François-Xavier BELLAMY

Policy topics François-Xavier BELLAMY is active on

What François-Xavier BELLAMY has said (23)

• 2026-03-05 “E-000930/2026 Answer given by Mr Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission The Commission acknowledges the critical situation faced by European silicon metal producers and understands their concerns. The Commission opened a safeguard investigation on six manganese- and silicon-based alloys, including silicon metal, in December 2024 1 . However, the conditions for safeguard measures for silicon metal were not met, as there was no increase in imports. In fact, imports of silicon decreased during the most recent period assessed. Therefore, silicon was not included in the scope of the safeguard measure imposed in November 2025 2 . Nevertheless, the Commission remains attentive to the industry's challenges. Although the current safeguard measure in force for other ferro-alloys cannot be altered to include silicon, the Commission is committed to exploring all viable options to help the industry, including through trade defence instruments. The Commission would like to stress that it takes the difficulties of EU silicon metal producers seriously and is continuously engaging with the industry with a view to identifying the most effective way forward. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C_202407541. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202502351.”
  Trade relations with China · Chinese clean tech competition: trade barriers and investment caps vs. open market
• 2026-01-27 “E-000317/2026 Answer given by Mr Hoekstra on behalf of the European Commission The question of whether the application of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) agreement between Belgium and the United States (US) is consistent with EU law, in particular with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 1 , is currently pending with the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling based on a decision by the Brussels Market Court of 26 November 2025 (case C-804/25). It must be recalled that FATCA Agreements are bilateral agreements concluded between each Member State of the EU and the US. As the EU is not a party to these agreements, the Commission is not entitled to discuss or negotiate amendments to them with the US. The EU-US Joint Statement of 21 August 2025 2 defines the main elements of the ongoing engagement in the area of trade between the EU and US. Tax matters are not covered by this framework for cooperation. 1 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC, OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, pp. 1–88. 2 https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/joint-statement-united-states-european-union-framework-agreementreciprocal-fair-and-balanced-trade-2025-08-21_en.”
  Tax Havens · EU regulation on financial data access
• 2025-11-19 “E-004606/2025 Answer given by Ms Roswall on behalf of the European Commission The Commission, together with the Member States, was actively involved in discussions and collaborative efforts with Brazil, other Parties and stakeholders at the 20 th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20) 1 . A compromise was reached, allowing Pernambuco to remain in Appendix II, with a revised annotation, and accompanied by a series of decisions to facilitate enforcement and traceability 2 . This solution strengthens the protection measures for this species while ensuring that musicians can continue to transport their instruments for noncommercial purposes without hindrance. This balanced approach safeguards conservation efforts while preserving access to instruments vital to Europe’s cultural expression. 1 https://cites.org/eng/cop/20. 2 https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-CoP20-Plen-Rec-03.pdf, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-CoP20-Plen-Rec-04.pdf, https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-CoP20-Com-I-04.pdf.”
  Trade impact on forests · Nature protection and restoration in the EU
• 2025-10-17 “P-004096/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Séjourné on behalf of the European Commission It is paramount to ensure that all products available and sold on the Single Market comply with EU law to avoid unfair competition, notably in sectors such as textiles, with a high level of imports and direct sales from third country operators to EU consumers. The Commission is monitoring online marketplaces, including those offering ultra-fast fashion such as Shein, and prioritising consumer protection online in its enforcement actions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) 1 . Shein is subject to enhanced due diligence obligations as a very large platform – compliance monitoring and regulatory dialogue is ongoing. The EU customs reform 2 , will introduce important e-commerce measures, such as the elimination of the EUR 150 de minimis threshold on imports and the introduction of a handling fee, by March 2028 or earlier. The Commission is also stepping up enforcement of EU product rules in place, notably on chemical safety and product safety in general 3 . The Commission is committed to using all available trade instruments to protect EU industry from unfair trade practices. The French proposed law mentioned intended the need to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry; but to attain the necessary level of intervention and safeguard the Single Market, EU level action is required. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles 4 laid out the agenda for EU action on reducing the environmental impact of the textile industry, with key actions already implemented. EU law has already introduced the basis for Extended Producer Responsibility for all textiles placed on the EU market 5 that, together with upcoming Eco-design requirements 6 planned for adoption in 2027, should improve the environmental sustainability of apparel textile products. 1 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32022R2065. 2 In the final stage of negotiation and to be adopted in 2026, https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/customs/eucustoms-reform_en. 3 Principally pursuant to Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), under revision, and Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on general product safety, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02006R1907-20250901. 4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52022DC0141. 5 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32025L1892&qid=1760531838376. 6 Under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02024R1781-20240628.”
  EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards · Circular economy
• 2025-08-07 “E-003205/2025 Answer given by Mr McGrath on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is not aware of any evidence that some Member States are excluding the disputes of an economic nature from the scope of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 1 . The Commission is further not aware of any evidence that the credit risk assessment by financial institutions is being distorted, neither in France nor elsewhere in the EU. According to its Article 2, the GDPR applies to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means and to the processing other than by automated means of personal data which form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system. This includes processing in the course of the activities of courts and other judicial authorities (Recital 20). In accordance with Article 4 of the GDPR, personal data are any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. 1 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, pp. 1–88.”
  Privacy & digital economy
• 2025-06-19 “E-002476/2025 Answer given by Mr Brunner on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is aware of the report of the French Ministry of Interior and closely follows the evolving risk linked to organisations trying to unduly influence the European institutions, including radical and extremist non-state actors, as well as interference from third countries. The Commission relies on information provided by the Member States. It is the responsibility of the Member States to take the necessary measures, including by addressing the national courts, in case of substantiated breaches of the law by an association registered under their jurisdiction taking into account the need to respect freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of religion and belief as well as the need to preserve an enabling framework for civil society and human rights defenders. Regarding the possible funding or interactions with FEMYSO, the Commission refers the Honourable Members to previous written questions on the subject 1 . No formal meeting was held between Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO) and the Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport. In the margin of the European Youth Event in Strasbourg organised by the European Parliament on 13 June 2025, the Commissioner was shown around the different areas of the event where he greeted and exchanged with numerous young people and youth organisations. The Commission remains committed to preventing and combatting all forms of radicalisation, as well as hatred, racism and discrimination, including those related to actual or perceived religion or belief. 1 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/P-10-2025-002185-ASW_EN.html; https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/-ASW_EN.html.”
  Foreign interference in Europe · EU policy on Islam
• 2025-05-14 “E-001950/2025 Answer given by Mr McGrath on behalf of the European Commission The independent authorities competent to monitor and enforce compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are the data protection authorities (DPAs) in the Member States, under the control of national courts. Referring to Article 96 of the GDPR, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which brings together all EU DPAs, has invited Member States to assess their existing international agreements and, where necessary, review them with the aim of bringing them in line with EU law 1 . The DPAs have agreed to assist the Member States in this exercise and the Commission understands that several of them are in discussions with the relevant ministries 2 . Several DPAs have also been dealing with requests concerning the data protection aspects of these international agreements. For instance, the Belgian DPA recently issued a decision 3 on the Belgian agreement implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), concluding that the transfer of personal data of ‘accidental Americans’ to the Internal Revenue Service was unlawful. The Belgian DPA ordered the relevant authority to bring the transfer of data in compliance within one year. Investigations in the same field are also ongoing in other Member States. The Commission continues to closely follow further developments in this regard, including in collaboration with the EDPB. The Commission also continues to work with the authorities of the United States (US) including in the context of the bi-annual EU-US Regulatory Forum. In parallel, the Commission is in close contact with the Member States, for example in the Council working group on tax questions, where Member States are exchanging views about the implementation of their international agreements in this area, including data protection safeguards. 1 See EDPB Statement 04/2021 of 13 April 2021, available at https://www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files/202104/edpb_statement042021_international_agreements_including_transfers_en.pdf. 2 See also the letter from the EDPB of 7 July 2021, available at https://www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files/202107/edpb_letter_out2021-0119_intveld_igas.pdf. 3 Issued on 24 April 2025, see https://www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be/publications/decision-quant-au-fondn0-79-2025.pdf.”
