Category: Science

MIL-OSI Global: The Conversation Africa’s first 10 years: a story of new media powered by generosity

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Candice Bailey, Strategic Initiatives Editor

Starting from scratch is daunting. And exhilarating. Your heart pounds, you can taste adrenaline, the sense of urgency and anticipation makes you high. I can recall each of these sensations 10 years after the thrilling moment when The Conversation Africa went live, and our first newsletter was sent out. Thanks to some nifty software, we were able to watch readers open their emails in real time in cities and towns in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Malawi, Zimbabwe as well as beyond in the US, the UK, India, France, Japan and Australia.

We’d gone live. People were reading us. We’d launched and there was no going back.

It was a tiny team that celebrated the moment: nine of us in an office in Johannesburg plus two colleagues from TC Australia who’d flown over to show us the ropes. Our promise when we launched was that we would “work with academics across Africa and internationally to bring informed expertise to a global audience”.

It’s a promise we’ve kept. From a small team in an office in Johannesburg we’ve gone on to open offices in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal. We’ve published 11,775 articles about African research, written by 7,540 academics, attracting over 180 million reads, helped by 935 republishers.

It’s a model that works because of the generosity of donors, universities, academics and readers. And because we offer evidence-based insight you can trust.

In retrospect the whole idea might have seemed mad. The impact of the 2008 financial crisis was still being felt. Nobody was in an expansive mood: governments were cutting budgets, economic growth was slow. At the time the media landscape was in bad shape as more titles hit the wall and those that elected to keep going were shrinking their operations.

What tipped the balance to go for it was that The Conversation offered the opportunity of building – at scale – a partnership between academics and journalists anchored on the simple premise that researchers would be the writers, and the journalists would be the editors.

The second factor was that the prototype had been built and was working extremely well. Four years prior to our launch The Conversation Australia (the mothership) had gone live. This was followed by editions in the UK, then in the US.

All three were incredibly successful. It was clear to me that tapping into the vast world of academic research as the primary source of articles, and coupling this with the skills of journalists trained as editors, was a winning formula. Academics were keen to write (without being paid), there were journalists eager to apply their editing skills, and media outlets were hungry to pick up articles put out under a Creative Commons licence.

The “why” all made sense. The “how” proved to be trickier.

Money was a problem. The university sectors in other regions were the mainstay of the earlier editions. But universities on the continent were cash-strapped and hardly in a position to bankroll our endeavour. The answer was two-fold: find donors that were supporting the higher education sector in the hope that they would see the merits of the project; and secondly, ask universities for support, either in the form of money or by offering us rent-free accommodation.

Both strategies worked. We raised enough cash to pay for the small team based in rent-free offices at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The second tricky bit was fulfilling the promise of being The Conversation Africa. An office in Johannesburg wasn’t going to cut it. We set about finding more money so that we could expand our footprint. By 2017 our team could boast a colleague in Kenya working from an office gifted by the African Population and Health Research Centre. It took another two years to fulfil the promise with colleagues in Lagos (in an office at the Nigerian Academy of Sciences) and a colleague in Accra. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place with the launch of TC Afrique in 2023 with a team of two in Dakar.

I put The Conversation Africa’s success down to generosity. The generosity of spirit of my colleagues. The generosity of donors. The generosity of universities. The generosity of academics who have volunteered to share their knowledge and approached the rigours of our editing with grace and forbearance. And finally the generosity of you, our readers, who express your appreciation in a host of different ways, not least by sharing articles you come across far and wide. Thank you.

It’s been a remarkable and hugely fulfilling 10 years. The Conversation Africa has established itself as the source of articles you can trust. A rare commodity in these tricky times. Please continue to support us. We need you in our corner.

– ref. The Conversation Africa’s first 10 years: a story of new media powered by generosity – https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-africas-first-10-years-a-story-of-new-media-powered-by-generosity-256011

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: Sudan, Chad, South Sudan & other topics – Daily Press Briefing | United Nations

Source: United Nations (Video News)

Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

———————————

Highlights:

Sudan
Chad
South Sudan
Yemen
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Democratic Republic of the Congo / Humanitarian
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Libya
Ukraine
Security Council
Human Development Report
Science, Technology and Innovation

SUDAN
Our humanitarian colleagues said they’re deeply concerned by the intensifying drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in Port Sudan, in the east of the country. Early this morning, drone attacks reportedly struck the airport area, a fuel storage facility and a power transformer.
While no UN personnel or facilities were directly affected by the strikes, OCHA said that the latest violence poses a growing risk to the safety of humanitarian staff and operations with flights of the UN Humanitarian Air Service both to and from Port Sudan still on hold.
Elsewhere in the country, prolonged power outages due to drone attacks targeting power stations and facilities continue to disrupt civilian life. This is the case in Northern State, where a one-month power blackout prevented farmers from running electrical water pumps, leading to the destruction of more than 84 square kilometres of crops. And in River Nile State, the targeted destruction of power infrastructure has led to severe water supply shortages.
Despite hostilities, we continue to provide assistance to the most vulnerable people. In East Darfur, humanitarian organizations are mobilizing aid for 35,000 people in the town of Ed Daein who fled there from Khartoum and Aj Jazirah States. And in Kassala State, we are scaling up water, sanitation and hygiene efforts and public health outreach to curb the spread of hepatitis E.

CHAD
And staying in the region, the UN Refugee Agency is gravely concerned by the rapidly increasing number of Sudanese refugees crossing into eastern Chad. Nearly 20,000 people – mostly women and children – have arrived there in the past two weeks alone.
This sudden influx reflects the escalating violence in Sudan’s North Darfur region, particularly in and around El Fasher, which is triggering mass displacement. Refugees arriving in Chad report that over 10,000 people are still en route, trying to reach the border to escape the violence.
A rapid protection assessment by UNHCR and its partners indicates that 76 per cent of the newly arrived refugees were subjected to serious protection incidents, including extortion, theft and sexual violence.
Chad already hosts 1.3 million refugees, including 794,000 arrivals from Sudan since the conflict started more than two years ago. While the country continues to show remarkable solidarity in hosting refugees, it cannot bear this burden alone.
UNHCR urges the international community to urgently step up support for the response. Only 20 per cent of the $409 million required to respond to the refugee crisis in Chad has been funded.

SOUTH SUDAN
Our peacekeeping colleagues in South Sudan tell us of continued air strikes in Fangak, a remote county in Jonglei state. According to reports received by the Mission last night, further aerial bombardments have allegedly taken place in and around New Fangak town, residential areas near the Phow river, and other locations.
The Mission is working with all partners to verify civilian displacement figures, facilitate assistance for communities who have been affected by these events, and reduce tensions. Guang Cong, the Mission’s Deputy Special Representative, said that such attacks contravene the Revitalized Peace Agreement and severely undermine efforts to build lasting peace in the country. He called on involved parties to prioritize civilian protection by pursuing an immediate ceasefire.

YEMEN
Hans Grundberg, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, said that the aerial attack carried out by Ansar Allah on Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, followed by strikes in response by Israel on Sana’a Airport and Hudaydah port in Yemen, mark a grave escalation in an already fragile and volatile regional context.
Mr. Grundberg once again urges all stakeholders to exercise the utmost restraint and refrain from escalatory actions that risk inflicting further suffering on civilians. It is imperative that all actors uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
A return to dialogue is the only sustainable path towards ensuring lasting safety and security for Yemen and the broader region, the Special Envoy said.

Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=06%20May%202025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXOEa0YwZEM

MIL OSI Video –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Cheap overseas, ruinous in Australia: here’s how to make double-glazed windows the norm
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trivess Moore, Associate Professor in Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University

New Africa/Shutterstock

In Europe, double-glazed windows are standard. But in Australia, these energy-saving windows are remarkably uncommon.

Correctly installed, the effect of double-glazing is remarkable. Instead of a house losing or gaining huge amounts of heat through its windows, double-glazed windows help keep the indoor temperature at a consistent temperature – reducing the need to crank up the air-con or heater.

In hot parts of Australia, these windows would keep out heat. In cold, they would keep heat in. They also slash outside noise. Houses with double-glazing can add resale value and even improve occupant health.

Why are they not standard? There are several reasons. But our research in Victoria found the main one is cost – double-glazing costs much more than a standard single-glazed window.

Heat loss and gain through windows is responsible for about 1.5% of Australia’s total energy use. As climate change intensifies, making double-glazing standard in Australia would cut household energy bills and make life indoors more pleasant. Other countries are moving to even higher performance triple-glazed windows. But Australia is stuck.

Why does double glazing work so well?

Windows let light and often air into a home. But they can also be the main way heat enters or leaves. Double-glazing works by adding a gap between two panes, often filled with dense argon gas, which doesn’t transfer heat well. The window frame material is important, too, to reduce heat transfer.

We measure the insulating quality of a window with a U-value – essentially, how much heat can be transferred through the glass. The lower this value, the more insulating the window.

A basic single-glazed window has a U-value of about 6. On a typical Australian home, these windows mean significant air conditioning is often required to maintain a comfortable temperature indoors during summer and winter.

Double-glazed windows with advanced design features common in North America and Europe typically have a U-value of 2.4 or less. When combined with wall and roof insulation, they can significantly reduce the need for heating or cooling. Triple-glazed are better still, with a U-value of 0.8 or less.

Many countries with snowy winters have taken to double-glazed windows as a way to reduce heating costs.
brizmaker/Shutterstock

Standard overseas, rare in Australia

In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and much of Europe, double-glazed windows have been the norm for several decades. Commonly, these windows use argon gas between the two sheets and improve insulation further with low emittance coatings, thin transparent layers of metal which block solar rays.

In many of these countries, single-glazed windows have largely disappeared and retrofitting older houses with double-glazing is routine.

Anyone embarking on a renovation in Australia will soon discover double-glazing tends to be seen as a specialist eco-retrofit measure rather than something done as standard.

In 2016, only 6% of windows installed in new houses in Australia had U-values below 4. In 2024, that figure was 19%, indicating high performance windows are slowly becoming more common. But there’s still much to do to make them the norm.

Why is progress slow? We spoke to stakeholders in window manufacturing and building in Australia.

These industry experts explained why Australia is lagging:
- historically low-cost energy means the typical response to heat or cold is to install air conditioning
- single-glazed windows have long been the norm
- Australians often haven’t heard of high-performance windows or understand why they matter
- only a few companies make these windows in Australia, meaning competition is limited and costs remain high
- at present, there’s no requirement to include double-glazed windows in new builds or renovations
- housing affordability issues mean owners want to keep upfront construction costs as low as possible.
Window manufacturers in Australia are interested in moving into double-glazing, but the demand isn’t there yet.
Anatoliy Cherkas/Shutterstock

What should be done?

In our research, many windows industry insiders told us they were ready to scale up production of higher performance windows. The skills and technologies needed are here. What’s missing was the demand.

When we interviewed builders, they told us the choice of windows wasn’t simple. They had to weigh up material costs, existing supplier relationships and industry practices. Some told us it was cheaper at times to import from Europe or Asia than to buy Australian-made.

In part, this is a chicken and egg problem. Prices are high because there’s little demand and demand is limited because prices are high.

So what should be done?

Overseas experience has shown boosting demand is the key. If double-glazed windows become more common, more manufacturers will enter the Australian market and prices will drop.

The quickest way to do this would be to require their use in new construction and renovation.

At first, the industry might struggle to meet this demand. But that would create clear incentives for new players here or overseas to meet the demand.

Government support could help window manufacturers upgrade machinery and processes to be able to meet new demand.

Subsidies could help offset the costs to households, if designed to sunset after a set period. Any subsidies should target groups such as vulnerable older Australians affected by energy poverty as well as renters on low incomes.

Making this a reality is doable. After all, New Zealand did exactly this. In 2007, policymakers introduced new minimum performance requirements for windows. It took about four years to shift the market from single-glazed to predominantly double-glazed. Australia could do the same.

Trivess Moore has received funding from various organisations including the Australian Research Council, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Victorian government and various industry partners. He is a trustee of the Fuel Poverty Research Network.

Lisa de Kleyn received funding from Sustainability Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3000, for a short-term research project on the high performance window industry in 2023.

Ralph Horne has received funding from various sources including the Australian Research Council, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the Victorian government to support research related to this topic.

Tom Simko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Cheap overseas, ruinous in Australia: here’s how to make double-glazed windows the norm – https://theconversation.com/cheap-overseas-ruinous-in-australia-heres-how-to-make-double-glazed-windows-the-norm-250280
MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –
May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Maria Salazar Leads Bill to Boost U.S. Blue Economy and Support Coastal Communities

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar’s (FL-27)

span>WASHINGTON, D.C.—Last week, U.S. Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and U.S. Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Cantwell (D-WA) introduced H.R. 3048to strengthen coastal communities and the blue economy across the U.S.— through advanced research and development, job creation, and private-sector partnerships. The bipartisan, bicameral Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation (Ocean ROI) Act, would direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish “Ocean Innovation Clusters” and assist with their operation.

Specifically, the Ocean ROI Act requires the Secretary of Commerce—acting through the administrator of the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and in consultation with the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—to designate at least one ocean innovation cluster in each of the five NOAA Fisheries regions, Gulf of America region, and the Great Lakes region. The bill would also authorize competitive grants for cluster operation and administration to support ocean innovation clusters at the federal level.

