposing a quota system at European level, and therefore a system of quantities in command posts, is an approach that cannot be supported politically. Paraphrasing a sentence by Oriana Fallaci, the mediocre of political correctness always deny merit and always replace quality with quantity. And what women want is the recognition of their merits, not a reserved place and it cannot and must not make any difference to wear a tie or stilettos, because in the future there must be no female or male leaders, there must be only leaders. I would like to share my thoughts with Roberto Maroni.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we in the European Parliament very often talk about the single market, about equal opportunities and about having a Union that is suitable for all citizens. Often, however, they are words in the wind. Our most vulnerable citizens, those with disabilities, need more protection and to be at the centre of parliamentary work. In recent years, several measures have come to light that are committed to setting accessibility standards, but unfortunately not enough has been done. Our citizens with disabilities are in a world that not only does not facilitate their lives, but often discriminates against them. I therefore very much welcome the work done by the rapporteur. Although our groups are politically distant, on issues like these we have found ourselves in tune. It is time for the European Commission to listen not only to Parliament, but also to those more than 80 million citizens who need more protection in order to truly be part of our Union and without suffering any discrimination. Yesterday, while waiting for the shuttle to the airport, I met a dear person, a friend of ours who is in a wheelchair, who told me: I just missed the bus because the driver, since I'm sitting in a wheelchair, didn't see me, and sometimes I feel invisible. I conclude by reminding the Members of this House that each of us has decided to pursue a political career in order to try to improve the lives of the people around us. Although it is not always easy, I hope that a new European season can begin in which the good of citizens and of all citizens is placed at the top of the priorities by overcoming ideological vetoes. Because you believe, in 2022 it is unacceptable to be told: Sometimes I feel invisible.

Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the epilogue of a complicated work on the DSA, for us it has been a missed opportunity to contribute to online security and the protection of fundamental rights. I note with regret two aspects: One, the presence of trusted flagger, professional flaggers, whose alerts will take priority over the alerts of an ordinary citizen; two, the introduction by the Commission of the crisis response mechanism, a proposal introduced without a genuine democratic process, given that, already in 2020, we were in the midst of the COVID crisis. The Commission wanted almost unlimited power to declare a state of emergency and to require platforms to take mitigating measures to control freedom of expression. We have just taken off the masks and the Commission wanted to put a new bag on it, this time to our ideas. Despite the short time, we managed to stem this power.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, our Union's market is the most in demand on the planet and we cannot allow goods produced in countries where the barbaric practice of forced labour still exists to access it. First we have to put life before profit. We must help our companies, which are often penalised by unfair competition based on the exploitation of children. Those who exploit children turn off the light of the world, because exploiting children means committing a crime against humanity. I think it is interesting to deepen the study of the evaluation and control system applied by American customs for the control of suspected cases of forced labour exploitation, which has already led to the blocking of 912 cargoes in the first months of 2022. Because when a man tells you that he has become rich through hard work, the first thing to ask is: Whose job?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am surprised, or perhaps not, that the European Parliament is discussing hypothetical decisions concerning the United States over which it has no authority. I am surprised because today, in Europe, there are millions of women who make the decision not to continue pregnancy because there is no one to support them. A country that wants to consider itself civilized should not allow it, but it should commit itself to helping women who want to become mothers, especially at a time like this of "demographic winter". So, colleagues, before you worry about what is happening on the other side of the ocean, I invite you to take care of the people who live in our countries to whom we have political and moral responsibilities. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: If a mother can kill her own child, there's nothing stopping me from killing you and you from killing me. What is needed is not to point the finger at others, but to develop a serious policy for our citizens in support of motherhood.