Speeches

Madam President, Commission, the presentation of these new proposals goes in the right direction: more solidarity among Member States on cybersecurity and a joint commitment on the new skills needed to ensure it. The European Union is the largest integrated digital market in the democratic world and, as such, a sensitive target for cyber-attacks affecting the whole of our society, from citizens to industries, to strategic and military infrastructure. A phenomenon in significant increase that, with the war in Ukraine, takes on the dimension of a real hybrid war. Dealing with all this at the national level is valiant: A European response is needed today. Prevention work is already well underway, with the approval of the NIS2 Directive on network security and the ongoing discussion on the Cybersecurity Act for products with digital elements, for which I am rapporteur for the Socialists and Democrats Group. Now we can also become stronger in terms of threat detection and coordinated response to attacks. Dear colleagues, this is a shared responsibility in this new digital world where everyone's security is everyone's security.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I too welcome and thank Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič. It is an honour to speak for the first time in this House, from this place, the home of all European citizens. I want to recall the importance of defending our most precious asset, being part of the European project, the only guarantee of well-being and prosperity for future generations. The sad parable of Brexit teaches us how serious and negative the results of an irresponsible policy based on fake news It is an anti-European ideology. The recent Windsor agreements on trade rules in Northern Ireland relaunch bilateral relations, after years of negative climate that I too breathed as an EU diplomat in London. A new page is now opening, but we must remain vigilant both on the rights of European citizens in the UK and on legislative developments such as the draft law. Retained EU law This risks creating new diverging rules and trade barriers. Ladies and gentlemen, I will play my part as a member of the new EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly. Let us work together to foster dialogue and build bridges in a perspective that we want to continue to dream of as common.