- 2026-02-24 “Answer given by Mr McGrath on behalf of the European Commission 29.4.2026 Written question There are several elements in Directive (EU) 2019/1023 on Restructuring and Insolvency [1] that protect the interests of creditors during debt discharge procedures. The directive only harmonises the basic principles of that procedure and, beyond those principles, Member States have considerable flexibility in their national transposition. Details such as the exact content of the concept of ‘viability’ and the procedure to assess this are determined in national law. Furthermore, Member States can decide to derogate from the general principles of debt discharge. Member States can interpret these derogations broadly, as confirmed by recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union [2] . The impact of these measures, including on the access to credit, will be assessed in due course. The notification of creditors and the access to insolvency registers are matters already regulated in Regulation (EU) 2015/848 [3] . The access to data in the insolvency registers is granted to any member of the general public, including through the EU-wide interconnection system of insolvency registers, which is accessible online through the European e-Justice Portal in all EU languages. Debt discharge procedures, if public, are also included in the scope of this regulation. Furthermore, the regulation requires individual notification of all known foreign creditors of the opening of insolvency proceedings of their debtors. Finally, Directive (EU) 2026/799 [4] harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law contains rules that enhance the powers of insolvency practitioners and courts to access registers, including bank account registers, in insolvency proceedings. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1023/oj/eng. [2] See judgment of 7 November 2024, Corván and Bacigán , C-289/23 and C-305/23, EU:C:2024:934. [3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2015/848/oj/eng. [4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2026/799/oj/eng.”
Financial regulation
- 2025-06-11 “E-002364/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM) 1 provides press publishers with a right to authorise and prohibit online uses of their press publications by information society service providers (Article 15). This right, implemented in all Member States, is intended to strengthen press publishers’ bargaining position and improve their remuneration when negotiating the online use of their press publications by information society service providers. Under the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act 2 , providers of general-purpose AI models must put in place a policy to comply with EU law on copyright and related rights and must publish a sufficiently detailed summary about the content used to train their AI models. These measures aim to support the enforcement of EU law on copyright and related rights. In addition, Article 8 Directive 2004/48 3 provides all rightsholders with a right of information in the context of infringement proceedings and in response to a justified and proportionate request of the claimant. The Commission has been carefully monitoring the implementation of the press publishers’ right in Member States. It will assess the effectiveness of Article 15 in the upcoming review of the DSM Directive and will consider the need for new measures to facilitate licensing for the use of press publications, including in the context of AI. The Commission will moreover evaluate the Audiovisual Media Services Directive 4 in view of ensuring the economic sustainability of European media. The Commission also supports the media sector, among others, through Creative Europe’s Journalism Partnerships and the European Media Data Space. 5 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/790/oj. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj/eng. 3 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2004/48/oj/eng. 4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/1808/oj. 5 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/news-initiative.”
EU support for traditional (non-digital) media · Artificial Intelligence
- 2025-03-05 “E-000921/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Fitto on behalf of the European Commission The Commission has not received any request to divert the European Social Fund Plus and the European Regional Development Fund to sustain the reconstruction efforts following the damage caused by the natural disaster, especially in Valencia. The Commission is informed that the Spanish authorities are working to determine the appropriate allocation, taking into consideration the ongoing mid-term review aimed at evaluating the progress of the 2021-2027 programmes. The regional and national authorities can seize this opportunity to introduce the new specific objective RESTORE 1 in the new version of the programmes, which are expected to be submitted to the Commission by 24 June 2025. The RESTORE amendment proposals expected to be submitted by the Spanish authorities will detail the objectives and the financial allocations for reconstruction in the cohesion policy programmes. They will need to be approved by the Commission, in line with the funds’ regulations. On 20 January 2025, the Spanish authorities submitted an application for financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) 2 and requested an advance payment. As the application is eligible for EUSF assistance, on 31 March 2025, the Commission disbursed an advance payment of EUR 100 million to Spain. This is the maximum amount allowed under the EUSF as advance payment. 1 As outlined in the Regulation (EU) 2024/3236 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1057 and (EU) 2021/1058 as regards Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction (RESTORE). 2 Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (OJ L 311, 14.11.2002, p. 3) as amended by Regulation (EU) No 661/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 May 2014 (OJ L 189, 27.6.2014, p. 143) and by Regulation (EU) 2020/461 of the European Parliament and the Council of 30 March 2020 (OJ L 99, 31.3.2020, p. 9).) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32002R2012”
Cohesion and rural funding
- “Thank you chair and thank you Madam Silli for your presentation and for having brought up such an important subject like work life balance. The directive was approved in twenty nineteen, came into force in twenty twenty but in Spain we've need six years. There's been six years before anything was done, three years before they even looked at putting it into force, a case at the courts and fines.