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, in the meantime I would like to thank everyone for their work. This work has touched on themes of great impact in the lives of citizens, from transport to health, agriculture, up to the use of artificial intelligence in the military sector. The aim was to analyse the various perspectives to provide the basis for future Union legislation in this area. I do not know if we have succeeded, given the high rate of innovation in this sector, we are faced with so many opportunities, but also with so many risks. We see many improvements in the well-being and life of citizens, but also enormous risks regarding personal freedoms and the risk of mistakes, with catastrophic social consequences: I think of that real estate buying and selling platform that for a mistake of the algorithm bought houses at a price higher than the market value, suffering financial losses and being forced to lay off 25 percent of employees. During our work, our group tabled amendments aimed at minimising these risks, which unfortunately are not shared by everyone. It is essential for our citizens that there be as few risks as possible. In the medical field, the attention must be maximum because even in this case we were faced with algorithms that reported only white patients and artificial intelligence must be free from prejudices of all kinds. And especially in the military, we consider it essential that artificial intelligence does not have the upper hand over man in decision-making processes. It is essential that freedom of speech and expression is not jeopardized by systems that use artificial intelligence, forcing us to use the so-called "algospeak", a coded language to bypass algorithms and online censorship. We do not oppose progress, we do not think of a Luddite revolt. We do not want to destroy machines, we simply want a future of this technology that is driven by ethics and the will to protect our citizens.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the issue of the safety of toys is of great importance to us, because it is directly linked to the protection of the health of the children who are our future. The work done by the IMCO Committee has been positive and we have addressed important issues, such as the safety of the chemicals used, the surveillance of products in the market and the effects of the application of new technologies to connected toys. It would be appropriate, as the Commission has been asked, to introduce new technologies, such as the blockchain, to enable the traceability of products and the identification of unsafe ones, protecting, on the one hand, the safety of our consumers and, on the other hand, facilitating the work of the competent authorities that would receive detailed and up-to-date information on products and their traceability. I am pleased that the issue of children with disabilities has been addressed in the text. I hope that the Commission will take this into account, given that toys are very important in psychological and physical growth. Unfortunately, toys for fragile children can be purchased with difficulty, with costs much higher than generic toys, as they require expensive and complex adjustments. Yet they are important objects, because they increase collaboration with the child, who becomes a protagonist in therapeutic activity and are useful for social inclusion. Life is more fun if you play. The real winner of a game, however, is not who comes first, but who has more fun and we hope that our children can always have fun with safe toys.

Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to thank the members of the IMCO Committee, the rapporteur for her work and my colleagues in the other committees. For the purpose of this regulation, the concept of illegal content should emphasize not only the principle that what is illegal offline must also be considered illegal online, but also that what is legal offline must be considered legal online. After a year of work, the Digital Services Act has arrived in plenary and as always we are divided into those who are satisfied with the result and those who are not. I'm back in the second category. There is no denying the improvements compared to the initial text, also thanks to our contribution. I would like to highlight the article on accessibility requirements for services for persons with disabilities: It is very important to me because I care about the difficulties that our most fragile citizens have to face every day. For our society to be truly inclusive, it must be inclusive for everything. But let's get to the critical aspects. First: the figure of the trusted flagger, i.e. the trusted flagger. We strongly opposed it and asked for its cancellation because we wonder what guarantees of independence and impartiality this figure can have. In addition, the notifications made by the trusted flagger they are considered to be second-class and treated with priority while those submitted by any other citizen do not benefit from the same priority. Second: the governance. The Commission still has too much power in the application of this regulation and despite our efforts we have not been able to ensure that the board He was able to balance it more. Third: the safety of European consumers, in particular with regard to products or services from third countries. On platforms, everything is sold, consumers must be able to buy safe products and services regardless of where they were produced. This is why I strongly demanded that the platforms that allow trader third countries to trade online check whether they comply with Union product safety laws. Fourth: risk assessment and risk mitigation. The text requires large platforms to carry out at least annually an assessment of the systemic risks caused by or related to the operation and use of their services and take measures to mitigate these risks. The critical issue for citizens is that, on content and activities considered harmful but not illegal, it will be the large platform to decide the limit between freedom of expression and the right to information with respect to the possible damage caused to users, thus leaving the platform the widest discretion. This risk is even greater when one considers that such an assessment can be made by algorithm-based automatic moderation systems, which often contain preconceptions. To conclude, the DSA was a great opportunity, but this opportunity was wasted. Under the pretext of greater control over platforms to protect citizens, their freedom of expression has been put at risk. I hope I am wrong and I hope that we will not have to regret some choices, because in that case it will be the citizens who will pay the consequences.