  Privacy & digital economy
• 2025-01-22 “E-000265/2025 Answer given by Ms Šuica on behalf of the European Commission Algeria has in principle a right to establish standards for products sold within its territory and to select the conformity assessment bodies (CABs) it deems appropriate. This includes regulations on the use of specific labels related to compliance with religious requirements, such as Halal. However, Algeria must ensure that the selected CABs are able to conduct reliable assessments, avoid unnecessary delays and charge reasonable fees. In that regard, Algeria has decided to recognise only a single CAB within the EU (Grand Mosquée de Paris). The Commission has received feedback that there are important certification delays and high fees. The Commission is actively discussing these issues with the Algerian authorities. The Commission also remains in close contact with the Grand Mosquée de Paris, including through a recent meeting in December 2024, and has requested them to take concrete steps to minimise delays and reduce certification costs so as to ensure an efficient and cost-effective process for all EU businesses seeking to comply with Algeria’s Halal certification requirements. The EU-Algeria Association Agreement 1 does not include provisions on certification of CABs. Conversely, Article 17(2) of the Agreement prohibits new quantitative restrictions on imports, or any measure having equivalent effect. Should Algeria’s measures be found to constitute such restrictions, they would be in violation of the Agreement. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2005:265:TOC”
  Trade relations with Morocco · Export of EU agri-food products
• “Thank you. Colleague. Yes, I fully support your point, and I was quite surprised to hear, Madam President, this morning that you said that Europe should defend the liberty of faith. I think that freedom is at the heart of European values, and it should be defended by appointing this representative. So we're counting on you for that to be made as quickly as possible.”
  EU policy on integration and ethnic, racial and religious discrimination
• “Mr. Gonzalez, I know that you're interested in industrial subjects, and I know that you look at them reasonably. Let's look at things together tomorrow. If France were to do what Spain has done, what your government is proposing to do, were it to close all its nuclear plants, because that's the plan of your government. It's what Mr. Sanchez stated yet again today. Were France to do that, that would be a problem for all of Europe. Mr. Gonzalez Cazares a problem for all of Europe. I recall the time at which the German coalition, the Greens and the socialists together wanted to close nuclear energy in Germany and asked France to maintain its plants, the situation would be similar. It would be better to keep your eyes open.”
  Nuclear energy
• “Well, I think the protection of children against sexual abuse is far too important to be dragged into political differences, which become absurd. It's a subject that should unite us all. I would simply say that on this very important issue of the exposure of children to pornography, there is no worthy political debate against. We need to get people out of where they are. We need to get perpetrators out. We should stop people from exploiting children's lives and those who benefit from it. Anybody who doesn't get involved and uses pretext, I think, is undermining the cause that should bring us together. Thank you very much. That brings an end to the debate. We move on to the catch the eye procedure.”
  Safety features & content control for child protection online
• “(15:49:25 – 15:51:33): Thank you very much, mister chair, for chairing today's debates. Thank you to the commissioner and to minister Leonidas for being among us today on this very important topic. We share the feeling that you have mentioned when it comes to the return procedure. This is the missing piece to ensure that we implement a coherent policy in Europe, and we are thrilled to see that the debate is moving forward on this topic. I have a straightforward question on the asylum and migration pact. Has it been foreseen that an evaluation of a pact, will will happen to ensure that we see what gaps remain on the pact so that we can improve provisions of the pact, so that we can ensure that when the implementation phase comes about, we can identify challenges because sometimes theory is not enough to be able to see what will happen in person. So is an evaluation foreseen? Thank you very much. Thank you very much, mister chair, mister commissioner, and minister Yanandinas. Most member states are not ready for practical reasons. We can see that Eurodac is not ready everywhere. Emmanuel Macron's France has avoided the debate in parliament because, they knew that there would not be a majority to vote on the pact. My question is straightforward. Will there be an evaluation of the implementation of the pact? And if the pact cannot be implemented, because in reality, the pact, will not be accepted by Europeans, will we be able to put in place an omnibus on the migration asylum pact? Because we must not forget that this would legalize human trafficking on the other side of the world. Thank you.”
