Debate contributions by Laura BALLARÍN CEREZA

Mr President, every day, millions of Europeans live in a territory that does not appear on any map: the digital space. But like we did with oceans, no borders does not mean no rules. Europe understood this in time, and we were pioneers. The digital laws that we approved in the previous mandate are not mere bureaucracy. They are our bill of rights of the 21st century. But the digital omnibus presented last week aims to simplify and reopen our digital regulation to help European tech companies with measures like narrowing the scope of the data protected under the GDPR and delaying the obligations and sanctions for high-risk artificial intelligence. Let's not fool ourselves: if we loosen the rules just before they come into force, we send a very dangerous message to our global competitors because this is not about sticks and carrots, not about dubious diplomacy subject to continuous blackmail from the United States. It is about the European model of autonomy and digital sovereignty. Ms Virkkunen, who are the real beneficiaries of this digital omnibus? There is a very serious risk that the attempt to reduce the competitiveness gap with the US could end up benefiting American companies if the new regulations allow them to widen their existing advantage. So, the urgency to compete and innovate cannot come at the expense of our rights, social safeguards and technological ethics. Let's not undermine ourselves and defend our own digital legacy.

Madam President, according to the recent report 'Digital Infancy', one in ten children admits to having suffered cyberbullying and one in three adolescents, digital violence as a couple. When we give 11-year-old boys and girls a mobile phone, are we really aware of the danger behind this screen? I don't think so. We have opened the digital wild west to our children without knowing the consequences. The digital world is neither neutral nor safe. The risks to our children are real and serious: cyberbullying, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, suicides, grooming, sexual extortion, access to pornography at the age of ten. It is a real pandemic that is spreading all over the world. But we can and must act, because we must put technology at the service of people and not at the service of billionaires in Silicon Valley or Singapore. Digital childhood demands control and balance. Balance between training and protection, between freedom and security. And this responsibility is shared: families, educators ... but, above all, large technological platforms, because their business models are addictive, they are harmful and we know that they do it deliberately because it is not an isolated error, but a business model that puts profit above well-being, click above rights and algorithm above the law. That is why this Parliament sends a strong message to the European Commission with this report, which we adopted this week with a large majority. Digital impunity has to end and the protection of our children is not an option, but an urgent obligation, with clear measures and new laws such as the Digital Equity Act, which have to bring a minimum digital age of thirteen to access social networks (and up to sixteen only with parental authorization), effective age verification, strict regulation of addictive designs and misleading interfaces and, above all, prohibition of recommendation and advertising algorithms based on the behavior of minors. Families and educators are asking us to take action now and not leave them alone in front of the big platforms. But we're also being asked to do so by our minors. They ask us that the big platforms do not steal their childhood or adolescence.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, selling sex dolls that look like girls is not market freedom, it is an atrocity. What's next? Selling drugs or bombs online? In another debate we will talk about why some men are attracted to sex toys that resemble minors or the exponential increase in the consumption of child pornography, but today we talk about how there are online platforms that make their wishes come true with just one click. The Shein scandal is not an isolated commercial error nor is it solved by asking for forgiveness and removing the products from its website. Therefore, I call on the European Commission to be more forceful in the implementation of digital laws and in the defense of European consumers in electronic commerce, more resources for our customs controls and the reform of the Customs Code and exemplary sanctions on these platforms so that this does not happen again. We already saw it with mad cows or with COVID-19: When Brussels fails to act, states end up alone and citizens lose confidence. So either Europe enforces its digital laws - and not only with Chinese companies, vice president, such as Temu, Shein or AliExpress, but also with American companies - or we will learn again at the stroke of scandal.

