Pierre JOUVET

Policy topics Pierre JOUVET is active on

What Pierre JOUVET has said (33)

• 2026-01-21 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission 24.3.2026 Written question The Commission shares the objective of strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty. Under the European Chips Act [1] , the Commission and the European Semiconductor Board monitor the semiconductor value chain and may carry out targeted analytical assessments. These can also cover memory, mapping EU demand, capacity and supply-chain risks. While the EU currently has limited capabilities in standard random-access memory (RAM) and data-centre memory components, the Commission supports research and development via open, competitive calls (e.g. under the Chips Joint Undertaking) in embedded and specialty memories, including promising next-generation non-volatile memory developments, for automotive, industrial and edge/Internet of Things (IoT) applications. It has also authorised state aid under Article 107(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) [2] for semiconductor research and first industrial deployment in the context of two Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on microelectronics in 2018 and 2023, totalling up to EUR 10 billion. Under the European Chips Act, the Commission aims to increase manufacturing capacity of semiconductor products, including RAM. The type of manufacturing facility to support depends primarily on companies’ and Member States’ decisions. Member States may grant support if it complies with EU State-aid rules and may notify support for projects for first-of-a-kind facilities under Article 107(3) TFEU to undergo Commission approval; to date, up to EUR 13.8 billion has been approved. [1] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-chips-act. [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:12008E107.”
  EU digital & tech sovereignty
• 2025-10-31 “E-004287/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is conscious of the risks related to services relying on chatbots and other automated means as a point of contact, for content moderation, or as complaint handling tool. The provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) 1 apply only where the services fall within the relevant definitions of Article 3, which is not the case of video game services. The Commission continuously monitors compliance of providers of Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) with Articles 12 and 20 of the DSA. For example, the Commission opened an investigation against AliExpress for concerns related to Article 20, which was closed with commitments from the provider 2 . The commitments ensure AliExpress's complaint handling system complies with DSA requirements, including human interaction. The supervision of all other, smaller, intermediary service providers within the scope of the DSA that are neither VLOPs nor VLOSEs lies exclusively with Member States and their Digital Services Coordinators. The Commission will continue to initiate proceedings under the DSA, which can lead to binding commitments or fines, to ensure that the providers of VLOPs and VLOSEs comply with the DSA. More information on published risk assessments and enforcement actions can be found on the Commission's website 3 . 1 https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/digital-services-act-keeping-us-safe-online-2025-0922_en. 2 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-makes-aliexpress-commitments-under-digitalservices-act-binding. 3 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/list-designated-vlops-and-vloses#ecl-inpage-metaplatforms.”
  Artificial Intelligence
• 2025-10-02 “E-003843/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission On 5 December 2025, the Commission issued a fine of EUR 120 million to X for breaching its transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA) 1 . The breaches include the deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark', the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers 2 . Investigation linked to the areas of dissemination of illegal content and the effectiveness of the measures taken to combat information manipulation in X, continues. As regards generative artificial intelligence (AI), the DSA requires that all features which are part of very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), need to be risk assessed and effective risk mitigation measures must be put in place. In this context, the Commission is closely monitoring Grok and its deployment in the EU, including in relation to the incidents from July 2025 and from November 2025. For example, in March 2024, the Commission sent requests for information concerning risks of generative AI were sent to selected providers of VLOPs and VLOSEs, including X 3 . In January 2025, the Commission took technical investigatory measures, including a retention order requiring X to preserve data and documents related to all recent algorithmic changes 4 . The Commission will make full use of its enforcement powers depending on the evidence. To the extent that xAI features are integrated in X, the service designated as a VLOP under the DSA, the Commission will take the necessary investigatory steps that might lead to open proceedings vis-à-vis the provider of X. 1 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) (Text with EEA relevance). 2 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2934. 3 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-sends-requests-information-generative-ai-risks-6very-large-online-platforms-and-2-very. 4 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-addresses-additional-investigatory-measures-xongoing-proceedings-under-digital-services.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms · Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
• 2025-09-15 “P-003550/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Séjourné on behalf of the European Commission A safeguard investigation concerning certain alloying elements, including silicon, is in its final stage. Since the investigation is still ongoing, the Commission cannot provide more details at this stage. In parallel, the Commission is monitoring market developments and industrial capacities across the silicon value chain under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act 1 . Anti-dumping measures on imports of ferro-silicon from China and Russia are in place since 2007. Trade defence instruments, such as anti-dumping are complaint driven. Thus, the Commission will assess any duly substantiated request and initiate an investigation, if the relevant criteria are met. The Commission also supports industry by implementing the measures proposed under the Clean Industrial Deal 2 to reinforce the competitiveness and decarbonisation of energyintensive industries, including the electrometallurgical sector. Dedicated actions target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as the new EUR 500 million pilot programme with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to provide guarantees for corporate Power Purchase Agreements and a EUR 1.5 billion EIB grids manufacturing package to support EU component producers. The Deal also establishes industrial transition pathways with attention to SMEs and, through the adopted Chemicals Action Plan 3 , introduces SME-focused measures such as the Critical Chemicals Alliance, regulatory simplification to cut administrative burden, cost-relief and de-risking tools, and dedicated innovation hubs to help SMEs modernise, decarbonise and stay competitive. 1 Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. 2 Communication from the Commission – The Clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation, COM(2025) 85 final. 3 Communication from the Commission – A European Chemicals Industry Action Plan, COM(2025) 530 final.”
