Oliver SCHENK

Policy topics Oliver SCHENK is active on

What Oliver SCHENK has said (36)

• 2026-07-14 “And we need to put we need to make sure that we can do as much as we can for patient security. Three. Better solutions for breakthrough and niche products so that even small patient groups won't lose out when it comes to innovation. Next. Moving away from red tape so that companies can look at their main point, which is a risk security. Five. Helping out SMEs. As I said, most companies in this very innovative branch are SMEs. They are the backbone of medical technology in the EU. They are the basis of the whole cluster ecosystem that provide innovation and. Six. We need a sector specific and efficient regulation for SME producers when it comes to double checking and the AI actually to try and move away from that and have an integrated approach. Obviously also making sure there's still security for clinical evidence trials. So where there's no extra reason for red tape, we should do away with it. When it comes to security of clinical evidence trials where all of that is concerned, then no compromise. This report is an invitation to cooperation. I think now is the time to come up with rules that can be quicker, more efficient, more innovative, innovation friendly, and they will have patients at the heart. If we manage to strike this balance, then we'll strengthen Europe, will increase competitiveness, better jobs, high quality jobs and obviously patients, they will get medical progress more quickly. Looking forward to cooperating with you all and our parliamentary debates. And thank you to everybody who supported me constructively to date. Thank you.”
  Medical devices
• 2026-07-14 “(10:39:23 - 10:43:49): Thank you very much. I would like to switch to German. Thank you much indeed, colleagues, for my, report on the medical device regulation. Well, medical technology is obviously at the forefront. Every 30 minutes, a new patent is, tabled. When it comes to this innovation, obviously, we look at better diagnosis, better therapy, better quality treatment for millions of patients here and throughout the world. Best patient security is when you have good standards and medical progress. We better the care that we provide. We give people to have a longer, more healthy life. And therefore, it's important the commission has looked at, revising the MDR IDVR. I think this proposal is going in the right direction. I am trying to just make a little bit more progress. We need to make regulation more obligatory, more risk based, and innovation friendly. We need to open up possible economic benefits as well. We're not talking about a niche branch. We're talking about 500,000 medical devices and products. We're talking about thousands of companies, lots of them SMEs. We're talking about €170,000,000,000. So this is a huge turnover in Europe. This is an important pillar of our health union and also of our competitiveness. And, therefore, we have double responsibility here vis a vis the patient to have secure innovative products, but also vis a vis the many companies that allow that. They have to be looked at together, those 2 sides. I have 1 basic principle, better regulation to allow innovation and to strengthen, patient treatment. So I have 6 main points. 1st of all, quicker, planability with, obligatory timelines because only this way can we have controls, reliability for contractors. Secondly, we need risk based, regulatory approach, and we need to put we need to make sure that we can do as much as we can for patient security. 3, better solutions for breakthrough and niche products so that even small patient groups won't, lose out when it comes to innovation. Next, moving away from red tape so that, companies can, look at their main point, which is risk security. 5, helping out SMEs. As I said, most companies in this very innovative branch are SMEs. They are the backbone of, medical technology in The EU. They are the basis of, the whole cluster ecosystem, that provide innovation. And 6th, we need a sector specific and efficient regulation for SME producers. When it comes to double checking, and the AIX, we need try and move away from that and have an integrated approach. Obviously, also, making sure there's still security for clinical evidence trials. So where there's no extra reason for red tape, we should do away with it. When it comes to security of clinical evidence trials, where all of that is concerned, then no compromise. This report is an invitation to cooperation. I think now is the time to come up with rules that can be quicker, more efficient, more innovate innovation friendly, and they will have patience at the heart. If we manage to strike this balance, then we'll strengthen Europe. We'll increase competitiveness, better jobs, high quality jobs. And, obviously, patients, they will get medical progress more quickly. Looking forward to cooperating with you all and our parliamentary debates, and thank you to everybody who supported me constructively to date. Thank you.”
  Medical devices
• 2026-07-14 “Let me just focus on this piece. This is important for European science and our tradition in Authorised Medicines 2008. More than 180 MPs have actually made their way to patients in hospitals, but very few of them have actually been authorised commercially throughout the EU. The. What we need is this bridge to scale up from laboratory to patient. The pharmaceutical package has been agreed on and the pilot project for for Atmps. That's been ongoing for a couple of years. So a couple of questions with a new tools like the controlled spaces, the sandboxes, the mandate for a report, for a lighter regime, for atmps for hospitals. E a how will you prioritize your resources for the atmps? And what will happen in the Advanced Therapy Committee when it comes to the internal restructuring of the agency? Second question, the pilot project for academic developers, they're just looking at five products simultaneously. And the results will, you know, take years. Are you thinking about converting this initiative into a permanent structure? Reducing taxes and losing the Prime program? What are the main obstacles that you frequently see or the developers see? Academic developer See? Thank you much indeed.”