And of course what the people who end up being affected by this are women. The government is supposedly the most feminist government in history but isn't fulfilling basic rights for equality. Spanish mothers continue to have three weeks fewer paid leave than in the directive without being guaranteed any type of labor flexibility or any type of work life balance and no protection against being fired.
So this doesn't fulfill the basic rights that they have and the needs they have to uphold their family life. And so Mrs Silli, do you think that the current mechanisms for follow-up and evaluation are enough to guarantee the balance measures properly being applied across all member states? Thank you.”
Gender roles, equality and inclusion
- “Thank you very much. European competitiveness can also be measured by how we support those who create value in our business environments. We shouldn't be creating more obstacles. We should allow businesses to innovate and create quality employment. When a business creates a rather, when a business spends time meeting other requirements and criteria rather than innovating, we all lose in Europe. Workers. Everyone loses in Europe too. There's too much bureaucracy. And this is, uh, what are slowing down the production line. Simplification and predictability are not just nice words. They are the tools so that businesses can be stronger, more agile and more competitive on the global market. If we want Europe to be a place which is attractive for business, it creates a value and quality jobs, then we should focus on removing barriers rather than adding them. We say that the policies that we draw up here, we need to ensure that they allow businesses to move forward effectively, encourage investment and compete on a global scale, which on a global scale, which is increasingly competitive. Thank you very much. And Europe's competitive competitiveness depends on that.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “Thank you. Chair. Certainly the this regimen is a very interesting proposal so that we can recover competitiveness. And this is why we wanted to make a contribution towards the 28 regime, because we feel that Europe needs to legislate towards full employment and taking up risk. And it would only make sense if it offered simplicity of confidence and security for our businesses, especially startups. And if we truly want to have a dynamic single market, then we need to focus on eliminating barriers rather than adding layers of complexity. Now, if we want to have clear support by the council, it's necessary that there be no doubts as to our respect for the principle of subsidiarity. The European Union must act solely when it can contribute real added value to Member States, and therefore I propose that we enhance consistency with the cross-border mobility and other regime so that we can have cross. Cross-border support for certain areas, areas that are more competitive and innovative in Europe. Thank you.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “Thank you very much. Thank you very much for being here today. It is a very important week, given the peace negotiations. Europe stands by the side of Ukraine. The Russian aggression goes against Ukrainian sovereignty and risks the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, but risks the security of the whole continent. Only a decisive and united Europe can ensure a fair and lasting peace based on human rights and international law. I very much appreciate the efforts that have been made to try and align the Ukrainian legal framework with the community are key to move forward in the accession process. Ukrainian got candidate status in 2022 and formally open talks in 2024. That is an unprecedentedly rapid relationship which shows the priority we give to this relationship. So we are coming to the conclusion of the first two packets of screening, and we hope to see success in future chapters as well. I would be interested to know how you see the screening process up to now, and what improvements you could see for the coming months. Thank you.”
EU enlargement
- “I'm going to speak in Spanish. Gracias. President. The presentation of this crucial study aims to find a way to protect the intellectual property rights of our creators for the development of a European artificial intelligence industry. A competitive initiative, the data mining manifesto study does not offer the legal transparency necessary to guarantee the protection of authors at the same time. Technological growth is in accordance with the principles set out in the study based on transparency and proportionality. It is essential to advance the implementation of a fair compensation system for authors and opt-out tools. Their rights pose disproportionate obstacles to technological innovation. It is also essential to develop a system for developers of artificial intelligence models to be transparent about their data sets, allowing for periodic audits and verifications without compromising industrial confidentiality or market access. The European Union is leading the implementation of the opt-out formula and its equitable remuneration. Thank you.”
