MEPs debate on the Single Market For Digital Services (Digital Services Act). Opening statement by Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D,DK), rapporteur, Henna VIRKKUNEN (EPP, FI) ITRE; Geoffroy DIDIER (EPP,FR) JURI; Patrick BREYER (Greens/EFA,DE) LIBE; Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission; Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for Internal Market; Mikuláš PEKSA (Greens/EFA,CZ) ECON; Roman HAIDER (ID,AT) TRAN; Sabine VERHEYEN (EPP,DE) CULT; Jadwiga WIŚNIEWSKA (ECR,PL) FEMM. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

VESTAGER, Margrethe (DK, CE)

SCHALDEMOSE, Christel (S&D, DK)

BRETON, Thierry (FR, EC)

digital services act (T)

Single Market For Digital Services (Digital Services Act): opening statement by Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vicepresident of the EU Commission and by Thierry BRETON, EU Commissioner for Internal Market

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&amp;D, DK), rapporteur, We are now going to take back control from the tech giants and we're going to bring our digital laws into the 21st century. We are, of course, basing ourselves on the digital law that we adopted in 2000, but the world was very different. Then Facebook didn't exist. Mark Zuckerberg hadn't even come up with the idea at that point. Steve Jobs' Apple hadn't yet launched the iPod, let alone the iPhone. Amazon was still a loss making business, and the U.S. trade with China was much smaller than it is today. So the time has come for us to fundamentally overhaul our digital legislation.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, The Digital Services Act could now become the new gold standard for digital regulation, not just in Europe but around the world. Big Tech nations like the US or China are watching closely to see what we're not going to agree, just like they did with GDPR. With this DSA, we're going to stand up against the Wild West that the digital realm seems to have become.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, For far too long illegal product and illegal content have proliferated online. Algorithms have fostered division and recommender systems have destroyed young people's self-esteem. On the one hand, the digital realm has brought us closer together reduced distances. But on the other hand, it has dug deeper trenches between us. You can write to people from all over the world, but judging by the debate that you see on social media, it's all too easy to forget that it's human beings you're writing to. You can buy products from all four corners of the world, but you can no longer be sure that the product that you're buying actually meets.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, The rules and requirements that we have in Europe aren't as easy as it is to click and drop an item into your virtual basket. It can still be just as difficult to get hold of a seller should you experience any problems. And that's why we need strong legislation. Legislation that ensures that from here on in whatever is illegal offline will also be illegal online. That is the legislation that we're now voting on here in the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, The Act includes an incredible number of important and much needed and positive measures. Let me highlight just the following. Improving consumer safety, putting an end to the unrelenting harvesting of data and opening the black box of algorithms. Specifically, there are three areas in which we're improving consumer protection.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, First of all, we propose that consumers and users should be able to turn to intermediary services through just one single point of contact. This will give social media users a better chance to get a chance to get in touch with services if their content is removed or if their account is blocked. And, at the same time, it will allow consumers who have unwittingly bought an illegal or harmful product online to get in touch with the online marketplace and not just to an automated chat bot.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, Secondly, we demand that online marketplaces do more to protect consumers from illegal products. They must be protected against such illegal products. They must remove illegal products quickly and effectively and contact consumers who bought these products before they were removed from the marketplace.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, Thirdly, we would like to introduce a right to seek compensation directly from the platforms, that's for both consumers and businesses, if the platform in question does not comply with the provisions of the Digital Services Act. And this is a significant improvement for both consumers and for businesses using these platforms.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, We're also, of course, making sure that we put the brakes on platforms that harvest our data. We have a whole new set of rules for that. No more targeted advertising to minors. Online minors data must not be harvested and must not be used for commercial commercial purposes. We're putting a stop to that. At the same time, it will be easier for everyone to withdraw their consent to targeted advertising. It must not be harder to say no to advertising than it is to say yes to advertising.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, And finally, dark patterns will be banned. No more designing a dialogue box where the users choice will be steered in a particular direction. All of this will give us as users more control over our own data on the web, and we will open the algorithmic black box. We will let the Commission and the Digital Services coordinator to delve into reports that deal with the impact of algorithms.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, In future, we will be better informed. Therefore, we would like to ensure that if there is an algorithm that promotes eating disorders or self-harm, well, the platform must take action must remedy that problem straight away. The largest platforms can no longer hide behind a veil of ignorance. They'll be forced to face up to the consequences of their algorithms. So we're taking back control from the tech giants with this proposal from the European Parliament for a new gold standard for digital regulation.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, I think we're sending a strong signal to council a strong message. We insist on strong legislation with two main objectives. We must protect consumers and users. We must also let the digital economy grow within a democratic, transparent and trustworthy framework. I'm incredibly proud, I must say, of. The result that we have achieved here in this European Parliament, and there's a lot of people who deserve thanks for that big thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, First of all, I would like to thank the shadow rapporteurs for the cooperation that we've had in IMCO and also in the associated committees. I also thank the coordinators. I would like to thank all those colleagues from my own political group and other political groups in the House who have made contributions with proposals, with amendments. Thank you very much for your contributions.

SOUNDBITE (Danish), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), rapporteur, And of course, I would like to thank the wonderful staff at the IMCO Secretariat, in the S&D Group, and also in my own office and my colleagues offices. Thank you for lending your support to our work, and of course, I would like to thank the commissioners, Mr. Breton, Mrs. Vestager, thank you very much for your incredibly good cooperation. And I thank, of course, the Presidency, the Portuguese, the Slovenian and now the French presidency. I am delighted to know that very soon we'll be moving towards trialogue discussions, and I think that this is something absolutely right because our European citizens deserve this good piece of legislation for a safer internet in the future. We all need it. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Henna VIRKKUNEN (EPP, FI), Mr. Chair, Madam vice president, dear colleagues, as ITRE rapporteur, I would like to thank all the colleagues from other committees, Rapporteurs Shadows, for their good cooperation on this DSA. In the report, my focus as the rapporteur has been especially on ICT industry innovations and small and micro-enterprises.

SOUNDBITE (English), Henna VIRKKUNEN (EPP, FI), It is important for European businesses, especially for our estimates, that we ensure a level playing field and fair competition and make sure that European values and legislation is respected in the online world. What is illegal offline should be also illegal online. This means also that the businesses from third countries should follow European rules when operating in our digital markets.

SOUNDBITE (English), Henna VIRKKUNEN (EPP, FI), Our SMEs and start ups, they play a crucial role in creating Europe's digital competitiveness and growth when regulating the digital market. We should make sure that we are not setting obstacles for growth. We should encourage companies to scale up, innovate and invest in Europe. Especially we must ensure that the smallest enterprises are not faced through heavy administrative burden, necessary flexibility and legal certainty for SMEs needed to operate and therefore, in the literal text, we introduced also various exemptions for small and micro-enterprises.

SOUNDBITE (French), Geoffroy DIDIER, Thank you. The large digital platforms are an innovative tool that have inundated our daily lives. They are economic actors but have become public actors, vectors of freedom of expression. Nonetheless, they are also vehicles for messages of hatred of threat, sexual harassment and illegal trade, and we have an imperative duty to prevent the spread of messages such as these.

SOUNDBITE (French), Geoffroy DIDIER, There has been a legal void up until now, and it is time for Europe to bring an end to the anarchy on the web. The text, voted this week in the European Parliament, unfortunately, is too timid to step forward, a long way from the good intentions that were enunciated by Mr Macron just a few minutes ago. And for the young, for those who are vulnerable, consumers, and companies, what we would like to do is provide a healthy environment on internet and on social media. But nothing, let me repeat, nothing justifies smartphones to become our worst enemies. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Patrick BREYER (Greens/EFA, DE), The Digital Services Act is a unique opportunity for us to take back control of the digital age and put citizens and our democratic institutions in charge. My LIBE Committee is proposing amendments to you to make the IMCO report even stronger. For instance, the report for tech secure encryption. But we also need to prevent data leaks that exposed the data of millions of citizens to cyber criminals every year by giving users a right to use digital services anonymously wherever possible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Patrick BREYER (Greens/EFA, DE), The IMCO report rules out legal obligations to use error prone upload filters. But we also need to prevent tech platforms from imposing conditions that disregard our fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression and media freedom online. So, dear colleagues, let us jointly make every effort to shape our digital future in line with our fundamental rights and values. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age If you only knew how I've been looking forward to this day. When I was preparing the hearing in this Parliament for my second mandate, we discussed what should be our ambitions for the Digital Services Act. And here we are. Two years later, because of hard, dedicated, coordinated work in this house. I would very much like to thank the rapporteur, Castillejo Alamosa, for her work, of course, and also the rapporteurs of the associated committees. And the encouragement that it has been for us and the commission to see the interest for so many committees and so many members of this House to make sure that technology serves citizens in our Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age Shadows rapporteurs, members of your committees have worked dedicated on this important file and we have come a long way in these 12 months from the tabling of the proposal to the debate that we have today. We also have the general approach unanimously adopted in the Council. With today's debate, the vote that is getting started, I think we think we send a very clear signal to citizens.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age Our democracy has the strength to deal with this. Our democracy has the strength to set the rules so that citizens that they are in charge. It is a unique position that Union is, a very strong rulebook that will be enforced at fast. This, of course, means further removing barriers to the digital single market, empowering people to make real choices and giving more responsibility to those who provide us digital services.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age And the guiding principles, and they've already been stated, they remain fundamental. Making the internet safer for everyone who's there. Protecting each and every one of us from illegal content, including, of course, unsafe or unauthorised products while securing the freedom of expression online. And this means that it's not just a slogan to say what is illegal offline should also be illegal online. What is legal offline should also be illegal online. It is not just a slogan.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age With this work that you have done, you have put muscle to the bone. You are making it real. And of course, making it real comes with enforcement. And that, of course, comes from the clarity of the regulation that it can be enforced in a well-resourced, strong system that requires cooperation in Europe. And I think that you as a legislator should expect this once we are done with this legislation, that it will be enforced strongly and fast to the benefit of every citizen and in respect of the Legislature. Thank you so far. We them.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age Mr. President, members of the European Parliament, allow me to say how delighted I am to be speaking to you today to discuss a proposal which is of huge importance to me, to all of us, I believe. And as we know from the very first day when I stepped into my role as the European Commissioner, I've been dealing with this. I'm talking, of course, about the famous Digital Services Act holding this debate in plenary. Only a year after our proposal back in 2020 shows the really extraordinary work. I have to say that here that each and every one of you has put in.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age I would like to start by expressing my deepest thanks to you for that. First and foremost, to Mrs. Christel Schaldemose, who's done some really outstanding work to ensure that today all of us together could be holding this debate. In this plenary today and the vote which will follow, I think we are marking a historic turn which we all hope will put an end to what has been called now the Far West in the information sphere. Just a year ago, you'll all remember we was struck by the pictures of the assault on Capitol Hill. Well, that marks a before and after and the role of the digital platforms and their effect on our democracy, our democracies. I think we saw the highest point of uncontrolled hate speech, incitation to violence, disinformation and destabilisation strategies which were diffused through the social networks and some to profit from those.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age It's become clear to everyone that the lack of rules and of controls, particularly democratic controls on the decisions of a handful of major platforms which have now become the main provide, this is no longer tolerable. Now, the Commission then spoke the DSA on the DMA in reaction to calls from our consumers, which proposed a total overhaul of informational sphere because there is a strong message coming from Europe towards the major platforms which are exercising this increasing influence on our lives. We heard from the whistleblower that I met personally together with the DSA rapporteur Christel, and it was highlighted during talks that there is this urgent need to legislate.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age But there's also a crucial requirement. And I am stating this before all of you here today not to lower our ambitions with the DSA, we have set up an innovative system which can be summed up in four points. We're proposing, first and foremost clear rules to remove everything which is illicit online, whether we'd be talking products or content with a simple principle which was recalled here, everything which is banned offline should be banned online as well. New requirements also for the major platforms based on risk in order to avoid abuse, as was done with the prudential rules for banks. For these systemic platforms, the commission will have surveillance and sanctioning powers, strong ones, up to six percent of annual turnover and even up to a temporary exclusion from the internal market if there is a serious and repeated offence.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age The third point, the black box of the algorithms imposing measures of transparency on the companies so that we can understand the reasons why a given citizen, I think we've all been the object or even the victim of this, is targeted by certain content or certain advertising. And finally, we will ensure that all of these rules are implemented in uniform fashion across the face of Europe, throughout the EU. And of course, these rules will apply to all players, European or other. And a little over a year we have made remarkable progress with the European Parliament and the Council, and I'm convinced that together will be in a position under the French presidency to adopt this. That was recalled by the president of the French Republic just a few moments ago here in the Hemicycle.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, Executive Vice-President of the EC in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age Hopefully, by the end of June, the Commission's work that the Committee in the Parliament shows that we share the same level of ambition and sense of urgency. Together, we must remain vigilant and I welcome the fact that in this institution also increased lobbying efforts that we have seen. Well, they have remained in vain. We will not allow the companies to interfere with the general interests of our European citizens. Europe is the leading and the first continent in the world to organise this type of situation, the DSA and DMA, we are about to reorganise digital sphere in our large single market, both for societal aspects and also from the economic side. A new framework which could probably will become a reference for democracies. So today's debate is of huge importance for all of us in Europe and beyond, and we will be listening very carefully to everything you have to say. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mikuláš PEKSA (Greens/EFA, CZ) Dear colleagues, we stand at the height of what could have been one of the greatest European achievements after intense work, we have managed to create a set of rules that gives us the interoperability, a more open digital market, better choices for users and less power for the tech giants. I'm also proud of the critical changes regarding transparency, as platforms are now obliged to provide explanations and clearer labels or changes in their terms and use and display the Parliament. And I am happy to hear that as a member of Pirate Party has learnt from the protests against the Copyright Directive, ruling out a new filtering and monitoring obligations on our content and personal communication.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mikuláš PEKSA (Greens/EFA, CZ) However, instead of banning the upload filters, we only got vague promises. The text could also have further limit the collection of personal data, in the acts of the fuels the ugly economy of surveillance capitalism. But the main problem from my point of view are the cross border removal orders, which could lead to the deletion of full illegal content in one country just based on a decision taken in another one. This is political dangerous in the current rule of law crisis over some of the member states are backsliding towards authoritarianism.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mikuláš PEKSA (Greens/EFA, CZ) Giving the tools to diminish freedom of expression is unacceptable, and it will definitely not help us to create more smooth the Digital Single Market. We need the Digital Services Act, but not at all costs, and especially not at the costs of giving dictators battleships. So I'm looking forward to further discussion on this issue between the member states and the Parliament. Thank you very much and looking forward to further comments on this issue.

SOUNDBITE (German), Roman HAIDER (ID, AT) Thank you very much, president. The COVID crisis has really shown us the situation we're in terms of digital services. It's really high time for us to adopt this act in order to provide legal certainty for businesses, for consumers, users. In fact, in some cases, I would have liked some stricter rules. But still, these new rules when it comes to freedom of opinion on the internet and exchanges on online platforms, I actually find these rules go too far. They're too strict. It's almost a way of exercising censorship. And I think that you can see that in the very vague concepts used in the text, disinformation, hate speech, etc. It's just content that we don't like, really, and that can't be right for the remainder.

SOUNDBITE (German), Roman HAIDER (ID, AT) I think that you have to remember that this kind of intervention would be a form of censorship. And in addition to that, it would be the platform operators that would be liable for that particular offence. And that would mean actually making digital corporations go before the courts. And I think that is a massive attack on the freedom of opinion of our citizens at the end of the day. So, what is lawful offline should be lawful online. I think that is the principle that we should abide by. Whereas what we have here, the set of rules is simply not compatible with a free democratic society. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (German), Sabine VERHEYEN (EPP, DE) President, colleagues, represents of the Commission, with the SA we have the chance to set a milestone in regulating online services in the EU and this chance is used in many points of the draught before us, but it doesn't go far enough on certain points. Unfortunately, the current committee's opinion is not taken adequately into account the DMA, I think, has serious impact for certain areas of sport and culture. We are allowing the major platforms to regulate according to their own rules. It provides of media services at national level and also at EU level, are strictly regulated and have to respect professional standards irrespective of how their services and content is consumed.

SOUNDBITE (German), Sabine VERHEYEN (EPP, DE) The independence of the media sector has to be protected. We have seen cases of disinformation in Europe which have led to laws, but these should be appropriately implemented in all EU member states. The commission would have to focus on that as well to make sure it works. Media content, which is not allowed offline, should also be made illegal online and because without that, we cannot proceed. So please support the amendments, which have been proposed by the CULT Committee and also from the JURI committee. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Polish), Jadwiga WIŚNIEWSKA (ECR, PL) Thank you very much, Chairman, Madam Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I would like to thank the shadow rapporteurs, thanks to this good cooperation. We draughted an opinion which improve the situation of women in the shape of obligations on the part of platforms when it comes to fighting, combating violence online, etcetera. We also talk a lot about children who are very often very vulnerable online. There is also the obligation on the part of providers to create the codes of ethics and to introduce preventive measures. Some of our requests have found their way in the final draught of the IMCO report, too. There is a long way ahead of us, but we have made a lot of progress when it comes to protecting children and women against cyber violence. Thank you.