  Asylum & border control
• “Thank you president. The first problem for all businesses in Europe now is not about pleasing the customer or keeping the boss happy, it's just dealing with regulations. That's why in the EP, we've constantly been saying during the previous Parliament that these 13,000 new laws from 2019 to 2024, as Eurostat has said, constitutes an administrative burden for companies which constitutes €150 billion per year. The commission is proposing an initial omnibus package for 6 billion, so at best around 4% of the 150 billion. Far from being necessary. It's far from freeing 80% of companies from these rules, and the remaining 20% will be. Nonetheless, they're going to be major to the economy. It's the intermediaries. It's the smaller SMEs that they work with that they'll be passing on this burden to. So it's all very well saying that we just hit the bigger companies. But if they then pass that on, they pass those constraints onto the entire fabric of smaller companies with which they're working. Then what's the point? As we've been saying for some time now, we need to look at best practice 1200 criteria. It's all very well, but you've got 6000 suppliers, a million suppliers to them. How do you keep tabs on all of them? Stop producing or go to prison. Appears to be what we're saying to them. If we want to come out of this major economic crisis, which we're seeing looming on the horizon, it's not enough to simplify. You need to do away with rules right across our countries. What keeps the economy going is innovation. Let us create, develop, do something new, breathe, live. And it's not enough to tinker with it.”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
• “Thank you. President. Well, suddenly the left has discovered a great passion for the defense of international law. And it's happened since the war in Iran has started. But who has is talking about the rights of Iranian citizens who are being killed by a regime which is now struggling to survive? We, the Iranian theocracy, has tortured demonstrators and killed children just to maintain itself in power. Mr. Sanchez talks about international law and he criticizes the US on that basis. But did Mr. Sanchez criticize the Hezbollah and Iranian militias? Those militias that have caused death and destruction. They even organized a civil war in Lebanon so that they could impose themselves everywhere. Has Mr. Sanchez and the socialist government in Spain criticized the Houthis? Those who have done their best to prevent all these countries in the Middle East region to prevent them from becoming democratic. Ladies and gentlemen, a few years ago. Mahsa Amini was murdered and there was this women life freedom movement. And we wanted to do something, but the left did everything they could to stop us. What we need to do is respect truth. And the fact is that the Iranian people can't free themselves. They need our help to free themselves. The people of Yemen and Lebanon, and also the people of Israel, and even Palestinian civilians need Iran to be free so that then they can be free in their term. That's what Europe should be working towards. Thank you.”
  EU-Iran relations
• “Well, several colleagues from the EPP and a group and I were in Spain, in Valencia on the day that the blackout took place. It was an unexpected situation. No electricity, no contact with what we are accustomed to on a daily basis. It could have been tragic. And just one day some 450 million went up in smoke and there were situations of paralysis throughout the country. But when we hear Mr. Sanchez today, we would be led to believe that everything is fine. No reason to panic. But this is not an accident. This is a European story fable. And let us look at exactly what happened. We have to understand the cause of this blackout. But I think a single middle school child would look at the grid and understand that if you put more and more into it, then the grid can't manage this. Um. On level input. And so Mr. Sanchez has said that many have said this. We need to strengthen interconnections with France. But why would we have more interconnections with France if we cannot produce the energy that we need? Mr. Sanchez today stated that he would attack nuclear energy. Nonetheless, it was the way that you can stabilise the grid and mean that the countries can have, um, decarbonised energy, meaning that our industries can have their sovereignty. This situation is irresponsible. And it would mean that tomorrow. Uh, it's an irresponsible approach. It would mean that we can increase interconnections. It means that energy could be sent from France to Spain. Without the connections cut.”