  State Aid · Chinese clean tech competition: trade barriers and investment caps vs. open market · Trade relations with China
• 2025-04-16 “E-001547/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission The Commission President has launched InvestAI, to mobilise EUR 200 billion for investment in artificial intelligence (AI) 1 , including a new European fund of EUR 20 billion for AI gigafactories. This large AI infrastructure is needed for open, collaborative development of complex AI models and to make Europe an AI continent. Moreover, the investments in supercomputing infrastructures, including AI factories, will reach over EUR 10 billion over the 2021-2027 period, co-funded 50-50 by the EU and Member States. The AI Continent Action Plan allows flexibility regarding EU budget sources. Predetermining funding now could limit adaptability to changing financial and policy contexts. While aware of budget constraints in the final Multiannual Financial Framework years, the Commission is exploring options under all relevant EU programmes. Keeping financing options open maximises efficiency and ensures alignment with EU priorities. Via Horizon Europe and Digital Europe, the Commission invests more than EUR 1 billion per year in AI. Horizon Europe allocated EUR 2.6 billion to AI research and development (20212022) and calls were launched in April 2024, with over EUR 112 million in funding for AI 2 and quantum technology. This includes EUR 50 million for large AI models and EUR 15 million for AI transparency and reliability. The Digital Europe Programme dedicated over EUR 1 billion (2021-2024) for the development and deployment of AI 3 . Between 2021 and 2024, the total EU funding for AI was around EUR 10.7 billion 4 . The Commission is committed to strong public backing while encouraging private investments. The EUR 230 billion that companies aim to invest in gigafactories shows the scale of private sector ambition to drive the EU’s AI leadership 5 . 1 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_467. 2 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/new-horizon-europe-funding-boosts-european-research-ai-andquantum-technologies. 3 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-ai-research?.com. 4 Including Recovery and Resilience Facility, Connecting Europe Facility 2 Digital (CEF2), Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, Cohesion Policy https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC141966. 5 A total of 76 expressions of interest proposing to set up AI gigafactories in 16 Member States across 60 different sites have been submitted in response to the call for expression of interest in AI gigafactories, which closed on 20 June https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/overwhelming-response-76-respondents-expressinterest-european-ai-gigafactories-initiative. Press conference statement by the Executive Vice-President for Tech Soveignty, Security and Democracy on 30 June 2025 ‘Collectively, [Gigafactories Call for Expression of Interest] responders have expressed their intention to invest for an indicative total amount of more than EUR 230 billion in AI Gigafactories over the next 3 to 5 years’. The intention to invest does not represent a legal commitment.”
  Artificial Intelligence · EU industrial funding
• 2025-04-16 “P-001549/2025 E-001907/2025 Answer given by Mr Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission 1. The Commission stands ready to work with the co-legislators to bring forward the date of application of the e-commerce measures of the Customs Reform ahead of March 2028, which is the date initially foreseen in the proposal. However, this potential change in the date requires the introduction of the EU Customs Authority as of 2026, and the preparation of the first elements of the EU Customs Data Hub as soon as possible, to ensure efficient data processing and risk management. During the ongoing negotiations on the Customs Reform proposal, the Council is making progress in getting to a common approach ahead of trilogue negotiations, with the view of an adoption in 2025. 2. During the visit of the Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency in March 2025, both the Commission and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) agreed to continue to strengthen the customs cooperation, including specifically on e-commerce. As a follow-up to the visit, the EU and China agreed already to hold an EU-China Working Group on ecommerce in 2025, which is a first step in the right direction.”
