Katarina BARLEY

Policy topics Katarina BARLEY is active on

What Katarina BARLEY has said (48)

• 2024-12-19 “E-003058/2024 Answer given by Ms Roswall on behalf of the European Commission The empowerment conferred to the Commission in the Batteries Regulation 1 is meant to make more flexible the generic provision 2 requiring that portable batteries incorporated into products be removable and replaceable by the end-user. Instead, it sets a number of situations where those batteries should be made removable and replaceable by independent professionals², as it is already the case with products listed in Article 11(2). The Commission will launch 3 a call for applications for further derogations to be added to those already in Article 11(2) notably to ensure the safety of the user and the appliance. If justified, additional products will be added in Article 11(2) via a delegated act. It is also important to note that according to the Toy Safety Directive 4 and harmonised standard EN 62115 5 , small batteries in electric toys and parts of electric toys containing small batteries shall not be removable/accessible without the aid of a tool. The safety of button batteries 6 is not addressed in any sectorial EU legislation, except for button batteries used in toys, and therefore falls under the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) 7 . The GPSR is reinforcing product safety obligations for economic operators. There are no standards cited in the Official Journal of the EU covering the safety of button batteries on the risk of ingestion by children, except for toys. Businesses and authorities therefore often rely on standard EN IEC 60086-4:2019 8 , requiring that lithium button cells with a diameter greater than/equal to 16mm to be packaged in child-resistant packaging. Also, the EU Safety Gate Portal provides information on risks posed by button batteries 9 . 1 Article 11(4) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023 concerning batteries and waste batteries, amending Directive 2008/98/EC and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and repealing Directive 2006/66/EC, OJ L 191, 28.7.2023, p. 1–117. 2 In paragraph 1 of the same Article. 3 Following the adoption of the Guidelines Commission guidelines to facilitate the harmonised application of provisions on the removability and replaceability of portable batteries and LMT batteries in Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202500214 4 Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on the safety of toys, OJ L 170, 30.6.2009, p. 1–37. 5 Electric Toys – Safety - supporting the safety requirements of the Directive. 6 Especially the risk of ingestion by children. 7 Applicable since December 2024, Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on general product safety, amending Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and the Council, and repealing Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 87/357/EEC, OJ L 135, 23.5.2023, p. 1–51. 8 This standard is not cited in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and therefore it does not grant presumption of safety under the GPSR but can serve as element to prove safety of button batteries. 9 https://ec.europa.eu/safety-gate/#/screen/pages/buttonBattery”
  Medical devices
• 2024-11-01 “P-002385/2024 Answer given by Mr McGrath on behalf of the European Commission The Commission recognises that businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), may face challenges in implementing their new obligations stemming from EU legislation, like the ones set out in the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) 1 . In case of the GPSR, the Commission is committed in supporting their compliance, through the provision of general information on the GPSR. To help SMEs find the guidance they may need, they can consult the information available on the European Commission's website where a Q&A section is dedicated to the GPSR 2 , as well as the recording of the GPSR session provided during the International Product Safety Week 2024 3 . These resources are continuously updated and provide valuable guidance on the GPSR. Additionally, the Commission is developing specific guidelines 4 and communication campaigns. The objective of the GPSR guidelines is to help businesses to better understand their obligations in a practical, easily understandable and accessible way. To ensure that these objectives are met, the Commission actively engaged with SMEs, including the ones taking the role of providers of online marketplaces, notably during the SME Sounding Board which took place on 7 November 2024. The input received during this meeting will now be integrated to the guidelines, before their publication. The Commission is committed to publishing the guidelines as soon as possible to align with the GPSR’s date of application and ease the transition for SMEs. In addition, the Commission also engages with other stakeholder groups, including those that represent online sellers and providers of online marketplaces, to ensure that all actors understand their new obligations and that they will apply them from 13 December 2024. 1 Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on general product safety, OJ L 135, 23.5.2023, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/988/oj. 2 https://ec.europa.eu/safety-gate/#/screen/pages/obligationsForBusinesses 3 https://ec.europa.eu/safety-gate/#/screen/pages/safetyWeek2024 4 Cf. Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2023/988.”
  Liability for online marketplaces · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards · Overall simplification of regulation in the EU (free access)
• 2024-10-17 “P-002152/2024 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission The Commission launched the assessment of how best to introduce harmonised standards for a common charger for rechargeable batteries designed for light means of transport, such as ebikes, in September 2023 with a dedicated study. The study included two stakeholder workshops and was concluded in June 2024. It is now publicly available online 1 . Based on this study, the Commission is preparing a report on the charging interoperability of batteries for light means of transport, including e-bikes, as well as for certain products in the scope of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive 2 , which will be published in the coming months. In the concrete case of e-bikes, the preliminary findings indicate that several technical solutions for interoperability are already available or under development (such as EnergyBUS, USB-C or the industry-led CHAdeMO 3 ). However, there is no common position on interoperability across the EU industry as all those solutions have certain advantages and disadvantages. The preliminary findings of the study and the stakeholder feedback indicate that it would be premature to propose legislation at this stage as the market needs some more time to develop technical solutions for interoperability that are open and widely accepted by stakeholders. 1 https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/0f8e257e-8526-11ef-a67d-01aa75ed71a1/language-en 2 Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), OJ L 197, 24.7.2012, p. 38–71. 3 Section 4.2.1.3 Existing solutions for interoperable charging e-kick scooters and EPACs of the referred study.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Second question from Mrs.. Thank you very much, colleague, for accepting the blue card. I also wanted to ask you what you were concretely going to do. So I will ask you a different question. Do you think it's positive for women's equality? Uh, argue uh, that uh, uh, argue about this amongst different political parties about, uh, equality. Thank you.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “Thank you. I forgot to point out that Mr. Gerbrandy spoke on behalf of Mr. Necci on behalf of ECR. Now, Mr. Bosley.”
  Multilingualism in EU institutions
• “Thank you. We will now hear from another author, Mr. Schwab. Thank you. President. Honourable members. Vice president Ribera. Two years after entry into force of the DMA, we need to recall what Miss Cavazzini has just outlined. The principle here. This is not just a rule book. We want to apply the ex-ante principle and look at digital markets, ensure that we instil a new competitiveness culture here. In 2014, the European Parliament adopted a resolution along these lines. Vice president, let me say here to you that in 2014 we were already impatient. We have not been waiting since 2023, but rather for 12 years now. We've had two years of implementation of this DMA and we're reaching a critical juncture. We're no longer dealing with theoretical debate. We have a Digital Markets Act, and what we can see is that it is being tested in practice. A number of problems have been flagged. There are, however, advantages for citizens. They are tangible. What we have seen is that some gatekeepers apply the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law. They have creative legal interpretation or legal circumventing. We want to achieve our ultimate goal and that has not is not yet the case.”
  EU rules on digital competition
• “Thank you very much. Well, every parent says, oh, don't go with strangers. But when we give them a mobile phone or a tablet, That endless numbers of strangers get into their world, and no parent can control that. And for many of these actors, children's well-being is irrelevant. Click this. Buy that you're too fat. Here's how to build a bomb. That's what a 15 year old sees on their phone. The consequence for young children today is suicide, depression, attention problems. And we have to do something about this. We need to have better media competence for children, parents and schools. We need to ensure that for children and adults, the most dangerous practices are banned. We need to ensure that there is a minimum age. All other addictive substances are subject to minimum ages. Social networks should be the same. Yes, we need a Digital Fairness Act to ensure that the internet is a safe place for our children and young people.”
  Safety features & content control for child protection online
• “Thank you. There will be a resolution that will be tabled and the vote will take place tomorrow on this. We now come to the Aviva initial report gender pay and pension gap in the European Union. The state of play challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fair remuneration of work in in female dominated sectors. Our rapporteur will speak to us first. Madam. Eva, you have the floor.”
  Gender pay transparency
• “Second question from Mrs.. Thank you very much, colleague, for accepting the blue card. I also wanted to ask you what you were concretely going to do. So I will ask you a different question. Do you think it's positive for women's equality? Uh, argue uh, that uh, uh, argue about this amongst different political parties about, uh, equality. Thank you.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “Uh, Mr. Schwab, there are two blue cards already. One from colleague and then from colleague Burke as well. So, uh, as we cannot have more than two blue cards per person, I think it's very important to understand that you have to be quite brief in order to accept those blue cards, if you want to accept them. Do you accept them, Mr. Barroso?”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• “Excuse me, Madam Garcia, do you accept a blue card by colleague Grazulis? And there is another one by colleague Nardella. Start with Mr. Gargiulo in 5 to 5.”
  Multilingualism in EU institutions
• “Thank you very much. Chairs. And, dear Commissioner, um, I join my colleagues in, uh, in the congratulations for this really great success. Um, especially I join my colleague Thijs in saying that I wouldn't have expected to see Erasmus+ in one of the official documents this, this early. So congratulations. And I would also like to know a bit more. It's the most vague part of of the, um, of the results. Um, it's good that we have a close cooperation on security and defence. Every crisis has its has its good. This is so important for us. I have two questions. Um, one is on, um, SPS. In the Q&A of the commission, it says the agreement would require that the United Kingdom dynamically aligns to the relevant EU rules. What does the dynamically mean in this in this context? And law enforcement and judicial cooperation. Um, we have had not so good experiences with the UK when it came to data exchange in the past. Are we going to see more safeguards there?”