Artificial Intelligence
- “Yes. Thank you, chair. And thank you, Axel, for all the effort and the dedication to this report. Now, this is an initiative which is arriving in a moment of huge technological change driven forward by AI. Now we need to find a balance between the creators and the technology companies. So we have to consider everyone's interests. But everyone needs a The framework that is stable and reliable. That's why I presented amendments in order to protect copyright. When we use these technologies and we insist on legality for the use of content, it's not only an issue of remuneration. We know that these companies represent drivers of economic change and growth, and Europe needs a legal framework that offers certainty for creators, but also freedom and reliability in order to guarantee competition in other markets. And together with these proposals, we also want responsibility in order for AI to also protect creativity and European values. Thank you.”
Artificial Intelligence
- “Let me thank you and the rapporteur for the work on this opinion. Of course, it goes without saying. I'm in favour of simplifying the budget It. Simplification doesn't mean less traceability, control or accountability. We must stress that there must be more accountability and transparency for the next MFF, and we must respect local authorities as well as subsidiarity and rule of law. My personal experience is that we must be able to track every single euro from the EU budget until it reaches its end destination. That, sadly hasn't happened with every government. Sometimes there's a lack of transparency and control, so we don't know where the money actually ends up. And then the same applies to next gen EU. You know, there's a staggering lack of transparency there. We mustn't just spend more under the MFF. We must spend better. We need to have concrete results for citizens. Thank you. Thank you very much.”
Accounting and auditing of EU budget
- “(16:12:39 – 16:14:05): you. And thank you, commissioner McGrath, for your presentation. For a long time now, Europe has been facing legal fragmentation, which makes it difficult to create new companies. We all think that the 20 eighth regime will depend on how it is implemented in practice and how much trust people have in it. So Europe isn't starting from scratch. Over the last few years, we've made a lot of progress when it comes to interconnection with registries, the development of the BRIS, and other procedures. And so we think it's important that this needs to be built on what already exists in terms of registrations, and we don't want duplication. And what we really want is interoperability between the various different systems.
So I've got two questions. Firstly, the commission put forward a possibility of creating a centralized register. How will the commission justify the need for new European structures when mechanisms like BRIS already exist? And secondly, the combination of the freedom of choice of a member state of registration and the what law will be implemented. I think we need to be careful. So how will this proposal avoid differences between companies and affecting legal certainty in the single market? Thank you.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “Thank you. Chairman. Mrs. Antonio. Well, thank you very much for your intervention. The success of European policies doesn't only depend on how they're designed, it also depends on their implementation when it comes to next generation EU. We've seen bureaucracy, delays and a lack of transparency in many member states, for example in Spain. The European Court of Auditors and the Auditing Authority said that implementation is well below average. Smes and self-employed have been excluded, and also there are arbitrary political decisions that have been taken by the central government. Now, from our political group, we've repeatedly insisted on the need to move towards data platforms that are transparent, accessible and interoperable because European funds are a powerful tool. But they need to be more guarantees in place so that we can ensure that we have legal certainty and accountability. So in that context, I'd like to ask you, how is your office working to guarantee transparency in the award of next generation funds to ensure that as also that we comply with the principle of good administration? Now, a further question on the future budget. Are you preparing tools to reinforce transparency and control mechanisms and to ensure that Member States publish the main beneficiaries, beneficiaries of these funds? Thank you very much.”
Accounting and auditing of EU budget
- “Thank you very much. Thank you very much for being here today. It is a very important week, given the peace negotiations. Europe stands by the side of Ukraine. The Russian aggression goes against Ukrainian sovereignty and risks the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, but risks the security of the whole continent. Only a decisive and united Europe can ensure a fair and lasting peace based on human rights and international law. I very much appreciate the efforts that have been made to try and align the Ukrainian legal framework with the community are key to move forward in the accession process. Ukrainian got candidate status in 2022 and formally open talks in 2024. That is an unprecedentedly rapid relationship which shows the priority we give to this relationship. So we are coming to the conclusion of the first two packets of screening, and we hope to see success in future chapters as well. I would be interested to know how you see the screening process up to now, and what improvements you could see for the coming months. Thank you.”
EU enlargement
- “Dear speakers, I think we're on the right path with the strategy, ensuring that we have a safe and productive workplace. However, I want to focus on what is missing in the strategy. A group of workers who historically have not been included in the debate on safety. I'm talking about security forces. The 89 framework recognizes that security forces have a specific role to play. However, for decades, there's been no specific, approach for those to protect those who protect us, the security forces. They are attacked at work. Their bodies are attacked. Sometimes they even lose their lives while protecting us. And yet it's difficult to explain to citizens why this is the case. You know, these people are dealing with drug trafficking, violence, mafia, organized crime, and yet these people do not have specific recognition or treatment. The police have long been treated as an exception, but police agents are attacked day in, day out. They lose their lives in in the course of their service. And I must point out, that the parliament reacted to this issue in a recent blenary. So do you think that the current framework protects our security forces enough? And do you think there's anything else in the pipeline during this, particular term? Because these professionals face specific risks. They've been waiting for a long time. They can't wait any longer.”
EU policy on criminal justice
- “I'm going to speak in Spanish. Gracias, senor. Thank you. Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner, for your presentation. I want to focus on competitiveness and more specifically on the upcoming 28th regime that we've heard a bit about already. Europe needs a qualitative leap if it wants its businesses to not only be born here, but to grow, to be funded and consolidate here. And the 28th regime is a genuine opportunity to move towards a more integrated single market. But its success will depend on the level of ambition with which we design it, and in particular, its consistency with the package that we're coming up with the Savings and Investment Union, the European business wallet and in general architecture that combines the macro digital identity and effective access to capital. These are complex issues. I mean, the labor area and the tax issues are complex, but if we focus on what we've already built during recent years, we have an appropriate starting point. The interconnection of registers, the active portal, etc. shows that we're not starting from scratch. We've started to build European infrastructure that people can trust. So my question is, which role does the Commission envisage for the progress that we've already made on the 28th regime, and how can you ensure its consistent integration into the existing ecosystem? Thank you very much.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “I'm going to speak in Spanish thank you very much vice president Dombrof please thank you very much for your presentation of the overview report for twenty twenty five. In this committee we're following the simplification agenda very closely and the omnibus one. We believe that simplification is the best way to ensure that we have high quality legislation and standards.
If we want comprehensible and applicable legislation that is in line with the subsidiarity principle then simplification isn't a luxury it's a starting point and we want to make swift progress. But this precisely means that we want to make sure that swift progress doesn't compromise on quality. So what does the commission intend to do in terms of balancing the two sides?
We know as legal experts that complexity emerges at the national level transposition that's not aligned differences and fragmentation in the legal system. So how does the European Commission want to ensure that there is coherence application in the implementation and ensure that we have unity across the European Union?
Just one example from Spain if you want simplification to bring about real changes and real effects then we need that to be done at the national level where it's not always the case for example in Spain where we have problems with the basic legal rules and how they are applied. Spain is one example of something we cannot afford to do legal certainty is lacking in some regions in the European Union and that undermines the strength of our economy. Thank you”
Conditions to access EU budget
- “Thank you. I'd like to start by thanking the rapporteur for his work. This is a report which deals with one of the major challenges that this Parliament faces. How can we safeguard and strengthen intellectual property protection where we're seeing rampant AI across various sectors? The question here is not about having innovation versus protection. It's looking at AI technology and the competitiveness of our cultural and creative sectors. These are industries that constitute one of the major motors for generating wealth in Europe video games, music, film, books and the press. The press is vital to European democracies. So if we see massive UN remunerated use of creative works by some AI developers, not all. We need to return to fundamental protection of intellectual property rights. And in order to do that, we need to have clear rules. We need to ensure that we have high transparency standards for the data which have been used for developing these models. It's not about giving away your recipe, it's just saying what ingredients you used. It's giving a list of ingredients. Article 53 of the AI act is absolutely vital for this. It was rather disappointing to see that there was a code of conduct which didn't really do anything for, uh, rights holders. We hope that the Commission will be able to achieve this, and we hope that through this report, we will be able to achieve a legal framework which will allow the development of AI without riding roughshod over those creative, talented, hardworking people who created content.”
Artificial Intelligence
- “Thank you very much, president. Europe urgently needs innovation, growth and jobs. To achieve this, it is essential that we reduce bureaucracy that's strangling our companies. That's why we in the EPP celebrate the omnibus package and the advances in getting rid of unnecessary bureaucracy. Creating an economy that's more competitive and favors innovation. This package is a step in the right direction, but there's room for improvement. Reducing administrative burden needs to go further so that European companies can grow without regulatory obstacles. Clear examples are the obligations under the CSR, which forces many companies to draft reports on sustainability even when they are part of groups of companies that present consolidated data. With the omnibus package, we've introduced changes that eliminate redundancies. But European companies still have to spend a lot of resources on complying with bureaucratic compliance requirements rather than doing business. The strategic economy that we talk about won't be possible if we don't make it easier for companies to innovate and make us wealthier in Europe. We need to compete on an equal footing with other regions of the world. Let's carry on working to ensure that this package is even more ambitious in eliminating administrative burden. Thank you very much.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “The commissioner from the start of this Parliament. The Commission has had a clear role. That is, to genuinely flesh out competitiveness. Give it real content. There is talent in Europe, but we don't have the tools to ensure its success. The 28th regime is the passport to economic freedom, allowing entrepreneurs to set up company without having to wait for weeks going through red tape. They will be able to set up in 48 hours, which means that it can be done 100% digitally. So it wouldn't be an obstacle race to set up a business. We want our companies to be agile, to be able to compete. They want to be able to attract private capital, and they need legal security as well, to ensure that the startups don't see an end to their dream before they've started. Companies will come into being globally and they will have a single seamless set up, which will be the same across 27 member states. We don't want our talent to migrate. We want innovation and capital to find their own home here, bringing in wealth and and positivity. So we want the legal framework to ensure that we don't have the glass ceilings to European talent. People should be able to grow and triumph here within the EU. Thank you.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “Thank you. Chairman. The Court of Auditors report flags a chronic issue when it comes to enforcement. The commission has improved management, but is still dragging its heels when it comes to infringement proceedings through to 2013. 90% of cases were over a year, and all over a half of conformity checks are lagging behind. This undermines equal treatment between citizens moving beyond internal workings in the Commission, there is concern as regards the way national governments work. Spain has a third highest level of delays in transposition. It is failing systematically to comply with requirements. It is facing millions in sanctions. This is Spanish taxpayers money being wasted in the EPP. We believe that the Commission should act as guardian of the treaties, ensure greater transparency and show a more firm approach if necessary. This is a duty I'd like to finish up with a question. Should the Court of Justice roll be enforced? And what about national Parliament? Should it play a greater role in monitoring enforcement and transposition of EU law? Thank you. Thank you chairman. And my thanks also for your presentation. We noted the ECA report. Congratulations for the work done. This is about, um, enforcement of EU law. We have 31 closed cases. Member states had to pay fines for failure to comply with the EU rules. That was three. Through to 2023. And then there are 16 cases still pending.”
Rule of law in Spain
- “I will speak in Spanish. Thank you Commissioner. Well, let's be honest and face up to the reality that many young people are facing employment statistics in many member states are very triumphalist, but that is not reality. There's a lot of undeclared work. The need to have two jobs to make ends meet. People end up in in unstable conditions, unstable jobs, temporary contracts. So how can we explain this to all these millions of young people waiting for an opportunity? This reflects a profound gap between employment policies and reality. Companies need incentives and stability, and young people need training and stability and the feeling of being useful. Europe needs to stop talking about young people and start building with them. There's a lot of talent, a lot of resources, but it doesn't really mean very much if we don't make it into reality. We need policies that go for employment, jobs That, uh, incentivize, um, mobility and that do not penalize those who want to set up their own business. So what is the commission planning to reconcile, uh, employment policies and what young people are facing so that young people can take part in programs? But not only that, and also, uh, to find true opportunities, we cannot afford to have a generation that is still waiting on the sidelines for its opportunity.”
Youth employment & training
- “Thank you. Chair. I would like to react to the presentation of this work plan by recalling that the main concerns of businesses are the strict deadlines for supporting guides, which creates uncertainty regarding the implementation of the ES. This lack of certainty forces uh, compliance and sustainability. Uh departments to take actions that lead to increased actions and complicate internal planning. There are 1000 data points. This overwhelms the business sector and makes it difficult to elaborate reports. The sector is demanding it to be grouped by sector. Businesses are aware of the technical, detailed nature of Efrag and um lauds Efrag commitment to simplification. I would like to know more about the links between the private sector and Efrag, and what changes can be made in order to guarantee increased operationalization and to reduce the legal uncertainty, which is a main concern that businesses are conveying to us. Thank you.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “(17:46:59 – 17:48:28): I'm going to speak in Spanish. Thank you Chairman, thank you Commissioner for your presentation. I want to focus on competitiveness and more specifically on the upcoming twenty-eighth regime that we've heard a bit about already. Europe needs a qualitative leap if it wants its businesses to not only be born here but to grow, to be funded, and consolidate here. The twenty-eighth regime is a genuine opportunity to move towards a more integrated single market but its success will depend on the level of ambition with which we design it and in particular its consistency with the package that we're coming up with: the Savings and Investment Union, the European Business Wallet, and in general architecture that combines the macro, digital identity, and effective access to capital.
Now these are complex issues. I mean the labor area and the tax issues are complex but if we focus on what we've already built during recent years we have an appropriate starting point. The interconnection of registers, the e-Active portal, etcetera, shows that we're not starting from scratch. We've started to build European infrastructure that people can trust.
So my question is which role does the Commission envisage for the progress that we've already made on the twenty-eighth regime and how can you ensure its consistent integration into the existing ecosystem? Thank you very much.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “Thank you chair. I'm going to speak in Spanish. Thank you very much. Mr. president, youth unemployment has been stagnating for years. There are countries which don't allow for a clear future for their youth. We need to reinforce our social priorities in the incoming budget and what's been submitted, and does not appear to change. This 14% of pillar one is destined for social issues, but youth unemployment is left to the discretion of national plans. In practice, this does not. Help with the centralized model with the next generation, which is, uh, failing. Uh, as the European Court of Auditors has said, uh, Vice President, do you really want to repeat this model with drops and insufficient implementation? Is this the new competitiveness of the Commission? We cannot, uh, allow us ourselves to reuse this model again. We need to meet the challenges urgently. And this has to count on the regions for this. Thank you.”
Youth employment & training
- “Yes. I'm going to speak in Spanish. Gracias. Thank you. Chair. The proposal for a European cross-border association was presented by the Commission in the previous legislature. The idea was to facilitate recognition of and the activity of nonprofits in various member states. The Parliament supported this objective practically unanimously recognizing the value of European associations. However, there were also open questions that have led to the report being paralysed in the council. We're now looking at the withdrawal of the report next year, as the commission has announced in its work plan for 2026, and that's why I'd like to ask the experts who are here with us today the following questions regarding the idea behind and the opportunities within this initiative. Was it a premature project or on the contrary, is it a valid idea that requires a legal and political basis that's more solid? How can we move towards more effective mutual recognition without stepping on national competitions or undermining the limits set out in the treaties. In that context, I'd also like to ask what European framework would really be useful and would be legally solid to strengthen cross-border civil society cooperation without creating new uncertainties. Thank you.”
Regulation of NGOs in Europe
- “Thank you so much. Senior President Commissioner. We are at a crucial moment for the European economy, reducing bureaucracy is essential to boost the competitiveness of our companies, especially SMEs, for example, in Spain, they constitute practically the entire business fabric, more than one million people, the President of the Government. From Europe, but our public spending growth is controlled. The future. Of the competitiveness of the private sector. More and more drowned between. Confiscatory is what we want to promote because European countries do not become a large free museum. The commission tells us the objective is not irregular. If not achieve the same objectives with lower and higher cost. Efficiency in this sense, the next simplification package. Omnibus promises companies, especially SMEs. Reduce access to bureaucratic administrative work. Following the draghi for the question. What mechanisms? The commission to fulfill its objectives of reducing bureaucratic burden. The private sector. Thank you so much.
** Ilhan KYUCHYUK @Chair: Muchas gracias for Citigroup Mr.. The coordinator.”
Digitalization of public governance & administration
- “Thank you, Commissioner, for being available and for telling us about this plan, which we which is long awaited. It is urgently needed, but we are too late and we mustn't waste time. Otherwise, what is put forward will be obsolete. Now you've really focused on the major issues of our time. But I want to focus on lack of workforce because there's not enough people working in construction. We need to invest in human capital. Now, a lot of what you're focusing on is on reducing red tape. And by 2027, we need to have sped things up considerably. But it's not just about dealing with red tape. We have to come up with the necessary funding. So would you say a bit more about the funding side of things? So the current and immediate funding, but also the next MFF, including the social Fund.”
EU expenditure on social policy
- “Thank you. Thank you to the rapporteur for your work. This has come up from a specific need for our rules to be better, understandable, and better implementable so that we can find new levels of competitiveness in our member states. And this is something that we can do with proportionality and with regulatory. Updates. And I think that what we're seeing here is we're trying to increase the threshold to 3000 employees and 450 million turnover. We can't ask a company the same as we can a multinational. And if we want to look at the value chains, then we need to make sure that they can actually they actually have the capacity to do this. We're also defending the tier one limit if. As regards sanctions. We want to make sure that this is linked to the net benefit and not the company, because that's the only way that we can provide proportionality, because there are lots of different business models with different margins. We don't want to put that at risk, but we need to also make sure that we think about the real needs of our economy. And we need to remember that good legislation is not measured by its complexity, but rather by its efficiency.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “I'm going to speak in Spanish. Thank you very much for your presentations. I just wanted to ask Mr. Giddy Giddy from the and the Commission as well. I'd like to focus on the employment aspect firstly, because in recent times what we've seen is that agriculture is coming to the fore, or we have temporary workers or seasonal workers in agriculture. They're given contracts for a few months and then they go back to their countries of origin. This happens, for example, in certain regions where there are high levels of tourism as well and where there's very difficult living conditions, and then there's a lack of manpower, there's a lack of engineers, etc. there's a lack of manpower. And there's also when it comes to training, personnel have to be given training and there are new skills that they're having to learn. In addition to that, there's an additional obstacle in the private sector, and that is the role played by public enterprises and semi-public enterprises as well, which are able to offer better working conditions. And therefore these workers prefer to go to public enterprises rather than private. So I want to ask you, how are you managing this situation, the lack of skilled workers. And not only that, what are you doing about the need to reskill the workers that we have? And how are you educating them in the new ways of working? Thank you.”
Youth employment & training
- “What can you say about the difference between the two categories over 31 years? One member state per year had to pay an average fine of 8.3 million €260 million paid in fines by 12 member states. Now, between 2015 and 2023, on average, two member states per year paid a fine. In total, 1.4 billion paid by six member states. In other words, fewer member states paying ever higher fines for failure to comply with legislation. Why this situation with the fines when cases are closed? France and Spain paid serious fines. Italy in the same period was only fine once. So round a billion paid. So what is changed in Italy that the Commission has now changed its approach and is taking a firmer line with the Italian government? Between nine through two 2023, no fines for infringement proceedings on infringement of environmental legislation. Three quarters of all fines. My question. Set aside the fact that in the previous term, more environmental legislation was adopted. How do you explain the fact that the Commission did not collect more fines when it comes to infringement of environmental legislation. Is it to do with the complexity of environmental legislation? Our member states are reluctant to implement the legislation or other other reasons. That was the statement I read out at top speed.”
EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
- “Thank you very much, Vice President. This is affecting, uh, mobility opportunities for young people. And we're not speaking about a social problem, but we're speaking about an economic challenge. Without affordable housing, we don't have equity between the various regions as well. So I think we need this immediately. We have to look at, first of all, construction. Of course, one of the major problems are the the numbers of reports on this particular issue concerning urbanization. And if you could tell us a little bit about what's happening on that particular front, and I'd like to ask you what sort of concrete measures are foreseen within this larger plan concerning, uh, reducing, uh, reducing the particular burdens that exist, particularly the red tape and the bureaucracy that's there for permits. Thank you.”
EU policy on urban development
- “(15:52:15 – 15:53:39): Thank you very much to the experts for your what your contributions. What we're talking about here is whether the framework we have now really meets the needs that we have here in Europe in terms of technology.
Now in this case, in the framework that we have for IP, when you look at the major challenges, it's this proportionality in order to make sure that our rights are preserved. And this is something that we certainly maintain with jurisprudence.
But at the moment, we have an opportunity with APRID to harmonize criteria among member states. On the other hand, what I want to ask you is about the role that this directive can play in protecting IP in other in various areas when it comes to different products.
That is our what our responsibility is is to look at ways of making sure we protect people who have rights or entities that have rights. This is we're not talking about intellectual property rights or copyrights, but also collective rights that can also be infringed upon, for example, by illegally funding organizations? Thank you.”
Intellectual property rights (IPR)