Madam President, today we are talking about two Spanish citizens, Javier Marañón Montero and David Rodríguez Ballesta, who have been detained in Equatorial Guinea for months in very worrying circumstances and without formal charges. They are in Black Beach prison in subhuman conditions, without access to relatives or lawyers, and their health situation is extremely delicate, especially in the case of Javier, who is on hunger strike. With this debate and with the urgency resolution signed and negotiated by the majority of groups in this House, the European Parliament does not look the other way and sends two clear messages: strongly condemn the conditions of prisoners in Equatorial Guinea in clear violation of international humanitarian law and call on the Equatorial Guinean authorities to take immediate and unconditional action, including lifting pre-trial detention to ensure the well-being of Javier and David and respect for their right to a fair trial, access to medical care and legal advice. We hope that the voice of this European Parliament will reach Malabo and that it will serve to alleviate the suffering of these Spanish citizens and their families.

Mr President, thank you Madam Vice-President Virkkunen. This summer, Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen celebrated what they called the greatest new trade deal in history. Today, this promise feels like a mockery more than a reality. Some days after, President Trump put the European digital laws on the table, threatening to impose new tariffs against the countries that dared to regulate the digital sector. Not only that – while the White House now toys with the idea of sanctioning European officials for implementing EU laws, Brussels remains too silent. But colleagues, silence against intimidation is not diplomacy – it is weakness. This episode is not only an attack on EU digital legislation, it is a direct challenge to our autonomy, our sovereignty and our right to protect citizens and democracies. Let us be clear – if President Trump only understands the language of power, then Europe needs to speak it too, of course, without abandoning our principles. So we tell President MAGA and his friends, Elon, Mark, also his allies in Europe, friends from this side of the chamber: the Internet has no borders, but that does not mean it should have no rules. Secondly, big tech is not above EU digital law; not even under the false excuse of censorship or freedom of speech. Freedom of speech? Tell Jimmy Kimmel, tell professors of Harvard – so no lessons to Europe on freedom of speech. I call on the European Commission President von der Leyen to make it crystal clear by actions, not only words: there will be no exemptions, no backroom deals and no compromises on EU digital laws. So far: too little, too small. So finish, please, the ongoing investigations and the DSA against X, Meta, TikTok and put on the table new rules to protect our minors against social media addictions. Our citizens, but also Democratic Americans are watching us, so take action now.

Madam President, Vice-President Séjourné, 30 years after its creation, the single market remains the European Union's greatest force for cohesion and prosperity, but also an unfinished promise. We continue to live with fragmented rules, duplicate procedures and obstacles that prevent our companies, especially SMEs, from growing beyond their national borders. In the digital age, this fragmentation is very expensive. While other powers scale innovation in unified markets, Europe is dispersed across 27 different fiscal, regulatory and administrative frameworks. The result is clear: We lose competitiveness, investment and talent. We have taken important steps, such as the Single Market Strategy, which we welcome and support. But we believe we must go further. We need a single market based on three principles. One: with a single, interoperable and coherent regulation that allows a European start-up to operate under the same rules in Lisbon, Warsaw or Barcelona. Two: to facilitate access to finance for SMEs to scale up European companies. And three: with a more digital public administration operating under the ‘once-only’ principle. That is, give the data only once. Europe today has the crucial task of asserting its autonomy vis-à-vis major economic and geopolitical actors who neither share nor defend our values and our worldview. Faced with legal uncertainty and the politics of tweeting, laws. In the face of isolationism and tariffs, cooperation and solidarity. And in the face of the protection and immunity of large economic actors and large technological companies, we defend the protection of consumers and SMEs. If we want to protect our social and democratic model, we must do so on the basis of a dynamic, digital and cohesive economy. Completing our single market is not an option; This is the condition for Europe to once again lead the prosperity of the world.

Mr President, every year more than 200 million Europeans take out package travel. And yet, when something fails - a cancelled flight, a suitcase that never shows up or a pandemic - too many consumers are still left alone in front of the big companies. 60% of complaints about travel incidents are not resolved satisfactorily. That is why this text - for which I congratulate the rapporteur - is a great step forward in protecting European travellers more and better from these abuses, but we must go further: We cannot accept that some airlines turn the cabin bag into an undercover business. Nor can we allow delays and cancellations to become a lottery in which the traveler always loses. Europe cannot look the other way as companies abuse the patience and pocketbooks of travellers. Travel should be synonymous with freedom and security, not uncertainty or abuse. Because we don't just talk about vacations, we talk about families visiting their children, studying abroad, or even going to funerals. So let's move forward on consumer rights and strengthen this directive. Behind every ticket is a family, a dream and a promise of trust. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot break this promise.

Mr President, when we talk about public procurement, we are talking about millions of contracts and jobs, all paid for by European taxpayers. It involves around 250 000 public authorities and represents 14 % of European GDP. This powerful tool must be used, first, to improve labour rights of European workers; second, to fight the climate emergency; and third, to protect the European industry and enterprises against the unfair competition from third countries. But the current Public Procurement Directive is no longer able to meet these challenges. The only criteria of the lowest price is not working to support our local enterprises. Public tenders need to have appropriate tools to address these objectives, including mechanisms for simplification and digitalisation to speed up contracts and execution, and of course to support local SMEs. However, in the report we're voting on tomorrow, the priorities of the social and environmental chapters are weak and almost absent. This is why our group cannot support the text as it is right now. We expect to improve it through some amendments that we call the groups to support. Finally, I want to send a clear message to the European Commission and Vice‑President Séjourné: if you want the support of Socialists and Democrats for next year's reform of the Public Procurement Directive, we expect and demand ambition and a clear defence of European taxpayers' money to use this powerful tool to make Europe a better place to live, to work and to look into the future. We cannot miss this opportunity because if not now, then when?

Mr President, Commissioner, who has not bought a plane ticket in a hurry and not knowing how many extras it included because there was only one seat left at that price or has queued for hours to buy a Bad Bunny ticket at triple the advertised price? Or who hasn't seen the meme of what you buy on AliExpress and what finally comes to you? Timos, dark patterns, addictive designs, today e-commerce – which accounts for two out of every five commercial transactions in the European Union – lacks transparency and guarantees. In the context of the ongoing trade wars with the United States and China, Europe must act to strengthen product safety and standards for consumers – which are very high in our territory – including for e-commerce. This is the direction of the report that this House adopts with broad consensus, but we must go further. We call on the European Commission for an ambitious and strong digital fairness law, which strengthens the digital single market and protects consumers from dark patterns or addictive designs, in their online shopping and also on social platforms. Second, we need to strengthen the e-market made in Europe to strengthen SMEs against unfair competition coming from outside our borders. That is why we welcome the Commission's proposal to include a fee of €2 for small value products, because buying online cannot be buying without guarantees, without security, without information or without the right to returns. Consumer rights offline have to be the same online.

Mr President, dear colleagues, what we are witnessing in Mali is deeply worrying. Since the 2020 coup, the country has been trapped in a downward spiral of authoritarianism. The military junta, led by General Assimi Goïta, has not only failed to deliver on repeated promises of democratic elections – it has now taken the alarming step of dissolving all political parties and organisations. This is not just a violation of Malian citizens' fundamental rights. It is a direct attack on democracy, on civil society and on any prospect for peaceful political dialogue. This Parliament condemns the arrests, enforced disappearances and intimidation of opposition figures. We must be clear – we care about Mali, and democracy cannot be suspended indefinitely in the country. The European Union must raise the pressure, continue supporting civil society and stand firmly against autocracy. We owe it to the European soldiers who lost their lives in the country, but also to the Malian people, who are also suffering from terrorist violence, foreign interference and economic hardship, to defend their rights and freedoms. This is why we demand the immediate restoration of constitutional order and human dignity in Mali.

Madam President, in Spain, six out of ten adolescents have been exposed to erotic and pornographic content without looking for it. Networks, video games and messaging channels are amusement parks for adults attracted by minors. And what for our children is a window into the world is also a Pandora's box full of hypersexualized and violent content. Europe must act to eradicate this pandemic. That is why the revision of the Directive on combating sexual abuse and child pornography that we are voting on today in this House is a major step forward, because it broadens the definition of what child sexual abuse and consent represents, specifically including nudity falsified by artificial intelligence (fake nudes) or also cases of recruitment of minors (grooming). However, we must go further: We also call for ambitious legislation on digital fairness, regulating addictive designs and dark patterns. We also call for effective age verification systems driven by Europe – for which I call for consensual support in this House – and also for the effective and effective implementation of the Digital Services Act, which puts the focus and responsibility on platforms. Because it cannot be that TikTok, Meta or Pornhub earn millions of euros at the expense of the sexual exploitation of our children. So I ask for a great consensus and this is what politics is for.

Mr President, with the publication of the new strategy by the Commission, today we are celebrating a step forward towards a stronger, fairer and more connected single market. We share the diagnosis and support Vice President Séjourné's approach to simplifying rules without deregulating, removing internal barriers, recognising titles and digitising procedures to improve our competitiveness. However, we must go further with ambition and political commitment, because a single market of the 21st century must ensure not only greater competitiveness, but also territorial cohesion, the protection of rights and the sustainability of Europe. It was very clear to the political architect of this single market, Jacques Delors, when he said: If Europe is not given a soul, the game is lost. Because it is not enough to talk about simplification and less administrative obstacles. That is why we want to call for ensuring that students, workers, consumers and SMEs can move and operate freely, with legal certainty and under fair conditions across the Union. We need Europe to be vindicated not only in big capitals, but also in small towns and rural areas. We need to move towards the fifth freedom that Letta asked for: the freedom to stay. We need states to also join this battle to remove internal barriers and move from a market that promises to a market that protects. It is time to strengthen our single market and give it, once and for all, the soul that Jacques Delors asked for. Let's not miss this opportunity.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, last week, in Spain, we had a blackout that left the country without electricity, telephone and transport. I was there and I was lucky, but millions of people went offline, walking hours from their workplaces to their homes. And in this emergency situation, companies such as Cabify, Uber or Bolt increased the prices of their services by 300 %. This is a new commercial practice derived from the digital economy called "dynamic prices", which we wanted to reflect in the resolution we voted on today. This Parliament calls on the European Commission to propose regulation to address this problem and protect consumers, especially in the future Digital Equity Act, which also has to protect children online, because simplification will not save us from all evils. We – consumers, families – expect laws to protect us from abuse by big tech companies.

Madam President, in Europe we have a problem with the price of food. While the shopping basket accumulates an overall increase of 30%, our farmers receive less and less money for their products. While our primary sector earns less and less income and is stalked by climate change, inflation eats the food of the most vulnerable families. And is that eating well today is becoming a privilege. And no, the fault is not Mercosur, nor the Green Deal, nor the chachachá. The fault lies in unfair and misleading practices on the part of large companies and commercial intermediaries who benefit from the high prices paid by European consumers for basic products while paying a pittance to small farms and livestock. To do this, from Europe we have to continue promoting laws that protect food security, fight against unfair commercial abusive practices in food value chains and do not discriminate between countries, because we have seen it: some countries pay more than others for the same products. We hope that the New Consumer Agenda from 2025 to 2030 will promote specific European legislation in this area. Our consumers and our farmers cannot wait any longer.

Mr President, Europe can – and should – lead the global technology race, taking into account the following priorities: First, we need to reduce fragmentation and our internal barriers and move towards a true single market, by already creating the 28th regime to boost SMEs. start-ups and European unicorns. Secondly, we must bet on a humanistic and autonomous artificial intelligence, with projects such as gigafactories - powered by our supercomputers, such as the BSC in Barcelona - and more semiconductors. clouds on European territory. Thirdly: financing. We must develop a standard framework of stock options pan-European and facilitate cross-border investment for large corporations and family offices. Ladies and gentlemen, today begins the conclave. Let us not be tempted to confuse simplification with deregulation. Less bureaucracy and more single market, but not a step back on our digital rights. Let's innovate, yes, but the European one.

Madam President, Commissioner Lahbib, being prepared for a pandemic, an attack or a natural disaster is much more than carrying a flashlight or an energy bar in your bag. Between alarm and frivolity, we need common sense. Common sense to inform our citizens of the need, yes, to protect the peace and stability of the European Union at the most turbulent and hostile time in our recent history. That is why I welcome the EU Preparedness Strategy to raise awareness and educate our citizens about the risks and attacks we may face. It also recognises and learns from the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and, of course, invests more and better in European security in the broad sense: climate emergency, food security, military security, but also digital security in the face of the mental health pandemic that our young people are experiencing. That is why – as they say – we must prepare for the worst, but hoping for the best. Responsibility, solidarity and more Europe.

Mr President, on the occasion of World Consumer Rights Day, we have a debate in this House to celebrate all that we have made in Europe to protect our consumers like no other region in the world: the universal charger, the right to repair, the safety of products coming from outside Europe or digital rights vis-à-vis large platforms. But we still have much more to do. Who hasn't suffered a flight cancellation at the last minute without getting any compensation? This Parliament will continue to work to end scams, addictive designs and bad practices in the future Digital Equity Act that we welcome and that the Commission has presented to us, and to also have a good deal on alternative dispute resolution to give consumers more tools to defend their rights. On this World Consumer Rights Day, Europe faces two big challenges due to the current controversial context. First, Europe is not the land of the rule of the vulnerable, but the place in which real laws are made to defend our citizens and consumers. But these laws must be enforced if we really want to protect the more vulnerable users, like minors or women, from online hate and cyberbullying, and also protect our democracies from disinformation. In front of any attempt at blackmail, the EU needs to choose its side. Either we defend the vulnerable – the big tech oligarchs who hate women, migrants and European democracy – or we protect European consumer rights. For me, the choice is clear. Second, in the current context of trade wars, European consumers have the opportunity to defend European businesses by choosing products made in Europe. We are a market, or 440 million consumers. This is our strength, our leverage. Let's use it. So think global, buy local.

Mr President, Mr Executive Vice-President, the Competitiveness Compass must be the European roadmap to boost innovation and growth in our companies in the face of an increasingly hostile global context. We welcome the creation of a 28th legal regime that will support our internal market and help our tech start-ups grow, because we want more European unicorns; We also welcome a Clean Industrial Pact that helps the electric vehicle in our territory. However, we are concerned about three issues. First of all, Europe is not the United States or China or India: here there will be no competitiveness without social cohesion, without living wages, without housing. Secondly, where is the funding? They have forgotten the part of the Draghi report in which it opted for more joint debt issuance. And thirdly, simplifying the bureaucratic burden, yes; deregulate to wipe out all the advances of the last legislature, no. We are concerned about Vice President Virkkunen's announcement that there will be a digital omnibus law to review the laws of the previous legislature, not the message we want to send to Musk and Trump: the Socialists and Democrats Group will be against it.

Mr President, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is bleeding again. Since the last offensive in the east of the country by the Rwandan-backed armed group M23, there have been more than 3,000 deaths and more than 700,000 internally displaced persons. Thousands of people are without minimal access to food, clean water, medicine or electricity. And as if this weren't enough, we see sexual violence once again being used as a weapon of war. In the east of the country, a woman is raped every four minutes. The origin of all this: key minerals for digital and green transitions. According to the United Nations, the M23 extracts 120 tons of coltan per month from North Kivu to Rwanda, generating €280,000 of illicit trafficking in rare raw materials. That is why we call on the European Union not only to react with humanitarian aid, but also to suspend the European Union's raw materials agreement with Rwanda until there is no doubt that the minerals are not mined illegally. We did it with the blood diamonds, we have to do it now. As Sakharov Prize and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Mukwege told us, "This is no longer just a humanitarian crisis, but a real crisis of our humanity." ¡Actuemos ya!

Well, a goat is a goat, no matter how much I deny it, Your Honor, and what we saw yesterday looked very much like a Nazi salute. It is not for me to say whether it was or not. What I do ask this House is to react as soon as possible so that history does not repeat itself and we rethink our democracy with all our tools.

Madam President, freedom of speech, yes, but freedom to lie or freedom to hate women and immigrants, no. Ladies and gentlemen, European democracies are being attacked from multiple external fronts and we must raise our voices, without double standards, and send a loud and clear message to say that our laws are not being touched and that our democracy is not for sale. Because we are not facing a battle between censorship or freedom, we are facing a battle between authoritarianism or democracy. The "technocasta" or "broligarchy", which yesterday applauded Trump in the front row, is manipulating algorithms, interfering in our electoral processes and infecting our lives with neoconservative discourses. Faced with what may be the pandemic of this mandate, Europe already has its vaccine – the Digital Services Act – but we need action on three fronts. Commissioner Virkkunen, we ask you to stand up against the big tech that failed to comply with DSA, finishing the formal procedures soon and to impose exemplary sanctions. And to start developing now our technological autonomy, developing digital infrastructure and our own European social media platform. To our citizens: please be responsible and fact-check the information you use and share. To Musk, Zuckerberg and company: in Europe, we have a market of millions of users that provide money to your companies, yes, but we also love protecting our citizens and democracies by making laws. If you don't like it, you can always leave and take it or leave it. You can always take your Nazi salutes and your masculine energy and go back home. Long live Europe, today more than ever!

I'm sorry, I don't know this case in the Netherlands. I just want the European Commission to apply and enforce the Digital Service Act all across Europe and ensure the truth and information in all countries and to fight against foreign interferences.

Madam President, how much are our democracies worth? The world is experiencing a pandemic of disinformation through social media that the far right uses to try to destroy our democracies: since the referendum of the Brexit to the Dana de Valencia, through COVID-19 vaccines, European citizens have been bombarded with millions of posts, tiktoks or digital pseudo-press articles with false and misleading content. Recently we have seen how Elon Musk made his social network available to intoxicate everything he could to millions of Americans in favor of President Trump, and he achieved it with his tricked algorithms, full of hatred and lies. In Europe we have also witnessed how TikTok was used as a tool of political manipulation and possible foreign interference, with the use of influencers to manipulate elections, which for the first time will be repeated. Our vaccine against this informational misinformation is the Digital Services Act and it is very clear: large platforms that want to operate in Europe must take clear measures to mitigate the spread of illegal content, hate speech and disinformation. Notice to sailors, digital impunity is over. That is why I would like to highlight three ideas. Firstly, we welcome the formal procedure against TikTok for the electoral risks announced today by the European Commission: We ask for speedy investigation and exemplary sanctions so that it does not happen again, because we have many elections next year. Second, in the face of lying, more information: It is imperative that the European Union move forward to have a European social network, public or private, but so far Europe has been only the referee in a match in which it has no players. And thirdly, to users: Let us contrast, contrast and look at the information we share, because we are all responsible. Finally, the extreme right speaks of censorship; We speak for real, because it is the pillar of our democracies: We are not against social media, we are against tricky algorithms that encourage hate, machismo and disinformation. They won't shut us up and they won't pass. (She refused to have a question put to her by Petras Gražulis under the ‘blue card’ procedure)

Mr President, Commissioner, 71% of the European population buys goods and services online. Online trading is comfortable, it's cheap, but it has a lot of risks. Therefore, regulating it well is already unpostponable. We know that e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon, Aliexpress, Temu or Shein, are affecting our commerce in three key aspects. First, in the safety of products we consume: toys, clothes, etc. We all know those products that come to us at home and that do not meet the minimum conditions. Secondly, in the enormous impact they have on the local commerce of our municipalities, which is being suffocated by the unfair competition of these platforms to our European SMEs. And thirdly, in the environment, because we know that these companies abandon to their fate tons of packages returned by customers in Europe and on other continents, which puts the health of the whole planet at risk. For that we have laws, let's apply them: more customs controls, and responsible trade and consumption to protect our environment, our consumers and our local trade.