  EU-UK relations
• “(17:23:58 – 17:34:44): Thank you very much. Chairs, honorable members, thank you very much for the opportunity to present this food and feed simplification package, which the commission adopted in December. As you all know, I think our food and feed safety rules are amongst the strongest in the world, and we want to keep them that way. But as you said in the introduction, if we want Europe to stay competitive, to lead on sustainability, and to keep pace with scientific and technological change, the rules need to be faster, simpler, and more innovation friendly. And they need to do this whilst at the same time keeping a high level of protection. And the package, that I'm gonna present to you today responds directly to this need. It translates the actions announced in the vision for agriculture and food into specific evidence based changes across the food and feed safety rule book. It sets out faster and clearer procedures. It focuses on the issues that will help farmers and food and feed businesses be more competitive and resilient, and this is more than ever important given the geopolitical shocks and the global competition we're facing. The package contributes directly to our commitment to reduce administrative burdens by at least 25 percent and 35 percent for SMEs by the end of the mandate of this commission. It also contributes to the €37,500,000,000 cost reduction target. And altogether, we estimate that the savings for businesses of this package could be as much as €420,000,000 a year. And these savings come from reduced administrative burden and lower compliance costs, a more supportive environment for innovation, quicker market access and potential new market opportunities for certain products. The simplification will be especially helpful for small and medium sized businesses, allowing them to save €227,000,000. National administrations will also benefit. They're expected to save €661,000,000 every year, thanks to more streamlined and efficient procedures. I would like already to thank this house for having processed 1 part of the package already, the proposal to extend the data protection for active substances and biocidal products that are still under evaluation. So my presentation today is going to focus on the other parts of the package, and we think that adoption is urgent for these parts too. So let me present some of the targeted amendments and explain why we proposed them. I'll start with the plant protection products. I've got 5 points on that, and then I'll talk about some other aspects of the package. So the first point is biocontrol. Now on this, we are responding to the wishes of this house and its own initiative report from last November. So we've proposed a package of measures to speed up market access for biocontrol pesticides. This will give farmers a more comprehensive, sustainable toolbox for protecting their crops. And it includes a proposal for additional resources for the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, so that they can speed up assessments for biocontrol active substances. Secondly, on the renewals, we've also proposed how to streamline how active substances are reviewed. Currently, all approvals of active substances are limited in time. And what we have noted is that the vast majority of resources in the member states are bound up in these procedures for renewal, and practically all of those procedures are significantly delayed. There is an average delay of the 190 out of 200, which are pending, of 5 years, and some of the delays are between 5 and 10 years. The system is really not working at the moment. Applicants for approval of new active substances often need to wait several years before a member state accepts their submission. This clearly handles the transition to more sustainable crop protection. And in order to boost member state's capacity to assess the applications, the commission has proposed for approvals of active substances to become unlimited. However, the exception is, of course, more hazardous substances and substances for which the risk assessment points to the need for a reevaluation after a certain period of time. Now I know that this part of the commission's proposal has triggered some strong reactions. I want to emphasize that the aim is solely to make the renewal procedures more targeted and efficient so that the system works in a more intelligent way, and we focus on the substances where it really matters. This is not a revolution. It's an evolution to a system that should work better. And I want to emphasize again, the current stringent approval criteria will not change. And moreover, the proposal contains a number of safeguards to make sure that the current level of protection of health and the environment is maintained. For example, in cooperation with the member states, the commission will be obliged to regularly identify active substances for a full or more targeted renewal procedure. Secondly, product authorizations at member state level will remain limited in time in the commission's proposal, and the existing possibilities for ad hoc review of approvals will stay. Now whilst biocontrol is the future, the need for conventional chemicals will remain for the time being. Thirdly, on derogations and grace periods, the package addresses this by clarifying derogation possibilities for the approval of active substances that don't meet all criteria if there are no alternatives and they are essential for plant health. Member states will also have more flexibility to extend grace periods for existing stocks of plant protection products that contain active substances that can no longer be approved, and this ensures that farmers have time to switch to approved alternatives and member states do not use, emergency authorizations. Again, we're responding to, requests that have been made in this house. Fourthly, drones, which you mentioned in the introduction. We also propose that EU countries should be able to allow certain types of drones to spray plant protection products from the air as this can be more efficient and sustainable for land based spraying in some circumstances. But, again, this is subject to conditions and guarantees. And the last point on the plant protection products relates to, the maximum residue limits. Now this house has repeatedly called for an alignment of production standards for imported and domestically produced food and feed. In the Vision for Agriculture and Food, the commission committed to the principle that the most hazardous pesticides banned in the EU for health and environmental reasons should not be allowed in for imported products. To put this into practice, the vision explains that the commission will launch an impact assessment to consider the impacts on the EU's competitive position and the international implications. It also says in the vision that if appropriate, we'll propose amendments to the legal framework. Now as part of the preparatory work for this impact assessment, the Joint Research Center launched a study on the November 25. And this study will look at the potential impacts on trade flows for the EU of refusing import tolerances for the most hazardous pesticides banned here. We're expecting to get the first preliminary data in the summer of this year, and the findings from that study will allow us to start discussions on the next steps. But the commission considers it's important that we're ready to take a first step on this now given the political importance attached to it. So in the meantime, in the omnibus, we've proposed to create the possibility on a case by case basis of maximum residue limits of pesticides that have been set on what we call good agricultural practices in third countries, also known as import tolerances, or on codex limits that may be set at the technical 0, so there would be no maximum residue limit for the most hazardous substances provided that this is considered justified in the light of a specific impact assessment. So that would be on a case by case basis. Now I'd like to move to some other aspects in the package. The first is, feed additives. We want to reduce unnecessary burden and complexity without, again, compromising on our policy goals. So we've proposed to replace the systematic 10 year renewal obligation for authorizations with a more flexible review mechanism based on assessments by EFSA, the food safety authority, and this will not apply to higher risk antimicrobial substances. The procedures for reviewing and modifying these authorizations will be stronger and clearer, and we've also proposed to use the potential of digital labeling for nonsafety information concerning feed additives. The next point I want to come to is fermentation. This is becoming more important both in the agri food sector and in the wider bioeconomy. So the commission has therefore proposed to clarify the status of food and feed produced by fermentation with the use of genetically modified microorganisms. Moving now to notification of hygiene measures. We propose here to simplify the procedures for how member states notify national measures related to hygiene to the commission and other member states. We want to have 1 centralized procedure instead of 2 procedures, which will simplify the way that hygiene rules are adapted to local needs. Next, moving to modernizing our rules on bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease. This will allow for control and mitigation measures to be adapted in the future as our scientific knowledge evolves and also mean that we can align better with international standards, which mean less disproportionate measures and trade restrictions. We're suggesting a more flexible proportionate risk based approach, but, of course, always based on EFSA assessments, which will maintain a high level of public and animal health protection. Now last, but by no means least, the official controls regulation, we're proposing to allow partial clearance of plants and plant product consignments, which are subject to controls at the border control post. This will reduce the spoilage of perishable products and financial losses for operators, and it will bring also, we want to bring in more flexibility in the area of methods, accreditation, and laboratory standards to bring down costs. Chairs, honorable members, we have high standards for our health, our environment, and our food here in Europe for good reason. None of these simplifications would lower these standards. We want to make our rules work better for everyone and support our food producers, our farmers, and maintain our competitive edge. The commission, of course, stands ready to support you as you examine these proposals, and thank you for your attention.”
  EU policy on pesticides
• “Do you accept a blue card by colleague? Zipper. Lucas. Zipper Non-inscrit. He's a non-inscrit. No. Non-attached. None. How do you say that in Spanish? Non-attached without a without a group? Not. Not a member of a group? No. Okay. Um, then Dennis Sanchez.Next speaker is Mr. Sanchez.”
  Multilingualism in EU institutions
• “Thank you very much. Thank you very much, chair. And thank you very much for this discussion. What we are seeing here, this is the real battlefield. It's not the military one, it's this one. It's an attack on all of us. It's especially an attack on our youth. It's an attack by disinformation, addictive design, hate violence and misogyny of the worst sort. It is no collateral damage. This intent is to control the fact base the emotions, the well-being, and the decision making of us here in Europe. This is why DSA. And the other laws that we pass are such a threat to this US administration and to the tech bros in Silicon Valley. And this is why we have to fight back against any attempt to sabotage our legislation or its execution that protects our citizens. This is why we have to put more pressure on the commission to execute this excellent law. I'm totally in line with Crystal Moser and and others to say that this is a very, very good piece of legislation and why we have to stand firm with those who have been sanctions and all the others that suffer the consequences from this unhinged tech bros in the US. Thank you.”
  Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
• “The involvement of national parliaments is indispensable. However, while tax policy remains largely largely national, the challenges we face are increasingly global in a highly interconnected economy. No country can act in isolation. Tax avoidance and profit shifting by multinational corporations are issues that no single member state can effectively tackle alone. This is why cooperation among member states, as well as at the European and global levels is not optional. It is essential. The European Union has a key role to play in establishing common standards, preventing harmful tax practices, and ensuring a level playing field where business can innovate and grow. Recent agreements on the global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% demonstrate what can be achieved when countries work together. But our work is far from finished. We must continue reflecting on how future tax systems can both address inequality and support sustainable economic growth. In this context, we will also have the privilege today of engaging in a discussion with two outstanding economists. During the session on the future of taxation, global fairness and growth in a new economic era. Among the high level keynote speakers, we are honored to welcome Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Philippe Aguillon. Their insights will help us deepen our reflection on how taxation systems can respond to the major economic transformations of our time. This symposium offers a unique opportunity to exchange ideas not only between panelists and representatives of national parliaments, but also with the nearly 1000 participants joining us from across the European Union and beyond. So I wish you all a fruitful and inspiring day. Thank you very much.”
  EU competences on taxation
• “That debate to an end. The next item on the agenda is a commission statement on the union's preparedness for and response to health emergency, the case of the MV Hondius and the hantavirus virus warning. Please, colleagues, if you want to leave now, please leave quietly because we continue with the next item on the agenda. So, commissioner, back to you.”
  EU competences on health (internal-competence axis, sharpened)
• “And it contributes to working on the concept of a fifth freedom the single market for research and innovation. Greater EU wide coordination through the through the European Research Area can help to stimulate investments and reforms, contribute to closing the innovation divide with the EU's global competitors and within the union, as well as play an essential role in fostering sustainable competitiveness. The council recommendation on the European Research Area Policy Agenda is designed to help reinforce the national research and innovation systems. It sets out 11 long term structural European Research Area policies and aid concrete European Research Area actions. Amongst them, let me highlight in particular the commitments to strengthen research infrastructures to promote gender equality and inclusiveness, to make research careers more attractive. And last but not least, to support mobility of researchers across the EU, including via the initiative Choose Europe. President. Honourable members, Commissioner, we are all convinced that more effort is needed on investments to reach the 3% GDP research and Development investment target. The European Research Area should be beneficial for all European citizens and for all actors in the European research, higher education and innovation ecosystem. Thank you very much for your attention.”
  EU-level coordination of research agendas
• “Katharina, yes thank you very much. I think this is a very underestimated topic. If the numbers are true, a hundred million people are living with disabilities in Europe, then that's almost twenty-five percent of our population. And we all know people who are disabled.”
  EU policy on disability inclusion & accessibility
• “Thank you. The internet does not forget the many victims of cyberbullying and digital violence. Know that all too well. These people live in constant fear that humiliating moments will be repeatedly shown online and reach a nearly unlimited audience. Deep fakes make the problem even worse. 1 in 6 young people in Europe have experience of digital violence. 1 in 8 of them admit that they have already bullied other people online. And these are incredible figures. So what can we do? There are potential perpetrators who themselves may be very young. They need to understand the impact of what they're doing. And victims need to know how to protect themselves. Victims need easy access to reporting systems, reliable support and support. With mental health in particular for vulnerable groups. We must ensure that protection is in place. But the problem with cyberbullying cannot be resolved alone with individual approaches. The responsibility to deal with this cannot remain with young people. We must deal with the business model. Media literacy and digital education are important elements to ensure that in the long term, we create safe online environments. But platforms should be forced to take responsibility. The health and safety of young people must become before the profit and greed of tech giants. With. Violent. Pornographic, shocking and dangerous content. They are trying to make a profit. The DSA forces them to provide a better level of privacy and protection for minors. In order to achieve this, the Commission has set out clear guidelines. This includes that there should be child appropriate adjustment to algorithms, effective moderation, round the clock warnings, references, helplines, restrictions on comments, complaints, procedure for children, and swift and effective deletion of inappropriate content. Unsurprisingly, however, the platforms have not taken up these recommendations and that is why we need to step up the pressure. Our standards are not just a request or a friendly warning, they are an obligation. If you want to work on the European market and we demand them.”
  Safety features & content control for child protection online
• “Thank you very much. Thank you very much, chair. And thank you very much for this discussion. What we are seeing here, this is the real battlefield. It's not the military one. It's this one. It's an attack on all of us. It's especially an attack on our youth. It's an attack by disinformation, addictive design, hate violence and misogyny of the worst sort. It is no collateral damage. This intent is to control the fact base the emotions, the well-being, and the decision making of us here in Europe. This is why DSA and the other laws that we pass are such a threat to this US administration and to the tech bros in Silicon Valley. And this is why we have to fight back against any attempt to sabotage our legislation or its execution that protects our citizens. This is why we have to put more pressure on the commission to execute this excellent law. I'm totally in line with Crystal Moser and and others to say that this is a very, very good piece of legislation and why we have to stand firm with those who have been sanctions and all the others that suffer the consequences from this unhinged tech bros in the US. Thank you.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Second question from Mrs.. Thank you very much, colleague, for accepting the blue card. I also wanted to ask you what you were concretely going to do. So I will ask you a different question. Do you think it's positive for women's equality? Uh, argue uh, that uh, uh, argue about this amongst different political parties about, uh, equality. Thank you.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “Thank you. Commissioner. Thank you. Colleagues. There are seven motions for resolution that have been tabled. This concludes that debate and the vote takes place tomorrow. The next item on the agenda is the Council and commission.”
  EU political integration
• “Um, the vote will take place tomorrow on this. We now come to the yeshiva. Initial report, gender pay and pension gap in the European Union. The state of play challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fair remuneration of work in in female dominated sectors. Our rapporteur will speak to us first. Madam. Jovanka, you have the floor.”
  Gender pay transparency
• “Thank you so much, Mr. de Bruijn. Dear chair, dear Pasquale, dear Director General, Mr. Thomas, dear members, ladies and gentlemen, dear participants, as Vice President of the European Parliament in charge of the relations with national parliaments, it is a privilege to address you on the second day of the EU Tax Symposium 2026. So let me warmly welcome you who have joined us today in the hemicycle of the European Parliament, so, so to say, in the beating heart of the Brussels bubble. Today we gather to confront one of the defining challenges of our time how taxation can foster inclusive growth in an era of rising inequality and profound global economic transformation. Taxation is far more than a technical exercise, and you know it. It is part of the social contract. It funds the public services that underpin our societies and sustain our democracies. Yet in a world where wealth concentration is increasing and digitalisation is reshaping economic models, our tax system must evolve. They must do more than raise revenue. They must help correct imbalances, support fairness and contribute to shared prosperity at the same time. Tax policy remains primarily a national competence. The democratically elected parliaments of our member states hold the fundamental responsibility for shaping tax systems that reflect the priorities and needs of their citizens. This is precisely why the presence of national parliaments in today's discussion is so important. I am particularly pleased to welcome 33 members from EU national parliaments and two members from Norway, for a total of 35 parliamentarians representing 13 EU member states and 17 parliamentary chambers across the Union, plus Norway. Your presence here reflects the essential role that national parliaments play in tax policy. They are at the heart of democratic decision making on fiscal matters. Adopting tax legislation, ensuring accountability in the use of public resources and representing the fiscal choices of citizens in a policy era that touches directly upon fairness, redistribution, redistribution and economic opportunity.”
  Priorities of taxation policy in the EU
• “But how on earth shall we protect minors? If we don't know who minors are, then we have to say, okay, we'll make the whole internet safer. And we we we, um, we educate everyone, minors and parents and schools, okay? We can do all that. And we should do all that. But it won't. It won't solve the problem. This and minimum minimum age and age verification won't solve the problem either. Alone we need. This is a very, very, very strong opponent that we are having. I don't want to say enemy, but it is we really have to join all the forces that we have and all the means that we can get, because it will be very difficult to push back this development that has already come so far. These addictions that young people have, also adults have. But to know what is happening in kids brains when they start at 10 or 12. Use with excessive use of social media, chatbots, etc. I think we have to look much more to that side. So. So thank you very much for, um, for your work, Laura, and for all that have contributed to to this. And I hope that we can convince those who are still skeptical by finding good solutions for age verification. This is very crucial that not to pass any any additional data to the platforms or anyone else. This is, for me a very crucial point. But with the e-wallet, we can we can probably do this. Um, and, and let's try to get even more than the 73% that we had on the, in the, in the plenary. Thank you.”
  Safety features & content control for child protection online
• “Thank you. There will be a resolution that will be tabled and the vote will take place tomorrow on this. We now come to the Aviva initial report gender pay and pension gap in the European Union. The state of play challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fair remuneration of work in in female dominated sectors. Our rapporteur will speak to us first. Madam. Eva, you have the floor.”
  Gender pay transparency
• “And it contributes to working on the concept of a fifth freedom the single market for research and innovation. Greater EU wide coordination through the through the European Research Area can help to stimulate investments and reforms, contribute to closing the innovation divide with the EU's global competitors and within the union, as well as play an essential role in fostering sustainable competitiveness. The council recommendation on the European Research Area Policy Agenda is designed to help reinforce the national research and innovation systems. It sets out 11 long term structural European Research Area policies and aid concrete European Research Area actions. Amongst them, let me highlight in particular the commitments to strengthen research infrastructures to promote gender equality and inclusiveness, to make research careers more attractive. And last but not least, to support mobility of researchers across the EU, including via the initiative Choose Europe. President. Honourable members, Commissioner, we are all convinced that more effort is needed on investments to reach the 3% GDP research and Development investment target. The European Research Area should be beneficial for all European citizens and for all actors in the European research, higher education and innovation ecosystem. Thank you very much for your attention.”
  Research priorities within the EU
• “Yes. Thank you very much. Of course, I would also like to start by thanking the rapporteur for this excellent work. I have the honour to have the, uh, the sort of mirror, um, opinion in Labour. So. And we align fully, um, when it comes to the content. But I do want to mention that this is we do this for the children, for the minors, but the, the importance of it goes beyond that because, um, it's also The the the abuse that is happening by the platforms towards the minors is also affecting how our society develops as a whole. I mean, kids now at the age of 10 or 12 and they have a question they don't ask their parents anymore. They ask ChatGPT. So so this whole I mean, humanity has evolved by passing on knowledge and experience from generation to generation. I mean, I don't want to make it, you know, but I think this is really quite big. We are cutting this. We are cutting this, passing on knowledge and experience from generation to generation. We are handing that over to tech oligarchs in the US and the Chinese. If we don't do anything in this very sensitive age of puberty. So this is this is one aspect. And of course, we all know the implications on democracy, um, the manipulation in this regard that is taking place. But I miss a bit. In all our work and discussions that we look more on what is actually the effect of what is happening now, because I feel a sense of urgency here that I don't feel shared by by everyone else. And of course, it's not a quick fix. And of course it can't be the only solution.”
  Safety features & content control for child protection online
• “Um, the vote will take place tomorrow on this. We now come to the yeshiva. Initial report, gender pay and pension gap in the European Union. The state of play challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fair remuneration of work in in female dominated sectors. Our rapporteur will speak to us first. Madam. Jovanka, you have the floor.”
  Gender pay transparency
• “I don't have that much to add. I would just start by underlining what my colleague Alex Saliba has said that we take transparency extremely seriously, and we have given our own group rules that are stricter than the rules of the parliament, um, which we would have liked to be stricter to as well as ours. Um, and the second remark is, I used to be a member of my national parliament, and if I still was, I would be very irritated by this approach. I mean, we do have a functioning lobby register in Germany, and this proposal would oblige us to, to change it to, to to lower the, the the bar of transparency for just a certain number, a certain part of, of of considered lobbyists. And I would as a, as a national parliamentarian, find this a very difficult European approach. So, um, so I think if you look at the setting at the beginning, nobody liked this proposal. I just want to recall this. We all didn't didn't really like it. So if we want to make it feasible for all of us, we should really try to come together at the points where we agree. And we do agree that we need more transparency for, um, for third party interests, but then we have to define them well. And I must agree that if it's about, uh, paid counsellors and lawmakers, law firms, that would be a really good idea. But I'm afraid, as it is at the moment, uh, we could not agree.”
  Transparency requirements for interest groups
• “As our next point, there is a motion of censure on the commission. They will just be one speaker per political group. So there will be no blue cards or catch the eye procedure. I'll just wait a moment for the commission to take their place. So first a signatory.”
  Von der Leyen
• “Thank you so much. Thank you very much for all this very interesting insight. I would like to direct my question to Mr.. Mr. Boltz because he said more or less media pluralism will be dying if we don't design it back in. I thought that was a very alarming sentence. And my question, it was a bit touched by Mr. McNamara. Also, I think my question is is it enough that we just see that we don't have only one view? If we balance views, if we have pluralism in there, that does not mean quality journalism. It just means that we might have one superficially edited information and then another one introduced Is there? Is there any chance to design quality journalism back in? And the second part. I mean, the is the money aspect. Of course, AI could unleash such, such a great potential for mankind, humankind. But it is it is channeling obscene amounts of money into the hands of very, very, very few people. So is there any way of tackling the problem if we don't attack this problem, that we have this enormous concentration of wealth data and at the moment also political influence?”