  EU energy infrastructure integration · Nuclear energy
• “Mr. President, Commissioner Quentin was 23 years old and he was murdered. It wasn't an accident. It was obviously tragic. And we think about his friends and family. But first and foremost, this is a symptom of a greater evil. And this is an evil prop that is spread by the far left. They have never renounced totalitarianism, and they think it's okay to kill in order to do away with troops that they don't want to be reminded of. There was a message published on contain during last week, which someone's going to have to take responsibility for. There's also a slogan that appeared on the walls of Sciences-po University in Paris save a friend, shoot down. Contain. So there are various people who've been threatened by the far left. Yanis Rawda as well. For example, Klaus Kinzler. He is now under police protection because he said something at the University of Grenoble. So there are targets everywhere. They say they're anti-fascist, but they're actually fascists because that's what we're talking about here. Fascism. When a student can't go to lessons because they have a Jewish name. What are we talking about? Just near here. In October last year in Strasbourg University, glory to Hamas was written on a wall. What does that mean? You have groups saying that they want feminist organizations to be dissolved. These are licences to kill. And after Clinton had been killed, Jean-Luc Mélenchon spoke of his affection for the young guard, which was a dissolved anti-fascist organization whose members then killed. So what are we talking about here? I mean, when George Floyd died, you got through a resolution that talked about the structural racism of police forces in Europe. Can you today, definitively, members of this House break with this far left. You should stand with us to criticize this increasing violence, because that's where the danger to democracy lies today. Thank you.”
  Jewish culture and antisemitism
• “President. Commissioner, I don't think I will ever forget the day when here in the hemicycle some years ago we passed the ban for 2035. I will never forget the celebration of so many MEPs. The EPP was against this deleterious measure and saying that Europe had just given China the biggest gift possible, and was working against its own competitiveness. In a few years on, look at the result. The Chinese vehicles are flooding the market. Tens of thousands of jobs are at stake in the country. In our countries, tens of thousands of jobs, millions of Europeans who can no longer buy a car, who can no longer buy a new car, can no longer circulate freely because the choice of one single technology which destroys the very principle of our own responsibility, has led to this huge blow for our industry. The role of politics is not to decide on the right technology. It's rather to establish the target leaving the leaving industry, researchers, the technicians, the freedom to develop the means to reach that objective. Yes, we want to decarbonise, but decarbonisation doesn't mean bowing to China, which is a leading polluter in the world right now. It's our duty to save technological neutrality, neutrality, and to put an end to this ridiculous standard, which established 100% of electric vehicles for 2035, so that for those people who are producing our countries, people who want to move around can have once again the freedom they deserve. Uh, and, uh, our possibility to move ahead. Thank you.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “We couldn't accept that the Egypt program would only have €1.5 billion. The lack of funding for a specific funding instrument. Having €0 of funding for Ukraine would be a counterproductive message. So we propose that these safe funds be put in place as part of Egypt. This was the Parliament's position. We had this together with our colleagues from the Budget Committee. Today, the council is looking for another path which is technically more viable, and perhaps using our unused funds that could be used to plug the gap. These are the key challenges of our trialogue discussions. The second one is eligibility. And obviously in the trilogue negotiations we You will look at all aspects shared by our colleagues in Parliament to ensure that on the most technical issues, we have a position at the end of the Trilogues, which is in line with what the parliaments want, but also what the different delegations want, so that the Egypt text is as effective and as produced as swiftly as possible. It was quite a formal trilogue. I'll be able to come back to you in detail on this on the future, but this was the first stage of the negotiations. Thank you.”
  EU-Egypt relations
• “Thank you, Madam President. Commissioner ETS when the system was set up to pay companies the carbon, they are emitted. Over 20 years ago, the idea was to create a global carbon market. This never materialised. We wanted to send out a message that was impose a price on carbon, but this already exists. We see in the world around us. Look at the prices and petrol stations. You can see that today. Using fossil fuels costs a lot of money. Now have you all heard the cries of distress coming from families around Europe, families who can barely survive, who can barely live from day to day basis, who will not go on holidays this summer, will not be able to meet up. Have you all heard the cries of distress from European industry who are giving up because they can no longer afford to produce. We have heard there is no planet B, but when listening to this discussion, I was wondering whether some colleagues already live on the planet. B take a look at planet A, the reality on this planet. Europe is the continent which made the greatest efforts to decarbonize. Everything we do to hurt a European business hurts the climate. We have everything we need in Europe to succeed, to be prosperous and also protect the environment. In order to do this, we have to let the European business produce to work to to produce nuclear energy. The you, the the Greens have been attacking nuclear power. It's the greenest source of energy we have in Europe. But we want to do everything we can here in Europe to allow our continent to to flourish, to survive and provide for us in the future.”