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we all know how long and complex the negotiation process has been, but unfortunately I can only be half-satisfied. First of all, I am not convinced that the increase in the thresholds for determining which companies fall within the definition of gatekeeper It was a good move. The Commission's proposal was more stringent and would have allowed a targeted control on a larger audience of platforms, better protecting consumers, especially with a view to the future with a booming digital market. Just think of the turnover that these companies make and their dizzying growth. Intervening promptly and massively to stop anticompetitive behaviour in advance should, in my view, have been the priority. The obligations, it is true, have been tightened up and I find the text in this respect considerably improved compared to the proposal. The problem, I repeat, is that they will be applied to fewer companies than expected. Another aspect that I find unconvincing is the establishment of the High Level Group of Digital Regulators. On paper it seems a winning and fascinating proposal. The truth is that its recommendations are non-binding, the Commission retains full discretion over the application of the Regulation and the Member States and there is very little experience accumulated over the years, apart from cooperation. I would therefore have preferred a real and greater involvement of the Member States and their competent authorities with a stronger role. It is essential, in my view, to strengthen the exchange of information between the Commission and the Member States. However, we still have room for manoeuvre to make this text future-proof and I am hopeful that it will become so. Merry Christmas to all.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, a rare disease has only one disadvantage in terms of visibility, namely that it affects only 5 out of 10 000 people in the European Union. This does not make it less painful, but simply less statistically relevant. Since the time of Hippocrates treating the sick has been a priority and the history of our continent has seen hundreds of men and women who have dedicated their lives to study to develop medicine. In Europe we have always been at the forefront of medicine and pharmaceuticals, but we have not done enough. We have world-renowned excellence and have always supported research, as the development of vaccines to tackle COVID-19 has shown, but it is still not enough. What's lacking are the funds, and we can't wait for a pandemic to remind us of that. There are families whose lives depend on our decisions and that is why we must do everything in our power to help them. This means creating information networks that improve diagnostics and address the problem of orphan medicines. We must invest even more resources and give concrete help to the experimentation of new treatments and new drugs, to protect as much as possible the right to life of our citizens and ensure their integration into society, because a life is not just a number and pain is not something that is weighed down.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Europe was unprepared for the arrival of the pandemic. His initial response was neither quick nor effective. Over time we have tried to fix the shot, but it is good that Brussels has learned the lesson to prepare for the difficult months ahead and in the hypothesis of future epidemics. On this front we cannot afford mistakes, uncertainties or missteps. When we talk about vaccinations, the thought runs to COVID-19, a new disease for which new therapeutic solutions are continuously offered that, we hope, can soon guarantee a lasting solution to the epidemic. When this is identified, we hope that the industry will be able to make it available on a global scale, in a short time, given that we live in an interconnected world for which our health does not depend only on that of our neighbor. If we look at epidemic problems from a global perspective, there are other urgent vaccination campaigns. I am thinking of the vaccination against malaria, recently approved by the World Health Organization, which would make it possible to combat a disease that caused more than 360 000 deaths globally in 2019. Vaccination against malaria would be the tool to definitively eradicate the disease without causing the environmental damage generated by previous attempts, based on the use of pesticides. Vaccination has the advantage of combining therapeutic simplicity, affordability and the ability to treat a large number of people in a short time. However, this must not make us forget that this is a race against diseases, from which we cannot and must not withdraw. In this way we will show the world our best side from the point of view of international cooperation. Let us make our present effort useful for the salvation of future generations.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the objective of zero hunger in the world must be achieved without over-exploitation of the environment or a lowering of the food quality standards that we have developed over time and which we hope will spread globally. "Food for all" does not mean food of poor quality, on the contrary the quantitative effort must be accompanied by a qualitative improvement, according to the criteria of organic and biodynamic cultivation. That is why we must make use, in Europe as in the developing countries, of all the tools made available to us by modern technologies, starting from precision farming to move to all the solutions that use artificial intelligence with simple solutions that are also applicable to developing countries. Intelligently applied technology can allow us to overcome the quality/quantity dichotomy by offering everyone the right and healthy diet.