  Artificial Intelligence
• “Our next speaker. **Irmhild BOẞDORF: Today is another. Ideological battle. So now we're talking about a gender pay gap, a parliament that decides. Uh, that trans women are women. Uh, and we're talking about 110 billion going to. The LGBTQ agenda. Uh, they don't even dare to define what a woman really is. And now they want to talk about the inequalities for women. If you really want to deal with the gender pay gap, what it really is, is a mother pay gap. According to the Evo Institute, uh, mothers, uh, around 30 years old are getting 70 to 80% less than fathers. So our region has looked at that. Now the issue is that women have gaps in their CVS due to pregnancy and raising their children. They often want to look after their children so they work part time or they don't work at all, but they are working for the future and for their families. But this is not paid work. And so we get this mother pay gap. And then as a consequence, the mother pension gap. It's not something that non-biological women or trans women are affected by, but mothers. So why don't we take this money that was going to be spent on the trans agenda and use it for mothers, so mothers aren't paying the price for this failed EU agenda? We need to deal with the mother pay gap and the mother pension gap and honor those who are securing our futures, our mothers. Thank you.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “Thank you very much. Thank you very much, chair. And thank you very much for this discussion. What we are seeing here, this is the real battlefield. It's not the military one, it's this one. It's an attack on all of us. It's especially an attack on our youth. It's an attack by disinformation, addictive design, hate violence and misogyny of the worst sort. It is no collateral damage. This intent is to control the fact base the emotions, the well-being, and the decision making of us here in Europe. This is why DSA. And the other laws that we pass are such a threat to this US administration and to the tech bros in Silicon Valley. And this is why we have to fight back against any attempt to sabotage our legislation or its execution that protects our citizens. This is why we have to put more pressure on the commission to execute this excellent law. I'm totally in line with Crystal Moser and and others to say that this is a very, very good piece of legislation and why we have to stand firm with those who have been sanctions and all the others that suffer the consequences from this unhinged tech bros in the US. Thank you.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “(10:25:43 – 10:28:05): Thank you, chair. Also, let's start with the very basics. Article 2 of the association agreement is very clear, and its breach is also very clear by the human rights abuses conducted in the genocide in Gaza, the endless violence perpetrated against Palestinians by settlers in the West Bank, and by the appalling death penalty law against Palestinians and the war crimes committed in Gaza and Lebanon. This is clear. The EEAS has found and also more than 1,000,000 European citizens have called on the EU to suspend the association agreement. It's really up to member states to act, and that goes without saying. But yet, we're seeing it again maybe for the thirtieth or fortieth time in this parliament. Moving on to the import ban of products from illegal settlements, which would not be covered even if the association agreement were to be suspended. We need to be very clear. Our import of goods and services from illegal territories is fueling economically the Israeli policy of annexation of Palestinian territories, and that cannot happen. I therefore call on the commission to formally table a proposal to place an import ban for products originating from illegal settlements, and I would like clarity on where we stand on that process. Has the EEAS discussed this with DG Trade since last week's meeting of the foreign affairs council, and when can we expect a proposal? Moving on to labeling, which sounds technical but is also important. A recent study by the European Middle East project concluded that there was not a single instance of proper labeling amongst the hundreds of wine bottles examined in European shops. So if we have rules on labels, why can't anyone seem to follow them? And can I ask in the context of the current policy, what is the European Commission concretely doing to enforce proper labeling of these products? Fourth point, I'd like to echo what my colleague said about the grains from Ukraine and agree with President Zelensky when he said that Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country's port and what cargo they are carrying. This makes no sense. How will the EU proceed with sanctions against Israel and those individuals involved with the trade on stolen Ukrainian grain? And my very final point is I would like to understand if we took trade action against the illegal occupation of areas of Ukraine by Russia, what makes the situation so different that we can't enforce the same rules against Israel? Can the EEAS comment on that? Thank you very much.”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine
• “Thank you. There will be a resolution that will be tabled and the vote will take place tomorrow on this. We now come to the Aviva initial report gender pay and pension gap in the European Union. The state of play challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fair remuneration of work in in female dominated sectors. Our rapporteur will speak to us first. Madam. Eva, you have the floor.”
  Gender pay transparency
• “Thank you. That brings us on to the catch the eye procedure. All speakers could be included. Miss Delac starts and then Miss Veganin will come after her.”
  EU public communication strategy
• “Thank you very much Chair. So I will read what you just sent me as an active member and vice chair of the Sky and Space Intergroup. My colleague Francois Carfon welcomes the Commission's initiative to equip Europe with the space law. Indeed the EU Space Act aims to create European space market and to establish clear and fair rules for all operators. With these rules Europe seeks to raise global standards in three key areas. First the safety of space operations and debris management given that sixteen thousand satellites are currently in orbit. Second ensuring the resilience and cybersecurity of both ground and space infrastructure in complementarity with the NIS2 and CER directives. Finally initiating the decarbonization of the space sector including the calculation of its ecological footprint. This text will support the Union's space program and boost our industrial competitiveness in line with the recommendations of the Drager report. Let me share with you the key points of Francois' draft opinion. The text is somewhat dense, includes a number of derogations and exemptions from the general regime. These must be strictly limited to crisis situations or launcher shortages for strategic deployments. All operators selling services on the Union market must be subject to the same rules. He also proposes that the Commission provide financial and technical support to small and medium sized enterprises through a one stop shop. Furthermore it is essential to control the opening of the European market. If this text is to enhance the competitiveness of the European space sector it must also protect our operators from third countries. For the European space industry the equivalence recognition procedure set out in article one hundred and five poses a risk of unfair competition for European players. Moreover the procedure does not require reciprocity. The import of space services into Europe must be conditional on the opening of new markets beyond the European Union for our operators to prevent unfair competition. The rapporteur for the opinion has therefore proposed that this procedure be limited to a transitional period during which bilateral cooperation and mutual recognition agreements can be negotiated. Finally protecting our technological sovereignty is an integral part of the concept of resilience. This is why Francois Carfon proposes the introduction of several measures to counter hybrid threats which are part of our daily reality such as strengthening the screening investments and combating foreign interference in space operations. Let us not deceive ourselves the threat is growing day by day. On behalf of my colleague Francois Carfon I would like to thank the shadow reporters from each group. He will examine your amendments and will work in close cooperation with you to improve this text which is crucial for the future of Europe's space sector. The first shadow meeting will be held on Wednesday seventeenth December at five o'clock in Strasbourg.”