  Nuclear energy · Energy (green transition)
• “Well, I want to thank our colleague, uh, reporting the opinion of the Imco committee for a contribution. Of course, we were happy to start the Trilogues under the Polish presidency. And as I said, it was a clear way to express the way we wanted to pay tribute to the work of the Polish presidency on this file and on security and defence in Europe more broadly. Um, and as I also said, we will have in mind in the negotiations in the trilogue. The contributions of every delegation. Of course, I understand that our Imco colleague is speaking on behalf of Imco, not necessarily about one delegation, but since she mentioned a French dimension. I would express once again that I will have in mind every contribution, but no stereotype and no a simplistic approach that would completely weaken the Parliament's position as a whole. We worked in a European mindset, and I will continue to work with this will of defining a European ambition for Egypt. This is the goal that we all share.”
  EU-Egypt relations
• “Thank you. President. Commissioner. Today we're putting to the vote a tax that is essential to protect children against sexual abuse. Something should bridge any divides in this chamber. Our obligation is to guarantee their integrity. And there is a weight hanging on this integrity that we want to deal with. And that is the question of being exposed to pornographic material, which today is a reality for millions of children in our countries. The average age of first exposure to pornography in Europe is between 9 and 11 years. Those children who are exposed to those images today are injured and they remain injured, traumatized for their entire lives, unable to build an effective life in an appropriate way. We're looking, as everybody knows, as an accelerator of sexual crimes committed against children. Crimes committed by minors on minors. So we're talking about sexual violence in and of itself. It's an abuse of the integrity of these children in emotional terms and psychology, science, law all are there in support of that. So we need to make sure that platforms which today have a business model based on the absence of protection of children must be finally forced to comply. We can spend years discussing with these platforms in commercial terms, but that's not appropriate for dealing with this. We're talking about criminal law. We should be acting together. Let us vote together to give children their childhood back.”
  Regulation of pornography in the EU
• “Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'll be brief, because the first trilogue on Egypt took place, and it was the first trilogue under the Polish presidency and the last day of that presidency. See. So the Polish presidency has done a lot of work on this very key file. We had the opportunity to talk about our views and our perspectives as co-legislators, and I was working with our Co-rapporteur, Rafael Guzman, on behalf of the committee. And we mentioned the fact that together with the Commission and the Council, we have similar views on the need for a strong, ambitious Europe in defence. We also share the desire to have this text adopted as soon as possible. We are aware that the Safe instrument was adopted. But. But when it comes to the Parliament, our Parliament has agreed to work in an accelerated format and is now focusing on the two key challenges that we all need to work on in the Trilogues are, first of all, on funding. You remember that as a Parliament, we decided to set a very demanding target because we didn't want to consent to the most European instrument. Edit. With strengthen cooperation of Member States for that to be funded less. So there's the Safe programme. Which includes €150 billion of loans to member states.”
  Defence spending
• “Thank you very much, Madam President. It's an important day for this Parliament, because here we are. We are going to come together to vote, to suspend the effects of the CSR directive. And there is going to be a big problem for our companies and our competitiveness. And this is a crucial challenge. And it is geopolitically, strategically very important. President, this morning we have talked a great deal about the security of Europe, and we have talked about how much we need to invest in the defence of our countries. We've talked about the public money that we're going to have to commit to that end. However, dear colleagues, we all know that there is not a single euro that does not come from the labour of Europeans and from all the work done by our businesses. And that is why we need to shoulder this responsibility. I can't understand how the socialists will vote to suspend the effects of this directive. I mean, listen to companies, listen to what they are telling you. If you want to defend Europe more effectively, then liberate your companies. Free them from their shackles. If you want to protect the environment, then free companies because they, after all, comply with the most stringent environmental standards anywhere in the world. If we are to to rise to the trade challenges facing us, then we have to untrain our companies. So let's turn the existing order on its head. We have been destroying or damaging ourselves. We have been mistrustful of those who actually make our countries prosper and flourish. The only people who are able to make sure that Europe can meet its destiny. There is no future possible for Europe if we don't start by giving our companies the wherewithal to act to create value and jobs in our countries. That is our message here today. That is the action we need to be taking right now.”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU