Carlo FIDANZA

Policy topics Carlo FIDANZA is active on

What Carlo FIDANZA has said (38)

• 2025-05-02 “E-001791/2025 Answer given by Mr Tzitzikostas on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is firmly committed to strengthening the enforcement of existing EU road transport rules, which are still applied unevenly across Member States. While the Commission does not foresee introducing new legislation, it is considering a dedicated initiative on enforcement in the road transport sector structured around two key pillars: digitalisation and harmonised enforcement. Moreover, the Commission will continue to support the Member States in implementing current rules, including the provisions on joint liability of all actors across the road transport supply chain, such as consignors, freight forwarders, shippers, tour operators, principal contractors, subcontractors, and driver employment agencies. The Commission’s goal is to ensure that contracts and transport schedules are agreed in full compliance with EU legislation, as stipulated in Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 1 and Directive 2006/22/EC 2 . In addition, the Commission will continue to actively support the Member States in conducting joint inspections and concerted checks, in particular under the coordination of the European Labour Authority, to strengthen cross-border cooperation and ensure effective and harmonised enforcement of EU rules in the road transport sector, including those related to occupational safety and health, by pooling and sharing national practices, expertise and resources. In parallel, the Commission is undertaking efforts to harmonise enforcement practices across the EU through updated guidelines and guidance notes, to ensure consistent enforcement and aligned inspection methodologies, thus reducing discrepancies and fostering a level playing field for transport operators in all Member States. 1 Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 (OJ L 102, 11.4.2006, p. 1). 2 Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on minimum conditions for the implementation of Regulations (EC) No 561/2006 and (EU) No 165/2014 and Directive 2002/15/EC as regards social legislation relating to road transport activities, and repealing Council Directive 88/599/EEC (OJ L 102, 11.4.2006, p. 35).”
  EU policy on aviation safety
• 2025-01-27 “E-000357/2025 Answer given by Mr Serafin on behalf of the European Commission Operating grants, as those under the EU LIFE Programme 1 , support the functioning of civil society organisations involved in the development and implementation of EU legislation. These grants are part of the LIFE Regulation 2 , adopted by the co-legislators, and their management complies with the Financial Regulation 3 . Operating grants are awarded competitively. Applicants submit proposals that include the description of their work programmes of activities in areas indicated in the LIFE Regulation. This work programme is annexed to the grant agreement. The work programme may mention, among other applicant’s activities, advocacy activities. The Commission does not prescribe the specific activities in the applicant’s work programmes. The Commission has not identified irregularities in operating grants under the LIFE programme. Nonetheless, agreements involving activities directed at EU institutions, even if they do not breach the legal framework, may entail a reputational risk for the EU. To mitigate these risks, the Commission has issued guidance 4 addressed to all Commission services, covering all spending programmes, clarifying which activities should not be mandated as a condition for EU financing. The Commission adheres to its transparency obligations. Article 38 of the Financial Regulation requires publishing information about EU fund recipients. Information about nongovernmental organisations and amounts received under LIFE is published annually in the Financial Transparency System 5 and on the LIFE programme website 6 . For funding in the field of migration, the Commission awards action grants, which are limited in scope and correspond to the eligible activities of the call document, which do not foresee lobbying activities. These grants are published on the Funding and Tenders Portal 7 . 1 https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/life_en (EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action). 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021R0783 3 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L_202402509 4 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/guidance-fundingdev-impl-monit-enforce-of-eu-law_en.pdf 5 https://ec.europa.eu/budget/financial-transparency-system/analysis.html (The annual publications are based on Article 38 of the Financial Regulation whereby data on recipients is not disclosed for very low value contracts below EUR 15 000 and where disclosure risks threatening the rights and freedoms of the persons or entities). 6 https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/life/life-operating-grants_en 7 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home”
  Regulation of NGOs in Europe · Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• 2024-10-14 “E-002053/2024 Answer given by Mr Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission The large volume of parcels sent to EU consumers via e-commerce platforms from third countries presents challenges in ensuring compliance with EU consumer protection and product safety rules. The Commission is committed to enhancing cooperation with Member States to enable customs and other authorities to better identify and remove unsafe or noncompliant products entering the Union. On 17 May 2023, the Commission proposed a comprehensive Customs Reform package 1 to strengthen EU customs’ capacity to monitor goods, particularly e-commerce items. This includes the creation of a new EU Customs Authority and an EU Customs Data Hub, which will centralise data to improve targeting of unsafe products. The reform also eliminates customs duty exemptions for goods valued up to EUR 150 and designates platforms and sellers registered for the Import One Stop Shop as ‘deemed importers’, making them responsible for compliance. Under the Digital Services Act (DSA) 2 , the Commission works with national authorities to enforce rules, focusing on very large online platforms and search engines (VLOPs and VLOSEs). It has designated nine online marketplaces as VLOPs, including Zalando, Amazon, AliExpress, Shein and Temu and initiated formal proceedings against Temu (31 October 2024) for potential DSA breaches related to illegal products, addictive design, recommendation systems, and researcher data access, and against AliExpress (March 2024) for issues concerning illegal products and consumer protection, recommendation systems, and researcher data access. In June and October 2024 Temu and Shein were also asked to provide further information to address concerns on content moderation, dark patterns, trader identification, and user wellbeing. The Commission prioritises ensuring a level playing field through effective customs, tax, safety controls, and sustainability standards. In line with its 2024-2029 political guidelines and Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy’s mission letter, tackling challenges associated with e-commerce platforms remains a key focus, particularly through the enforcement of the new General Product Safety Regulation 2 . 1 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Union Customs Code and the European Union Customs Authority, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. 2 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) that entered into application on 17 February 2024.”