  EU competences on space policy
• “And it contributes to working on the concept of a fifth freedom the single market for research and innovation. Greater EU wide coordination through the through the European Research Area can help to stimulate investments and reforms, contribute to closing the innovation divide with the EU's global competitors and within the union, as well as play an essential role in fostering sustainable competitiveness. The council recommendation on the European Research Area Policy Agenda is designed to help reinforce the national research and innovation systems. It sets out 11 long term structural European Research Area policies and aid concrete European Research Area actions. Amongst them, let me highlight in particular the commitments to strengthen research infrastructures to promote gender equality and inclusiveness, to make research careers more attractive. And last but not least, to support mobility of researchers across the EU, including via the initiative Choose Europe. President. Honourable members, Commissioner, we are all convinced that more effort is needed on investments to reach the 3% GDP research and Development investment target. The European Research Area should be beneficial for all European citizens and for all actors in the European research, higher education and innovation ecosystem. Thank you very much for your attention.”
  Research priorities within the EU
• “To Commissioner. The debate is closed. The commission will change seats and I will announce the next item on the agenda. Oral question to the Commission enforcement of the Digital Markets Act. We'll just give the Commission a moment to get everything organized. Welcome, Commissioner Ribera. I'll now give the floor to Miss Cavassini as one of the authors.”
  EU rules on digital competition
• “Thank you. Very short because I can relate to what has been said earlier, and I actually am not very keen on this notion of terrible ten. I mean, it's psychologically, of course, very, very smart because you already imply that what you're doing then is great and has to has to be done. It's necessary. And I think we are politicians and we should discuss this if there is the right priorities and if it's the right solutions. Now, maybe I overheard it or I read it, but how did you get to these ten? Did you ask SMEs? Did you ask consumer consumer organisations? Did you ask trade unions I don't know. Um, so so how did you do that? Or is it just what you would like to focus on yourselves and maybe to the SME representative also? Are there are there more that that you would add we just discussed before? Um, before you came, for example, on the reliability of rules that we don't change back and forth. We called someone, called it the roller coaster that we we adopt rules and then we take them back again or change them before they even haven't been applied. Are there other things that you would like to to introduce there?”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
• “Our next speaker. **Irmhild BOẞDORF: Today is another. Ideological battle. So now we're talking about a gender pay gap, a parliament that decides. Uh, that trans women are women. Uh, and we're talking about 110 billion going to. The LGBTQ agenda. Uh, they don't even dare to define what a woman really is. And now they want to talk about the inequalities for women. If you really want to deal with the gender pay gap, what it really is, is a mother pay gap. According to the Evo Institute, uh, mothers, uh, around 30 years old are getting 70 to 80% less than fathers. So our region has looked at that. Now the issue is that women have gaps in their CVS due to pregnancy and raising their children. They often want to look after their children so they work part time or they don't work at all, but they are working for the future and for their families. But this is not paid work. And so we get this mother pay gap. And then as a consequence, the mother pension gap. It's not something that non-biological women or trans women are affected by, but mothers. So why don't we take this money that was going to be spent on the trans agenda and use it for mothers, so mothers aren't paying the price for this failed EU agenda? We need to deal with the mother pay gap and the mother pension gap and honor those who are securing our futures, our mothers. Thank you.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “Our next speaker. **Irmhild BOẞDORF: Today is another. Ideological battle. So now we're talking about a gender pay gap, a parliament that decides. Uh, that trans women are women. Uh, and we're talking about 110 billion going to. The LGBTQ agenda. Uh, they don't even dare to define what a woman really is. And now they want to talk about the inequalities for women. If you really want to deal with the gender pay gap, what it really is, is a mother pay gap. According to the Evo Institute, uh, mothers, uh, around 30 years old are getting 70 to 80% less than fathers. So our region has looked at that. Now the issue is that women have gaps in their CVS due to pregnancy and raising their children. They often want to look after their children so they work part time or they don't work at all, but they are working for the future and for their families. But this is not paid work. And so we get this mother pay gap. And then as a consequence, the mother pension gap. It's not something that non-biological women or trans women are affected by, but mothers. So why don't we take this money that was going to be spent on the trans agenda and use it for mothers, so mothers aren't paying the price for this failed EU agenda? We need to deal with the mother pay gap and the mother pension gap and honor those who are securing our futures, our mothers. Thank you.”
  Support for families · Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “If I did what you just said, you were accusing people of being criminals. I'm going to have to pass that on to be checked. We have to show respect with each other in the chamber. Mr. Grazulis is next. Mr. Estrada is after that.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “Well, that's it with this particular debate. It will. The vote will take place on Thursday for that motion of censure. Thank you very much. And our next.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “Um, the vote will take place tomorrow on this. We now come to the yeshiva. Initial report, gender pay and pension gap in the European Union. The state of play challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fair remuneration of work in in female dominated sectors. Our rapporteur will speak to us first. Madam. Jovanka, you have the floor.”
  Gender pay transparency
• “Do you accept a blue card? But I have to ask Mr. Perez. You are also the next on the speakers list. Are you sure that you also you also. Could you could you move to to the to the Parliament's place, please? This is the commission's space. Thank you. So on 218, please. If you accept it, you do. Right. You accept it. Okay.”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions