Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely want to thank my colleagues, first and foremost from the IMCO Committee, those who have been rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs, but all the components for the work we have done in this examination of this report. It was an absolutely fruitful and concrete work, especially without exploitation, which allowed us to get closer even starting from slightly distant positions. And this allowed us to have an almost unanimous vote. That is why it would have been a pity if, as in some other instances, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs had not taken due account of the suggestions we have made. That is why I would like to thank my colleague, Mr Schwab, but all the members of the ECON Committee for taking advantage of our suggestions. It is an important starting point. There will be so many things to touch on. New challenges. The Commission has had the capacity to deal with the pandemic with derogations, with exceptions. He will be able to do the same to deal with this conflict in Ukraine, keeping the important points of reference, but knowing how to derogate.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, 2023 will be a special year, with an epoch-making record. It is therefore essential that after the pandemic, and now with the war in Ukraine, courageous, indispensable, fundamental and extraordinary choices are made. Mr Ştefănuță's report goes in the right direction and also incorporates the proposals of the AGRI Committee, recognising the central role of agricultural policy, but this is not enough, it is not enough. The increase in diesel, the increase in electricity, feed, fertilisers and the need to ensure food autonomy are likely to require an extraordinary fund for farmers, beyond the CAP, almost a recovery plan food, which allows to increase production and reduce dependence on third countries, perhaps facilitating the conversion of land in regions affected by pathogens, as happened in Puglia with Xylella, and allows to ensure the right profitability for farmers, thus encouraging the entry of young girls and boys.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, it is special and strange to have such a common understanding of such an important and difficult text, so it is absolutely necessary to congratulate those who have managed to find an agreement, to find a broad and broad compromise. It is an important act that of the DSA, it updates a regulation like that of e-commerce after twenty years. I must say, however, that the narrative that we often hear in this House too, that for twenty years nothing has been done, is not exactly so. Over the years in the last legislature there have been important interventions on industry regulations, copyright law is one of those. So I believe that a step forward was an important step forward that we are taking, but you will allow me, a year after the proposal and after three hours of discussion, to make a joke. When I was a child I played a game called "the cuckoo dance", it was a step forward but it was also a step back. So my fear, and also the fear of colleagues from the Italian delegation of the Forza Italia EPP, the fear we have is that above all on this copyright legislation we are taking an important step back. So you have to pay particular attention to what happens and, in particular, to get back to being serious, there are some points, four in particular, that arouse serious perplexity. First of all, the exemption of liability, which, unlike the e-commerce directive, is made not only for automatic and passive technical subjects, but also for those who play active intermediary roles and who control and above all monetize the contents. Then there are the obligations of diligence, the so-called "Know your business customer", which is only allowed for the platforms of marketplace. Then the stay down, secondary control, the possibility for platforms to remove some content. That is why we have decided to support the amendments tabled by Mr Verheyen and Mr Didier and we hope that their adoption will result in a more balanced and incisive text.