  Trade relations with China · EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
• 2024-10-14 “E-002054/2024 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is aware of several initiatives and overseas investment plans regarding Chinese automotive producers. Information regarding these plans has been available in the news over the last few months. At this stage, it is too early to assess whether these investments could have an impact on the competitiveness of the European car industry. It would be premature to speculate on possible measures. However, the Commission will closely monitor the situation and will take appropriate steps if necessary to ensure the continued competitiveness of the industry and compliance with relevant rules and standards. The Commission has a comprehensive set of trade defence instruments at its disposal to deal with situations of circumvention of duties. These anti-circumvention instruments are designed to ensure fair competition and the effectiveness of measures in place. If the conditions are found to be met, following an anti-circumvention investigation, measures against one country could be extended to (a) third country(s) to prevent circumvention of duties. The Commission remains vigilant and will closely monitor investments of Chinese car manufacturers in third countries. The Commission will take appropriate action where necessary to preserve the principles of fair trade, to maintain a level playing field and to protect the industry against unfair competition.”
  Trade relations with Turkey · EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports · Trade relations with China
• “Thank you. And thank you to the Director General for the very comprehensive presentation. Now, the criticisms of the Commission from the very outset of the debate on the new cap are well known. But now we will add some that have emerged in recent months following the letters of president von der Leyen, which there has been some steps forward because they have brought back in about 20 billion. If we look at the early access to the cohesion funds and the extension of the rural target to the certain of the agricultural measures, and that will make some, some difference now. We can't stop there, however, because this political agreement needs to be consolidated and translated into the legislative process as soon as possible to give us that certainty that has just been mentioned. Now it's just a question of how many resources are there, but how much, how they will be used. But if they are, there's too much discretion on the part of the member states. Then they will be allocated to agriculture unless a different decision is made. So there's a risk that the farming would be exposed to national compromises, which may be subject to major political pressures. So we must move towards reducing this discretion and ensure that the resources are kept ring fenced as far as possible within farming, within agriculture and that they are should be it shouldn't be subject to the general conditionality rules that are provided for in general international plans. So it's clearly necessary to move these articles because we need certainty in regard to the work in the Council to on this. So we need rules that relate to the agricultural measures as regards to the environmental and climate actions. It's right to simplify and to incentivise rather than penalise. And finally, regarding digression, that we share the objective of freeing up resources for SMEs or small farms. But we have to strike the right balance, because bigger farms do are often those that are most competitiveness. So we need to have find the right way of not penalising unduly those who are contributing greatly to the competitiveness of our agrifood system.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you. Chairwoman. As you have said, this proposal of the Energy Taxation Directive comes against the backdrop of the European Green Deal and the fight for 55 package. Our proposal focused on three priorities: sustainability and social and economic fairness. We need to ensure agricultural production and focus on raw materials as well as food security. The energy transition cannot undermine farming. It is essential that the development of sustainable fuels, including agri photovoltaic systems, be compatible with farming and without removing farmland. We need solutions like biofuels or agricultural byproducts, or non-food raw materials are a concrete response to. Emissions reductions, all the while ensuring the income of farms. Now we need preferential tax treatments to ensure that this be sustainable. Then we also need to look into the tax used for energy in the agricultural sector. But we also need to make sure that these are valid and accessible. There's been a strong increase in prices and costs, but we also need to ensure the competitiveness of the sector and price stability. We have underscored the.”
  Biofuels (RED II)
• “Thank you. Chairman. This observatory, of course, was set up with the best intentions. We don't want to have a repetition of the usual mechanism when politicians don't know how, what decisions to make. They have a round table or an observatory and don't do anything. That shouldn't be the intention. I'm sure of the members and businesses which have joined the observatory. We want to have instruments so that action can be taken rapidly. In a few months, there will be the amendments coming into force to the CMO and the unfair practices Is legislation as well proposed by the Commission. And we need to look at how the how effective they are. And I think the observatory will help. So if we want to have greater fairness in value distribution, we want to have we need to have instruments allowing us to check whether our actions have borne fruit. And the observatory could be an instrument like this. And then there's the issue of uniform access to data. And we need to make sure that reference parameters are aligned with regard to the distributors and producers. And we need greater access, obviously. And there are competition and transparency issues, but we want to make sure the data isn't just aligned, but available as far as possible and available quickly so that we can come in with the political responses quickly. And I'm wondering if there are sufficient guarantees, or does Mr. Bascou this to enable us to make decisions quickly? Um, once the decisions we have adopted come into force?”
  EU policy on farmer–buyer relations in the agri-food supply chain
• “Thank you very much, chair. I'd like to add a few reflections in addition to what Miss Zelevsky said on behalf of our group. First of all, it's known that to err is human, but to persevere, well, a common saying would say that this is devilish. And, unfortunately, this old approach isn't working. We were hoping that the commission would move beyond this. It seems like we're reading something from the Timmermans era, something that the Europeans have rejected in 2024 when they voted. Unfortunately, this error is being perpetuated with this text, which is based on an ideological approach based on punishing companies with unrealistic targets, completely unrealistic targets will never hit, again, violating the principle of technological neutrality by imposing a single technological solution unlike all the others, which could potentially contribute to decarbonization. Indeed, some at the commission thought that they would expand the scope of this regulation to heavy vehicles. Luckily, this wasn't done. But the impact of this text on small and medium companies would be completely unsustainable economically speaking, and as my colleagues said, would undermine the strategic independence of our industry, which needs to be unlinked from the left wing and European Commission ideologies. Furthermore, the rapporteurs have weakened the text, adding the idea of bikes and this type of mobility. Of course, we're not against this, but they're trying to change the very nature of the text by transforming it into one that's about urban mobility policies. But in our view, this would have a negative impact on corporate policy in a key sector, the automobile sector. So for us, we reject this text based on what it imposes, based on what it tries to do, based on the devastating impact on European industry.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Thank you. President. Commissioner. Colleagues. Now, today, more than ever, the cap must be defended and strengthened because the cap, and thereby the food that we produce is not just an economic tool, but it is a guarantee for stability, autonomy throughout the entire EU. Food security. Food security cannot be taken for granted. Wars at the doors of Europe. Huge pressure on supply and extreme natural events. Food is not just a good, it is strategic and we cannot accept that we depend on third countries. Increasingly, if we want enough good, healthy, nutritious food for our citizens. Therefore, any proposal of a cut to the cap within or without the single fund will be not only unacceptable, but shortsighted. We must defend our farmers. If we don't, we would put at risk our rural areas and give much of our sovereignty to external forces. We want a strong autonomous cap that has enough funding, but also one that is modernized and addressed more at those who produce, who are innovative, who has quality products, those who do not. We cannot have agreements that do not have reciprocity, especially in the context of increased extreme natural events. We need to make sure that we are supporting those who invest in sustainability. This is the cap that we request and that we will defend, as has been requested by millions of our European farmers very much.”
  Agricultural funding
• “We need to look at innovation and scale ups in industrialisation of the development of value chains. It's not something that is superior to the cap, but it's hand in glove with the same concerns. So we're looking at Horizon Europe. These have to be covered. There have to be inclusive. There has to be sufficient participation, including agricultural, the agricultural sector. And we also need to look at the character of the cap. It's not just income support or national flexibility that needs to provide support there. There needs to be a serious bolstering of European intervention as well. And with a view to food safety, food sovereignty. We need to recognise this as a strategic priority for the European Union. There needs to be a specific approach within the European Competitiveness Fund for this, with dedicated resources and very clearly identified and earmarked. We're going to be following the work that it will be ongoing in the coming days and weeks along these lines. European Competitiveness Fund needs to be there to fund European projects of interest for the entire agro system of the European Union. We need to look at water resilience, water storage, resource efficiency, guarantees of water resources being available, even in times of climate change.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you. President. Commissioner, colleagues for the e u has left South America to the Chinese and has its regimes and governments have often taken it further away from Europe. So there are geopolitical reasons for the Mercosur deal and there are growth opportunities there as well in some sectors. Nevertheless, this agreement has elicited a massive reaction from European farmers. And the reason is because in the recent past, it's been agriculture that has paid the highest price as a result of trade agreements, and also because in recent years, the ideological choices of the European Union have seriously struck the competitiveness of European farmers, asphyxiating bureaucracy, the Green Deal and so on. It's certainly true that some agro food sectors will benefit wine and cheese, for example. And it's also true that the numbers of formally protected GIS is that at the highest level that's ever been put in a trade agreement, although there are some gaps. But it's also true that the lack of reciprocity and the guaranteed possibility for South American producers to use agro pharmaceutical products that have been banned for a long time in Europe, and also issues with counterfeiting. And also when it comes to European customs procedures in many of our ports, mean that there is concern in the agricultural world with regard to this agreement, and a safeguard clause which is difficult to difficult to activate, won't be enough to protect our farmers, farmers and the mere billion dollars which is envisaged for compensation. I mean, that is a drop in the sea in when compared to the amounts that will be going to Mercosur farmers. This agreement is not balanced enough and is not good enough for our farmers, so we can't support it in its current form. Thank you.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “Thank you very much. President, Commissioner Hansen and colleagues. Well, today the European wine sector is facing increasingly complex international markets. There's a high level of competition, rapid change in consumption. And also there's unreasoned demonization of wine. Now, in that context, the wine package is a clearly positive result for European winegrowers. With these new rules, we're boosting the competitiveness and resilience of the sector. We're supporting international promotion of European wine. We're improving the our capacity to manage crises as well. I'd like to highlight some of the main elements, particularly the increased flexibility on labelling for with clear definitions for non alcohol and low alcohol wines. This is a measure that will open up new market segments, looks to changing tastes among consumers and boosts European wine in the world. It's also positive when it comes to planting and replanting times for vines in cases of diseases or other problems. There are also good issues, good measures here in terms of boosting crisis management tools, with the possibility of measures such as crisis distillation, growing, grubbing up and green harvesting the possibility for them to be co-financed by up to 30%. This is good for production, and then we should also highlight the chapter that is dedicated to export. This is very important for countries like Italy. We now have co-financing of up to 80% and these campaigns can be extended to nine years. This is all good to boost European wines place in global markets. I think this wine package overall is good for European wine and wine growers, and it's good for Italy as well. Wine is not just an agricultural product, it's part of our cultural heritage and our identity in Italy, because this is one of the greatest expressions of made in Italy in the world. So we need consistent and appropriate European strategies in place.”
  Export of EU agri-food products
• “Thank you. Thank you. President. Well, for months in vain, we've been asking for an urgent resolution on the crisis of the automotive sector. Today, after so many times of insisting on this, at least we are going to be discussing the commission amendment, which allows the builders to calculate emissions on an annual basis, or it's not sufficient because it does not respond to the fines. And what is really very difficult to understand, colleagues, because this is particularly striking for the heavy vehicles, whereas the zero emissions heavy vehicles has been at a very low level in the union. So we need to tackle this crisis at the roots. We need to try and anticipate the revision of the entire regulation, respecting the principle of technological neutrality which is being infringed upon, sacrificing our industry and making them vulnerable to Chinese production. So we're really imposing this upon ourselves. Thank you.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Thank you. President. Commissioner. Colleagues. Currently, the automotive industry, the beating heart of our economy may die out due to ideological choices and a technocratic vision that does not take account of Of reality, the 2035 ban on combustion engines embodies this mistake. This is not an environmental policy. It's a suicidal industrial one which is enabling China to have a monopoly over the whole market. Electric vehicles are now a Trojan horse for China to try and do a grab on our other markets as well. And what's the commission doing about this? Well, it's wasting time with a strategic dialogue where it's hearing but not really listening to the cries for help coming from the industry, in particular smaller companies which are at risk of disappearing. Heavy duty vehicles are not going to be affected. Is this really the magic recipe from von der Leyen to try and compete with the Chinese? They're going to try and we're going to try and produce small vehicles in Europe to compete with China. We ought to be focusing on research and innovation and excellence. And that's why it's so striking that two European heavyweights have called on the commission to change the rules, to move past the 2035 dogma of the all electric.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Thank you very much. Good morning, chairman, and good morning, colleagues. This morning I have the honour of presenting the candidates of the ECR for the Sakharov Prize of 2024. And this is the president elect of Venezuela, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. Edmundo Gonzalez is a politician, a diplomat, and as you know, he has been forced to ask for asylum in Spain after an arrest warrant that was issued by Maduro's regime. The president elect, along with the leader of the democratic opposition, Maria machado, is a shining light for the fight for democracy and for the the best hope for the people of Venezuela. And Maria mancini was also, in fact disqualified by the regime from standing after she became the leader of the unitary platform and was to stand as their candidate. Now the Venezuela regime is breaking up all of the international conventions that it has signed and coordinated or is also has was not allowed to stand. And Edmundo Gonzalez was then chosen unanimously as the candidate for the unitary platform after what happened on the 28th of July last. If you look at events since then, 28th of July was the date of the presidential election and the Venezuelan population rebelled against Maduro's regime and elected as its legitimate president, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. In the hours following that, after the. Electoral body confirmed the win of incumbent President Maduro, there were protests across the streets and squares of Venezuela against the election, fraud, against the stolen election by the regime, and the democratic opposition. Also published the results of many of the urns on a website, and in fact, the official results from the urns have never been published by the regime, for obvious reasons, because they would have confirmed the electoral victory of Edmundo Gonzalez. And we should all recall that these elections took place without international observers and indeed without observers from the European Union or the European Parliament being present. Maduro and his allies responded to these demonstrations with extremely violent repression, using arbitrary arrests, arbitrary prosecutions, and a campaign that was called Operation Tun Tun to encourage people to denounce relatives. People they knew that took part in the protests, questioned the results of the election, or even just liked something on social media via a wave of violent repression was unleashed, which led to at least 27 people being killed. And then there were arrests and disappearances of more than 2000 members of the opposition. The tragedy is still ongoing. There are serious violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, and the Machado regime is continuing to perpetrate this. Naturally, all of this led to a reaction from the international community. One way or another, we feel that it's the duty of this Parliament to do everything in its power to support the fight for freedom and democracy of the Venezuelan people. We need to do this now. We need to do this because there is a time frame, the 10th of January next, which is the date by which the transition must take place with the new president taking office. So we need to do everything that we can to ensure that there actually is a democratic result that the results of the election are recognized, and that Edmundo Gonzalez becomes the next president. Parliament voted a resolution a couple of months ago, and we can support him, and we can support democracy in Venezuela by giving Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and Maria Cristina, as well by giving them the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought and democracy in the world. Thank you.”
  EU-Venezuela relations
• “President. Commissioner. Colleagues, we are very much looking forward to some kind of sign from the commission after a hearing so much over the last few weeks. And yet, once again, it seems that all we're seeing is instead of an elephant, we're seeing a mouse. The proposal on agriculture is largely insufficient. I would say unacceptable. And you are clearly removing part of resources for rural areas. That doesn't mean that you are supporting farmers. This is something that the commission knows. And in particular, farmers know this. What we don't want is yet another type of creative financing. We want guaranteed resources for the people who ensure that we have food on our tables and food security and work every day to do so. Our farmers are weakened against global competition. We need to have a solid, autonomous and properly financed agricultural policy because it's the only way that we can ensure our own food sovereignty and to guarantee freedom for our people.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you. And thank you, colleagues, for your comments. Many of them are totally aligned with the work that we have already carried out. And we will continue to work on compromise amendments. I can see that there is broad consensus on the need to guarantee diversification of energy production. A lot of people mentioned biofuels, and we need to include them in our energy mix and combine them with technologies. That's very important, and we also need to pay attention to the more vulnerable groups of society. And then when it comes to energy consumption. We still don't know. There's a lot of uncertainty due to inflation. And we don't know how the cap will contribute to that. And we don't want to aggravate energy costs for farms. I think we have heard all of those aspects in all of the comments that were raised earlier today. So thank you for those. I just want to make a general comment. It's a bit uncomfortable because even under the previous legislature, we have been working on this and there are lots of different ideologies when it comes to the Green Deal. But we can see here it is very clear. That there are different aspects of the package and they didn't all advance at the same speed. And so that means there's been inconsistencies. Some directives have been sped up. But things like the Energy Taxation Directive have been quite slow in terms of their progress. And so we can see that there hasn't been a level playing field. And in some cases things have actually been contradictory. So it's not easy to put forward a straightforward solution. But we need clear prospects, particularly when it comes to the agricultural sector, because we have been seeing lots of different signals here. So I think that this has served European farming badly because it has generated a lot of uncertainty and confusion. It isn't necessarily up to us specifically as a committee, but all we can do is our best in terms of speeding up our compromises and publishing this document. So thank you very much.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Thank you. President. Commissioner. Colleagues. The provisions that we're going to be voting on tomorrow go in the right direction. They are sending out the right signal to farmers in the outside world. We are introducing tangible measures to then improve farmers position in the supply chain, making sure that contractual relations are better and that they're really getting the value for what they do. It's essential that we guarantee transparency and truly protect consumers. We need to make sure that there's traceability and indications of origins when there's public procurement. In terms of simplification, we need to make sure that farmers can really compete. The measures that we have in place for livestock breeding also need to be right. Today, we're saying that people want to still follow the terrible policies of the Green Deal, but we need a farming policy which puts production and income as well as sustainable viability at the heart of what it does. The commission needs to go faster and further in this direction to support farmers, to make sure that they can give Europe the food security it needs, so that in the post 2027 cap, we see that and definitely in the next MFF, because what we have at the moment is unsatisfactory.”
  EU policy on farmer–buyer relations in the agri-food supply chain
• “But at the same time, we underscored the importance of promoting new technologies such as biofuels and e fuels. These alternatives can provide competitive energy to companies and contribute to decarbonisation without compromising the productivity of sectors involved. In our proposed amendments, we also wanted to defend the more vulnerable groups of populations and we need to take consideration of the social as well as economic impact of this directive, particularly when it comes to vulnerable households. Finally, it is essential that we look at the insular and geographical nature of many different European regions here. Maritime and air transport are not a luxury, but essential infrastructure for the mobility and regional cohesion. This is why any elimination of tax exemptions or the introduction of new taxes Must occur gradually. We need to pay attention to the effects that this would have on the single market. We have tried to be have a position which looks at the environmental aspect, but we're also looking at a just transition. We want a fair green transition that involves all regions, protects citizens and families, and doesn't weaken but rather strengthens European farming. This is the only way that we will be able to address climate challenges without undermining food security, competitiveness and the EU's cohesion. Obviously, I remain available for any comments on the joint work for putting forward amendments, and I look forward to hearing your comments. Thank you.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “The political situation at the moment is that you have a lot of agriculture ministers that are against this single fund. We were against it months ago. And now you, the commissioner, made the proposal Again, but the minister is still against it. And they've repeated a couple of days ago. And there's a broad majority in this, uh, Agriculture committee, which is against this and very critical of this as you you are seen to be the, uh, put in to defend this. But you the you have all the different political forces and governments, national governments, as well as the European farmers who and you're opposing all of them. How are you going to improve? Uh, so you personally might pay a very high political price because you won't achieve a very good result for farmers. But I'd ask you to use your political capital to fight this battle for the farmers and not to be defending this unacceptable proposal. And two very quick questions. First, I didn't understand one thing. It's a mystery to me. The indexation to inflation in the new budget. Is it there or not? Yes or no? The second thing is that we have asked several times, asked for greater funds for promotion because we have Mercosur agreement with the US and so on, and the Commission made any steps in this direction.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you. Welcome. I would like to maybe take a different perspective from what a colleague Dorfman said. We are waiting for the new cap, and obviously this goes together with the new MFF. When it comes to budget allocations, we have a letter signed by 20 agricultural ministers for a more autonomous, robust and financially effective cap. How do you intend to maintain and uphold this commitment? Um, particularly when you have heard everything that is being said here today and what the Commission has said? You will find allies here in this room. We are in favour of any measures that can make the lives of our farmers easier. But I think that we need to speed up the simplification package when it comes to NEETs. You've already had a question on that, so I'll be eagerly awaiting your answer. And then when it comes to the protein plan. In your vision, when it comes to, um, animal alternatives to protein or so-called synthetic meat, we have got, uh, we are strongly against this form of protein. Now, Mr. Anelli, uh, mentioned Mercosur. Obviously, this is quite a delicate phase of the agreement. This topic has generated a lot of debate in the farming world, because people fear that there will be a lack of reciprocity. So how does the Danish presidency intend to operate to ensure that more focus will be made on the agricultural world? Finally, fertilisers. We are highly dependent on Russian fertilisers. We need European sustainable alternatives, so we need to review the nitrates directive. Do you have a position on that? Thank you.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “And I know what the rapporteur is aspiring to do, and I can see where our part slots into the overall hole in the report. For the lead committee. So that's a bit of the practicalities. But really one does have to bear them in mind because that's the context in which we're working. That's the context in which, most importantly, we will be ultimately voting in Parliament. Obviously, we'll be voting in the committee on our text to go to, but ultimately we'll be voting in plenary. I'd like to thank the commission for being as clear as it can be. I think at this point, and we, too, need to be crystal clear about the fact that we want funding for agriculture and food to be ring fenced. It's really important that it goes where it needs to go. It's important because the SME sector and the regions absolutely need this funding. The SMEs and the rural sectors need this funding a lot more than many other areas or sectors. And therefore, it is really critical that we focus on allocating the resources where they are most urgently needed. This has to be a priority for us. So I'll leave you with that thought and thank you in conclusion for your interesting and useful ideas. Thank you.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you very much. President. Commissioner, the transition in the maritime, transport and aviation needs a serious approach investment and pragmatism. More often than not, the EU plumps for ideology, setting targets and objectives without providing the tools to achieve these goals. We've been saying for a long time, without a real market, there won't be decarbonisation or competitiveness. The Sustainable Transport Investment Plan takes a more realistic approach and that is very positive. It says that biomethane, bioethanol and advanced sustainable fuels are recognised and it shows that there isn't one valid technology for all, but it talks about what is available. But we're asking industry to make an enormous effort. But at the same time, we're putting huge costs on their shoulders. We have a sick system such as the ETS. We've already seen what's been happening in the maritime transport. Sport. It's having the opposite effect to what it set out to have. And what we're doing isn't dealing with a price differential that is stymieing these alternative fuels sector. We have to streamline certification, traceability, imports and partnerships with third countries without regulatory certainty. We won't get private investment and will remain dependent on non-EU markets. If the EU is to play an important role in this game, we have to put ideology aside and make sure we have technological neutrality, supporting innovation industry instead of putting obstacles in their way. This is the only way we'll be credible and that our companies will be able to manage. Thank you.”
  Decarbonisation of maritime transport
• “Thank you very much. President. Minister. Commissioner. So we don't want to mince our words. We would expect a great more from this plan. It's good to support the manufacturers. That's something we've been demanding. But you should have an exemption for heavy duty vehicles. You can't work with electric vehicles on that market. And this is a sector where we need to work with other forms of industry where we're still suffering. It's good that you are going to bring forward the revision of the ice. That's something we've been looking for. But what's not good is the lack of reference to technological neutrality. And I think Mr. Sergeant needs to look at that. We're still facing a plan that is suffering from full electric ideology a la Timmermans. And I think we need to move back to the digital approach. We need to have a geopolitical approach better than the one we've got at the moment. We are already losing the automobile industry in Italy, and we need to look at reconversion to face the challenges that heavy industry is facing, and we need to look at the public debt and not give in to the lobbyists. We have to continue to defend industry and jobs in Europe, the free choice of consumers and technological neutrality, and let us not see an end to the automobile and component production in the in Europe. Let's not pursue Timmermans views and we're going to continue fighting for this.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Thank you. President. President. Commissioner. Colleagues. Now, the most recent European Council was heavily focused on international issues. And once again, we had a summit, um, which was chaired by president Council Meloni And co-chaired by the Netherlands and France. What we should be doing is clamping down on irregular migration, working with countries from outside the EU and making sure that they can go to safe third countries, because this weaponization of immigration is one of the hybrid threats that Europe now faces. Now, just yesterday we saw in Libya and as well as in the Middle East, that when we had a problem with access by Minister Brunner as well as representatives on three other countries. Now, when we talk about the situation, of course we need to invest in defence. And following on from the council as well as the NATO summit. We also need to look at how we counter hybrid threats. We need to defend our borders, as well as protect strategic infrastructure and also control access to critical raw materials, because that is to defend our liberty as well our sovereignty.”
  Asylum & border control
• “President. Commissioner. Colleagues, will. Geopolitical crises have had a direct and tough impact on our energy prices and also on our food production. And that's why we insisted on extending today's debate to this issue, too. Clearly, the competitiveness of our farming businesses is under pressure now. So we welcome what Commissioner Hanson said on a European plan on fertilisers and also the Commission's commitment to guarantee predictability and stability to farmers in the near term. These are signals that go in the right direction, but we need to be clear economic support alone is not enough. We need urgent measures that will have an immediate effect on production costs, and that's why we absolutely need to undo the effects of Cbam and ETS on the import and production of fertilisers. I mean, we continue to act as though nothing has happened, but given the increases in prices, farmers are struggling and that risks feeding into inflation. We also need to take clear measures, for example, on, uh, a circular product that comes from animals, uh, which could be used in Europe instead of fertiliser. So we need to ensure there's flexibility for member states because farmers need immediate and realistic decisions such as these, and we're ready to support them. Thank you.”
  Use of fertilisers
• “Thank you very much, Commissioner. Colleagues, the ETS system is wholly incompatible with the real needs of European industry and has become a carbon tax which works against families and companies. And that is precisely why, against the backdrop of an energy crisis, it's only common sense to reform the system. And this consensus ought to have led us not to institute a maritime ETS, particularly since there is so much competition from African ports that European ports are facing, and we have to try and prevent speculation on carbon. But once again, we are seeing the defence of something which is an ideological totem rather than trying to change the benchmarks. And this is the course which leads directly to industrial suicide and the productive desertification of Europe and the dominance of Europe by China. And this is not the path that we accept.”
  Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• “Thank you very much, chairman. I am very happy to to see you here this afternoon. Commissioner, in the context of the food and feed regulation to which you alluded, we are very pleased to hear that you've taken that initiative. It's arguably the first time reciprocity is really going to see the light of day. And it's something that we have been arguing the case for for a long time in the context of Mercosur and some of the other free trade agreements, which the European Union is in the process of negotiating and signing. We do need to guarantee that simplification objectives don't ever compromise food safety standards and food safety requirements. This is absolutely of the essence for farmers and for consumers. So we therefore do need to devote a lot of attention to the question of checks and controls. And I will come back to that in the context of food and feed. I'd like to ask you how you intend to ensure that simplification isn't going to be a levelling downwards or in terms of food security, and isn't going to distort competition and isn't going to have an adverse impact on our domestic producers. What sort of checks will there be on imports? I think sometimes they've been far too low, far too sporadic, far too piecemeal and ineffective.”
  Import of agri-food products in the EU
• “(17:55:14 – 17:57:12): thank you, chairman. Well, we welcome, the desire to simplify and harmonize. I'm going to concentrate on the critical points we feel are still pending. First of all, the question of reciprocity in international trade, remains, for the most part, sorted out. The clear tolerance for import of substances that have no longer been authorized in the union, could lead to unfair competition. You producers are subject to very high standards throughout the whole change, whereas the imports are not subject to the same. Secondly, growing fragility in the availability of tools to, defend crops. The dispense of active, substances, lengthy approval, procedures, and insufficient availability is going to empty out, the toolbox of our farmers with a direct impact on productivity and the availability in the food chain. Another issue is the harmonization between member states. A nonuniform application of rules, in particular, in terms of authorizations and derogations creates distortions in competitions and uncertainty on prices promising, compromising the functioning of the single market. Then there's an, ambiguity in the GMO regulations. Excessive exemptions might lead to, products on the market without a necessary regulatory framework, which would, impact the labeling efficiency and consumer confidence. And then simplification pros procedure should not reduce guarantees, but it should rather reinforce, the efficiency of the system, more targeted controls at the border, better coherence between member states, a real application of the reciprocity provisions. That's the only way it will be possible to guarantee a balance between competitiveness, food security, and the sustainability of the agro food business.”
  Pesticides & trade
• “Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you to the Commissioner. I would like to welcome. Obviously, I reserve my judgment until it actually happens, but I am very pleased to see that the Commission is willing and available to review the proposal with regard to the MFF and to ensure that we get more payments under the cap. And we've been talking about this for quite some time. And I think that all political groups would support that certainly in general, but also a lot of governments also in the council, uh, often we keep saying we need a more pragmatic approach. And when you read the new proposals, I hope that they will improve the situation, because often we think that they run counter to farmers interests and to what we want. See, a the cap is something that can be extremely important and useful. And therefore we welcome that. Now we support the strategy for generational renewal. We put a lot of Suggestions in, and I think that it's important that we're going in the right direction. I think this is happening once. Sometimes you could think a bit more ambition would be would be most welcome. But we are moving in the direction, the right direction, it seems. And when it comes to young farmers, this is something that is cross-cutting, of course, and we need to refocus our attention on that. We need to make the sector more attractive to farmers, which means we need a fair prices for our production for all our internal market. We need to protect against unfair trade practices, which I know is what was being worked on at the moment. We need to ensure that there is a fair treatment across the whole of the agri food chain. All of this will ensure that farming becomes more attractive to young people, and I think this is something that we are hoping to achieve.”
  Direct payments to farmers (pillar 1)
• “Thank you, Madam Chair, and good evening, everyone. I would like to also say to the thank you to the Commission, as well as good luck to Mr. Theoharis, candidate for this very important role. We are very aware of how important the tourism, UN tourism services will be and the competitivity aspects and innovation aspects, as well as those destinations which have difficulties with tourism. Now, just a few quick questions. It was said that the project is up and running in Europe for a few months now, but obviously we're still at the beginning of this project. My question would be what are the results that you expect and when do you expect results so that when could we have. When when could we have an update on this initial stage for these 40 destinations so that we can perhaps recalibrate and see what has worked, what hasn't worked, and how we can be more efficient ongoing. Now mention was made of SMEs and how important they are. In particular in terms of innovation. Data is under pressure from the big platforms. So how can we protect SMEs in this participation and sharing of data project? And also we have a certain reluctance to provide data. My question would be is it the small players or the bigger platforms who are reluctant to provide this data. What kind of response have you had and or have you given? I'm sorry to this kind of reluctance.”
  EU strategy for tourism development
• “Thank you president. Commissioner, colleagues, the new EU fertilizer strategy does contain some positive aspects. These have also arisen from the constant encouragement from our political group. We want to see maximum flexibility for member states to derogate from the nitrates directive while it is being revised. We want to open the road up to Digestate. We've been calling for that since the start of the term. That is a strategic resource when it comes to the EU circular economy. It can substitute mineral fertilizers and reduce our external dependencies, and we need strong standards. And to move forward swiftly so that this can get underway from the next harvesting period. But we feel that more can be done and with more bravery, our European farmers are calling for us to take action strongly, And we have clear and concrete requests coming. They want to see a suspension of tariffs on fertilizers from third countries. The matter of the sebum and the ETS when it comes to fertilizers, we need to act on that swiftly because we can't sit back and watch costs to rise while our businesses are crushed by energy instability and a lack of competitiveness. The compensation has been announced is as yet undefined, and that may provide temporary relief. But farmers need stronger responses and responses now, and we are here to provide those which.”
  Use of fertilisers
• “Thank you. President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Well, let's start with the positive side. Dogmatism has finally been pulled down, this electronic electric dogmatism. Now we have that flexibility for vehicle manufacturers, for heavy vehicles, for green fleets. And what we expect. I'm sure this would be an interesting development of the corporate and national goals and targets and SMEs being excluded. Then, looking at the merit of some of the other aspects. We'll be looking at this in the coming weeks and months, because overcoming this electronic dogmatism has to come home to roost, because we've been talking about this for years and we were never joking about this. We need to do more to be technologically neutral. We don't want to have useless rigidity. We need to have more flexibility. We shouldn't have restrictions on the use of biofuels, for example. We want to have full technological neutrality for all aspects across the board. Anything that works should be able to be used in our industries. It shouldn't be something cobbled together, nor to pretend to the outside world. We're doing something in a certain way, and when we're actually doing it a different way. I'm sure there's still a great deal that remains to be done in the coming months, and we'll be watching in this Parliament. But we're pleased that the EPP and the Patriots and some of the other pragmatic groups have been working together with us to improve this proposal, and this is only the start.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Thank you. President. Concerning red thread, which links far left terrorists right across Europe. At the beginning of January, there were anti-fascist demonstrations in Rome, and there were Italian colleagues there, but also Mr. Arnaud, who was the leader of this Gene Gard or young guard, this anti-fascist organization, and then a foreign group beat some Italians up. And then just a few weeks later, Quentin drunk, was killed, probably by the same people. We're talking here of people who belonged to this German guard. The young guard, including an assistant of Mr. Arnaud. So we have seen all too often recently far left attacks. Let's look at what happened in Turin, where dozens of police officers were injured, one of who was beaten using hammers while he was down on the ground. Now, this is the new version of the kind of violence we saw all too often in the 1970s. There was the famous German hammer band as well, which produced so many victims right across Europe, including the victims in Budapest in 23. Our colleague Ilaria Sarri's was arrested during those events and shamefully, her parliamentary immunity wasn't waived. Now, these aren't These aren't the kinds of things that happen on a one off basis. These are ferocious and coordinated attacks being carried out by terrorist methods. This militant anti-fascism needs to be dealt with severely in a unanimous manner. We need to boost cooperation between European police forces and Europol. We need to put Antifa on the list of terrorist organisations. Thank you.”
  EU law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters
• “To move back towards freedom of innovation and climate neutrality, we need an EU policy that is going to recognise the value of e-fuels of hybrids of new solutions for clean energy. We need an energy that's going to defend Europe's strategic and energy autonomy, rather than handing us over to our Asian counterparts. So I would call here on my friends in the industry and indeed across this chamber, we ought to be holding a vote on this, not having to be subject to the dogma of the left. There is a majority in the Council as well, and we very much hope that Chancellor Merz will be brave enough to stand his ground. Sustainability does not come from bands. It comes from freedom to innovate and the and being bold enough to compete. That's why the 2035 ban is not only a step back, it's much worse than that. And we must fight to save our workers and our independence. Thank you.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Thank you. Chair. Thank you, Commissioner, for having acted so quickly on this topic. This is a package of reforms that certainly are going in the right direction. We need to strengthen the role of farmers in the supply chain. So I'd just like to ask for some clarifications. First implementation. Yes. The laws can look very nice and pretty, but we need to make sure that they can be actually applied in real life without disrupting the markets and without seeing different standards in different member states within the union. And we also need to look at the cross border problems, as our colleague Dorfmann mentioned. So could you please speak about this? Which tools could we use in order to guarantee a full and uniform implementation of these tools. Secondly. Any possible resistance from, uh, large, uh, producers? You've already mentioned them. We could perhaps hope that everybody will cooperate throughout the supply chain. And finally, we mentioned wine. I'm also happy to know that that, uh, you will be presenting this package on wine. We've been waiting for it for a long time, but I'd like to ask a final push, because I've read in the in the press. I'm not asking you to comment on what the press has said, but we've heard that, uh, could you please not drag everything out as happened in the past and don't once again penalize this sector With exercises and, uh, alarmist labels, which might go against what we're trying to do with this sector.”
  EU policy on farmer–buyer relations in the agri-food supply chain
• “Good morning. President, Minister. Commissioner, Dear colleagues, let's face it. The truth of this council is the letter on competitiveness, which was sent out by Ursula von der Leyen to leaders on Monday for the first time. There's a bit of self-criticism about the Green Deal. Apart from opening up to biofuels for cars, she recognises that a lot of provisions could lead to a lack of competitivity for our industry. In other words, we finally realise that the king is naked. But we've got to try to meet citizens needs. Governments are less and less prepared to go ahead with the provisions as if Timmermans was still around. There are attempts to go ahead with climate change. Climate change provisions. However, the measures which are taken are timid, and it is clear that the road suggested by the left is an impasse is going to lead to the decline of Europe.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “These are very important European issues as well, such as digitalisation of European agriculture with the precision agriculture AI, support for what agriculture is doing. These aren't just technological luxuries. These are things that can allow us to approach sustainability in a better way for us and our farmers, especially when it comes to small and medium sized holdings. And that will allow us to avoid new imbalances that might come up through the CCF, the strategic targets that need to be covered here. Animal welfare. We've just covered that in the hearing. We just finished a system of vaccinations and monitoring zoonoses. You need to develop advanced instruments. Predictive models. Preventive techniques and decontamination as well. We need to have solid animal welfare standards across the union, including targeted vaccination, and we need to reduce risks to wild flora and fauna. We need to have a central approach to animal vaccinations and improve practicability as a result. And finally, this needs to go hand in glove with working with essential prime materials such as farmers. Do we need to use this fund to make sure we're reducing external imbalances and improving our governance? We need to have an inclusive approach, and we need to develop this fund so that it does just that. Thank you.”
  Digital and precision farming