  Trade relations with China · EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
• 2025-04-16 “E-001548/2025 Reply On 17 May 2023, the European Commission put forward proposals for the most comprehensive reform of the EU Customs Union since its establishment in 1968. Since then, a multi-presidency negotiation of this complex reform package, which represents a complete shift in paradigm, has been on the agenda. The Council refers the Honourable Member to the most recent progress report on the Customs Union reform package negotiations 1 , which is publicly available on the Council website: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-16192-2024-INIT/en/pdf. With regard to the second question, the Honourable Member is invited to forward it to the Commission. 1 16192/24”
  Trade relations with China · EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
• 2025-03-19 “E-001161/2025 Answer given by Mr Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission The Commission’s Communication on a Comprehensive EU Toolbox for Safe and Sustainable E-commerce 1 , proposes a series of measures to address challenges posed by ecommerce imports aiming to bring a level playing field based on effective customs, tax and safety controls and sustainability standards by using the tools at its disposal, and by proper coordinated enforcement of EU legislation. In this regard, the Commission calls on the colegislator to swiftly adopt the customs reform and to reinforce it with a handling fee on ecommerce parcels. During the ongoing negotiations on the Customs Reform proposal, the Council is making progress in getting to a common approach ahead of trilogue negotiations, with the view of an adoption in 2025. In addition, the Commission is willing to bring forward the parts of the customs reform related to e-commerce, in particular the establishment of the EU Customs Authority and preparations for the EU Customs data hub for e-commerce to a date earlier than 2028. In the meantime, the Commission will coordinate intensified customs and market surveillance authorities controls on e-commerce as part of the Priority Control Area and as a horizontal Coordinated Activity for the Safety of Products as announced in the Communication. The Commission is willing to explore with the co-legislators the introduction of such a fee to address the scaling costs of supervising the compliance of huge amounts of individual parcels. This fee should be internalised by the retailers and intermediaries, thus by the importer, i.e. the online retailer or intermediary, and not by the EU consumers. 1 COM/2025/37 final https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/e-commerce-communicationcomprehensive-eu-toolbox-safe-and-sustainable-e-commerce”
  Due diligence in supply chains (environmental and human rights) · EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
• 2024-10-30 “E-002343/2024 Answer given by Mr Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission On 21 November 2024, the Commission initiated an anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of fused alumina from the People’s Republic of China 1 , which covers white corundum. As part of the EU industry, Niche Fused Alumina has been contacted by the Commission to participate in the investigation. The deadline for the imposition of definitive measures, if any, is 21 January 2026. However, provisional measures can already be imposed seven to eight months after initiation. Imports will also be made subject to registration in due time. As regards to the second question of the Honourable Member, please note that Article 30(2) of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) Regulation 2 tasks the Commission to prepare a report to co-legislators by the end of the transitional period to review the CBAM, including an assessment of the possibility to extend the scope of the CBAM to goods at risk of carbon leakage other than those listed in Annex I. As this assessment is ongoing, it is too early to say if the product in question will be included in the scope of the CBAM in the future. Regarding the support to industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Political Guidelines for the 2024-2029 Commission 3 highlight that European SMEs create 24 million quality jobs and stress the need to reduce complexities for them. The Political Guidelines also announce a Clean Industrial Deal to decarbonise and bring down energy prices. In addition, they suggest that future legislation must be simplified and designed with small businesses in mind and in a spirit of subsidiarity. This will notably be done though a new SME and competitiveness check to help avoid unnecessary administrative burdens, maintaining high standards. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202407049 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/956/oj 3 https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf”
  Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) · Trade relations with China
• “(10:55:21 – 10:56:39): Thank you very much. Very quickly, because we did have an opportunity to have an exchange of views from you in China. Can I just record the attention to this committee and to the commission's attention as well? If the Tmall platform had to be compared with European platforms, if the European platform has managed to get a toehold in China, it would have been banned a long time ago. We allow this distorted competition, which is to the detriment of our own companies. And I'd like to say, as I said in Shanghai to more representatives, we're not going to allow our market to be flooded by illegal and dangerous substances or products. And then I'd like to ask a question that I've already asked. Are you prepared to shoulder 100% the responsibility for all the products that you sell on your platform? Will you be prepared to shoulder responsibility over the next years?”
  Trade relations with China
• “Thank you. Madam Chair. Executive Vice President, I was delighted to listen to you this morning on France-inter, saying that we do to hold the cards in order to force the Americans hand. And I do think that we should take this into into account. Our committee chair mentioned that public procurement is a key aspect. €2.5 trillion per year go to public procurement. And today we are somewhat naive vis a vis the US. They are breaking down our companies competitiveness. And I think now what we must do is take note of everything that we are trying to achieve, but we're not doing this European preference. That's the key. The Americans are doing it, the Chinese are doing it. And we are the last people who have not used this lever within the draft report. The S&D Group wants to make this European preference a key aspect of calls for tender in public procurement. This. My question is your statement on such a complex issue? Of course it's complex, but your declaration on radio yesterday, will it be implemented? And what meaning might, uh, what meaning might the president of the commission give to this soon? Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to make some shocking declarations on this topic. But as I said, there are discussions underway under way. It's difficult for us as a commission. We do not want to interfere in those negotiations. But I don't withdraw what I, I said yesterday, it's more or less what I said today in my introduction. Yes, we do hold the cards. Yes, we do also need to discuss this. We didn't create this situation ourselves, but rather was the US that is overturning global trade at the moment, creating a great deal of uncertainty with economic, social consequences, major consequences.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “12 minutes. That is the time it takes a teenager on TikTok to see videos on depression, self-harm or suicide. Our children face the worst and some people would like to just leave it based on an uninterrupted flow of extreme content with addictive design, aggressive marketing. This is a sordid business, and it has enabled TikTok to generate $39 billion in profits in 2024. But above all, it has led to the suicide of Marie Charles's Benelux, Clement and so many others. All of them were children. We must protect our children from these attacks. Yes, and we should put in place prevention, raise awareness among parents. But we also have to be absolutely stringent with these platforms. What is the worth of a parent's common sense in the face of a tech giant and its Mad algorithm? Our market is not for sale. Our children are not for sale, and they should not be used as business models for the digital far West that we have before us.”
  Safety features & content control for child protection online
• “Thank you chairman. Well, I'll be brief because I spoke earlier on. I just wanted to say that I think that this conversation, I mean, I'm glad we're having a frank exchange. And as certain colleagues have said, it's probably up to Sheen representatives to come and face us because I think we have questions to ask them. But all of this is, uh, basically ridiculous. I mean, we have rules. We've got the DSA, which has article 51 in it, which enables us to enforce the procedures that we're talking about. But here we're talking about systemic risk. I mean, think about the number of analyses that have been carried out on articles sold by Schein. 80% of those products do not comply with European rules. So how many emails and letters are we still going to? Sit through and sit through meetings before before something serious is done? Uh, I mean, it's ridiculous if we don't want to be trampled on by these platforms, which were probably laughing their socks off about, uh, the kind of exchanges that we have with the Parliament and the commission. We need to seize these procedures immediately. We can do that. If 80% of the checked products from Sheen do not respect our rules. That's what we call a systemic risk for 45 million consumers on these sites. So I think we should not be beating about the bush and, uh, and continuing to say, oh, please, Mr. Sheen, please send us a letter to tell us whether you're going to respect our rules. They are not respecting our rules and they are making a mockery of us.”
  Liability for online marketplaces
• “Thank you madam. And thank you to the rapporteur for producing this proposal. This is going to be crucial for our future. We're talking about 14 to 20% of GDP generated by public procurement. We need to be consistent in the way we approach this. We can be dogmatic, which is the approach being proposed, or we can be realistic and objective. We can look at the reality of the economy and of the job market in our continent. Now let's understand that where criteria reduce European competitiveness, if they remain the standard for public procurement, then the social and environmental clauses need to be mandatory. That's what company owners and employers are all agreed on. And I think that we need to have a consensus on this. Secondly, of course we want to simplify, but that doesn't. Mean setting aside it means making it easier for companies to access public procurement for SMEs, but also for micro enterprises who are often excluded from public procurement. If we want to simplify, then we need to make the administrative procedure less cumbersome. But that doesn't mean reducing opportunities, and it certainly doesn't mean reducing social environmental clauses. Public procurement is an essential factor within the political vision that we have, and that's the purpose of the amendments that we plan to submit. And then finally, I would like to say that we are in the midst of a major geopolitical crisis. We are focusing, sorry, we are facing external competition and pressures, and therefore we need to make European the first option for our companies, as mentioned by the rapporteur. So I believe that if we are going to achieve this competitive advantage, which is at the heart of the proposal. If we want to boost industrial and economic activity in our continent, then we need to focus on public procurement. But we do need to not lose sight of social clauses, environmental clauses and simplification.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “Mr. president, Vice president Public procurement represents almost 15% of the EU budget. They are a great tool to relaunch the European economy and safeguard our sovereignty. Given the threat posed by Donald Trump, we should use this tool and make it a weapon in our strategic policy. Current status of public procurement is obsolete and price is the only factor. Unfair competition weakens our businesses, our jobs and our European social model. We must leave this price criterion behind, and we must introduce social and environmental criteria and finally assume that we prefer European. We have all the know how and all the talent on our continent. So why should we go to Vietnam to buy buses, um, software in the US and products from China? I'll say it clearly. We must choose between preferring European choices or Chinese ones. This will determine our future. This can serve to create quality jobs in Europe, and each euro spent can and should support developing our SMEs and our industries. Each euro spent can and should improve our sovereignty and the green transition on our continent. This own initiative report before us will not allow us at this stage to meet these objectives. That is why with my group, we have tabled a number of amendments to introduce such criteria. Unless they are part of the proposal, we cannot support a compromise that does not rise to the challenges that we face. It is time to react. It is time to wake up and ensure that public procurement becomes a tool to fight for our sovereignty, our green transition and our freedom. Given the new threats existing in this world. I'll say it clearly, Commissioner. We face a simple choice. European taxpayers money should primarily finance well-being for Europeans and not those who are slowly dismantling our continent. Thank you. **Nicolae ȘTEFĂNUȚĂ @Chair: Thank you, Miss Klara Dostalova on behalf of the Patriots for Europe Group.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “you, chair, the vice president, colleagues. Since I was nominated co rapporteur in this text, I've had a number of, meetings, visits to factories, meeting with SMEs, suppliers, industrialists. And to repeat their message, which should be all of our message as well, We there are huge expectations. Will Europe finally be able to meet this industrial challenge? But, also, there is a lot of complexity here. This is a real, high this is a real, chance because our, industrialists know that we have to act, it's time to send out a very strong political message about the geopolitical changes that the world is facing. There are still some concerns because what we see today is that there are a number of, question marks still, and I'll come back to those. Expectations are real, as you said, vice president, and I would like to welcome your personal commitment in moving forward with this text. I know how difficult it's been. We're all aware of the figures, and you record them again. Over the last decades, we've lost a lot of industry. And every day, we see businesses closing, businesses that are facing difficulties because they can no longer compete with, competition that is no longer fair and free. It's, competition that is, unfair. So it's up to us to ensure that we ensure the political ambition that we want to see for the EU in the coming years. We have to be vigilant to a number of different points, and I would like to emphasize a few of those. First of all, as we've already heard, definition of European definition, European preference aren't it has to be made in Europe. Made in Europe is the heart of this text. Today, as it's worded, we all see that a product can be classed as made in Europe if the last major transformation happens in Europe, even if most of its components come from outside. The number of countries covered, as mister Grudler said, is currently over 80 countries on top of the 27 member states. So this isn't really genuine European preference. If we want to really ensure supply chains and have a a really structural change, then we have to focus on local production. And I think a delegated acts, could also be difficult here. Rules of origin have to be clear because they're what will give Europe a chance to set its own standards. Then thresholds and, thresholds for, derogations. With 25 or 30%, then it is clear that a lot of the made in Europe and low carbon criteria can be flouted. We know that the price differential is estimated to be between 3560% depending on the sector. So I think more work is going to have to be done here. Then finally, lack of a integrated value chain in our vision. Components have to be, manufactured in Europe in, battery components, lithium batteries, electric cars, and so on. I think that here, we have to be able to build a European assembly industry, and that should cover all of these different areas. There will be further debates on this, but I did want to already emphasize those 3 points and then finish with just 1 word that's particularly important to the s and d, and that's social conditionality. We have those currently for public tenders, but I think they should apply to all of the text. When we discuss, this text and begin, debates between members, we want to send out a message. Let's not be afraid. Let's ensure that this text is for, reindustrialization, a text that is for Europe, and that will give confidence back to Europeans. Thank you.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “That, um, we will fight against any exceptionally low offers and ensure that we have, uh, we avoid too much subcontracting to avoid a downwards trend. We also want to avoid the. We want to support the, um, environmental transition through our public procurement procedures. If Uh, we if we are not using public procurement to meet our climate objectives, then we'll be missing the mark. When setting criteria, we need to ensure, for example, assistance. Uh, and at European level. And, um, guides that will set out both advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we hope that the objectives for public procurement will be resilience and competitiveness. We want a specific direction for strategic industries and manufacturing. We want to avoid having only price as a criteria. Um, focus also on technological, environmental and social uh, side of the um offers made and to ensure sustainability, creation of quality jobs and ensure um and ensure that we have prosperity for our production chains. Also ensure that a minimum level of production is carried out at local level in the EU to ensure that we are supporting our local businesses. We need to make this a political priority and the S&D does want to see simplification. But as I've already said, simplification does not mean deregulation. Simplifying things for those involved does not mean complete deregulation for those producing our products. Thank you.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “Thank you, Madam Chair. On a number of occasions we have discussed this matter already. It is rare for me to say this. I would like to thank the DG and the French government for the action taken in recent weeks. Thank you for the update provided this morning. Allow me to pick up on what Mr. Schwab said. Our impression here is that we are dealing with two worlds, if you like, the real world and the parallel world. So you talked about 4 billion parcels, 150 per second, 93% from China. What we're seeing is virtually systemic noncompliance. So we need to put an end to this parallel world. You may well say here today that we are involved in dialogue. We met in September October. We've seen initial results in July. At the end of the day, nothing is changing. Millions of parcels are flooding Europe, poisoning consumers lives, endangering our children. This is extremely serious. This is stifling our industry and commerce and we are doing nothing. I do apologise, but I have to make this clear. You say we've taken note of the resolution adopted by MEPs last week. No, you should not merely note our resolution. When will these platforms be suspended? We've seen the risks. They have been clearly proven. You've explained them to us. We're not going to endlessly go round in circles with these platforms indefinitely. They are making fools of us. We have representatives from various customs, from Dgccrf, from the various DGs.”
  Trade relations with China
• “Thank you. President. Vice president. David Clemens initiative report comes at the right time. We're facing huge challenges. A year ago I mentioned a rampant, distorted competitions from Chinese platforms which are leading in fast fashion. They're flooding our customs authorities and our markets. It's a huge problem for our traders and our economy. But nothing's happened during this year. The investigations are slow, the customs rules aren't in place. And yet these Chinese businesses have been cut off from the US market. So they're targeting our markets even more aggressively. At the end of the day, a lot of what's being done here is just publicity. This initiative report will give the commission the chance to actually take efficient measures to ensure that we're were no longer just passively sitting back and looking at our markets being destroyed.”
  Trade relations with China
• “I'll do that in French. Colleagues, now the tax systems lead or force companies to finance themselves by debt rather than by equity as a lever. But that means not only to have more levers, but they have more fragility. Now, the Commission had tried to find an answer to this with Deborah. A deduction on the taxable base for ten years based on the level of Well, the public level of borrowing plus 1.5, that is supposed to be neutral. But in practice, that will become a new, rather complex, a niche which is going to be used in an unequal way would lead to also to a loss of tax sovereignty. Yes. We need to reduce this bias of debt over equity because it stifles competitiveness, but not just have a system that would make the tax base more fragile and lead to more red tape. The priority is a a framework that is easy to read, a rule stability, but not an environment where companies can't invest, they need to have a place where they can naturally invest and recapitalize. So how can we avoid Deborah becoming a tax, a bonus, a particularly captured by big companies to the detriment of SMEs? The. If the objective is resilience, then why not privilege a simple national rules, for example, reducing corporation tax, supporting reinvestment of profits instead of a European mechanism which is one size fits all, which would just make things more complex. Thank you.”
  EU competences on taxation
• “Ten days ago in France, on that site, we found category A Weapons. Sexual sex dolls with the appearance of children. France is in engaging in procedures. They've not gone to the end of these procedures. They've not completed them. But we need to go to the end. We need to complete this and put a stop to these, to this inundation. And I'm asking for that now on behalf of the De and I believe many of my fellow MEPs, the EU needs to suspend this platform immediately in Europe to get our rules respected so that collectively we are respected and so that we don't endanger our consumers and the millions of European consumers that are passively absorbing products from these platforms.”
  Regulation of pornography in the EU
• “Apart from the procedures that don't respect any of our standards, you are carrying out also slave labour, mainly of children, women who are locked in cellars without any safety access or any direct access to the outside and you're putting them in danger. You're also endangering the whole planet with the billions of packages that you are delivering everywhere without any control. So there too, we must be frank here. If you'd been a European company, you would be banned a long time ago. And yes, your owners, your CEOs would have been sentenced. Would have been there. Would have been taken to court for the endangerment of life. Today we demand explanations from you, not the words that have been given to you with a simple question. I can I will conclude these products I showed you. Would you use them personally every day on your eyes, on your lips? Or would you give them to your child? Maybe a six months old child with the risk that they could suffocate? That's my question today.”
  Due diligence in supply chains (environmental and human rights)
• “I'll do that in French. Colleagues, now the tax systems lead or force companies to finance themselves by debt rather than by equity as a lever. But that means not only to have more levers, but they have more fragility. Now, the Commission had tried to find an answer to this with Deborah. A deduction on the taxable base for ten years based on the level of Well, the public level of borrowing plus 1.5, that is supposed to be neutral. But in practice, that will become a new, rather complex, a niche which is going to be used in an unequal way would lead to also to a loss of tax sovereignty. Yes. We need to reduce this bias of debt over equity because it stifles competitiveness, but not just have a system that would make the tax base more fragile and lead to more red tape. The priority is a a framework that is easy to read, a rule stability, but not an environment where companies can't invest, they need to have a place where they can naturally invest and recapitalize. So how can we avoid Deborah becoming a tax, a bonus, a particularly captured by big companies to the detriment of SMEs? The. If the objective is resilience, then why not privilege a simple national rules, for example, reducing corporation tax, supporting reinvestment of profits instead of a European mechanism which is one size fits all, which would just make things more complex. Thank you.”
  EU competences on taxation
• “Thank you. Chairman. Counterfeit. Trafficked goods. Dangerous goods. What do we expect? I agree with Mr. Schwab. What are we waiting for before acting? Our digital arsenal is the most complete in the whole of the world. It's adopted unanimously by all member states and 90% of MEPs. So why would we use a water pistol. If we've got a legal bazooka at our disposal to deal with this Chinese platform and other Chinese platforms that are engaging in a trade war on our continent, forgive me, but I would like to state my opinion about the commission. Are you there just to investigate and give sermons? Now is the time to act and to punish our mandate here, as members of Parliament in the Imco Committee, is to protect the consumers. Now our consumers, our trade, our industry are no longer protected. 12 million small parcels, 91% of which come from Chinese Platforms and they arrive on our continent every day. They're poisoning our consumers. And I say poisoning. It's been proven that they are poisoning our consumers. It's we're not that far from Christmas. How many people who haven't got that much money are going to buy presents on those sites that are going to be poisoning their children with these toys that come from the other side of the globe? China is looking at €2 billion of profit this year, 1 billion of which would be generated exclusively in Europe, while they make a mockery of our rules.”
  Trade relations with China
• “Merci. Madam president. Thank you, Madam Chair. So following on from some of my colleagues, I would like to maybe take a step back not many weeks or months ago, but looking what happened a month ago On the 24th of December. The former commissioner Breton Thierry Breton went to was sanctioned by the USA because he demands respect for the DSA, which we all voted for 24 hours later. Elon Musk stated that EU leaders were Nazis, wanted to stop the freedom of expression, and wanted to dissolve the EU itself. A few days later. So over three weeks and then over three weeks, grok generated. More than 11 million images that were problematic and 3 million of these were sexual. That was over 11 days. An 11 day period. 24,000 of these represented images of children every day in Europe. There are children who attempt to die by suicide. We talked to parents who talk in the media about how this has happened, and they were incited to die by suicide through social media platforms. And we think the responsibility is for the platforms, but the platforms are there to make money, to make millions or billions. Their algorithms are biased to create more and more ads, content, more and more buzz, And therefore more and more money. I've stated it here many times. Platforms are openly laughing at us. They are laughing at what we are doing. We vote laws that are not applied that are not respected. And I'll finish off here. We open investigations that are never concluded, but every day that goes by, there is a risk that we have as a risk for our citizens. So we have to conclude these investigations, but also take a take measures beforehand and not afterwards. We can't wait to to do this. We have to do it in a preventive way. If they don't respect our rules, if not, they will never respect us and our continent and our citizens will be in danger.”
  Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
• “We are in favour of a clear commitment to Made in Europe so as to strengthen our industrial base and reduce the dependencies, which are a major barrier to investment. This fund must provide European businesses and citizens with genuine advantages. It's not just a business plan. It should help all businesses without discriminating between businesses of different sizes. That's important. It must be fair and genuinely accessible. In particular, as the rapporteur said, to SMEs, which are as referred, the beating heart of the European economy. We are in favour of genuine simplification for beneficiaries, but this simplification must strengthen legal certainty Rather than simply being a way of circumventing European rules, governance of the fund must guarantee equal treatment, democratic scrutiny and effective assessment of its impact. Flexibility is, of course, necessary in times of crisis. At the same time, it must be accompanied by safeguards so as to ensure that our economic players have genuine long term prospects and visibility. In conclusion, competitiveness is not an aim in itself if it is not backed up by tools to give us healthy growth. We are living in a planet which we are destroying. Our workers are broken. We have to try to change that. We have to create new prospects for Europe, create quality jobs, make our industry greener, and strengthen our sovereignty. We are willing to work with the other groups to ensure that we have an effective instrument, enhancing a fair and sustainable European competitiveness.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “Mr. president Commissioner, if you want to send a package from Beijing to Strasbourg, it's less than sending a registered letter in one's own country in 2024. 4.6 billion packets were sent by temu Sini and AliExpress. And they came from China to Europe. That's a 300% increase in four years. These products are made at a loss, then shipped thanks to public subsidies. These producers are destroying the environment and it's a kind of modern slavery. On top of all of this, we've got hypocrisy. We've got our Complicity. And if these packages are worth less than €150, there's no duty paid on these packages. This is a slow acting poison that's getting rid of our jobs and destroying our economy. Casa Jennifer. There are so many other SMEs that we're leaving on the side of the road. These small packages are a kind of poison. And we must stop being naive. We have to change our custom rules. And we must finally protect our consumers and our businesses and our jobs.”
  EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
• “Thank you, chairman, and thank you to the Commission for the report and the transparency in this report that you've given us. A lot has already been said. I'd just like to touch on three specific points. The first question of European preference was mentioned at the beginning of the presentation that our public procurement markets are 15% of our GDP. 15%. And we don't lean towards European preference as much as we should. We are. We've got a very complex situation globally and economically. And in some of the answers that have been given so far, I mean, we seem to be the biggest, uh. We have the highest amount of naivety, uh, when we talk about the criteria linked to the WTO. Well, allow me to say here that we are, in fact, the only and the last in the world to believe and understand the criteria of the WTO. Do you really believe that Donald Trump or XI Jinping, uh, are respecting the WTO criteria? Never. Today, we're at a moment when we launch the review to the public procurement rules in cooperation between us, we need to ensure a European preference. I heard president von der Leyen start to sketch this out, and I do hope that we can all push in that direction. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any progress in the own initiative report yet. Secondly, the words simplification, access to markets, which allow me to tell you, colleagues, these are just empty words that don't allow us to go to the contents of building these markets to say, we're going to simplify this.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be less impassioned and perhaps it will be clearer than I. I hear what you are saying, and let's be clear here. Your responses are based on what you can do and the needs for having more staff. That's what I've understood to have more support. I think all of the MEPs here understand that we don't have enough ways of controlling all of the things that we need to control. Old. We understand that. What I want to say is, um. Including what your responses are. From your perspective, it might be normal regarding legal protection. If we suspend an entire platform, we could have consequences. Then they could, um, start proceedings. But we've gone beyond that stage. Now we're talking about a billion packages, um, and commercial, uh, commercial policy model. You said it yourself. Um, 95% is the figure that you gave 95% of products and checked by customs should show that they are not compliant. Shein, Temu, AliExpress, Suppress, and perhaps more tomorrow, because there will be more. They say no, no, um, our, um, products are top notch. That doesn't matter. We need, um, to reverse the trend. If we take a stance. Can you imagine our platforms in Europe going to China and saying, excuse me, uh, XI Jinping? Uh, all of my products are top notch. And imagine the Chinese authorities customs say, no, they are not. Do you not think that we wouldn't be suspended immediately? The answer is yes. And beyond China and these platforms. And what we were saying about the DSA. And I'll stop there. We're talking about China now. The childlike sex dolls. Tomorrow there'll be more scandals. We have them every day with these platforms. We find all sorts of things. But it's true for social media and everything else. Also, what we are saying here, um, and you've heard our message completely. It's no longer time for discussion here. We need to implement and sanction and suspend because if we don't. It's the end of the political model we've all built.”
  Trade relations with China
• “Do you think that if a single company in any of our Member States failed to comply once, that we would give them endless chances? If toys were sold that flouted our rules, that company would immediately be shut down. And yet, we're allowing billions of products to come into our market. That is unacceptable. We have our rules. They must be enforced. I have to be compassionate here. And I have to say this I apologize for the fervor of my statement, but we are being treated like fools. We have. We are being flooded. We are seeing businesses shut down. We see despair. And at the same time you say, well, we're going to look at this. Assess. No, we have the DSA, we have all the rules we require. These platforms have breached our rules. They must be immediately suspended, blocked from accessing our markets in the S and D group. Over the coming days, we will call for a committee of inquiry to be set up. We want to know why our rules are not being respected for a year. These inquiries have not produced results. Why have no sanctions been applied? What are we waiting for? Are we waiting for all our businesses? Shut down our industry to be killed off. It is high time that we take the bull by the horns here.”
  Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal content
• “Well, that was already the case in 2014. Today, when you meet with those who actually participate in procurement exercises every year, what they say is one of the major brakes on these markets. Is, uh, the, uh, criteria that are used. It's not going to be simplification that's going to bring more companies to this. It's the ability to bring our companies. Uh, to get beyond the simple price criterion. There are several others have mentioned this. Our European rules, our social criteria, our environmental criteria. We need to stop believing collectively that this is what causes a problem for our economy. This is what is our strength. It's in our public procurement markets. We want to get away from the simple price criteria, which undermines a lot of our SMEs, a lot of our companies. And that's, uh, we have, uh, competition from certain non-Europeans in certain large markets. That's because the, uh, criteria, the social and environmental criteria are not highlighted enough. So to finish in the Commission's thoughts on this. Are you considering to aiming the social and environmental criteria to mandatory parts to make them mandatory parts of the calls? Thank you.”
  EU policy on sustainability criteria in public funding
• “49 the number of meetings that the Commission has declared since the start of the year. 49 opportunities to explain that Europe is not a digital colony for the US. Trump, Google, Apple, meta or open AI. None of them audit over us. And yet the Commission has not clarified what happened in those meetings through the DSA and DMA. We've explained clear rules to protect our consumers from us. Big tech. They flout our rules. We see that every six months are. Internet surfers are held captive. There are. Businesses are struggling. So 49 meetings with the commission. What did you achieve? One year later we've seen the first fines under DMA, but it's all theoretical. Things are being kicked down the road, Commissioner are Art collective requesters to ensure that we respect European law online so that we can protect European consumers and our sovereignty. The time has come for action.”
  EU digital & tech sovereignty
• “American billionaires and oligarchs who are trying to attack our model here in this hemicycle of far right, then coming here and saying very earnestly that they're trying to defend democracy. But these are manipulated algorithms and ongoing lies. Ai on ACS and TikTok are all aligning behind one aim to bring in a reactionary international to bring down our societies, manipulate information, and create an ongoing situation in which they can continually impose this false information on us. There are millions of views of content which has been manufactured and created exclusively by these platforms in order to harm our democracies. And then people come here and say, I'm a patriot, when actually what they want to do is destroy our model and enfeeble our democracy.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms