Member of the European Parliament · Finland · S&D · Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue/Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti
- 2026-07-14 “Thank you, dear chair. I'm also Imco rapporteur on CSA two and is two. So it's really nice to hear the answers. Mr. Greenberg is giving us here today. The cyber security map in Finland in in Europe is very fragmented. And this is one of the problems because when you have one weak link, it allows the penetrators to infiltrate our system. And I would like to hear your opinion, Mr. Greenberg, on how would you strengthen cyber security as a whole from the European perspective, obviously, we have different member countries. Some have already taken steps. We have different kind of threats. I come from Finland. We are constantly under hybrid attacks from Russia, for example. So we need strengthening already as as a sap. And then there are countries that are kind of still dormant, maybe not taking seriously enough the threats we're having. And then we have threats to the banking system, for example, and they are developing their own cyber security. And at the same time, there is talk about qday. So question number one, how would you strengthen European cyber security as a whole? And then is Q day ever going to arrive or is it going to be a race like in arms that we're just going to develop better and better defense systems so that the criminals who are at the moment, trying to get hold of the information that they cannot at this moment encrypt. And we are just going to defend, build a stronger defense. And at the end of the day, they will never get to us. What is your opinion?”
Scope of EU cybersecurity obligations
- 2026-07-14 “(10:56:51 - 10:58:52): Thank you, dear chair. From the Inco perspective, this file is very simple for me, making sure patients have access to safe medical devices without creating unnecessary obstacles for the companies that develop them. I have 4 points.
Firstly, about the AI. Medical devices, we should not fragment the AI Act. And the way it is proposed at the moment is going to cause unnecessary duplicated rules, uncertainty for the companies, for the patients. So we should keep medical devices in the AI Act itself.
Then secondly, patient safety. I support the initial validity period of 5 years, but after that possibility of unlimited validity if there has been a successful reassessment. And also regular oversight should be included in the proposal. Unannounced audits, they are important part of patient safety and they should remain essential part of this legislation.
Also, thirdly, manufacturers, we need to reduce unnecessary costs for especially SMEs and developers of orphan and breakthrough devices, while ensuring that notified bodies have their resource to carry out robust conformity assessments.
And then finally, transparency. Safety information should be clear, accessible to patients and publicly available, through UDIMED. I think UDIMED would be the best place for this. Thank you, Chair.”
Medical devices
- 2026-06-25 “I propose keeping unannounced audits at least once every five years. These audits are an important safeguard for patients and related to the previous issue. And at the same time, we can modernize and the process by allowing remote audits where appropriate. These haven't been possible so far. And then we have the artificial intelligence. The commission proposes removing medical devices from the AI act and regulating AI requirements separately through medical device legislation, and I do not support this approach. Artificial Intelligence should be governed through one coherent European framework. Creating separate rules for medical devices would increase complexity, create legal uncertainty and risk fragmentation. And for that reason, I propose that we keep medical devices within the AI act. And fourth, there is the costs and transparency. Conformity assessment costs should not prevent small companies from bringing innovative products to market, and I therefore support targeted fee reductions for micro and small enterprises and for orphan devices at the same time. Transparency is essential. Information about the safety and performance of devices should not only be understandable to experts and regulators, but as we are Imco and consumer protection, it should also be clear and accessible to patients and in short, the opinion seeks to make the system more efficient without compromising safety. To support innovation, without lowering standards, and to ensure that patients remain at the center of our decisions. Thank you chair.”
Medical devices
- 2026-06-25 “Thank you chair. Making sure patients have access to safe medical devices without creating unnecessary obstacles for the companies that develop them. And the current system was, uh. The aim was good. It was introduced to strengthen safety, but in practice, it has also created significant administrative burdens, high costs, and certification bottlenecks, especially for small and medium sized businesses. So. Commission is proposing targeted changes to make the system more efficient and less burdensome, and I support that direction. I'm sure everybody in this room does. But at the same time, we must remember that these are not ordinary products. They are medical devices used by patients every day. That means safety and consumer protection must remain at the heart of everything we do. And my approach is therefore based on balance reducing unnecessary bureaucracy while maintaining strong safeguards. And there are four main points. There are the certificates. The Commission proposes that once a device has been approved, its certificate could remain valid indefinitely. And because we've had in the past scandals like Pip scandal and with hip implants, scandals where the devices turned out not to be what they were expected to be, I believe we should proceed more cautiously. Devices should first receive a certificate valid for up to five years, and after that we could be reassessing it and they could continue to be safe indefinitely if the certificate and they pass their tests at that point. Second, there is oversight.”
Medical devices
- 2026-02-02 “E-000414/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Séjourné on behalf of the European Commission Consumer electronics are products falling within the scope of harmonised EU product legislation which is based on the principles laid down in the New Legislative Framework (NLF) 1 adopted in 2008. Since 2008 circular economy and the related business models have seen an important growth. Even in its current version, the NLF does not create any regulatory barriers to circularity and it offers the necessary flexibility. The fundamental concept of ‘placing on the market’ frames the moment when the compliance with all the applicable essential requirements needs to be demonstrated. Any subsequent changes to the product would not require a full conformity assessment unless they amount to a substantial modification. The Commission has provided guidance on these concepts 2 . To further improve clarity and legal certainty, one of the objectives of the upcoming revision of the NLF is to ensure full coherence between circular economy objectives and single market product safety rules. The forthcoming Circular Economy Act aims to accelerate the EU’s transition towards a circular economy, including review of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive 3 . 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32008D0768&qid=177209770421; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02008R0765-20210716. 2 The ‘Blue Guide’ on the implementation of EU product rules 2022: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52022XC0629(04). 3 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02012L0019-20240408.”
Circular economy · Ecodesign & durability
- 2025-11-18 “E-004598/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Ribera on behalf of the European Commission 1. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) 1 aims to ensure fair and open markets in the EU, while respecting the highest standard of privacy, safety and security, in accordance with existing regulatory frameworks such as the the General Data Protection Regulation 2 , Digital Services Act 3 and Cyber Resilience Act 4 . And while gatekeepers are taking actions to support their own compliance with these acts, these actions should not undermine the DMA’s goals of ensuring fairness and contestability. The DMA clearly states that gatekeepers can apply measures to protect integrity when providing interoperability, if they are strictly necessary and proportionate. Gatekeepers need to show that such measures are justified. Such measures should not be a pretext to hinder developers’ right to effective interoperability with operating system features that gatekeepers already make available to their own products. 2. The Commission engages in a continuous and comprehensive regulatory dialogue with gatekeepers on their interoperability obligation under Article 6(7) of DMA as well as with interested developers to ensure gatekeeper’s effective compliance. This includes understanding possible difficulties in ensuring interoperability. As part of this process, the Commission duly considers privacy, safety and security. Strong protections for integrity, security, and privacy, on the condition of non-discrimination, necessity and proportionality, equally benefit the gatekeeper’s and third parties’ products. Interoperability improves developers’ opportunities to offer better and more innovative services, with improved privacy and security, to the benefit of users. 1 https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en. 2 https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection_en. 3 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act. 4 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cyber-resilience-act.”
EU rules on digital competition · Interoperability requirements for digital platforms
- 2025-07-04 “E-002745/2025 Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission The Commission, in January 2025, launched the first EU action to address nurse shortages, with a EUR 1.3 million budget under the EU4Health Programme 1 . The Commission’s Expert Group on Health Systems Performance Assessment collects practices on defined staffing levels. Moreover, Member States benefit from the Joint Action HEROES 2 on health workforce planning and forecasting to better estimate staffing needs and aligning health workforce strategies with the changing needs for healthcare. If a natural or human-induced disaster occurs (e.g. disease outbreak, wildfire, flood, or earthquake), the Union Civil Protection Mechanism 3 (UCPM) can be activated. Any country in the world, as well as the United Nations, can activate the Mechanism. In such case, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre 4 (ERCC) can coordinate the deployment of medical teams. Member States and Participating States provide teams to the UCPM at various levels of response, including offers from individual countries, the European Civil Protection Pool 5 , and rescEU 6 . Qualified nurses, along with other healthcare professionals, may be part of the teams that are deployed in emergency operations. National nursing registers may exist but fall under national competence and hence conditions for access to information vary. In addition, based on Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 on serious cross-border threats to health 7 , the Commission is organising trainings - e.g. with the help of a contractor - for healthcare and public health staff to strengthen health crisis preparedness and surveillance capacities. 1 https://health.ec.europa.eu/latest-updates/launch-first-eu-action-address-nurse-shortages-shows-positiveimpact-european-health-union-2025-01-17_en. 2 https://healthworkforce.eu/. 3 https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/eu-civil-protection-mechanism_en. 4 https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/emergency-response-coordinationcentre-ercc_en. 5 https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/european-civil-protection-pool_en. 6 https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/resceu_en. 7 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=celex:32022R2371.”
EU competences on health · Government stockpiling of critical medicines
- 2025-03-13 “E-001092/2025 Answer given by Mr Serafin on behalf of the European Commission The next multiannual financial framework is an opportunity to better focus EU spending on the EU’s shared priorities. Addressing demographic change is one of these shared priorities. In general, as per the Commission’s political guidelines 1 , the EU will also step up its work on preventive health, in particular for mental health and cardiovascular diseases, as well as on treatments for degenerative illnesses. As recalled in the recent Commission’s communication on ‘The road to the next multiannual financial framework’ 2 , financing the social transition will require maximising public investment and leveraging private capital. There is scope for increasing additionality to ensure that the EU budget focuses on investments which would not have materialised otherwise. Reinforcing the link between overall policy coordination and the EU budget will also be key to ensure better alignment with EU priorities and inform decisions on investments and reforms at EU and national level, including in the social care sector. In line with the ‘better regulation’ principles 3 , the Commission intends to use evidence-based policymaking supported by thorough impact assessments and stakeholder consultations to ensure future initiatives address actual needs. In addition, a comprehensive performance framework will support the monitoring and reporting of the progress toward the defined objectives, using appropriate performance indicators. 1 https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52025DC0046. 3 https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/d0bbd77f-bee5-4ee5-b5c46110c7605476_en?filename=swd2021_305_en.pdf.”
EU expenditure on social policy · EU competences on demographic policy
- 2024-08-13 “E-001507/2024 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Vestager on behalf of the European Commission The Commission welcomed the European Court of Auditors’ (ECA) special report on public procurement 1 and accepted all the recommendations it formulated 2 . As mentioned in its reply, the Commission will analyse the causes of substantial shortcomings in public procurement markets, including obstacles to the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to tenders and will work towards the revision of the directives announced by the President-elect of the Commission in the political guidelines 2024-2029 3 . In this complex process, all stakeholders will be given the opportunity to express their views and provide input. Additionally, the Commission will continue to pursue initiatives to support the use of sustainability and innovation considerations in public procurement. These include fostering communities of practice of public buyers across the EU 4 and organising government dialogues in the Member States for the creation of national strategies to implement strategic procurement. 1 https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/publications?ref=SR-2023-28 2 https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECAReplies/COM-Replies-SR-2023-28/COM-Replies-SR-2023-28_EN.pdf 3 https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf, page 11. 4 https://public-buyers-community.ec.europa.eu/”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “President. Colleagues. The price of the Wild West of the internet is paid by children too often depression, loneliness, and at worst, self-harm that we've heard stories about today. Online bullying is a structural problem that the platforms, the digital platforms allow and even encourage. These platforms make huge profits from children's well-being. They compete for children's time, attention and money. So? So it's a question of responsibility. Nobody believes the promises of the online platforms. They have been breached so many times. Thank you to Commissioner Virkkunen Commissioner Micallef. This action plan is centered on young people and children in vulnerable positions and protecting them online. But Protection needs to go hand in hand with implementation. It's essential to support kids and but responsibility for the underage children is essential. So there are no sheriffs in this wild West. And what's not allowed in the real world shouldn't be allowed online. Our responsibility as adults to make sure that the digital environment is a safe place for children to grow up and get to know each other. Online bullying and acting on that is not acting on the freedom of opinion. It is about strengthening responsibility.”
Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
- “Thank you very much, president. We are living in dangerous times in Europe. We often look at threats in terms of their scope. Uh, sometimes when they're very visible, we know what to expect. But there are very tiny threats that we need to take seriously as well. And what we're talking about here is particularly serious. In Finland, we have a big problem related to ticks. If you look at the planet as a whole, there is a proliferation Iteration of these tick borne diseases due to climate change. And it's coming to us in Europe. Two infectious, uh, contagious diseases that are affecting more and more people. Singapore is a good example of how we can tackle, uh, mosquitoes. You can receive a fine. If, uh, people have too many water sources in their garden or in the neighborhood. With regards to ticks, it's a little bit more difficult to control their spread. It is important for us to focus on prevention. Uh, when it comes to the diseases that are spread by ticks in Finland. We have, uh, buses that go into urban areas and they provide free vaccines. Why? Because we as a society believe it is better to vaccinate than to deal with the costs related to these diseases.”
Vaccination
- “Dear chair, I will speak in Finnish. Mr. president, the thing, or things that are not acceptable in real world should not be acceptable online either. And the things that are illegal in the real world should be illegal online as well. At the moment, algorithm algorithms guide our children to dark alleys. Cyberbullying is a part of their everyday life. And chat bots might even encourage them to self-harm. And with just one click, a child can have access to harmful content. Things that are dangerous to their mental health. According to surveys, 1 in 10 young people is suffering from harmful online content. They have anxiety, sleep deprivation, difficulty to concentrate. They might be addicted to YouTube or something else. And us politicians must now come up with guidelines and policies that can protect young people. Protecting young people and children should be the priority of us all and of the platforms as well. It takes a village. The responsibility is ours. It's of the communities and us politicians as well.”
Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
- “Thank you very much for this very important topic and question. Finland shares 1300km border with Russia, and we have lived in the shadow for decades and before we gained our independence, we were under their scrutiny. So the matter for us is something that we take into account every day. And you ask very justly, should we take a stronger approach to this? And I think the more united Europe is on this matter, the more we invest in different aspects of defence. Also how resilient our people are. Disinformation. Misinformation. The. For example, this week we spoke about deep fakes, all that affects our nations. And we must put a stop to those as well. Thank you.”
EU-Russia relations (from March 2022)
- “Dear chair, dear Commissioner, online piracy might feel like no big deal. A simple anonymous click, but behind every illegal stream there is an athlete who train for years. An artist who rehearsed throughout the night. A technician that set the lights before the dawn. Piracy is not abstract. It trains up to 30 billion globally every year. Piracy also leaves its users exposed. Nearly 40% of them falling victim to credit card fraud and identity theft. The commission itself admits that our current rules are not enough. The playing field is not even some member states act. Others don't. The kind of fragmentation, it protects criminals. This is why Europe needs binding, harmonised legislation. Stealing is stealing, and stealing should not be accepted in any form. Thank you.”
Broadcasting of sports events
- “Dear chair, in just two years, in just two years, 92% of Europeans have encountered online fraud or scams. This is a systemic failure for the EU. Unsafe products are only a click away, threatening our consumers health and safety. Our children are targeted by aggressive marketing, by addictive design, By content and products that put their safety at risk. Our merchants are also facing unfair competition. Only last year, more than 4.5 billion parcels entered the EU. Many of them bypassed our rules and controls. This undermines trust and it weakens our single market, strong consumer protection. It is not a choice. It is a necessity. The Consumer agenda 2030 must, at its core, protect people, defend fairness and put citizens, not platforms at the heart of our single market. Thank you.”
EU consumer protection rules: stricter requirements and tougher enforcement vs business flexibility and reduced burden
- “Dear president, dear colleagues, representative of the Commission. First of all, thank you for this strong and timely report. Artificial intelligence offers enormous opportunities for European industry and innovation. It can also give our customers and market surveillance authorities better tools to protect consumers and ensure that our rules are respected. But if we want Europe to be compatible in artificial intelligence, we must also look at the foundations on which this technology depends. Ai requires semiconductors, computing power, cloud infrastructure, and resilient supply chains. And today, too much of this capacity is concentrated outside of our continent. This leaves us dependent on others for the key technologies that will shape our economic future. That is why Europe must act with determination. We need to invest in our own industrial capacity. We need secure access to critical technologies and components, and we need stronger European cloud and computing infrastructure. If we want artificial intelligence that is competitive, trustworthy and aligned with our values, then Europe must build the technological, technological foundations right here at home. Thank you.”
EU digital & tech sovereignty
- “Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I was just asked to step in. So briefly. Regrettably, due to his travel commitments, Alex argues Saliba, a shadow rapporteur for the S&D Group, will be unable to attend today's discussion. So I will therefore present some of his points. Um, 81% of Europeans believe that foreign interference in our democratic systems is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Alex Agius Saliba fully supports the commission's proposal objectives, which aim to increase public trust in our democratic institutions by ensuring better transparency and harmonised standards and rules at the European level. His support underscores his confidence in the proposal's potential to bring positive change. Alex are you? Saliba also welcomes the department's analysis of the proposal. He believes that several key elements and questions examined in the analysis require further discussion with the rapporteur and other shadows, and this document is an excellent basis for starting the talks with Imco. For example, the question about harmonisation. The Commission has chosen a directive with maximum harmonisation. His question is how the maximum harmonisation requirements would interact with laws and regulations already established in many member states.”
Transparency requirements of EU institutions
- “Where do useful idiots come from? Look at social media. All kinds of fake images. Lies, totally false videos. These are not published with the aim of providing information. The idea is to make people fooled is to make fools of people. The whole idea is to undermine social cohesion, to undermine our a democracy and we can see through them. Russia and other authoritarian regimes are using disinformation as a method of hybrid attack and distortion. They are interfering in our elections. They are corroding, eating away at our institutions. And there are many people who are happy to play the role of useful idiot. And there are useful idiots in this room too. That's why we need the European democracy shield and unity.”
Foreign interference in Europe
- “Mr. president, dear colleagues in 2024 alone, the EU received 4.6 billion e-commerce parcels, mostly from outside our borders and many of them failing to meet European safety standards. The risk in millions of homes, European homes, products that endanger consumers and harm our fragile environment. This alone is a call to action. The new legislative framework was adopted over a decade ago, and it no longer reflects the huge changes in our economy, technology and environment. And this gap must be now closed. Customers deserve the power of knowledge clear, trustworthy information through tools like digital product passport to make decisions on their purchases. Without this transparency, our ambitions fall flat. This revision is crucial opportunity to align our product rules with today's and tomorrow's realities. So let's not waste it. Thank you.”
Product passport
- “Thank you so much, chair. Uh, first of all, I sincerely thank all our colleagues at the Afet Committee and the rapporteur for producing a draft that highlights many of today's human rights violations. We need to keep our eyes open. Human rights should not ever be subjected to the political eyes. Allergies. They should always be a constant. And I just want to quote one bit of the report, which I think says it all. But then when you read the report onwards, many of the key issues regarding, uh, female rights are missing from this paper. And in the amendments, I will highlight this point of view as we are doing the Femm opinion on this matter. But I'll quote this. It goes. Whereas democratic systems are the most suitable to guarantee that every person has the ability to enjoy their human rights. Whereas today, only 29% of the world's population lives in liberal democracies, which is a sharp decrease compared to 52% in 2009. So human rights have been declining globally in a very rapid time, from 52% to 29%. So we should all be alarmed because this will affect everybody women, children, elderly people. We see how women are treated in war zones. We see how human rights are violated in so many countries that call themselves democracies, but they're actually not. So I think all this should be shown in in our opinion, and according to these lines, I will also submit the amendments from my part. Thank you.”
Gender roles, equality and inclusion
- “Dear Mr. President, dear colleagues, media freedom is one of Europe's core values. It's the heartbeat of our democracy. And today, once again, we discuss Google's dominance. And we must remember what's at stake. Google controls much of how Europeans find news, how publishers earn on it. As a digital gatekeeper, it decides who is sane and who is silenced. Our media depend on visibility and fair revenue to survive when these are taken away. Our press weakens, our voices shrink, and democracy itself is poorer. But Europe has never been afraid to stand up for fairness and freedom. So let's keep fighting not against technology itself, but for our values, for our journalists, and for the right for every citizen to be freely and truthfully informed. Thank you.”
EU rules on digital competition
- “To keep the gender pay gap is costing. Well, it's a double cost for us. Uh, women first through less pay and then through less. Uh. And we see, uh, the effect on unemployment as well. If we, uh, look at, uh, jobs, uh, uh, cuts where women are particularly affected and their pensions are affected. Uh, and I think this is important to raise the situation in Finland on International Women's Day. Why is this gender pay gap legislation on the list of things to be cut? Women are still earning 16% less than women. Even though they're doing the same work. The Finnish government is working against its own women and female entrepreneurs. It is making the situation worse and women are paying the price for this.”
Gender pay transparency
- “Thank you chair. Since I have the opportunity, I'm going to speak in Finnish. The situation is out of control now. Europe seems completely. Competent to defend itself from a third country. Flow of goods into the European Union. And the Commission has not acted and reacted quickly enough. Already during the previous legislature they should have intervened. But now it's the last moment to act, because consumers are now very used to getting cheap products from these e-commerce platforms. And if we do not set customs or sanctions and control this flow of goods, we will be in dire straits. It's also a question of how we fund the income of our countries. The big question is where do we get the funds from? Are we really prepared for actions to take up strong actions, or are we just going to be bystanders, Standards by standards and just look upon what happens. So we need rapid action here. For example, the €150 limit on products that wouldn't be subject to customs duties. This has to be brought earlier.”
EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
- “To keep the gender pay gap is costing. Well, it's a double cost for us. Uh, women first through less pay and then through less. Uh. And we see, uh, the effect on unemployment as well. If we, uh, look at, uh, jobs, uh, uh, cuts where women are particularly affected and their pensions are affected. Uh, and I think this is important to raise the situation in Finland on International Women's Day. Why is this gender pay gap legislation on the list of things to be cut? Women are still earning 16% less than women. Even though they're doing the same work. The Finnish government is working against its own women and female entrepreneurs. It is making the situation worse and women are paying the price for this.”
Gender pay transparency
- “To keep the gender pay gap is costing. Well, it's a double cost for us. Uh, women first through less pay and then through less. Uh. And we see, uh, the effect on unemployment as well. If we, uh, look at, uh, jobs, uh, uh, cuts where women are particularly affected and their pensions are affected. Uh, and I think this is important to raise the situation in Finland on International Women's Day. Why is this gender pay gap legislation on the list of things to be cut? Women are still earning 16% less than women. Even though they're doing the same work. The Finnish government is working against its own women and female entrepreneurs. It is making the situation worse and women are paying the price for this.”
Gender pay transparency
- “Thank you very much. For the question. I think simplification is in order in this manner, but also I think that the customers and protecting Europeans from faulty products that can even endanger the lives, for example, with children, if the toys, 80% of them do not apply to our regulations. This is a big danger for the future of Europe because the children are the future of Europe. I think we need to educate our people already at the school level, and we must teach that everything that looks gold is not good for you, and everything that is claimed to be good for you can be actually a very dangerous thing. Thank you.”
EU consumer protection rules: stricter requirements and tougher enforcement vs business flexibility and reduced burden
- “Thank you so much. Thank you for your words, Commissioner Varhelyi. As rapporteur, I approach this file from the angle of competitiveness and internal market strengthening it. But at the same time, patient safety must be in the core of everything. And we talk about diapers, bandages to complex technologies such as robotic surgical systems. So the scope is really large. And we have had in the past scandals. The Pip scandal has already been mentioned here. It affected half a million women. So it's not a small issue. It's a huge issue. So medical devices they need to be available. They need to be up to date. Europe must remain a place where innovative devices can be developed and brought to patients efficiently. But we have to have the safety in core of everything. So I'd like to answer so far, but can you be more specific? Because when we're talking about the reduction in notified body involvement, for example, downgrading the certain high risk products, reduce audits, how do we ensure that scandals like Pip scandal do not repeat themselves? Because in the worst case scenario, we're again, in a situation that we're facing tragedies in individual humans lives. Thank you.”
Medical devices
- “Member states with already existing rules and registers will have to create a new super register for lobbyists representing the interests of third country countries. So how will the Commission address the implications of the national Transparency registers and the new Super Register, which will only cover third countries? And would this create an extra layer of complexity that can even sometimes be used to circumvent the current rules. And how would the proposal ensure that more detailed provisions on transparency are still maintained at the national level, especially if they already exist? And then how can we also address the relationship between the European Transparency Register and the new proposed national registers, despite covering some of the same actors? The directive includes requirements for both EU and member state officials, but it is unclear whether lobbying companies must disclose their information to the future national registers, the European Transparency Register, or both. And in addition to those questions, civil society organisations. Yeah, I'll just finish the sentence. Civil society organisations have expressed concerns about the activities covered by this proposal. Thank you, Madam Chair.”
Transparency requirements for interest groups
- “Thank you, Madam Chair. What I am worried about is that the interactive report is not seen as a whole, but rather people take small pieces from there, and they are against these small pieces of the report instead of looking at the whole report. Health, education, Green Deal and also digitalization and import to Europe of Chinese cheap goods. All these matters are interlinked. We should see them as a whole. We should rather try to create a made in Europe spirit. Tama and Shannon's such fora and the duty free status is going to be finished at a certain date. But we should act against these platforms much more quickly. Our companies act in a proper way, but when we look at the Chinese imports, we do not know how many poisons and other harmful substances the Chinese goods contain, and this may be harmful for our citizens. We have to do something about bringing so many Chinese goods into Europe without any controls.”
Trade relations with China
- “Dear chair Commissioner. I thank all the colleagues with whom we work together on this file. I call it the Stop the Chinese Crap tsunami file because it is a crap tsunami that we are under. Eu consumers waste 19.3 billion per year buying low quality, dangerous products that can lead to injuries and severe health problems. €19.3 billion that are detrimental to European businesses. But this file has united us, this house, In this house, we agree that concrete action needs to be taken urgently. Every seller from outside the EU should have an accountable person here in Europe. We agree on stronger enforcement of the rule we already have, with better tracking of where products come from, more testing to make sure that they are safe. We agreed to push for fairness, a proper EU customs authority by 2026, a stop to massive shipments that slipped through without checks, and stricter controls on foreign warehouses operating on European soil. And we are making it clear. European small and local businesses deserve a fair chance to complete. They play by the rules. It's time. Others do too. It is about protecting what Europe stands for quality, fairness and responsibility and protecting our businesses. The vote on the file is on Wednesday. This file is a solid message from this House to the Commission and the Council to act with the urgency that the situation demands. Thank you.”
Trade relations with China
- “Dear president, Dear colleagues, 5G cloud services, fiber, artificial intelligence and communication technologies are crucial components of our security. Our critical infrastructures are constantly under attack, from destroying our cables to hacking our networks to us fins. This is everyday life in this unstable geopolitical environment. We have to better our digital sovereignty. We cannot leave back doors open for implantation. That is why Digital Networks Act matters. We need modern, secure and high capacity networks. And for that, we need to work as one. Fragmentation weakens us, slows innovation, and leaves Europe exposed. We are as secure as our weakest link. Thank you.”
Cybersecurity investments for critical infrastructure
- “Thank you, dear chair. Um, this is such an important inni. And I thank Christa for the hard work she's doing on this. Um, many of the things that have been said here today in the room are really important. But I would like to bring one more aspect which wasn't mentioned, and that is safety by design. Um, safety by design. I think it should be included in everything that relates to, Children's toys or online platforms that they use. Safety by design. It's not just a product feature, it's actually a mindset that requires designers and developers to actively consider potential risks and strive to minimize them during the product designing. So this is a preventive measure that needs to be implemented. And I think we need this mentioned as well in this context that we're talking about right now. Thank you chair.”
Safety features & content control for child protection online
- “Thank you, dear chair. Um, thank you, Laura, for for to begin with, uh, for your excellent work. There are several files in ease in the Parliament at the moment regarding protecting minors online, and I think the groundwork we're doing here right now is most important, because all these are messages to the commission and they all entitle very strong approach. For example, to the US tech companies. Trump is trying to protect them. There is protection all along with his mandate. And we need to fight back because we're talking about our children, our youth, and when we are taking seriously the defense in the military sense, we need to take seriously also the defense of our youth because our youth are building the future of Europe. And if our youth is not being considered in all the legislation, then that means that we're not going to be resilient and strong. So thank you Laura. And I'm I'm a shadow in other files regarding protecting minors online. So that's why I wanted to stay here and listen to all the other groups as well, because this is such an important thing we're doing.”
Safety features & content control for child protection online