  Pharmaceuticals regulation in EU — innovation/access axis
• 2026-07-14 “Thank you, so much indeed, colleagues. For my reports on the medical device regulation. Well, medical technology is obviously at the forefront. Every 30 minutes a new patent is tabled when it comes to this innovation. Obviously, we look at better diagnosis, better therapy, better quality treatment for millions of patients here and throughout the world. Best patient security. Security is when you have good standards and medical progress. We better the care that we provide. We give people to have a longer, more healthy life. And therefore, it's important that the Commission has looked at revising the MDR IDR. I think this proposal is going in the right direction. I am trying to just make a little bit more progress. We need to make regulation more obligatory, more risk based and innovation friendly. We need to open up possible economic benefits as well. We're not talking about a niche branch. We're talking about 500 000 medical devices and products. We're talking about thousands of companies, lots of them SMEs. We're talking about €170 billion. So this is a huge turnover in Europe. This is an important pillar of our health union and also of our competitiveness. And therefore we have double responsibility here vis a vis the patient to have secure innovative products, but also vis a vis the many companies that allow that they have to be looked at together, those two sides. I have one basic principle better regulation to allow innovation and to strengthen patient treatment. So I have six main points. First of all, quicker ability with obligatory timelines, because only this way can we have controls reliability for contractors. Secondly, we need risk based regulatory approach.”
  Medical devices
• 2026-07-08 “(11:29:35 - 11:30:57): Madam, president, colleagues, many of us over the last few years have experienced extreme weather conditions. Even in my home in Saxon, we are faced with similar difficulties. Over the last few year, we've seen the largest, wildfire in Germany. That is why we'd like to thank the thousands of firefighters and people dealing with these types of disasters who put their lives aside to help. But, therefore, our preparedness of in in firefighting needs to, be enhanced. We need to find all kinds of, means so that the European Union can really truly be of of of added value. We need to act jointly, rapidly, but we need to deal with prevention. We need to have, forests that are resistant. We need to have water supply systems and investments for protection of the population. Europe can help. Responsibility, however, lies back home with a preparedness strategy which protects people, which strengthens the infrastructure, and makes our regions more resilient. That is why during the negotiations as far as the EU budget, we need to look at this very carefully. Thank you.”
  EU policy on infrastructure for preventing climate-related disasters (floods, droughts, extreme weather etc.)
• 2026-06-24 “(10:33:13 – 10:35:05): I wanted to say a little bit about the industrial policy side of things. We're talking about the health sector, health policies, medical technology. We're looking at 10% to 12%, 13% of our GDP here in Europe, so it's an extremely important economic area. So we've been discussing intensively in this house by European approach and made in Europe when it comes to innovation. And this innovation, on the 1 hand, we have well, we listen to our Polish colleague. We have a health system, social security system, which is no longer in a position to act quickly enough to provide the necessary care for financial reasons, regulatory reasons, perhaps staffing reasons, issues that have to be weighed up and assessed. But then we also have regions who are responsible for hospitals, who are responsible providing technology and ensuring that patients and technology are brought together. Now we have people who are able to upscale or around the world who are able to upscale their industrial models. Now my question then, if we're talking about the Industrial Accelerator Act, omnibus, data, all of these factors, I get the impression that we're talking too little about the health sector when we discuss these matters and how these issues can be implemented in the health sector. So I'd be interested to hear from you. How do you see a way to upscale all of these developments so that we're in a position to have a presence on the market and and put products, technological products on the world market?”
  Medical devices
• 2026-06-24 “Thank you very much. I'll be speaking German. Let me first of all, welcome the vice president. Uh, welcome, Commissioner. Thank you for your introductory remarks. I was going to ask you something about research data, but the discussion and what you said have now compelled me to address a number of other issues. My first point is social media. Could I just come back to that and the point on age verification. You know, we're arguing what the age should be and getting a bit lost in that. But what is missing from the discussion is how about the parents? How do we improve the role of parents? And how can we use technology so that there's a parent button on these devices so that they can regulate access, that have a button that interact with an app and then either allows it or doesn't. I think the technical possibilities there should be made independent, but that would be a fairly straightforward solution. And that could be a lightweight first step. Then anthropic. Now last year there was an export ban from the US on chips. Now it's access to anthropic. I think it's pretty clear that we need to become independent here. We can't rely on others sharing things with us, so we need to be independent. So the digital omnibus is certainly a good step in the right direction. We'll probably need a second and a third, but how we deal with data needs to be improved, professionalized. We need AI training so that larger data sets can be used. And that's why I welcome the omnibus. Uh, the reaction from council is a bit sobering. We will probably try and assist you in that endeavour and also bring our weight to the floor. Thank you.”
  EU digital & tech sovereignty
• 2026-01-14 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission 24.3.2026 Written question The revision of the Chips Act [1] is ongoing, with the proposal for a Chips Act 2 foreseen in spring 2026. Preparatory work is carried out in an inclusive way, with the possibility for stakeholders to voice their priorities via the call for evidence. Printed circuit boards and electronics manufacturing services are not excluded from the scope of the Chips Act but the Commission is assessing whether the first-of-a-kind definition needs to be clarified to provide legal certainty to actors in the semiconductor value chain planning investments in the EU. The level of customs duty rate applicable depends on the tariff classification of the goods. Levels of bound duty rates, including where it is ‘duty-free’, result from EU commitments under the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Commission is committed to protecting EU industries from unfair competition where it finds that EU industry is suffering from dumped and/or subsidised imports. Industries can contact the Commission’s trade defence services [2] for such issues. The Commission aims to tackle strategic dependencies as cybersecurity risks. The proposed Cybersecurity Act 2 [3] aims to reduce risks in the EU’s information and communication technology (ICT) supply chain from third-country suppliers with cybersecurity concerns. It sets a trusted ICT supply chain security framework using a harmonised, proportionate and risk-based approach. [1] OJ L 229, 18.9.2023, pp. 1-53, http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1781/oj. [2] https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/contacts/trade-defence-enquiries_en. [3] COM(2026) 11 final, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52026PC0011.”
  EU industrial funding · EU digital & tech sovereignty
• 2025-08-25 “E-003281/2025 Answer given by Ms Roswall on behalf of the European Commission The inclusion of the Sika deer (Cervus nippon) on the list of invasive alien species of Union concern was underpinned by a risk assessment 1 which, like those for other species included on the Union list, was deemed fit for purpose by the Scientific Forum, which comprises experts appointed by all Member States. In accordance with Article 7 of the Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Regulation 2 , invasive alien species of Union concern shall not be intentionally kept or bred, including in contained holding. Pursuant to Article 8 of the IAS Regulation, establishments involved in ex-situ conservation, research or medicinal applications of listed species may apply for permits to their Member State, provided that the conditions outlined in the said Article are met. The Commission finds no justification for national exemptions, transition periods (other than those already specified in Articles 31 and 32 of the IAS Regulation) or differentiated implementation. The aforementioned risk assessment clearly states that releases or escapes from captive facilities have been documented in the past and are very likely to occur again. The environmental risks, including hybridisation with native red deer, are elaborated in detail in the risk assessment. 1 https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/98665af0-7dfa-448c-8bf4-e1e086b50d2c/library/5891b3af-e561-4750-86cc709857e88c94?p=1&n=10&sort=modified_DESC. 2 Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species, OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 35– 55.”
  Nature protection and restoration in the EU
• “President, commissioner, colleagues. The new Ebola and tantavirus outbreaks show that viruses don't respect borders, and health crisis are part of our security architecture. 3 of the 4 new, diseases come from the animal world. Climate change and the destruction of habitats and close, habitats between animals and people increase the risk. So the question is not if there's gonna be a next health crisis, but whether or not we're prepared for it. We've learned from COVID in Europe with the European Health Task Force and the laboratory network, and we can recognize outbreaks more quickly and act in a coordinated fashion now. But let's not get trapped in dependencies again, not for diagnostics, not for medicines, nor for protective equipment. We have to bolster Europe's capacities for medical, reaction and for the procurement of medical equipment. Health of people and animals should not be seen in political different political silos. Europe's health protection begins not at our borders, but there where outbreaks take place. Prevention and health partnerships should be invested in because that's protecting freedom, health, and economic stability for the future.”
  EU competences on health (internal-competence axis, sharpened)
• “Thank you. I listened to you and you said a lot about competitiveness and the Draghi report. I'm interested in the following. What is the Hungarian position on environmental technologies? We in Europe are under a lot of pressure. We've lost the solar industry. We're fighting hard for wind technologies and other renewable technologies. What about the Net Zero Industry Act? Will that be expanded, sped up? What about environmental protection assessments? Environmental impact assessments? Will you speed them up so That we in Europe can produce more environmentally friendly technology so that we can make a contribution, and so that these environmentally friendly technologies are not produced elsewhere in the world. Relocated to other production sites.”
  EU policy on permitting for renewable energy projects
• “Thank you very much indeed, Commissioner. Dear colleagues, thank you very much indeed for giving us this opportunity to have an exchange of views on what I am sure is a very important subject for all of us, and I'm delighted, and I'm certain that I speak on behalf of all our colleagues, that on the basis of your proposal, we will now be able to move forward and your draft encompasses many of Parliament's demands. You will be aware, of course, that this is an extremely important subject for all of us. You alluded to public health across Europe, and I think this is an important advance. Now it's a matter of urgency because, as we have seen, when we have failed in our regulatory overhauls in the past, that many of our SMEs encounter huge difficulties. And ultimately this becomes a problem for all of our patients. Now, SMEs, of course, are a backbone of our economies. You alluded to that. You said that 90% of med tech companies are small and medium sized, and if we don't make regulatory advances, then we will lose out in terms of competitiveness as well as certainty for our patients. Now, you have mentioned many of the important planks trying to reduce red tape, and also making sure that we can plan more effectively and more speedily. Now, of course, that is all working in the right direction, but as a rapporteur, I set great store by hours working at pace and that we be able to rapidly debate your proposal and do our bit to make sure that all of this enters into force swiftly.”
  Medical devices
• “Well, it's clear since COVID, the global situation this represents when something happens somewhere in the world, a long way from Europe. We have mobility and networking in the modern world, and so it affects all of us. And so in Europe, we have to react as well. Beyond borders, we need to research together. We need to put in place joint protection measures and act in a cross border way. In the past, we'd struggled with these issues, but we mustn't struggle in the future. Thank you.”
  EU competences on health (internal-competence axis, sharpened)
• “Madam Commissioner, thank you very much for this exchange of views. I want to talk about the ETS as well. I do have some real concerns that we seem to be losing confidence into this, uh, system. Um, politicians, those in rural areas, uh, there are a lot of people that are starting to have some concerns here. So there are people who were, um, going along with this system up to now who are now starting to lose trust in this system. We're seeing, uh, prices go up and these companies don't really have any alternatives in terms of investment to free themselves from these costs. So we have, uh, these certificates that are becoming more and more, uh, like some kind of penalty payments. So what can we do at a European level to encourage, uh, Alternatives such as carbon capture and storage or hydrogen, for example. And then a second point, the question of how we're going to move forward with urban waste water. In a lot of the member states, there's a confrontation between economy and environment. And it's a real dilemma between the pharma industry that we want to protect to a certain extent that we want to represent as well. And we really do need to find a solution there. Thank you.”
  Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• “Thank you very much, State Secretary. We've listened very carefully to your words. Now, there's something very important for the years to come, and that is digitalization in medicine. We didn't hear anything about that. We see that it is indeed a force for development, digitalization, that is to say, and I can't imagine that we can have progress without the incorporation of digitalisation. Member states have done a lot. They have already provided solutions of their own with national infrastructure, secure data systems, digital systems. The Patients Act was introduced as well. So I'm in our member states. I think it's important for us to have interoperability as well. When I fall sick and I am in another country, I want for this data to be able to transfer it there in a secure fashion. And how do we find a rational way, a reasonable way for the transfer of health related data? This is something very sensitive, of course. On the one hand, on the other hand, we have to have accessibility open for research because that's how we achieve, um, major steps forward. Uh, smart solutions with an e-health network with member states and regular exchange. And I'd like to ask, are there any sort of thoughts, contemplation on your side within the presidency to play some sort of role there? What can we do in order to move forward on this front? I think it's something very important for all of us, because it is so key to development and to evolution. If you'd like to say, moving forward in the health care system. Thank you. Yeah, thank you very much, Nicolas Gonzalez Casares. Gracias.”
  Processing of health data
• “Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak here today. I have a question on something which busies us in many areas of policy at the moment. That is development of AI. We see the big need for various reasons for data centres for AI in Europe two to reduce our dependencies. Also so that uh, uh, to uh, when it comes to competition with the US and China also, and this is a big issue between the US and China, and it's also a question of dependency. We know that these data centers have a huge need of energy. The we see commissioning of nuclear plants in the US. Because of that, we see projections that show that how necessary additional energy is for these to introduce these new technologies. But we also know that in the competition for these technologies, European manufacturers. Have can offer energy lean uh, alternatives compared to the US competition. My question is, Wouldn't it be a good idea to that this debate, when it comes to technological dependency and by European and to strengthen European technologies, could we have a win win situation whereby when it comes to this energy lean chip technologies, for example, in Europe we could work with national governments so we could have a technological independence. We could also bring in this climate protection argument when it comes to building up these technologies.”
  EU digital & tech sovereignty
• “I would like to speak in German. My question is for Mrs. Schroeder, and to a certain extent, Mrs. Nicolai, thank you very much for your statements. I think they were very important. Mrs. Schroeder, you said it depends on implementation. What we always see from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom in Leipzig. Do you see that there are more and more attacks on journalists across Europe? It's increasing. I had a look. At how journalists, in some cases have to work under protection of armed police, such as in the Netherlands. I was wondering how you would assess projects like that. Do we need more of them? Do we need to network the projects that exist? You mentioned. Oh, could the the the center that I mentioned earlier provide some kind of mediation role, Mrs. Nicolai? Of course. Maybe there would be a need for financial support for this sort of thing. So that we can actually enable journalists work in concrete terms and give them the protection they need.”
  EU support for traditional (non-digital) media
• “Thank you. Chair. I will continue in German. Thank you very much for the opportunity for this discussion. Two points I'd like to touch upon. On the 1st of January of this year, we had the wastewater directive which came into force, and there have been a number of different reports from the farmers that the cost estimation that was made actually underestimated was very, very heavily underestimated. And it cost a lot more for people. And a number of different issues will have to be revisited. On that particular front. We've been discussing, we've discussed with Valhalla as well the Medicine Act, the supply system strengthening in it, making it more robust. And I simply wanted to ask about the possibility of re once again revisiting the costs and seeing how these particular activities are developing. Thank you very much. You spoke about the, um, about the chemical sector, how that has been, uh, that is under particular pressure right now, particularly chemical recycling has created a number of different issues. Aspects of it have been put on the ice right now. Could you tell us a little bit about the delegated act concerning this will come to the forefront and what it will entail?”
  Water pollution
• “Madam chair, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Rare earths are the basis for the technologies that we use every day. But the mining is increasingly in Chinese hands, and that makes us vulnerable. If we want to have this digital transformation, we want to be militarily capable. Then this topic is of key significance on factors outside Europe. That's a strategic threat. In this situation, we need to reduce our dependencies. We need to increase research into new materials, more efficient processes and better technologies. Innovation is our major lever against dependency. Secondly, national strategies for raw materials need to be drawn up and we have to approve investment in real projects. And thirdly, we need to create more value in Europe. It's not just about ensuring raw materials, but we have to process them here as well. Europe needs to remain open, but not naive. Thank you very much.”
  Sourcing of critical raw materials
• “Well, there's obviously a planned economy and move to a market economy and efficiency. We look at there's no there's no there's no other place in Europe that has the reduction in CO2 as West Germany. So we need all of these tools. And with all of these tools, we can create climate protection, but also prosperity. **Nicolae ȘTEFĂNUȚĂ @Co-Chair: Our next vice president, Javy Lopez.”
  Climate efforts
• “Ladies and gentlemen, in a couple of weeks, the climate conference Cop 30 is going to be in Berlin. But there will be speeches about ambitions. That's good. But the question will be is if they're achievable. Uh, Europe is good with setting targets, but we have to be stronger in implementation. Working alone, it won't work. We need to be brave. We need to be courageous. Less bureaucracy, more incentives. More trust in technology and innovation. It's not only bands and things that are prohibited, it means also working in a smart fashion. We need an overreaching policy, uh, which doesn't steal from people and which offers for incentive for inventiveness as well. We need to be smarter because innovation, that's where this that's where the problems can be solved. Uh, and we have to give the opportunity to the economy to be able to develop under the new circumstances. We win nothing if we have ambitious, ambitious targets, but ambitious targets that leave aside, that are beyond reality for undertakings and for our citizens as well. Um, uh, we'll have to demand the same from the United States and from China as well. We need them to participate and not be destructive factors. So after 1990, with the market economy, that when the green element was introduced into the market economy. Well, much has been learned and we have to have this integration. It won't work otherwise. Yes, we have to be ambitious, but at the same time, we have to trust our own strength and our inventiveness and ability to be creative in dealing with the problem.”
  Climate efforts
• “Thank you very much for your presentation and for coming along today. And this picks up very well on what we heard from your Prime Minister yesterday. As we have heard from many of the previous speakers. We ought not to be playing off the goals against each other. We have objectives as regards the environment, but also we need to think about the effect on industry. Now my understanding from the comments yesterday or from you today, my understanding was that it was not so much about cutting bureaucracy or moving away from targets, but rather that we were going to focus more on aspects such as innovation and incentives. So the idea was that the competitiveness that we so much need would also be strengthened in the environmental sector or regained. And then with European solutions, we could find ways forward to make a contribution to getting out of these problems. Over recent years, I think sometimes we have not gone far enough. We've had too much regulation, too many rules, and I think that what we need overall is a different approach, a different mindset. So one sector which has a key role in Europe is the automotive sector. I'm not going to talk about specific technologies or types of engine, but there's also the issue as to what we do at the end of the lifecycle of a vehicle and recycling. That's an issue which is of interest to us here. And I wonder whether we can expect something on that issue. And what kind of solutions do you think are available in that area? Then there's also the issue of soil protection, which has been mentioned There's a big gap between the council and the parliament there, and I don't know whether you have any comments on that for us.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Dear colleagues. On behalf of Mr. Pascal, who was unable to attend today's exchange, I would like to present his position on this item on the agenda. I would like to thank the Commission, as well as the Co-operators, for their constructive work and the good cooperation on this important file. And from his perspective as co-chair of Parliament's Intergroup on Resilience, Civil Protection and Disaster Management, he would like to highlight two key priorities first, early warning and information flows. Recent floods, wildfires and health crises have shown that forecasts and warnings often exist but do not reach neighbouring countries, regions or local responders fast enough. We need improved early warnings and reliable chains of communication. Better to warn neighbouring authorities based on solid models and forecasts, than to wait for formal disaster declaration. This also means that regional and local authorities, especially in border regions, can trigger and receive alerts through the Common Emergency Communication and Information System, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre and the new Crisis Coordination Hub. Second, Resilient Communication Networks early warning is only as strong as a digital network it relies on. The civil protection file should go hand in hand with the announced Digital Networks Act, so that cross-border emergency communication and public warning systems remain operational, even under extreme stress and partial outage. And third, cross-border cooperation and border regions. From personal experience, I know that every serious incident is automatically a cross-border crisis. Risks do not stop at national franchise, but our administrative and communication systems too often still do. The regulation should explicitly recognise border regions as priority areas for preparedness projects. Joint exercises and shared early warning arrangements. Dear colleagues. We have a great opportunity to close these gaps, and Mr. Moore looks forward to working constructively on these files in the months ahead. Thank you very much.”
  EU law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters
• “More than ever, it's important that we try to promote understanding. In particular, given the highly tense geopolitical situation in that region, we should also look to the future. Azerbaijan is an important player in the Southern Caucasus, an important partner for the European Union, both geopolitically, economically and indeed in terms of social policy. As a result of this, we have to avoid escalation. It's important that we can continue to work with partners, with our partners in a responsible way. This means clear positions on human rights and the rule of law, while at the same time a stated willingness to maintain channels of communication open. Let me make one thing clear our criticism is not levelled against the people of Azerbaijan. Exchange between the worlds of science, culture, youth and civil society remains a priority for us. These links help us build up long term trust, mutual confidence while laying the foundations for a mutually beneficial cooperation in the future. Europe stands for principles, but also for responsibility. These two go hand in hand, and unfortunately, they should continue to underpin our relations with Azerbaijan.”
  EU-Azerbaijan relations
• “Thank you. Thank you very much for that overview and your presentation. The EPP Group obviously supports clean air, but we need to rethink things with more innovation and fewer restrictions. Now. If we could run the risk of ending up in a dead end. The commission is looking at, for example, driving bans. And this needs to be this needs to be stopped. And there are stricter and stricter limit values as well. But these don't take into consideration what happens in practice that only jeopardises investment in the EU, and also means that long term projects that could help promote clean air are actually prevented, rather than restrictions and bans. We need to boost innovation for clean technologies. We need financial incentives for modernization and an accelerated permitting process as well. And in Germany, for example, for. 53% have the Euro six standard. And this and the improvement of air quality is a key part of our environmental policy, but only if we link this to practical implementation and incentives rather than bans. This is the only way of us protecting the environment and also ensuring prosperity in Europe. Thank you.”
  Air quality policy
• “Thank you very much. I will speak German. We've heard a lot about productivity. It seems that we haven't heard much about demographics, though, as a key word this morning. Europe is the oldest continent in the world, and in some member states, we're seeing that more people are leaving the labor market than those that are entering the labor market. Our countries are getting older, and this means that our societies are becoming less open to innovation, and that's going to be a problem moving forward. So what can we do about this? What are the ideas here? How do we make sure that we have new businesses being created. How can we promote that? And what can we do to promote a culture of innovation and to encourage people to be innovative? We've heard about some of the other goals that we can work towards, and I think we need to consider the structure of the population. We need to do things digitally. What about the issue of AI? How will things look in that sense? Thank you.”
  EU competences on demographic policy
• “Yeah. Well, I'd like to take this opportunity to ask a question of the last speaker. I mean, if I understand you correctly, you're saying that we need to make much more effort in Europe to build a platform for our own European media content that's, uh, independent from, uh, the United States, uh, Asia, Russia or whatever. The stuff that we see at the moment so that we can, uh, regulate it in our way and properly implement our rules. Is that right? And if that is the case, then, uh, would you have a proposal as to how we can build something like that? Because there are various initiatives. And there are efforts being made to develop a kind of counterweight in media terms.”
  EU support for traditional (non-digital) media
• “(11:12:39 – 11:14:07): Yeah. For me, all. Yes. Thank you very much also from my part for the two interesting presentations, and thank you to those in charge as well for allowing us to hear from ECDC. And then this hearing, they really go well together with Ms. Vendi Wagner, we spoke about what we need at the European level to prepare better capacities, data exchange surveillance. But my question to our experts is as follows. You did mention this. You spoke about research programs, staffing, equipment. What's your view of the situation in the regions where these jobs have to be prepared for? The practical question, even if we're clear about everything, but practically, in the member states, how are we prepared? In terms of the networks you mentioned, 12 or so hospitals, have we identified them? Do we already have the cooperation networks in place so that these synergies can be developed and that in cases of crisis, we can use them and work with them?”
  EU competences on health (internal-competence axis, sharpened)
• “Thank you very much. I am convinced by the ideas that we've heard today that ETS two is a new chapter of environmental policy in Europe. Of course, we're following market principles here. We're internalizing external effects. Things are becoming more expensive and technology becoming more attractive, and we're creating incentives.”
  Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• “Well, let's come back to the debate. President, Commissioner. Ladies and gentlemen, Milam has shown us that the world is moving. But we need a climate aims that can be achieved. We need experts and experts that can address these handlings. We also know that we need to negotiate, uh, um, new targets. We need to make sure we're not coming with more bands, that we need economically viable solutions. And this is being supported by the Commission. And also you've entrusted implementing these in Belgium. We should not move away from this path. We need to remain realistic. Realism means that we need to ensure, um, competitiveness so we can ensure living standards. And if we, we need to have energy. Otherwise Europe will not, um, move forward. We need to be pragmatic. We need to move more quickly, and we need to have less bureaucracy. And we need to have a good policy for innovation to make technology possible, to allow us to take this step forward. We also need openness, a true technology openness. So, um, synthetic, uh, hydrogen, hydrogen, all the range of digital solutions which exist. Now we can see how, ehm, how large the challenge is. If we look at, uh, East Germany, we've gone from planned economies of communism to, um, uh, to a place where industry has, uh, developed significantly. The task is clear, climate protection, but we also need to make sure it's hand in hand with innovation and competitiveness and providing security for citizens. **Nicolae ȘTEFĂNUȚĂ @Co-Chair: There's a blue card. Sorry. I'm sorry. There is a blue card for Madam Anna for you. Will you accept it? Yes.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Madam president, ladies and gentlemen, the decision taken by the Azeri Parliament to suspend cooperation with the European Parliament. With us, in other words, marks another deep point in relations and tension between our two countries. However, in the light of current circumstances, it's wise that we keep channels of communication open. Open. I'd like to say one thing to that. The European Parliament is, and will remain a forum for open debate, even when discussions become uncomfortable in this House. Human rights violations or questions related to the rule of law are not something which we view as a source of confrontation. We talk about them because this is part of a democratic role. Criticism regarding limitations on freedom of the media. Prevention of the opposition. Doing their job is perfectly legitimate. Partnership is characterized not just by. Not by an attempt to avoid criticism, but on the contrary, by willingness to stand up to criticism. This is why, ladies and gentlemen, I regret the decision to suspend parliamentary cooperation with the European Parliament and in particular with Euronest in difficult times. In particular, we require. For a. For conversations.”
  EU-Azerbaijan relations
• “(11:16:30 – 11:18:19): Thank you very much. I would like to speak in German. Thank you very much indeed to our speakers this morning. We've had lots of different aspects raised. And it's a real question in my head. Over the past 3, 4 decades, you know, the path where we've taken, theoretically speaking, it's been amazing. I think in the nineties, for example, we had a summit in Rio, I think it was. And now we're looking at further developing the system. The system, which I would say has been justified, and there are still people who are calling this into question. They want to get rid of it. So my question to everybody here is, what role does the ETS play when it comes to our own competitiveness? If we got rid of it, would that mean we would see an economic boost in Europe? The economic situation in Europe would be dramatically improved. What do you think about that, competitiveness? Second question. Looking at the global situation, China, India, The US, maybe would you do things at a different pace? Would you do things differently now? Because we see that they are not following us in such a determined fashion.”
  Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• “Thank you very much for giving me the floor to put another couple of questions. First of all, I'd like to thank you for Corporation that you've helped us with, Commissioner and your team as well. We've had quite a few meetings recently, and I think it's always been very constructive. So a couple of points. I think we don't know enough about how we can carry out preparation, and that's why I'd like to just put the question as to whether this is a reason and if so, how. This is a topic that could be anchored in the research aspect, but also education and training. So education and training in, uh, disaster protection tends to happen too much in a national sphere, not in an international sphere. Which leads me to the second question. I think we need to focus more on international training in disaster situations. If you can cooperate across borders, then you need coordination. You need common standards, common approaches, and so I would certainly welcome it if we would undertake more efforts to achieve that, to encourage it and create those possibilities that we could, in fact, have a better cross border way of doing these things.”
  EU law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters
• “(09:55:07 – 10:06:45): Yes. Thank you, chair. Thank you, chair and dear members of the European Parliament. Heartful good morning from Stockholm. It's indeed a pity. I cannot be, with you in person today due to the strike in Brussels yesterday, but thanks for providing me the opportunity to do this report today online, and I hope the technical part works. Well, as we speak right now, Europe's health security system is indeed being tested in real time. So in the past week, CCDC has been coordinating the response to 2 serious outbreaks, the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa and the recent hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship. So this hearing today, well, comes more than timely, I can say. And the new European health security framework, where the European Parliament indeed played a key role, has been used in global health emergency as we speak. And this framework has given us, has given ECDC more tools than we had ever before and tools that we were able to scale up quickly and efficiently if needed. So let me start with the Ebola outbreak. According to the latest data available, we currently have 3 32 confirmed cases in DRC and in Uganda, 49 related deaths, and 116 suspected cases. No imported case to the EUEA so far. Well, after WHO declared the public health emergency on May 17, ECDC immediately stepped up its response. Within 2 days, we deployed our experts through the U Health task force directly to Africa's CDC headquarters in Addis Ababa to support the outbreak coordination and planning activities. And again, to this later issue, we issued a rapid risk assessment where we stressed that the risk currently for the wider public in Europe is very low. Nevertheless, nevertheless, and I want to say this very clearly, this outbreak is of serious concern because, first of all, it is unfolding in an environment marked by instability and insecurity. Secondly, it involves the Bundibucho Virus, which for which we know there is currently no licensed vaccine available or specific treatment. Thirdly, there are major challenges in surveillance, in diagnostics, in contact tracing in the affected countries. Well, given very complex situation, we can therefore not and this is a very important point not only rely on our experience from past Ebola outbreaks. We need to learn from the field as soon as possible for this specific outbreak, and we need to adapt our response to this specific new outbreak. So the approach to protect the European Union remains threefold. First, support the outbreak control at the source in the affected countries. Second, ensure rapid detection, rapid containment in the event of an imported case to the European Union by increased preparedness in the member states and ensure that all arriving passengers from affected countries receive relevant information what to do in case of any symptoms. Third point, it's important that there are well organized and functioning exit screening at the international airports in the affected countries in place. This is important to reduce the risk of importation to the EU and to minimize the risk of any transmission onboard on long distance flights through an infected symptomatic passenger. Well, in order to learn more, in order to get more firsthand information as soon as possible, in order to support the affected countries and in order to assess any of these exit screenings, ECDC will increase its present in the affected regions by deploying more staff via the EU Health task force in the upcoming days and weeks. ECDC has also produced advice for the aviation sector to strengthen safety of passengers onboard of planes coming from these regions. This and much, much more, actually is done in close collaboration, of course, with the member states, with the European Commission and our international partners. I'm coming to hantavirus outbreak because similar close collaboration was put in action for the hantavirus outbreak only a few weeks ago with the excellent cooperation, and I want to say thank you for that, of our Dutch and Spanish colleagues. And again, within 2 days, so very, very quickly, ECDC made a rapid risk assessment, and we published also guidance for the member states to ensure the safety of the passengers on board of the ship and also the passengers who left the ship earlier. Within half a day half a day, ECDC activated its European Health Task Force with an ECDC expert deployed onboard of the Dutch cruise ship, and we, sent also a second team of expert on the ground in Tenerife to support the disembarkment procedures with the Spanish authorities. So moreover, the new EU Health task force was activated to ensure quick and, no, sorry, the EU reference laboratories were activated to ensure a quick and high quality diagnostic in the member states. So from the beginning of the outbreak, ECDC was fast, we were clear, and we were very strong in our advice. From the beginning, ECDC adopted a precautionary approach by recommending the safe medical repatriation of old ship passengers. While giving the long incubation period, we continue to closely monitor the hauntavirus situation together with the affected member states. For both outbreaks, ECDC made use of new tools that were created following the COVID 19 pandemic, such as the EU Health Task Force to support quickly with our experts on the ground, hands on, and second, the EU reference laboratories, which are new, and it's important for fast and modern diagnostics, including fast genomic sequencing of new viruses. These tools have allowed in these highly complex situations for a faster, strongly coordinated and more effective response. Well, preparedness and response are very key components of ECDC's work, but we must not forget the importance of prevention of infectious diseases. In 2025, Europe recorded, and I'm sure you all know that, recorded longer and more intense transmission seasons for mosquito borne diseases, for example, including West Nile and chikungunya. ECDC is therefore currently strengthening surveillance of vector borne diseases as well laboratory preparedness and climate sensitive risk assessments together with the member states. Second, another challenge, sexually transmitted infections continue to rise at a varying speed. In short, we see a doubling and a tripling of some of the STIs over the last 10 years in Europe. We are off track with the SDG targets when it comes to HIV, TB, viral hepatitis and sexual transmitted infections. So according to our mathematical modeling, due to failure to achieve these targets, we will see 80000 new HIV infections and over 9000 deaths due to tuberculosis in the upcoming 3 years in Europe, with antimicrobial resistance contributing, of course, to these TB related deaths. And this brings me straight to antimicrobial resistance, which is still most well, maybe 1 of the most serious public health threats we're facing in Europe, being especially dangerous for aging populations with chronic diseases. Currently, we also see more than 4000000 cases per year of hospital infections, and they account for more than 70 percent of the burden of AMR in Europe. Well, in order to support the member states, we have strengthened genomic sequencing, we have reinforced the support for antimicrobial stewardship and advanced 1 Health Corporation in this matter. Well, last but not least, vaccination remains 1 of the strongest investments in Europe's health. Taking HPV, human papillomavirus vaccination, as an example, cervical cancer is still today the fourth most common cancer and second most common cause of death in young women. Today, it is preventable through vaccination. Well, dear members of the European Parliament, '25 was a very intense year with lots of old and new challenges for ECDC. So last year, I'm very happy to say that we produced 170 scientific outbreaks, risk assessments and actionable guidance for the member states. We conducted 12 country missions to assess in '25 the preparedness mechanisms of the member states. In total, so far, we have assessed 25 member states. We activated the European task force last year 14 times. And since my start as ECDC director, I've always stressed the importance of international cooperation. So this is key to be quicker informed and to have trusted partners in the case of any crisis like the 1 we are in now. In '25, we signed, therefore, 8 new international memorandums of understanding with international partners. The latest was only a few months ago with Africa CDC, and this Africa CDC memorandum is more than useful in the current situation. So until today, we have also coordinated successfully the setup of 10 new EU reference laboratories across the EU, which proved immediately useful in Hunter and the Ebola outbreaks right now, and we are working on a new 1 on biotoxins. So I'm coming to the end. 2025 was my first full year as ECDC Director, and I would really like to thank all ECDC staff and colleagues for their great achievements in 2025. And let me conclude that ECDC's work is always, always based on science and trusted partnership, including the partnership with the European Parliament. We are always ready to support you. Thank you, chair.”
  EU competences on health (internal-competence axis, sharpened)
• “(10:07:00 – 10:10:02): Financk. Thank you very much, chairman. Missus Rendi Wagner, welcome. Yesterday, I had big problems getting to Brussels. So I regret the fact that we can't see you in the room today. But I'm sure, well, that'll be possible soon. Thank you very much for talking about Ebola and hantavirus. We've had a debate on this in Strasbourg last time. I think it's made it clear that health threats today come together where people, animals, and the environment come together and sped up speeded up by climate climate change and mobility and global networking, and that's speeding everything up. The ECDC, thank you for the work by you and your colleagues. I think you have a key role in the early identification of risks and supporting member states. I'm very happy and thankful that that is a focus area of your work. I'm interested above all in the next steps in prevention and the deployment of new technologies. The ECDC thinks important that the modernization of the European surveillance system. So I have 3 questions very specifically. What are the what do you see when it comes to the application of AI in the early, identification of new outbreaks, and what are the preconditions at the European level so that these instruments can reach their full potential and application in the member states and beyond? Secondly, when things like hantavirus, we see the influence of ecological and climate changes on health risks in Europe. You could give other examples there too. How does the ECDC see the how does they evaluate evaluate the development of such illnesses and what steps are necessary so that the 1 step approach in the EU can be strengthened? Thirdly, where do you see the biggest gaps in the European preparedness architecture, which with the lessons from the pandemic, which we're trying to build up and strengthen it. So when it comes to surveillance, laboratory capacities, data exchange, etcetera, with a view to the questions that we have with the upcoming budget. So, so we will have a particular focus on that when we're setting off priorities.”
  Processing of health data
• “Thank you very much. I'd like to speak German. Thank you very much for these quite encouraging presentations this afternoon. I do have a question. It's about the performance, um, of European providers. There have been concerns expressed in recent days and weeks. People have been approaching me about initiatives such as this Gigafactory initiative. Billions are being brought to bear in Europe in order to build this new infrastructure. And. To be able to offer the technology required. But the concerns are being expressed because it isn't the order of magnitude that is required. Where this new infrastructure to really keep up with the pace. And the question therefore to our expert is whether, from your point of view, an initiative such as these gigafactories initiatives should be structured in the way that European providers and expertise could be factored in at the construction stage so that we don't end up spending tens of billions, but in the end are dependent on American providers.”
  EU digital & tech sovereignty · Battery supply chain: EU gigafactory sovereignty vs. reliance on Asian suppliers