“Miami’s beautiful coasts and pristine waters provide Florida with billions in tourism and commerce every year, and I am committed to preserving them for generations to come,” said Rep. Salazar. “I am proud to reintroduce this legislation to promote Miami’s development and improve our environment through the sustainable use of our oceans. The blue economy and the opportunities it provides are growing, and there is no better place to invest the best we have in research and technology than right here in South Florida.”

“Ocean innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it relies on strong federal partnerships and trusted scientific institutions and federal agencies. As the Trump Administration doubles down on its attacks against climate research and ocean science, it’s more important than ever that Congress step up,” said Rep. Pingree. “The Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act is a bipartisan, bicameral effort to invest in our Blue Economy, boost ocean-based industries, and strengthen the resilience of coastal communities from the Gulf of Maine to the Bering Sea. Congresswoman Salazar, Senator Murkowski, Senator Cantwell, and I represent some of the most iconic and vulnerable coastlines in the nation. We know just how vital the ocean is to our economies, our environment, and our future. The United States should be leading the world in ocean innovation, not dismantling the partnerships that make it possible.”

“A strong blue economy will require strong coordination and creativity, and that’s why I’m leading this effort to invest in our ocean clusters and take advantage of the opportunities for innovation and collaboration,” said Sen. Murkowski. “This effort doesn’t just focus on the untapped economic potential of our blue economy, but also ensures that collaboration is at the center of any conversation or effort to address the impacts of climate change on our coastal communities. By providing incentives and workspaces for Alaskans in maritime and maritime-adjacent industries, we can achieve real progress in strengthening the blue economy.”

“From protecting orcas from vessel noise, to transitioning to a carbon-free future for our ports and maritime industry, Washington’s ocean cluster, called Maritime Blue, is working hard to solve complex challenges facing our economy,” said Sen. Cantwell. “This bill would build on their success by creating a new grant program to fund ocean innovation clusters and grow Washington’s $60 billion maritime economy.”

“Regional innovation clusters bring credibility, coordination, and effective interdisciplinary collaboration to current and emerging BlueTech ecosystems like ours in South Florida,” said Daniel Kleinman, founder & CEO of the Seaworthy Collective. “As a co-lead of one of NOAA and Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS)’s Ocean Enterprise Accelerators, The Continuum, we’re excited to see this bipartisan support for regional ocean innovation clusters to further demonstrate NOAA’s critical role in growing blue businesses, innovation ecosystems, and economies from coast to coast.”

“There has never been a more important time to support investment in blue economy ventures that add value to our coastal resources and lay the foundation for the industries of the future,” said Patrick Arnold of the New England Ocean Cluster in Portland, Maine. “Strategic policy support can help accelerate innovation, attract private capital, and create resilient, high-quality jobs in coastal communities—positioning the United States as a global leader in sustainable ocean-based industries.”

“TMA BlueTech enthusiastically supports the reintroduction of the Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act. This legislation is a pivotal step toward bolstering America’s maritime industrial base by fostering advanced maritime defense technologies, smart maritime systems and regional innovation clusters,” said Matt Classen at TMA BlueTech in San Diego.“By promoting cross-sector collaboration, workforce development, and technological advancement, the Act complements national efforts like the SHIPS for America Act, which aims to revitalize U.S. shipbuilding and expand our commercial fleet. Together, these initiatives will enhance our nation’s maritime capabilities, economic resilience, and global competitiveness.”

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: NPCC creating Nine Policing Academic Centres of Excellence (P-ACEs)
Source: United Kingdom National Police Chiefs Council

NPCC, in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), have funded £4.5 million to launch nine Policing Academic Centres of Excellence (P-ACEs) in October 2025.
Working closely with Forces, the P-ACEs will drive collaboration among academia and policing. They will ensure that policing is shaped by the latest and best scientific expertise, and that the UK’s leading researchers are able to challenge and innovate in partnership with policing as together we strive to improve public safety.

Each Policing Academic Centre of Excellence will be promoted across the policing sector as an accessible source of leading academic experts aligned with Policing’s Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) and evidence needs. The P-ACEs will support policing with adopting new technologies, developing new tools and techniques, improving training and skills, and increasing public safety.

Professor Paul Taylor, Police Chief Scientific Adviser, said:

“Academia and policing have a long history of collaborative working on issues as diverse as forensic science, crime prevention, and analytical technologies. The P-ACEs will fortify this connection, providing a focal point for research and knowledge exchange.

I’m particularly excited about what the P-ACEs can bring to early career scientists who are interested in tackling the complex challenge of keeping the UK public safe. The P-ACE community will, I hope, provide them more opportunities and greater support as we look to forge deep and lasting partnerships over the next decade.”

Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), said:

“The Policing Academic Centres of Excellence will forge closer relationships between police forces and researchers, providing the police with data and evidence to make the justice system work better. By bringing experts in policing practice together with social scientists and data scientists across the country, the centres will provide knowledge and insights to drive service improvement. These centres of excellence demonstrate our commitment to reducing crime and making Britain a safer place.”

The two key functions of the P-ACEs are to:
- mobilise, showcase and make accessible to policing key insights, findings and outputs from their work
- respond to the evidence needs, questions and problems raised by policing and work with policing to co-develop new research and knowledge exchange activities
The following universities have been selected to be P-ACEs:
- Edinburgh Napier University, with Glasgow Caledonian University, University of St Andrews and University of Edinburgh
- Lancaster University
- Manchester Metropolitan University, with University of Manchester
- Nottingham Trent University
- University College London
- University of Bath
- University of Birmingham, with Aston University and University of Leicester
- University of Leeds, with University of York
- University of Portsmouth
For updates about the P-ACEs visit: Policing Academic Centres of Excellence
MIL Security OSI –
May 7, 2025

MIL-OSI: First quarter 2025 results: EUR 200 million net income in Q1 2025

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Press release
07 May 2025 – N° 10

First quarter 2025 results

EUR 200 million net income in Q1 2025

Group net income of EUR 200 million in Q1 2025 driven by all business activities (EUR 195 million adjusted¹)
- P&C combined ratio of 85.0%, despite LA wildfires and buffer building
- L&H insurance service result² of EUR 118 million
- Investments regular income yield of 3.5%
IFRS 17 Group Economic Value³ of EUR 9.0 billion as of 31 March 2025, up +6.8% at constant economics^3,⁴ . The Economic Value per share stands at EUR 51 (vs. EUR 48 as of 31 December 2024)
Estimated Group solvency ratio of 212%⁵ as of 31 March 2025, up 2 points from FY 2024
Annualized Return on Equity of 18.7% (18.3% adjusted¹) in Q1 2025

SCOR SE’s Board of Directors met on 6 May 2025, under the chair of Fabrice Brégier, to approve the Group’s Q1 2025 financial statements.

Thierry Léger, Chief Executive Officer of SCOR, comments: “I am satisfied with the first quarter results. All business activities contribute to a strong consolidated Group net income. The P&C performance continues to be excellent with a combined ratio of 85%, after absorbing elevated Nat Cat events during the quarter and allowing for an additional level of prudence building. L&H improves its insurance service results with a neutral experience variance. In Investments, SCOR benefits from an elevated return on invested assets. Overall, we are starting the year with a high ROE of 18.7% and an improved solvency ratio of 212%, supported by positive net operating capital generation.”

Group performance and context

SCOR records EUR 200 million net income (EUR 195 million adjusted¹) in Q1 2025, supported by all business activities:

In P&C, the combined ratio of 85.0% in Q1 2025 is primarily driven by a low attritional loss and commission ratio of 74.7% reflecting an excellent underlying performance and allowing for buffer building. The natural catastrophe claims ratio stands at 12.5% mainly driven by losses related to the LA wildfires.
In L&H, the insurance service result² stands at EUR 118 million in Q1 2025, driven by a level of CSM amortization and risk adjustment release in line with expectations, and a neutral experience variance.
In Investments, SCOR benefits from an elevated regular income yield of 3.5% in Q1 2025 along with continued attractive reinvestment rates.
The effective tax rate stands at 29.7% for Q1 2025.

The annualized Return on Equity stands at 18.7% (18.3% adjusted¹) in Q1 2025 and the Group Economic Value increases by 6.8% at constant economics^3,⁴.

SCOR’s Solvency ratio is estimated at 212% at the end of Q1 2025, up 2 points versus FY 2024, from positive net operating capital generation.

April P&C reinsurance treaty renewals

During the April 2025 renewals, SCOR continues to grow strategically in its preferred lines, maintaining its underwriting discipline in a softening market context.

EGPI increases by +1.5% on the business up for renewal in April, with significant growth of the Alternative Solutions book (EGPI +33.0%) while Specialty Lines increase by +3.8%, driven by Marine. Exposure to US Casualty is further reduced. As a reminder, premiums renewed in April represent
c. 12% of total P&C reinsurance premiums.

In a more competitive environment for the April renewals, net technical profitability on the renewed business is expected to deteriorate by 1 point. On a year-to-date basis, the net technical profitability is expected to deteriorate by less than 0.5 point. SCOR is successfully weathering a softening market thanks to its strategy of growing in a profitable and diversified way.

For the upcoming renewals in 2025, SCOR expects pricing to be competitive on loss-free programs. Nevertheless, the overall profitability of SCOR’s business mix should remain very attractive.

On-going excellent P&C underlying performance

In Q1 2025, P&C insurance revenue stands at EUR 1,858 million, down -0.7% at constant exchange rates (up +1.2% at current exchange rates) compared to Q1 2024. Strong growth in the Reinsurance segment from preferred lines is mostly offset by reduced business in US Casualty reinsurance and in SCOR Business Solutions.

New business CSM in Q1 2025 stands at EUR 710 million, up +9.0% at current exchange rates, supported by growth stemming from business renewed in January.

P&C (re)insurance key figures:

In EUR million (at current exchange rates)	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	Variation
P&C insurance revenue	1,858	1,837	1.2%
P&C insurance service result	205	181	13.3%
Combined ratio	85.0%	87.1%	-2.1pts
P&C new business CSM	710	651	9.0%

The P&C combined ratio stands at 85.0% in Q1 2025, compared to 87.1% in Q1 2024. It includes:

A Nat Cat ratio of 12.5%, mainly impacted by the losses related to the LA wildfires (10.8 pts).
An attritional loss and commission ratio of 74.7%, reflecting a very satisfactory underlying performance and continued buffer building.
A discount effect of -9.3%, reflecting the higher locked-in rates relating to a large share of US claims including the LA wildfire losses.
An attributable expense ratio of 7.8%.

The P&C insurance service result of EUR 205 million is driven by a CSM amortization of
EUR 255 million, a risk adjustment release of EUR 40 million, a negative experience variance of
EUR -95 million, and an onerous contract impact of EUR 6 million. The negative experience variance reflects mainly higher-than-expected Nat Cat experience, lower-than-expected insurance revenue and buffer building.

Delivering a L&H insurance service result of EUR 118 million

In Q1 2025, L&H insurance revenue stands at EUR 2,205 million, down -5.8% at constant exchange rates (-3.1% at current exchange rates) compared to Q1 2024. L&H New Business CSM⁶ generation of EUR 76 million in Q1 reflects the updated L&H new business strategy and the implementation of higher return thresholds.

The L&H insurance service result² amounts to EUR 118 million in Q1 2025. It includes:

A CSM amortization of EUR 86 million.
A Risk Adjustment release of EUR 32 million.
An experience variance of EUR 2 million, including a neutral experience variance in the US.
A negative impact of onerous contracts of EUR -6 million.

L&H reinsurance key figures:

In EUR million (at current exchange rates)	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	Variation
L&H insurance revenue	2,205	2,276	-3.1%
L&H insurance service result²	118	72	64.9%
L&H new business CSM⁷	76	112	-32.5%

Investments delivering a return on invested assets of 3.8%

As of 31 March 2025, total invested assets amount to EUR 24.3 billion. SCOR’s asset mix is optimized, with 79% of the portfolio invested in fixed income. SCOR has a high-quality fixed income portfolio with an average rating of A+, and a duration of 3.9 years.

Investments key figures:

In EUR million (at current exchange rates)	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	Variation
Total invested assets	24,330	22,962	6.0%
Regular income yield⁽^*⁾	3.5%	3.5%	0.0pt
Return on invested assets⁽^^),(^*⁾	3.8%	3.4%	0.4pts

(*) Annualized;
(**) Fair value through income on invested assets excludes EUR 7 million in Q1 2025 related to the pre-tax mark to market impact of the fair value of the option on own shares granted to SCOR.

Total investment income on invested assets stands at EUR 226⁷ million in Q1 2025. The return on invested assets stands at 3.8%⁷ (vs. 3.3% in Q4 2024) and the regular income yield at 3.5% (vs. 3.6% in Q4 2024).

The reinvestment rate stands at 4.3%⁸ as of 31 March 2025, compared to 4.5% as of 31 December 2024. The invested assets portfolio remains highly liquid and financial cash flows of EUR 9.0 billion are expected over the next 24 months⁹, enabling SCOR to benefit from elevated reinvestment rates.

* *

APPENDIX

1 – SCOR Group Q1 2025 key financial details

In EUR million (at current exchange rates)	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	Variation
Insurance revenue	4,063	4,113	-1.2%
Gross written premiums¹	4,908	4,953	-0.9%
Insurance Service Result²	324	253	+27.9%
Management expenses	-301	-294	-2.4%
Annualized ROE³	18.7%	17.3%	+1.4pts
Annualized ROE excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares	18.3%	15.5%	+2.8pts
Net income^3,4	200	196	+1.7%
Net income⁴ excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares	195	176	+10.5%
Economic value^5,6	9,035	9,639	-6.3%
Shareholders’ equity	4,582	4,958	-7.6%
Contractual Service Margin (CSM)⁶	4,453	4,681	-4.9%

1: GWP is not a metric defined under the IFRS 17 accounting framework (non-GAAP metric);
2: Including revenues on financial contracts reported under IFRS 9;
3: Taking into account the mark to market impact of the option on own shares. Q1 2025 impact of EUR 7 million before tax;
4: Consolidated net income, Group share;
5. Defined as the sum of the shareholders’ equity and the Contractual Service Margin (CSM);
6: Net of tax. A notional tax rate of 25% is applied to the CSM.

2 – P&L key figures Q1 2025

In EUR million (at current exchange rates)	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	Variation
Insurance revenue	4,063	4,113	-1.2%
P&C insurance revenue	1,858	1,837	+1.2%
L&H insurance revenue	2,205	2,276	-3.1%
Gross written premiums¹	4,908	4,953	-0.9%
P&C gross written premiums	2,509	2,427	+3.4%
L&H gross written premiums	2,399	2,526	-5.0%
Investment income on invested assets	226	193	+17.3%
Operating results	317	287	+10.6%
Net income^2,3	200	196	+1.7%
Net income²excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares	195	176	+10.5%
Earnings per share³(EUR)	1.12	1.10	+1.8%
Earnings per share (EUR) excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares	1.09	0.98	+10.7%
Operating cash flow	150	151	-0.7%

1: GWP is not a metric defined under the IFRS 17 accounting framework (non-GAAP metric);
2: Consolidated net income, Group share;
3: Taking into account the mark to market impact of the option on own shares. Q1 2025 impact of EUR 7 million before tax.

3 – P&L key ratios Q1 2025

	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	Variation
Return on invested assets^1,2	3.8%	3.4%	+0.4pts
P&C combined ratio³	85.0%	87.1%	-2.1pts
Annualized ROE⁴	18.7%	17.3%	+1.4pts
Annualized ROE excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares	18.3%	15.5%	+2.8pts
Economic Value growth⁵	6.8%	4.1%	+2.7pts

1: Annualized;
2: In Q1 2025, fair value through income on invested assets excludes EUR 7 million pre-tax mark to market impact of the fair value of the option on own shares granted to SCOR;
3: The combined ratio is the sum of the total claims, the total variables commissions, and the P&C attributable management expenses, divided by the net insurance revenue for P&C business;
4: Taking into account the mark to market impact of the option on own shares. Q1 2025 impact of EUR 7 million before tax;
5: Not annualized. Growth at constant economic assumptions and excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares. The starting point is adjusted for the dividend of EUR 1.8 per share (EUR 322 million in total) for the fiscal year 2024, paid on 6 May 2025. Economic Value defined as the sum of the shareholders’ equity and the Contractual Service Margin (CSM), net of tax. A notional tax rate of 25% is applied to the CSM.

4 – Balance sheet key figures as of 31 March 2025

In EUR million (at current exchange rates)	As of 31 March 2025	As of 31 December 2024	Variation
Total invested assets¹	24,330	24,155	+0.7%
Shareholders’ equity	4,582	4,524	+1.3%
Book value per share (EUR)	25.63	25.22	+1.6%
Economic Value²	9,035	8,615	+4.9%
Economic Value per share (EUR)³	50.53	48.03	+5.2%
Financial leverage ratio⁴	23.6%	24.5%	-0.9pts
Total liquidity⁵	2,210	2,466	-10.4%

1: Excluding third-party net insurance business investments;
2: The Economic Value (defined as the sum of the shareholders’ equity and the Contractual Service Margin (CSM), net of tax) includes minority interests;
3: The Economic Value per share excludes minority interests;
4: The leverage ratio is calculated as the percentage of subordinated debt compared to the sum of Economic Value and subordinated debt in IFRS 17;
5: Including cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.

* *

SCOR, a leading global reinsurer

As a leading global reinsurer, SCOR offers its clients a diversified and innovative range of reinsurance and insurance solutions and services to control and manage risk. Applying “The Art & Science of Risk”, SCOR uses its industry-recognized expertise and cutting-edge financial solutions to serve its clients and contribute to the welfare and resilience of society.

The Group generated premiums of EUR 20.1 billion in 2024 and serves clients in more than 150 countries from its 37 offices worldwide.

For more information, visit: www.scor.com

Media Relations
Alexandre Garcia
media@scor.com

Investor Relations
Thomas Fossard
InvestorRelations@scor.com

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All content published by the SCOR group since January 1, 2024, is certified with Wiztrust. You can check the authenticity of this content at wiztrust.com.

General

Numbers presented throughout this press release may not add up precisely to the totals in the tables and text. Percentages and percent changes are calculated on complete figures (including decimals); therefore, this press release might contain immaterial differences in sums and percentages due to rounding. Unless otherwise specified, the sources for the business ranking and market positions are internal.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy SCOR securities in any jurisdiction.

Forward-looking statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements, assumptions, and information about SCOR’s financial condition, results, business, strategy, plans and objectives, including in relation to SCOR’s current or future projects.

These statements are sometimes identified by the use of the future tense or conditional mode, or terms such as “estimate”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “have the objective”, “intend to”, “plan”, “result in”, “should”, and other similar expressions.

It should be noted that the achievement of these objectives, forward-looking statements, assumptions and information is dependent on circumstances and facts that may or may not arise in the future.

No guarantee can be given regarding the achievement of these forward-looking statements, assumptions and information. These forward-looking statements, assumptions and information are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements, assumptions and information (including on objectives) may be impacted by known or unknown risks, identified or unidentified uncertainties and other factors that may significantly alter the future results, performance and accomplishments planned or expected by SCOR.

In particular, it should be noted that the full impact of economic, financial and geopolitical risks on SCOR’s business and results cannot be accurately assessed.

Therefore, any assessments, any assumptions and, more generally, any figures presented in this press release will necessarily be estimates based on evolving analyses, and encompass a wide range of theoretical hypotheses, which are highly evolutive.

Information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect SCOR’s business is set forth in the 2024 Universal Registration Document filed on March 20, 2025, under number n°D.25-0124 with the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) posted on SCOR’s website www.scor.com and on the website of the AMF www.amf-france.org.

In addition, such forward-looking statements, assumptions and information are not “profit forecasts” within the meaning of Article 1 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/980.

SCOR has no intention and does not undertake to complete, update, revise or change these forward-looking statements, assumptions and information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Financial information

The Group’s financial information contained in this press release is prepared on the basis of IFRS and interpretations issued and approved by the European Union.

Unless otherwise specified, prior-year balance sheet, income statement items and ratios have not been reclassified.

The calculation of financial ratios (such as return on invested assets, regular income yield, return on equity and combined ratio) is detailed in the Appendices of the presentation related to the financial results of Q1 2025. The financial results for the first quarter 2025 included in this press release have not been audited by SCOR’s statutory auditors. Unless otherwise specified, all figures are presented in Euros.

Any figures or financial results for a period subsequent to March 31, 2025 should not be taken as a forecast of the expected financials for these periods

¹ Adjusted by excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares.
² Includes revenues on financial contracts reported under IFRS 9.

³ Defined as the sum of the shareholders’ equity and the Contractual Service Margin (CSM), net of tax. 25% notional tax rate applied on CSM.
⁴ Growth at constant economic assumptions as of 31 December 2024, excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares.

⁵ Solvency ratio estimated after taking into account the accrual for the first three months based on the dividend paid for the fiscal year 2024 (EUR 1.8 per share).
⁶ Includes the CSM on new treaties and change in CSM on existing treaties due to new business (i.e. new business on existing contracts).
⁷ Excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares. Q1 2025 impact of EUR 7 million before tax.

⁸ Reinvestment rate is based on Q1 2025 asset allocation of yielding asset classes (i.e. fixed income, loans and real estate), according to current reinvestment duration assumptions. Yield curves & spreads as of 31/03/2025.
⁹ As of 31 March 2025. Including current cash balances and future coupons and redemptions.

Attachment

SCOR Press Release

The MIL Network –

May 7, 2025

MIL-OSI: Karolinska Development’s portfolio company Umecrine Cognition presents data validating novel clinical scale in PBC at EASL 2025
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – May 7, 2025. Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) today announces that its portfolio company Umecrine Cognition will attend the EASL Congress 2025 in Amsterdam, May 7–10, to present validation and implementation data for the newly developed clinical scale for Primary Biliary Cholangitis, PBC.

Umecrine Cognition is developing a new class of drugs to alleviate cognitive symptoms caused by liver disease. The company’s drug candidate golexanolone is currently being evaluated in a clinical Phase 2a study in PBC. At EASL 2025 (European Association for the Study of the Liver), Umecrine Cognition will present validation and implementation data for the newly developed clinical scale CGI-S-PBC™ (Clinical Global Impression of Severity Scale for Primary Biliary Cholangitis), which was partly developed by the company and is currently being used in the ongoing clinical trial with golexanolone.

The scale was designed to evaluate symptom severity in PBC patients that cannot be measured by conventional laboratory tests. The newly developed CGI-S-PBC™ scale is a more objective, anchor-based clinical outcome scale that expands on the patient-reported outcome measure PBC-40, and the validation and implementation were recently documented in two separate studies along with the current use in the clinical Phase 2a trial.

Abstracts summarizing the validation and implementation of CGI-S-PBC™ will be presented at the on-site paper poster session “Immune-mediated and cholestatic disease: Clinical aspects” on Thursday, May 8, with the title: “Validation of the clinical global impression severity scale for primary biliary cholangitis: a clinical trials outcome tool,” and “Implementation of a clinical global impression severity scale for primary biliary cholangitis: results of a hepatologist focused training program”.

Karolinska Development’s ownership in Umecrine Cognition amounts to 73%.

For further information, please contact:

Viktor Drvota, CEO, Karolinska Development AB
Phone: +46 73 982 52 02, e-mail: viktor.drvota@karolinskadevelopment.com

Johan Dighed, General Counsel and Deputy CEO, Karolinska Development AB
Phone: +46 70 207 48 26, e-mail: johan.dighed@karolinskadevelopment.com

TO THE EDITORS

About Karolinska Development AB

Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) is a Nordic life sciences investment company. The company focuses on identifying breakthrough medical innovations in the Nordic region that are developed by entrepreneurs and leadership teams. The company invests in the creation and growth of companies that advance these assets into commercial products that are designed to make a difference to patient’s lives while providing an attractive return on investment to shareholders.

Karolinska Development has access to world-class medical innovations at the Karolinska Institutet and other leading universities and research institutes in the Nordic region. The company aims to build companies around scientists who are leaders in their fields, supported by experienced management teams and advisers, and co-funded by specialist international investors, to provide the greatest chance of success.

Karolinska Development has a portfolio of eleven companies targeting opportunities in innovative treatment for life-threatening or serious debilitating diseases.

The company is led by an entrepreneurial team of investment professionals with a proven track record as company builders and with access to a strong global network.

For more information, please visit www.karolinskadevelopment.com.

Attachment
- KD Umecrine Cognition EASL eng
The MIL Network –
May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Quantum Sensing via Matter-Wave Interferometry Aboard the International Space Station

Source: NASA

Future space missions could use quantum technologies to help us understand the physical laws that govern the universe, explore the composition of other planets and their moons, gain insights into unexplained cosmological phenomena, or monitor ice sheet thickness and the amount of water in underground aquafers on Earth.

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL), a first-of-its-kind facility aboard the International Space Station, has performed a series of trailblazing experiments based on the quantum properties of ultracold atoms. The tool used to perform these experiments is called an atom interferometer, and it can precisely measure gravity, magnetic fields, and other forces.
Atom interferometers are currently being used on Earth to study the fundamental nature of gravity and are also being developed to aid aircraft and ship navigation, but use of an atom interferometer in space will enable innovative science capabilities.
Physicists have been eager to apply atom interferometry in space, both to enable new measurements for space science and to capitalize on the extended free-fall conditions found in space. This could enable researchers to achieve unprecedented performance from these quantum sensors.
These interferometers, however, require exquisitely sensitive equipment, and they were previously considered too fragile to function for extended periods without hands-on attention. The Cold Atom Lab, which is operated remotely from Earth, has now demonstrated that it is possible to conduct atom interferometry in space. The CAL Science Team has published two papers so far documenting these experimental milestones.

The results of the first study, published in the November 2023 issue of Nature, described the demonstration of simultaneous atom interferometry with both rubidium and potassium quantum gases for the first time in space. The dual-species atom interferometer not only exhibited robust and repeatable operation of atom interferometry in Earth orbit, but it also served as a pathfinder for future experiments that aim to use quantum gases to test the universality of free fall, a key tenet of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
In the second study, the results of which were featured in the August 2024 issue of Nature Communications, members of the science team used the CAL atom interferometer to measure subtle vibrations of the space station and to remotely measure the frequency of the atom interferometer laser— the first time ultra-cold atoms have been used to detect changes in the surrounding environment in space. This paper also reported on the demonstration of the wave-like nature of matter persisting for the longest ever freefall time (over a tenth of a second) in space.
“Reaching these milestones was incredibly challenging, and our success was not always a given,” said Jason Williams, the Cold Atom Lab project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It took dedication and a sense of adventure by the team to make this happen.”
Space-based sensors that can measure gravity with high precision have a wide range of potential applications. They could reveal the composition of planets and moons in our solar system, because different materials have different densities that create subtle variations in gravity.
The U.S.-German GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on) mission is currently collecting gravity measurements using classical sensors that detect slight changes in gravity to track the movement of water and ice on Earth. A future mission using atom interferometry could provide better precision and stability, revealing even more detail about surface mass changes.
Precise measurements of gravity could also offer insights into the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two major cosmological mysteries. Dark matter is an invisible substance that makes up about 27% of the universe, while the “regular” matter that composes planets, stars, and everything else we can see makes up only 5%. Dark energy makes up the remaining 68% of the universe and is the driver of the universe’s accelerating expansion.
“Atom interferometry could also be used to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity in new ways,” said University of Virginia professor Cass Sackett, a Cold Atom Lab principal investigator. “This is the basic theory explaining the large-scale structure of our universe, and we know that there are aspects of the theory that we don’t understand correctly. This technology may help us fill in those gaps and give us a more complete picture of the reality we inhabit.”
About the size of a minifridge, the Cold Atom Lab launched to the space station in 2018 with the goal of advancing quantum science by placing a long-term facility in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit. The lab cools atoms to almost absolute zero, or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273 degrees Celsius). At this temperature, some atoms can form a Bose-Einstein condensate, a state of matter in which all atoms essentially share the same quantum identity. As a result, some of the atoms’ typically microscopic quantum properties become macroscopic, making them easier to study.
Quantum properties can sometimes cause atoms to act like solid objects and sometimes like waves. Scientists don’t yet entirely understand how the building blocks of matter can transition between such different physical behaviors, but they’re using quantum technology like what’s available on the Cold Atom Lab to seek answers.
In microgravity, Bose-Einstein condensates can reach colder temperatures and can exist for longer, giving scientists more opportunities to study them. The atom interferometer is among several tools in the CAL facility enabling precision measurements by harnessing the quantum nature of atoms.

Due to its wave-like behavior, a single atom can simultaneously travel two physically separate paths. If gravity or other forces are acting on those waves, scientists can measure that influence by observing how the waves recombine and interact.
“I expect that space-based atom interferometry will lead to exciting new discoveries, fantastic quantum technologies impacting everyday life, and will transport us into a quantum future,” said Nick Bigelow, a professor at University of Rochester in New York and Cold Atom Lab principal investigator for a consortium of U.S. and German scientists who co-authored the studies cited above.
Designed and built at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cold Atom Lab is sponsored by the Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the Agency’s headquarters in Washington DC and the International Space Station Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The work carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, was executed under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Learn more about Cold Atom Lab at https://coldatomlab.jpl.nasa.gov/
Just how cold are the atoms in Cold Atom Lab? Find out at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7311
To learn more about the Cold Atom Lab’s recent upgrades visit https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/upgrading-the-space-stations-cold-atom-lab-with-mixed-reality and https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7660
Project Lead: Kamal Oudrhiri, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Sponsoring Organization: Biological and Physical Sciences Division (BPS)

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Microsoft and FFA help students use smart sensors and AI to learn about the future of farming

Source: Microsoft

Headline: Microsoft and FFA help students use smart sensors and AI to learn about the future of farming

Partnership expands FarmBeats for Students program to all 50 states to help grow next generation of farmers

REDMOND, Wash. — May 6, 2025 — Microsoft Corp. and the National FFA Organization on Tuesday announced the national expansion of FarmBeats for Students, a cutting-edge educational program integrating smart sensors, data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to teach precision agriculture in classrooms. Starting today, FFA teachers and students throughout the United States, including FFA chapters in 185 middle and high schools, will receive a classroom set of FarmBeats for Students kits free of charge. The kits include ready-to-use sensor systems along with curriculum for teachers and are designed for classrooms of all kinds; no prior technical experience is required.

More and more farmers are adopting advanced technology, including automating systems such as tractors and harvesters and using drones and data analysis to intervene early against pests and disease, to maximize crop yield, optimize resource usage, and adjust to changing weather patterns. Gaining hands-on experience with machine automation, data science and AI will help American agricultural students remain competitive in the global market.

Using the FarmBeats for Students kits and free curriculum, students build environmental sensor systems and use AI to monitor soil moisture and detect nutrient deficiencies — allowing them to understand what is happening with their plants and make data-driven decisions in real time. Students can adapt the kit to challenges unique to their region — such as drought, frost and pests — providing them with practical experience in tackling real-world issues in their hometowns.

“Microsoft is committed to ensuring students and teachers have the tools they need to succeed in today’s tech-driven world, and that includes giving students hands-on experience with precision farming, data science and AI,” said Mary Snapp, Microsoft vice president, Strategic Initiatives. “By teaming up with FFA to bring FarmBeats for Students to students across the country, we hope to inspire the next generation of agriculture leaders and equip them with the skills to tackle any and all challenges as they guide us into the future.”

“Our partnership with Microsoft exemplifies the power of collaboration in addressing industry needs while fostering personal and professional growth among students,” said Christine White, chief program officer, National FFA Organization. “Supporting agricultural education and leadership development is crucial for shaping the next generation of innovators and problem solvers. Programs like this equip students with technical knowledge, confidence and adaptability to thrive in diverse and evolving industries. Investing in these young minds today sets the stage for a more sustainable, innovative and resilient agricultural future.”

In addition, teachers, students or parents interested in FarmBeats for Students can purchase a kit for $35 at this link and receive free training at Microsoft Learn.

Any educator interested in implementing the FarmBeats for Students program can now access a new, free comprehensive course on the Microsoft Educator Learn Center, providing training on precision agriculture, data science and AI, allowing teachers to earn professional development hours and badges.

FarmBeats for Students was co-developed by Microsoft, FFA and agriculture educators. The program aligns with the AI for K-12 initiative guidelines; Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources career standards; Computer Science Teachers Association standards; and Common Core math standards.

For more information about FarmBeats for Students, visit aka.ms/FBFS.

About National FFA Organization

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 1,027,200 student members as part of 9,235 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, We. Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit Microsoft Source at https://news.microsoft.com/source. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

MIL OSI Economics –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Introduces Global Themes To Unite Student Innovators Worldwide

Source: Samsung

Samsung Electronics is unveiling global themes for its youth innovation program Samsung Solve for Tomorrow in a bold step to empower young people around the world to solve challenges together and drive positive social change.

Sustainability and Social Change Explored by Youth Around the World
Launched in the United States in 2010, Solve for Tomorrow is a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education competition that has reached more than 2.9 million students across 68 countries over the past 15 years. The program encourages students to propose creative solutions to social issues in their local communities, helping them build essential critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Starting in 2025 with the introduction of global themes, Solve for Tomorrow will go one step further to evolve into a platform for youth to collaborate and address universal problems that transcend local boundaries.

This year’s global themes are “Environmental Sustainability via Technology” and “Social Change through Sport & Technology with International Olympic Committee.”

“Environmental issues are among the most difficult challenges facing humanity today,” said Soojin Kim, Head of the Corporate Sustainability Center at Samsung Electronics. “We are pleased to join youth around the world on this journey to overcome these issues with technology.”

▲ A poster celebrating the 15th anniversary of Solve for Tomorrow and introducing the global themes

Global Themes Selected Through ‘Together for Tomorrow’ Olympic Partnership
As the Worldwide smartphone Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games last year, IOC and Samsung partnered to launch ‘Together for Tomorrow, Enabling People’ — a digital community created to complement Solve for Tomorrow. The platform aims to engage young people from across the globe with the Olympic Movement and harness the transformative power of technology and sport to drive meaningful change.

During the Olympic Games Paris 2024, 10 students from the winning teams of the previous year’s Solve for Tomorrow program served as ambassadors for “Together for Tomorrow, Enabling People.”

The theme “Social Change Through Sport & Technology” was voted on by the public in the Together for Tomorrow, Enabling People community. Samsung and IOC plan to appoint individuals who exemplify this theme as global ambassadors and collaborate with them to develop solutions.

“We are delighted to work with our Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung on the creation of this new sport-driven theme,” said Ollie Dudfield, Associate Director of Olympism 365 at IOC. “It’s an exciting step forward in line with the ambitions of IOC’s Olympism 365 strategy — empowering young people around the world to think boldly about how sport and technology can drive positive change.’’

Leveraging Samsung’s Expertise To Strengthen Support for Participants
Samsung is leveraging its unique resources and expertise to strengthen Solve for Tomorrow. By integrating the Samsung Design Thinking methodology into the program, the company hopes to encourage the development of practical, user-centered solutions. Samsung also plans to expand employee mentoring to help participants further refine their ideas with guidance from experts with real-world experience.

IOC Young Leaders Programme will also have a role to play in helping students understand how sport and technology can mix to generate innovative solutions to social challenges. “Through Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, I’ve learned that even a small idea can spark big change,” said Solve for Tomorrow US ambassador Ngan Huu Kim Le.

“Working alongside friends from around the world motivates me to keep seeking creative solutions for a better future.”

Solve for Tomorrow 2025 recently kicked off in Vietnam and India, and will soon be launched in Indonesia, Türkiye, Singapore and other countries. Spanning months from the qualifiers to the finals, the program will award winning teams, depending on the country, with project incubation funding and support for establishing STEM labs.

“Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has been Samsung’s flagship corporate citizenship initiative for the past 15 years,” said Eddie Cho, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Citizenship Office at Samsung Electronics. “We look forward to strengthening the role of the global platform to nurture even more young people into the leaders of tomorrow.”

▲ The 15th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow U.S. Pitch & Reveal Event took place in Samsung DC on April 28. (From left) U.S. National Winner Charter School of Wilmington from Delaware with Yoonie Joung, President of Samsung Electronics North America; Solve for Tomorrow U.S. ambassador Ngan Huu Kim Le

▲ The India Opening Ceremony took place in IIT Delhi on April 29. (From left) Shubham Mukherjee, Head of CSR & Corp Communication, Samsung SWA; Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT; JB Park, President & CEO, Samsung SWA; Shombi Sharp, United Nations Resident Coordinator in India; Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi; Dr. Sapna Poti, Senior Director, Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government

▲ The opening ceremony of Solve for Tomorrow 2025 Vietnam was held in Hanoi on March 28

MIL OSI Economics –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Newsom announces appointments 5.6.25

Source: US State of California 2

May 6, 2025

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:

Paul Henderson, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the California African American Museum Board of Directors. Henderson has been the Executive Director at the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability since 2017. He was a Senior Policy Advisor with Biden for President in 2020. Henderson was the Deputy Chief of Staff in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office from 2011 to 2017. He held multiple positions at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office from 1995 to 2011, including Chief of Administration, Co-Manager of the Trial Division, and Trial Attorney. Henderson is a Founding Board Member of the Warner Music Group Social Justice Fund and Art Like Me, and a member of the San Francisco Bar Association. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Tulane University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation, and there is no compensation. Henderson is a Democrat.

Sinar Lomeli, of San Marcos, has been appointed to the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. Lomeli has been Counseling Faculty at MiraCosta College since 2016. She was an Adjunct Counselor and Instructor at Rio Honda College from 2014 to 2016. Lomeli was an Adjunct Counselor and Instructor at Norco College from 2014 to 2016. She earned a Master of Science degree in Guidance and Counseling from California State University, San Bernardino and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lomeli is a member of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality. This position requires Senate confirmation. and the compensation is $100 per diem. Lomeli is a Democrat.

Desirea Haggard, of Pinon Hills, has been appointed to the Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists. Haggard has been the Vice President of Sustainability and Environmental at Unacem North America since 2024. She was the Vice President of Environmental at the CalPortland Company from 2009 to 2024. Haggard was an Environmental Engineer at TXI Riverside Cement from 2004 to 2009. She earned a Master of Science degree in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Riverside and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. Haggard is a member of the Women in Mining California Chapter. This position does not require Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Haggard is registered without party preference.

Christina Wong, of Chico, has been reappointed to the Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, where she has served since 2021. Wong has been a Self-Employed Psychotherapist since 2024. Wong was the Senior Program Coordinator at the Glenn County Health and Human Services Agency from 2002 to 2024. She was a Mental Health Therapist at the Butte County Probation Department from 2008 to 2020. Wong was the Master of Social Work Coordinator at the University of Alabama School of Social Work from 1993 to 1997. She was the Dean of Student Affairs at Hong Kong Shue Yan University from 1993 to 1997. She earned a Master of Social Work degree from University of Hull and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Wong is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. This position does not require Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Wong is a Democrat.

David Rabbitt, of Petaluma, has been reappointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where he has served since 2013. Rabbitt has been the District Two County Supervisor on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors since 2011 and an Independent Architect since 1997. He was a Member of the Petaluma City Council from 2006 to 2011. Rabbit was a Project Architect at Donald K. Olsen, AIA & Associates from 1985 to 1997. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Rabbitt is a Democrat.

Vincent Wells, of Elk Grove, has been reappointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where he has served since 2021. Wells has been the President of the United Professional Firefighters of Contra Costa County Local 1230 since 2008. He was a Fire Captain and Paramedic at Contra Costa Fire Protection District from 1997 to 2020. Wells was a Firefighter and Paramedic at the Fairfield Fire Department from 1995 to 1997. He served in the United States Air Force from 1985 to 1992. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Wells is a Democrat.

Debra Garnes, of Rio Dell, has been reappointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where she has served since 2021. Garnes has been Mayor of the City of Rio Dell since 2019. Garnes was an Operational and Certified First Response Instructor from 2001 to 2003. She held several positions at the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generation Station in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District from 1990 to 2002, including Hazardous Materials Technician and Specialist, Hazardous Materials First Responder, Asbestos and Lead Decommissioning Technician, and Senior Utility Clerk. Garnes was Fleet Payroll Supervisor at KLLM Trucking from 1989 to 1990. She was an Associate at the Ranco Seco Nuclear Generation Station in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District from 1988 to 1989. Garnes was a United States Navy Petty Officer Second Class, Gunnersmate Guns for the United States Navy from 1981 to 1985. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Garnes is a Democrat.

Cindy Silva, of Walnut Creek, has been reappointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, where she has served since 2017. Silva has served as a Councilmember for the City of Walnut Creek since 2006. She was Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek from 2022 to 2023, 2018 to 2019, 2012 to 2013, and 2010 to 2011. She was the Owner of Eisley Silva Communications from 1987 to 2016. Silva was Sales Communication Manager at PeopleSoft from 2001 to 2004. She was Manager of International Proposals and Start-up Training at AirTouch Communications from 1993 to 1995. Silva was Senior Vice President of Product Development at Alamo Learning Systems from 1985 to 1987. She was the Owner of Eisley Communications Inc. from 1979 to 1985. Silva was a Management Newsletter Editor at the Southern California Gas Company from 1979 to 1980. She was a Project Associate at Systema Corporation from 1978 to 1979. Silva was Managing Editor at the California Dental Association from 1976 to 1978. She is the President of the League of California Cities, Statewide Board Member of the League of California Cities, and member of the Hospice East Bay Board of Directors. Silva earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Silva is registered without party preference.

Press Releases, Recent News

Recent news

May 6, 2025

News What you need to know: The Governor attended the annual ceremony, honoring the 232 fallen CHP officers since the Department’s establishment in 1929. Sacramento, California – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom attended the California Highway Patrol Memorial Ceremony,…

May 6, 2025

News What you need to know: From October 2023 to December 2024, participants collected data on arrests, referrals, charges, convictions, and sentencing related to organized retail crime. Sacramento, California – Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the results…

May 6, 2025

News Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation declaring May 4-10, 2025 as “Wildfire Preparedness Week.”The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below: PROCLAMATIONJanuary’s fires in Los Angeles underscored the scale and…

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: More than 50 years after trying to reach Venus, a failed Soviet spacecraft is about to return to Earth

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Gorman, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University

A postage stamp from the Soviet Union celebrating its Venus space program from the 1960s and 1970s. Soviet Union/Wikipedia

During the height of the Cold War in the 1960s and 1970s, the USSR launched 29 spacecraft towards Venus, the planet scientists call Earth’s “twin sister”.

Three flew past Venus, and went into orbit around the Sun. Sixteen orbited or landed on Venus, where they experienced a climate often described as “hellish”.

Ten got stuck in Earth orbit. All of them re-entered Earth’s atmosphere the same year they were launched – except Kosmos 482, which has stayed aloft for 53 more years. As the last remnant of the Soviet Venus program left in Earth orbit, it’s not your average piece of space junk.

Because it was designed to withstand Venusian conditions, many think the lander may make planetfall on Earth instead of incinerating in the atmosphere. And that is expected to happen this week.

Destination Morning Star

Venus was a target of interest because its thick clouds might be hiding life on the surface. But the spacecraft were also Cold War weapons aimed at demonstrating the superiority of socialist science.

Venera 1 was launched in 1961, only four years after Sputnik 1, the first satellite. Venera 7, in 1970, was the first spacecraft to successfully soft-land instead of crashing on a planet. Vega 2 was the last USSR Venus mission in 1984.

The Venera probes were launched in pairs, a few days apart. If one failed, the other might succeed. Venera 8 was launched on March 27 1972 and reached Venus 117 days later. On March 31, its twin left Earth but failed to escape Earth orbit, earning the designation Kosmos 482.

Venera 8 (pictured here) was identical to Kosmos 482 and made it to Venus.
Lavochkin/Roscosmos/Wikipedia

The spacecraft comprised a delivery “bus” about 3.5 metres tall, with a propulsion system, solar panels and a mesh dish antenna at one end, and the spherical landing craft at the other end. The landers had their own refrigeration system to cool them down and a heat shield to protect them. If all went to plan, the buses would eject the landers from orbit. The landers would hit the upper cloud decks at a speed of nearly 12km per second.

At 60km altitude, the main parachute was released to float the lander down to the surface. A range of instruments would then measure the temperature, pressure, wind speed, visibility, atmospheric gases and rock composition, and radio the results back to Earth. Each lander carried a USSR medallion inside.

But all didn’t go to plan. Venera 8 sped on its way to Venus, sending its lander down on July 22.

Fate had something different in store for Kosmos 482.

How to be space junk in one easy step

The upper rocket stage that was meant to propel the Kosmos 482 bus out of Earth orbit shut off too early because the timer wasn’t set correctly. The rocket stage fell back to Earth and burnt up, while titanium pressure vessels from its fuel system fell onto fields in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The bus and landing craft came apart in mid-June and the bus fell back into the atmosphere in 1981. The 465kg lander continued its orbit alone.

At its farthest, the lander was 9,000km away, coming as close as 210km in its highly elliptical orbit around Earth. Over 50 years, that orbit has lowered to only 2,000km at its farthest point. Now the atmosphere is dragging it back towards Earth with a predicted re-entry of May 10. You can get updates on Kosmos 482’s position here.

Venera 9 took the first images of the surface in 1975. The Venera 13 and 14 missions took the first colour photos.

Will the lander fall on Earth?

The lander had a titanium body designed to withstand Venus surface conditions of 90 times the atmospheric pressure of Earth and 470°C. After more than 50 years it won’t have the refrigeration, the capacity to aerobrake or a working parachute to slow it down and keep it cool. Its reentry will be uncontrolled.

Typically, space junk reenters at around seven kilometres per second and can reach temperatures of 1,600°C as it tears through the atmosphere. Titanium alloys have a melting point of around 1,700°C. This is why the so-called “space balls” that landed in New Zealand in April 1972 survived reentry. If they did, then the lander could as well.

Six of the nine other failed Kosmos reentries had landers or impactors, but we don’t know where they are – either they did not survive, fell into the ocean, or have not yet been found on land. This may also be the fate of the Kosmos 482 lander.

The Kosmos 482 lander filmed from Leiden in 2020 by space tracking expert Marco Langbroek (Delft Technical University)

Danger from Venus

Venus might be the planet of love, but in popular culture, it has been associated with danger.

In the 1960 East German film The Silent Star (later dubbed into English as First Spaceship on Venus), the Venusians plan to bombard Earth with radiation so they can conquer it.

In the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, an American Venus probe returns bringing a deadly radiation which turns the dead into zombies.

An episode of the hit 1970s TV series The Six Million Dollar Man characterised a Russian Venus spacecraft as a “death probe” when it accidentally returned to Earth.

These representations reflect Cold War fears of nuclear war and war waged from space.

In the 21st century, we have a new source of anxiety: the environmental impacts of space junk. But spacecraft such as Kosmos 482 are not the junk people should be worried about.

In the past five years, there’s been a massive increase in the number of rocket launches and the number of spacecraft in low Earth orbit. More and more space junk is reentering the atmosphere. For example, it’s estimated that a Starlink satellite reenters almost every day. When it burns up, it leaves behind damaging chemicals and soot particles.

In the meantime, Venera 8 is still waiting silently on the surface of Venus for its twin to arrive.

Alice Gorman is an expert member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage and a Fellow of the Outer Space Institute.

– ref. More than 50 years after trying to reach Venus, a failed Soviet spacecraft is about to return to Earth – https://theconversation.com/more-than-50-years-after-trying-to-reach-venus-a-failed-soviet-spacecraft-is-about-to-return-to-earth-255836

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: For 100 years, we have marvelled at planetariums. Here’s a brief history of how humans brought the stars indoors

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Bush, Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Science, The University of Melbourne

Ulverstone Planetarium, Hive Tasmania

Picture this: a small audience is quietly ushered into a darkened room. They gasp in awe, as a brilliant night sky shines above. They wonder – as many after them will do – what trickery has made the roof above their heads disappear?

But this is a performance; the stars above an ingenious projection. For the first time a public audience has experienced the spectacle of the opto-mechanical planetarium. The location is the newly opened Deutsches Museum in Munich, built to celebrate science and technology. The date is May 7 1925.

Visualising the heavens

Throughout time, cultures around the world have used the stars to help make sense of the world, to understand where we come from and determine our place in the cosmos.

People have tried to recreate the movements of the stars and planets since antiquity. In the 1700s, the orrery, a clockwork model of the Solar System, was developed. The word “planetarium” was invented to describe orreries that featured the planets.

One room-sized orrery example was built by the self-taught Frisian astronomer Eise Eisinga. It’s still operational today in Franeker, Netherlands.

No human has ever been to the edge of the Solar System to see this view. Orreries, and other mechanical models of the universe like celestial globes, present views from impossible, external perspectives.

Eise Eisinga’s orrery was constructed on a scale of 1mm:1 million km with the pendulum clock that drives the mechanism located in the ceiling above.
Erik Zachte, CC BY-SA

The first planetariums

The desire for a realistic view of the stars and planets, created from a perspective we actually see, gathered pace in the early 20th century as light pollution from growing cities diminished the view of the night sky.

People like Oskar von Miller, first director of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, wanted to return this vision of the stars and planets to everyone. (Ironically, von Miller’s earlier career was as an electrical engineer, rolling out the city lighting that contributed to light pollution.)

One early attempt to create this view of the night sky was the Atwood Sphere, installed in Chicago in 1913.

Approximately five metres across, it was made of sheet metal perforated with a star map. When viewed from the inside, the light shining through 692 pinholes replicated the Chicago night sky. The whole structure could even be rotated to simulate the motion of the stars.

A realistic display of the stars is one thing. Representing the planets, whose positions in the sky change from night to night, is a different one. Von Miller and others at the Deutsches Museum knew that fixed holes could not represent the complexity of a moving planet.

What if the planets were displayed by projection? If so, couldn’t the stars be projected, as well? With this realisation, a new kind of planetarium was born, borrowing the name from earlier orreries but working in a completely different way.

The task of building such a device was given to the German optical company Carl Zeiss AG. After many setbacks, their first planetarium projector was completed in 1923, with the first performance at the Deutsches Museum a century ago today.

Planetariums were a hit with the public. Within decades, they had spread around the world – the first planetarium in the United States opened in Chicago in 1930, while the first one in Asia opened in Osaka, Japan in 1937. The popularity of planetariums particularly accelerated in the US during the space race of the 1960s.

Australia’s oldest operating planetarium is the Melbourne Planetarium, managed by Museums Victoria since 1965. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Auckland’s Stardome Observatory has been in operation since 1997. The current longest-running planetarium in the southern hemisphere is in Montevideo, Uruguay, operational since 1955.

Changing pace of technology

The opto-mechanical planetarium projector remains a technological wonder of the modern world. Individual plates, perforated with pinholes, are illuminated by a bright central light. Separate lenses focus each projection from one of these star maps to fill the entire dome with about 5,000 stars.

The Sun, Moon and planets have separate projectors driven by gears and rods that mechanically calculate the object’s position in the sky for any time or place.

The Zeiss ZKP-1 star projector was installed at Adelaide Planetarium in 1972.
Adelaide Planetarium

By the 1990s, a digital revolution had begun. With the advent of computers, the positions of the planets could now be calculated digitally. The Melbourne Planetarium became the first digital planetarium in the southern hemisphere when it installed the Digistar II in 1999.

This system, developed by computer graphics company Evans and Sutherland, replaced the multiple lenses of earlier projectors with a fisheye lens. A single beam of light swept across the whole dome so rapidly that it seemed to create a single image – albeit in a bizarre green colour, rendering a starfield of fuzzy green blobs.

The first accurate fly-through of a star field was created by Evans and Sutherland and used as the opening credits of Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982).

The trade-off for a less crisp starfield was a 3D database with more than 9,000 stars. For the first time, planetarium audiences could fly through space, far beyond the edge of the Solar System.

Planetarium technology continues to develop. Today, most planetariums operate through video projection. Known as fulldome, the output from multiple projectors is blended together to create a seamless video, transforming the planetarium into a sophisticated 360-degree theatre.

A still fulldome frame from Melbourne Planetarium’s production Moonbase One, released in 2018.
Museums Victoria

A gateway to the stars

Astronomy has also changed over the last century. Just as Zeiss was completing its first projector, astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that other galaxies exist beyond our Milky Way galaxy.

The stars shown on the dome in Munich in 1925 turned out to be just a tiny part of the universe that we know today.

Planetariums’ digital systems now incorporate data from telescopes and space agencies around the world. Audiences can fly off Earth, orbit the planets and moons of the Solar System, and explore the billions of known galaxies.

In the planetarium, data from the GAIA spacecraft shows the little Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy dropping stars like breadcrumbs as it orbits the Milky Way.
Museums Victoria, CC BY-SA

Yet some things have not changed. From orreries and lantern slides to opto-mechanical and digital planetariums, the communication of astronomy has always been about more than just the latest results of science.

The power of the planetarium over the last 100 years has been its ability to evoke wonder and awe. It taps into our enduring fascination with the vast mystery of the night sky.

Tanya Hill works at the Melbourne Planetarium operated by Museums Victoria.

Martin Bush does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. For 100 years, we have marvelled at planetariums. Here’s a brief history of how humans brought the stars indoors – https://theconversation.com/for-100-years-we-have-marvelled-at-planetariums-heres-a-brief-history-of-how-humans-brought-the-stars-indoors-255228

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: In an election that played out on social media as much as TV, do leaders’ debates still matter?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Mills, Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney

With the election campaign now fading into the rear-view mirror, the parties, particularly the Liberals, will be reviewing their campaign strategies. A part of this will likely be the use of televised debates.

Leaders’ debates have been part of Australian election campaigns since 1984, but the 2025 campaign set a record of four televised exchanges between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

The increased frequency, ever-evolving formats and fragmenting audiences of these televised campaign rituals do not guarantee improved voter information.

Debates are idealised in international academic research as a “public service event”.

But the evolution of Australian debates over four decades suggests voter education tends to be compromised by considerations of electoral strategy and network marketing.

Risk versus reward

Back in the 1980s, debates were a more stately affair – one-off events hosted by the National Press Club and carried by the national broadcaster.

1984 Great Debate: Bob Hawke and Andrew Peacock.
National Library of Australia29.9 MB (download)

This year, all four of the Albanese–Dutton exchanges were conducted in-house by the rival television networks.

In total, the four debates reached nearly six million viewers – though “reach” only measures “the total amount of people who dipped in for at least 60 seconds on linear TV, and 15 seconds on streaming”, according to media publication Mumbrella.

Even allowing for party officials, election nerds and political scientists who watched more than one debate, these are still significant numbers, if lower than in decades past. The Australian electorate, it seems, is not yet entirely jaded about politics and politicians.

Notably, squeezing four debates into a five-week campaign meant the last two took place with pre-polling under way.

For the networks, hosting a debate presents an opportunity to showcase their stars, generate “exclusives” and maximise audiences. Their interest lies in mistakes or conflict, not policy rundowns.

By contrast, for the Labor and Liberal campaign professionals, debates are primarily about risk minimisation. Debates are high-risk verbal combat: any gaffe, “gotcha” moment, forgotten statistic or ill-disciplined response in front of a live television audience carries a potentially high cost.

So leaders spend valuable campaign hours preparing for debates, rehearsing their talking points, workshopping zingers, probing ways of exploiting the other’s weaknesses and responding to their taunts and challenges.

They are structured such that they are not debates at all. There is no exchange, no rebuttal, no counterargument. For the most part, they resemble press conferences or studio interviews: formats in which the leaders are well practised and journalists are elevated to equal prominence with the political leaders.

What’s the appeal?

The principal motivation for both incumbent and challenger is that debates offer direct and protracted opportunities to articulate their key messages.

In an era of fragmented audiences and shortened attention spans, each network promoted and gathered the viewers for them.

Opening and closing statements in which the leaders outline their contrasting visions and policy themes operate like paid advertisements – but without the payment.

The parties can then repackage the highlights into snackable short videos for social media, giving it a long tail. Both parties did this in this election.

Indeed, debates are all about whose voice is heard in an election campaign. Leaders’ debates reinforce the dominance of the major parties. Labor and Liberal strategists alike resist any suggestion that they should share the debate platform with minor parties.

But while it remains true that only the major party leaders have a chance of forming a new government, the new reality of Australian elections is that the majors rely heavily on preference flows from minor parties and independents, who thus have a legitimate claim to be heard on a debate stage.

Perhaps those in the live TV audiences who judged neither Albanese nor Dutton as winners of the debates were not “undecideds”, but minor party supporters.

Do debates shift votes?

Previous research suggests debates tend to assist challengers more than incumbents. Opposition leaders have the additional advantage of standing on an equal footing with the prime minister.

The exceptions generally occur when incumbents look likely to lose the election and want to gain ground against their challenger. Think Paul Keating in 1996, Kevin Rudd in 2013 and Scott Morrison in 2019, who all agreed to multiple debates.

In 2025, Albanese joins that list, given his poor poll standings before the campaign began.

It is not possible to measure what, if any, effect the four debates had on Albanese’s turnaround during the campaign. Voter effects are notoriously difficult to measure.

The Australian Electoral Study has identified only modest effects in previous campaigns. Perhaps thanks to confirmation bias, debates are more likely to reinforce than change opinions.

But the 2025 campaign may suggest something more. The campaign certainly saw significant shifts in opinion, including in perceptions of the two leaders. In Newspoll, Albanese surged as preferred prime minister, and as more likely to make Australians better off over the next three years.

With hindsight, it seems clear that voters warmed to Albanese’s confidence, consistency and plans for the future, and cooled on Dutton’s policy-light focus on grievance.

My hunch is the extended exposure of the leaders over four debates, right through the campaign and into the early voting period, provided some fuel for that change in perception.

Stephen Mills was a staff member (1986-91) for Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke and since 2015 has volunteered for local Labor election campaigns.

– ref. In an election that played out on social media as much as TV, do leaders’ debates still matter? – https://theconversation.com/in-an-election-that-played-out-on-social-media-as-much-as-tv-do-leaders-debates-still-matter-255771

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for May 7, 2025

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on May 7, 2025.

In an election that played out on social media as much as TV, do leaders’ debates still matter?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Mills, Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney With the election campaign now fading into the rear-view mirror, the parties, particularly the Liberals, will be reviewing their campaign strategies. A part of this will likely be the use of televised debates.

Labor has promised fast action to cut student debt, but arts students will have to wait for lower fees
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor of Higher Education Policy, Monash University Labor’s federal election win means university fees and costs are set to change. But some of these changes will not be immediate. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has already said planned cuts to student debt will be a top

How having no pants in public went from a nightmare to the Met Gala’s hottest fashion trend
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jye Marshall, Lecturer, Fashion Design, School of Design and Architecture, Swinburne University of Technology While the official theme of the 2025 Met Gala was Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, another trend emerged among those on the red carpet: no pants. While many might shudder at the thought of

Greens leader Adam Bandt and Teal Zoe Daniel likely to lose their seats
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne With 80% of enrolled voters counted, the ABC is giving Labor 87 of the 150 House of Representatives seats, the Coalition 40, the Greens zero and all

For 100 years, we have marvelled at planetariums. Here’s a brief history of how humans brought the stars indoors
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Bush, Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Science, The University of Melbourne Ulverstone Planetarium, Hive Tasmania Picture this: a small audience is quietly ushered into a darkened room. They gasp in awe, as a brilliant night sky shines above. They wonder – as many after

More than 50 years after trying to reach Venus, a failed Soviet spacecraft is about to return to Earth
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Gorman, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University A postage stamp from the Soviet Union celebrating its Venus space program from the 1960s and 1970s. Soviet Union/Wikipedia During the height of the Cold War in the 1960s and 1970s, the USSR launched 29 spacecraft

The Premier League champions have already been crowned but there’s still a lot on the line – mainly money
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ronnie Das, Associate Professor in Data Analytics, The University of Western Australia The English Premier League (EPL) is one of the most prestigious and widely consumed soccer competitions in the world. Yet it is also manifestly lopsided when it comes to competitive balance. Only a handful of

Cheap overseas, ruinous in Australia: here’s how to make double-glazed windows the norm
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trivess Moore, Associate Professor in Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University New Africa/Shutterstock In Europe, double-glazed windows are standard. But in Australia, these energy-saving windows are remarkably uncommon. Correctly installed, the effect of double-glazing is remarkable. Instead of a house losing or gaining huge amounts of

More Australians are overdosing on GHB. But there are ways to reduce your risk
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Freestone, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs, UNSW Sydney Hendo Wang/Unsplash Gamma hydroxybutyrate – better known as GHB – is an increasingly popular illegal drug being used recreationally in Australia. While it can create feelings of euphoria, disinhibition and increased libido,

The election of a new pope is announced with smoke: what do the colours mean, and how are they made?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Johnson, Professor of Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology and Director of the ACU Centre for Liturgy, Australian Catholic University For nearly 800 years the Catholic Church has utilised the process of the conclave to elect a new pope. “Conclave” means “with a key”, indicating the cardinal-electors

Avoiding AI is hard – but our freedom to opt out must be protected
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Jin Kang, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, RMIT University Vietnam Wachiwit Imagine applying for a job, only to find out that an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence (AI) rejected your resume before a human even saw it. Or imagine visiting a doctor where treatment options are

Popes have been European for hundreds of years. Is it time for one from Africa or Asia?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University Catholicism did not begin as a “white” faith. Born on the eastern rim of the Mediterranean, it spread through the trading routes and legions of the Roman Empire into Africa, Asia and, only later, what we now call Europe.

Moving towns: 4 stories of communities facing relocation show the complex realities of managed retreat
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stacy Vallis, Lecturer in Architecture and Emerging Technologies, Auckland University of Technology Shutterstock/Emagnetic With large parts of New Zealand having recently been pummelled by ex-tropical Cyclone Tam and ongoing bouts of heavy rain, it is important to remember that natural hazards have long shaped our cities. Two

Indonesian postcard image ‘dangerous’ but Fiji a rising star in RSF press freedom index
Pacific Media Watch To mark the release of the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) partnered with the agency The Good Company to launch a new awareness campaign that puts an ironic twist on the glossy advertising of the tourism industry. Three out of six countries featured in the exposé are from

Gender quotas are the only way for the Liberals to go: Simon Birmingham
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Liberals’ former Senate Leader Simon Birmingham has urged the party to adopt quotas for its women in parliament, in an excoriating post-election critique. Birmingham, a leading moderate who retired from parliament in January, says given the Liberals’ parliamentary representation

Why do some people get a curved back as they age and what can I do to avoid it?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jakub Mesinovic, Research Fellow at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University fran_kie/Shutterstock As we age, it’s common to notice posture changes: shoulders rounding, head leaning forward, back starting to curve. You might associate this with older adults and wonder: will this happen to me?

As Warren Buffett prepares to retire, does his investing philosophy have a future?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angel Zhong, Professor of Finance, RMIT University Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old investing legend and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, has announced plans to step down at the end of this year. His departure will mark the end of an era for value investing, an investment approach built

Labor settled the ‘funding wars’ just before the election. Here are 4 big issues schools still face
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stewart Riddle, Professor, School of Education, University of Southern Queensland Days before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the federal election, the Labor government settled a long-running argument with the states over school funding. This locked in a new 25%–75% split on federal and state funding for schools.

What’s the difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E. Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Douglas Olivares/Shutterstock. Arthritis – an umbrella term for around 100 conditions that damage the joints – affects 4.1 million Australians. This is expected to rise by 31% to 5.4 million by 2040

Office design isn’t keeping up with post-COVID work styles – here’s what workers really want
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ozgur Gocer, Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney Flexible work has become the new norm, despite the best efforts of companies calling workers back to the office. Some employers assume that a return to the old ways of working is both possible and desirable. But for many workers,

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: COVID is still around and a risk to vulnerable people. What are the symptoms in 2025? And how long does it last?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meru Sheel, Associate Professor and Epidemiologist, Infectious Diseases, Immunisation and Emergencies (IDIE) Group, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney

Five years ago, COVID was all we could think about. Today, we’d rather forget about lockdowns, testing queues and social distancing. But the virus that sparked the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, is still circulating.

Most people who get COVID today will experience only a mild illness. But some people are still at risk of severe illness and are more likely to be hospitalised with COVID. This includes older people, those who are immunocompromised by conditions such as cancer, and people with other health conditions such as diabetes.

Outcomes also tend to be more severe in those who experience social inequities such as homelessness. In the United Kingdom, people living in the 20% most deprived areas have double chance of being hospitalised from infectious diseases than those in the least deprived areas.

How many cases and hospitalisations?

In Australia, 58,000 COVID cases have been reported so far in 2025. However, testing rates have declined and not all positive cases are reported to the government, so case numbers in the community are likely much higher.

Latest data from FluCan, a network of 14 hospitals, found 781 people were hospitalised for COVID complications in the first three months of the year. This “sentinel surveillance” data gives a snapshot from a handful of hospitals, so the actual number of hospitalisations across Australia is expected to be much higher.

While deaths are lower than previous years, 289 people died from COVID-related respiratory infections in the first two months of the year.

What can we expect as we head into winter?

We often see an increase in respiratory infections in winter.

However, COVID peaks aren’t just necessarily seasonal. Over the past few years, peaks have tended to appear around every six months.

What are the most common COVID symptoms?

Typical early symptoms of COVID included fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose and shortness of breath. These have remained the most common COVID symptoms across the multiple variant waves.

Early in the pandemic, we realised COVID caused a unique symptom called anosmia – the changed sense of taste or smell. Anosmia lasts about a week and in some cases can last longer.
Anosmia was more frequently reported from infections due to the ancestral, Gamma, and Delta variants but not for the Omicron variant, which emerged in 2021.

However, loss of smell still seems to be associated with some newer variants. A recent French study found anosmia was more frequently reported in people with JN.1.

But the researchers didn’t find any differences for other COVID symptoms between older and newer variants.

Should you bother doing a test?

Yes. Testing is particularly important if you experience COVID-like symptoms or were recently exposed to someone with COVID and are at high-risk of severe COVID. You might require timely treatment.

If you are at risk of severe COVID, you can see a doctor or visit a clinic with point-of-care testing services to access confirmatory PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing.

Rapid antigen tests (RATs) approved by Australia’s regulator are also still available for personal use.

But a negative RAT doesn’t mean that you don’t have COVID – especially if you are symptomatic.

Read more:
COVID-19 rapid tests still work against new variants – researchers keep ‘testing the tests,’ and they pass

If you do test positive, while you don’t have to isolate, it’s best to stay at home.

If you do leave the house while experiencing COVID symptoms, minimise the spread to others by wearing a well-fitted mask, avoiding public places such as hospitals and avoiding contact with those at higher risk of severe COVID.

How long does COVID last these days?

In most people with mild to moderate COVID, it can last 7–10 days.

Symptomatic people can spread the infection to others from about 48 hours before you develop symptoms to about ten days after developing symptoms. Few people are infectious beyond that.

But symptoms can persist in more severe cases for longer.

A UK study which tracked the persistence of symptoms in 5,000 health-care workers found symptoms were less likely to last for more than 12 weeks in subsequent infections.

General fatigue, for example, was reported in 17.3% of people after the first infection compared with 12.8% after the second infection and 10.8% following the third infection.

Unvaccinated people also had more persistent symptoms.

Read more:
How long are you infectious when you have coronavirus?

Vaccinated people who catch COVID tend to present with milder disease and recover faster. This may be because vaccination prevents over-activation of the innate immune response.

Vaccination remains the best way to prevent COVID

Vaccination against COVID continues to be one of the most effective ways to prevent COVID and protect against it. Data from Europe’s most recent winter, which is yet to be peer reviewed, reports COVID vaccines were 66% effective at preventing symptomatic, confirmed COVID cases.

Most people in Australia have had at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. But if you haven’t, people over 18 years of age are recommended to have a COVID vaccine.

Boosters are available for adults over 18 years of age. If you don’t have any underlying immune issues, you’re eligible to receive a funded dose every 12 months.

Boosters are recommended for adults 65–74 years every 12 months and for those over 75 years every six months.

Adults over 18 years who are at higher risk because of weaker immune systems are recommended to get a COVID vaccine every 12 months and are eligible every six months.

Check your status and eligibility using this booster eligibility tool and you can access your vaccine history here.

A new review of more than 4,300 studies found full vaccination before a SARS-CoV-2 infection could reduce the risk of long COVID by 27% relative to no vaccination for the general adult population.

With ongoing circulation of COVID, hybrid immunity from natural infection supplemented with booster vaccination can help prevent large-scale COVID waves.

Meru Sheel receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She serves on WHO’s Immunization and Vaccines Related Implementation Research Advisory Committee (IVIR-AC)

– ref. COVID is still around and a risk to vulnerable people. What are the symptoms in 2025? And how long does it last? – https://theconversation.com/covid-is-still-around-and-a-risk-to-vulnerable-people-what-are-the-symptoms-in-2025-and-how-long-does-it-last-253840

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: 10 reasons why banning social media for New Zealanders under 16 is a bad idea – and will affect adults too

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Beattie, Lecturer, Media and Communication, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

metamorworks/Getty Images

Government coalition partners National and Act are at odds over proposed restrictions on social media use by New Zealanders aged 16 and under.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently announced a National Party private member’s bill that would require social media companies to verify someone is aged 16 or older. Luxon said social media was not “always a safe place for young people”.

But ACT Party leader David Seymour has dismissed National’s proposal, saying it was “simple, neat and wrong”.

Even if the member’s bill is not chosen out of the parliament biscuit tin, global interest in getting young people off social media is increasing.

In late 2024, Australia passed a law banning children aged under 16 from social media platforms. Advocates, police and politicians in the United Kingdom, United States and elsewhere have all proposed similar laws.

While there is merit in young people spending more time offline, and there are real concerns about the impact of social media on wider society, it’s not clear that outright prohibition will achieve what is hoped for. Here are ten reasons a blanket ban is not the answer.

1. The addiction fallacy

Lobby group Before 16 has compared social media to tobacco, saying the platforms should be treated as a public health harm. The implication is that young people could get addicted to social media.

But the standard for diagnosing addiction is high. Most young people are not addicted to social media; they have a habitual relationship with it that is hard to change.

Likewise, comparing digital experiences to food may not capture the full range of interactions and impacts. This often implies value judgements, suggesting online experiences are all about “dopamine hits” (similar to sweet treats) and inherently less valuable or “unhealthy” compared to offline experiences.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has introduced a members bill banning social media for people under 16 years old.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

2. People are not ‘exposed to’ social media

The language of the ban seems to suggest the relationship between social media and users goes in one direction – that people are simply exposed to the good and bad of platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and X. But using social media is not like going outside and getting burnt by the sun.

While social media affects people, it’s also a tool we use to actively shape and create meaning for ourselves. It provides social scaffolding for day-to-day lives, identity formation, communication with family overseas, community support, and even a place to complain about parents.

3. Murky science

One of most influential books behind the ban is Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. Haidt claims a causal link between social media use and increased anxiety and depression in Gen Z (those born between 1995 and 2012).

But this claim is highly contentious and has been criticised for failing to consider other causes for the rise in anxiety in young people.

At best, there may be a correlation between social media and poor mental health – they are happening at the same time. Young people are also grappling with the climate crisis, increasing inequality and global instability. These variables are difficult to isolate in a study, meaning social media becomes an easy target.

4. A range of experiences

Critics of social media also assume everyone has a negative experience online. And yes, if you tend to compare yourself to others on social media then you might end up feeling bad about your life.

But not everyone thinks this way or uses social media to compare what they have (and don’t have) with others.

5. The moral panic factor

Moral panics can occur when emerging technologies challenge established social norms.

Phenomena such as “phubbing” (using a phone to snub someone) challenge what is considered “socially acceptable” behaviour, triggering a deluge of think pieces about how they hurt society.

While some skills may decline (such as reading and writing) with new technology, others like visual or oral storytelling practiced on social media are on the rise.

Banning social media could mean young people miss out on valuable digital skills.

ACT Party leader David Seymour has called the social media ban bill ‘simple, neat and wrong’.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

6. Marginalised groups lose out

Getting young people off social media might not be a big deal for kids who fit within their community. But if you are young, gay and live in a small town, for example, social media may provide the only space where you can feel safe or celebrated for who you are.

Social media is also a key means for immigrants to stay in touch with their families and culture.

7. Enforcement challenges

There are also problems with how the ban is supposed to work – something Australia is still grappling with despite already passing a ban into law (which comes into effect at the end of this year).

Policymakers have yet to explain how age verification technologies would work without giving away more personal data to media platforms. And everyone would have to verify their age, regardless of whether they are under 16 years old or not.

8. Losing innovation

Young people are savvier with technology than older generations. They lead with innovations such as FINSTA (fake Instagram) accounts – fake profiles that allow people to post more privately on Instagram without the pressure of conforming to expectations or judgement of people who know you.

Blanket bans could hurt this technological adeptness and creativity and stop young people from teaching us how to navigate our online and offline lives.

9. Learning how to disconnect

Media literacy is also a crucial skill in today’s media saturated age. The skill of unplugging could become part of that curriculum.

Temporarily going offline is an excellent way to make students aware of their relationship with social media. Schools could have media-free classes or courses to build awareness, encourage new habits and support students to develop new routines.

10. Better options than a ban

No one is arguing that social media hasn’t had a negative effect on individuals and society as a whole. But instead of a ban, why not work to improve the platforms?

We could focus regulatory efforts on creating safer spaces, like we do with physical buildings.

Overseas advocacy work on children’s digital rights shows how we can protect children from algorithms, gamification and other predatory tactics used by social media platforms, rather than introducing an outright ban.

Alex Beattie receives funding from The Royal Society of New Zealand. He has previously won a Marsden Fast Start Grant.

– ref. 10 reasons why banning social media for New Zealanders under 16 is a bad idea – and will affect adults too – https://theconversation.com/10-reasons-why-banning-social-media-for-new-zealanders-under-16-is-a-bad-idea-and-will-affect-adults-too-256065

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Meta’s new AI chatbot is yet another tool for harvesting data to potentially sell you stuff

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney

Tony Lam Hoang/Unsplash

Last week, Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp – unveiled a new “personal artificial intelligence (AI)”.

Powered by the Llama 4 language model, Meta AI is designed to assist, chat and engage in natural conversation. With its polished interface and fluid interactions, Meta AI might seem like just another entrant in the race to build smarter digital assistants.

But beneath its inviting exterior lies a crucial distinction that transforms the chatbot into a sophisticated data harvesting tool.

‘Built to get to know you’

“Meta AI is built to get to know you”, the company declared in its news announcement. Contrary to the friendly promise implied by the slogan, the reality is less reassuring.

The Washington Post columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler found that by default, Meta AI “kept a copy of everything”, and it took some effort to delete the app’s memory. Meta responded that the app provides “transparency and control” throughout and is no different to their other apps.

However, while competitors like Anthropic’s Claude operate on a subscription model that reflects a more careful approach to user privacy, Meta’s business model is firmly rooted in what it has always done best: collecting and monetising your personal data.

This distinction creates a troubling paradox. Chatbots are rapidly becoming digital confidants with whom we share professional challenges, health concerns and emotional struggles.

Recent research shows we are as likely to share intimate information with a chatbot as we are with fellow humans. The personal nature of these interactions makes them a gold mine for a company whose revenue depends on knowing everything about you.

Consider this potential scenario: a recent university graduate confides in Meta AI about their struggle with anxiety during job interviews. Within days, their Instagram feed fills with advertisements for anxiety medications and self-help books – despite them having never publicly posted about these concerns.

The cross-platform integration of Meta’s ecosystem of apps means your private conversations can seamlessly flow into their advertising machine to create user profiles with unprecedented detail and accuracy.

This is not science fiction. Meta’s extensive history of data privacy scandals – from Cambridge Analytica to the revelation that Facebook tracks users across the internet without their knowledge – demonstrates the company’s consistent prioritisation of data collection over user privacy.

What makes Meta AI particularly concerning is the depth and nature of what users might reveal in conversation compared to what they post publicly.

Open to manipulation

Rather than just a passive collector of information, a chatbot like Meta AI has the capability to become an active participant in manipulation. The implications extend beyond just seeing more relevant ads.

Imagine mentioning to the chatbot that you are feeling tired today, only to have it respond with: “Have you tried Brand X energy drinks? I’ve heard they’re particularly effective for afternoon fatigue.” This seemingly helpful suggestion could actually be a product placement, delivered without any indication that it’s sponsored content.

Such subtle nudges represent a new frontier in advertising that blurs the line between a helpful AI assistant and a corporate salesperson.

Unlike overt ads, recommendations mentioned in conversation carry the weight of trusted advice. And that advice would come from what many users will increasingly view as a digital “friend”.

A history of not prioritising safety

Meta has demonstrated a willingness to prioritise growth over safety when releasing new technology features. Recent reports reveal internal concerns at Meta, where staff members warned that the company’s rush to popularise its chatbot had “crossed ethical lines” by allowing Meta AI to engage in explicit romantic role-play, even with test users who claimed to be underage.

Such decisions reveal a reckless corporate culture, seemingly still driven by the original motto of moving fast and breaking things.

Now, imagine those same values applied to an AI that knows your deepest insecurities, health concerns and personal challenges – all while having the ability to subtly influence your decisions through conversational manipulation.

The potential for harm extends beyond individual consumers. While there’s no evidence that Meta AI is being used for manipulation, it has such capacity.

For example, the chatbot could become a tool for pushing political content or shaping public discourse through the algorithmic amplification of certain viewpoints. Meta has played role in propagating misinformation in the past, and recently made the decision to discontinue fact-checking across its platforms.

The risk of chatbot-driven manipulation is also increased now that AI safety regulations are being scaled back in the United States.

Lack of privacy is a choice

AI assistants are not inherently harmful. Other companies protect user privacy by choosing to generate revenue primarily through subscriptions rather than data harvesting. Responsible AI can and does exist without compromising user welfare for corporate profit.

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, the choices companies make about business models and data practices will have profound implications.

Meta’s decision to offer a free AI chatbot while reportedly lowering safety guardrails sets a low ethical standard. By embracing its advertising-based business model for something as intimate as an AI companion, Meta has created not just a product, but a surveillance system that can extract unprecedented levels of personal information.

Before inviting Meta AI to become your digital confidant, consider the true cost of this “free” service. In an era where data has become the most valuable commodity, the price you pay might be far higher than you realise.

As the old adage goes, if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product – and Meta’s new chatbot might be the most sophisticated product harvester yet created.

When Meta AI says it is “built to get to know you”, we should take it at its word and proceed with appropriate caution.

Uri Gal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Meta’s new AI chatbot is yet another tool for harvesting data to potentially sell you stuff – https://theconversation.com/metas-new-ai-chatbot-is-yet-another-tool-for-harvesting-data-to-potentially-sell-you-stuff-255966

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Can what you eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding affect whether your child develops food allergies?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Koplin, Evidence and Translation Lead, National Allergy Centre of Excellence; Chief Investigator, Centre of Food Allergy Research; Associate Professor and Group Leader, Childhood Allergy & Epidemiology Group, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland

Maria Evseyeva/Shutterstock

Many questions pop up when you’re growing or raising a new baby.

Among them, women often wonder if what they eat during pregnancy or breastfeeding will affect whether or not their child will have a food allergy.

Researchers have also been trying to answer this question for many years.

A baby’s exposure to food allergens during pregnancy and via breast milk is thought to be important. Experts believe it could allow the child to start developing helpful immune responses so they tolerate food allergens in their diet in future.

But to what degree this theory plays out, and whether a mother’s diet influences their child’s likelihood of developing food allergies, isn’t yet clear. Here’s what we know so far.

The science of food allergies

A food allergy occurs when the body’s immune system responds to a particular food as if it was harmful to the body.

In Australia, foods which commonly cause allergies include egg, cow’s milk, peanut, tree nuts, sesame, soy, wheat, fish and other seafood (this can vary a little in different countries). Although almost any food can cause an allergic reaction.

For people with food allergies, symptoms can appear within minutes of eating the food. These symptoms can include a swollen face, lips or eyes, hives or welts on the skin, vomiting, trouble breathing, and persistent dizziness or collapse.

In pregnancy, food allergens can cross the placenta and can be detected in amniotic fluid, from which they reach the baby’s gastrointestinal tract when the baby swallows.

After birth this process continues when food allergens pass from breast milk to the baby’s gastrointestinal tract. Both of these pathways lead to early life exposure to different foods.

This is thought to help the baby’s developing immune system to accept food allergens when they’re introduced once the child starts eating solids. In other words, the immune system may be more likely to see the food as harmless and not mount an allergic response against the food.

Babies can be exposed to allergens in breast milk before they start eating solid foods.
Nastyaofly/Shutterstock

Along with food allergens, babies also receive beneficial antibodies in breast milk. Levels of food allergen-specific antibodies, which could offer protection against allergies, have been found to be higher in babies whose mothers ate more of foods including egg, peanut, cow’s milk and wheat during early breastfeeding.

Lower levels of these beneficial antibodies in the blood have been linked with higher chances of babies developing food allergies.

Research is trying to answer the question

While there are scientific explanations for how a woman’s diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding could influence her child’s likelihood of developing a food allergy, we don’t have conclusive evidence to tell us exactly what the best diet is to prevent allergies.

Some studies have tried to look at this, but results have been inconsistent because they have been done in different populations, diet has been assessed in different ways, and they have not always been able to account for other factors that might influence both diet and food allergy risk.

Current research is trying to understand this further. A large Australian study, the PrEggNut Study, is testing whether the amount of egg and peanut mothers eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding affects their child’s risk of having an egg or peanut allergy.

More than 2,100 mothers were randomly assigned to eat either higher or lower amounts of egg and peanut from mid-pregnancy until their baby was four months old. Results are expected next year.

Another Australian study, the Nuts For Babies Study, is testing whether the amount of peanuts and cashew nuts mothers eat during breastfeeding can reduce the chances of their child developing a peanut or cashew nut allergy.

This study has recently commenced and is looking for 4,000 pregnant women living in Western Australia or Victoria and who are planning to breastfeed their baby to participate.

Ongoing research is trying to tell us how a mother’s diet during pregnancy or breastfeeding could affect her child’s risk of food allergies.
Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

So what’s the advice for now?

There are many other things, such as genetic and environmental factors, that may also play a role in the development of a baby’s immune system, including how their immune cells respond to food allergens. And we still have a lot to learn about what causes allergies more broadly.

While we wait for the results of the above studies, the current advice is for mothers not to avoid any common allergy-causing foods during pregnancy and breastfeeding (unless of course they’re allergic themselves).

The science so far suggests that if anything, exposing the baby to allergens could reduce their risk of developing allergies, rather than increase it.

Once the baby is ready to eat solid foods, we know introducing peanuts and eggs from around six months of age makes it less likely the child will develop an allergy to these foods.

Introducing other common allergy-causing foods in the first year of life may also be helpful, although the evidence for this is not as strong compared with peanuts and eggs.

Once these foods have been introduced, continuing to include them in your baby’s meals regularly, at least once a week, might also make it less likely they develop an allergy to these foods.

Jennifer Koplin receives research funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. She is a member of the Executive Committee for the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, which is supported by funding from the Australian government. She has received a research award from the Stallergenes Greer Foundation, paid to her institution, for unrelated research. She is a co-investigator on the PrEggNut study mentioned in this article.

Debbie Palmer receives research project funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and is supported by a Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Fellowship. Debbie is the lead chief investigator of both the PrEggNut Study and Nuts For Babies Study. She is the food allergy stream co-chair of the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, which is supported by funding from the Australian government.

Desalegn Markos Shifti is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council-funded Centre for Food and Allergy Research postdoctoral funding.

– ref. Can what you eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding affect whether your child develops food allergies? – https://theconversation.com/can-what-you-eat-during-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding-affect-whether-your-child-develops-food-allergies-255114

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI NGOs: David Attenborough’s Ocean sets the stage for new Labor Government to ratify Global Ocean Treaty

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

SYDNEY, Wednesday 7 May 2025 – Following the premiere of Sir David Attenborough’s latest documentary Ocean, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling on the new Australian government to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty within its first 100 days in power.

Ocean exposes the brutal realities of the global ocean under threat from industrial and destructive fishing like longlining and bottom trawling. At the end of the film, Sir Attenborough encourages world leaders to propose global ocean sanctuaries at the UN Ocean Conference in June, which can only be done once 60 nations ratify the Global Ocean Treaty. Australia signed the treaty in 2023, but has yet to bring it into force.

From the premiere in Sydney, Georgia Whitaker, Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “It’s difficult to watch Ocean without feeling emotional about the state of the world’s ocean, but through the Global Ocean Treaty, there is hope. The film sets the stage for the new Labor government to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty in the first 100 days in power.

“Australians love the ocean, and the election showed Australians are voting for a nature-forward agenda for our country. With the UN Ocean Conference fast approaching, Australia has the opportunity to show leadership on the world stage and protect the open ocean by finally ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty, which they agreed to in 2023.

“The ocean is under attack from all angles – from global heating, industrial fishing, and the Trump government opening the seabed to deep sea mining. Every day without protection, the open ocean and all the life it supports faces catastrophic collapse. But humanity can heal the ocean; world governments have the tools in the treaty, they just need to bring it into force.”

In the Tasman Sea between Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand, longlining is the most prevalent industrial fishing method; longliners come from around the world to plunder the abundant open ocean of the Tasman Sea, catching and killing countless innocent animals like sharks, turtles and seabirds each year.

The premiere comes as the first Australian government-supported science symposium to understand the importance of the high seas of the South Tasman Sea and Lord Howe Rise area comes to a close.

The South Tasman Sea and Lord Howe Rise of the Tasman Sea is an area of special biological significance identified by the UN – and must be one of the first places protected as part of 30 by 30, the move to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030.

—ENDS—

MIL OSI NGO –

May 7, 2025

MIL-OSI Europe: Debates – Monday, 5 May 2025 – Strasbourg – Revised edition

Source: European Parliament

Verbatim report of proceedings

430k

594k

Monday, 5 May 2025 – Strasbourg

IN THE CHAIR: ROBERTA METSOLA
President

1. Resumption of the session

President. – I declare resumed the session of the European Parliament adjourned on 3 April 2025.

2. Opening of the sitting

(The sitting opened at 17:01)

3. Passing of Pope Francis – Statement by the President

President. – On 26 April the world came together to mourn the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. Together with a number of you, we represented this House at the Pope’s funeral in Rome, where hundreds of thousands gathered to commemorate his life and honour his legacy.

Pope Francis will be remembered for his inspirational leadership, his moral authority and his kindness, taking every opportunity to speak up for a more humane, more peaceful and unified world. In 2014, His Holiness addressed this Plenary and he called for every Member to ’work to make Europe rediscover the best of itself.’

E proprio in occasione della sua visita Papa, Francesco scrisse un messaggio, nel libro che raccoglie le firme e i pensieri delle più alte personalità che hanno visitato l’Istituzione nel corso della sua storia, e io desidero condividere con voi le parole che ha voluto dedicarci:

“Auguro che il Parlamento europeo sia sempre più la sede dove ogni suo membro concorra a far sì che l’Europa, consapevole del suo passato, guardi con fiducia al futuro per vivere con speranza il presente.”

Whilst this House grieves his loss, we also remember his call to action and work together every day for a better, more compassionate and more courageous Europe.

I invite you now to join me in a moment of silence.

(The House rose and observed a minute’s silence)

We will now have a round of Group speakers to pay tribute to His Holiness Pope Francis.

Manfred Weber, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President, dear colleagues, for me personally, meeting Pope Francis and speaking with him was a lifetime honour and he remains, for me and for us as the EPP Group, a profound source of inspiration. His hope, his wisdom, his faith still speak to all of us. It was a moment of deep sadness when we learned about his passing away and we will miss him.

Above everything, as our President already said, it was always the person, the human being he put at the centre. He never spoke about migrants, he spoke about human beings and not about a prisoner, about a human being, not about homeless people, about human beings. Christianity at its best: everybody is important, recognised by God, and also has a perspective beyond our life on earth.

In November 2014, when he was here speaking in this European Parliament 11 years ago, he spoke about the deep Christian identity of our continent. Europe without Christian roots is simply unthinkable.

However, Christian values never were pure Christian symbolism. He did not look at the questions of what divides us in Europe, he was always committed to what unites us. Not race, not religion, and not social status are allowed to divide us. And that was also his red line to all extremists who were misusing Christianity for their egoistic interests.

His Christian view on a human approach of a society was also for dignified work, for a society where everybody feels involved, and an economy which also serves the people’s interests. And that’s why our model of a social market economy was deeply rooted also in his Christian thinking.

And finally, on this Christian democratic tradition – like my party is representing it – I also want to underline that he himself, and all his predecessors in the 20th and 21st century, was committed to European integration. He was always arguing in favour of a united Europe, not as a functional entity, not as a cash machine, not as a huge market, but as a community with shared identity, united in the European way of life.

In a letter addressed to the European People’s Party group, Pope Francis wrote to us that, and I quote, ‘To build Europe, it takes a strong inspiration, a soul. It takes dreams, it takes values and a high political vision. Ordinary management, good, normal administration is not enough.’ That is what Pope Francis told us. And this is his legacy. This is his job description for us as the European People’s Party, also as a European Parliament. He rightly saw the European way of life as a path to a bright future, and also our offer to the rest of the world. That’s why, thank you to Pope Francis.

Iratxe García Pérez, en nombre del Grupo S&D. – Señora presidenta, hoy alzamos la voz en esta Cámara para rendir tributo al papa Francisco, un hombre de fe profunda y coraje inmenso que supo estar a la altura de los tiempos. Fue el papa de los pobres, de los marginados y de los que se encuentran en las periferias de la sociedad.

Tuve el honor de encontrarme con el papa Francisco. Con su voz clara y su mirada compasiva, nos recordó que la justicia social no es solo una opción, sino una exigencia irrenunciable.

Señorías, la mejor manera de rendir tributo al papa Francisco no es solo recordar sus palabras, sino cumplir con ellas. El 25 de noviembre de 2014, en este mismo Parlamento, nos pidió que construyéramos Europa sobre la piedra angular de la dignidad. Nos interpeló con preguntas que hoy siguen doliendo: «¿qué dignidad es posible sin un marco jurídico claro que limite el dominio de la fuerza y haga prevalecer la ley sobre la tiranía del poder?», «¿qué dignidad puede tener un hombre o una mujer cuando es objeto de todo tipo de discriminación?», «¿qué dignidad podrá encontrar una persona que no tiene qué comer o el mínimo necesario para vivir o, todavía peor, que no tiene el trabajo que le otorga dignidad?».

También nos exigió con firmeza cuidar la tierra, al decir que Europa ha estado siempre en primera línea de un loable compromiso en favor de la ecología.

Al hablar de migración, nos suplicó no mirar hacia otro lado: «no se puede tolerar que el mar Mediterráneo se convierta en un gran cementerio».

Y en su último mensaje urbi et orbi, levantó la voz por una paz justa y duradera en Ucrania y en Tierra Santa. Hoy hemos conocido su último deseo, y es que el papamóvil se pueda convertir en un hospital infantil para los niños en Gaza. Gran signo y gran deseo.

Señorías, si queremos estar a la altura del legado, hagamos nuestras sus palabras: «abandonar la idea de una Europa atemorizada y replegada sobre sí misma para suscitar y promover una Europa protagonista y transmisora de valores humanos; la Europa que camina sobre la tierra segura y firme, precioso punto de referencia para toda la humanidad».

Esa es la Europa que el papa Francisco soñó; que sea también la Europa que entre todos sigamos construyendo.

Jordan Bardella, au nom du groupe PfE. – Madame la Présidente, mes chers collègues, c’est avec gravité et recueillement que je prends la parole à mon tour pour saluer la mémoire du pape François. Parce qu’il est une figure universelle, sa disparition aura ému, au-delà des 1,4 milliard de catholiques dans le monde.

Homme de foi, homme de dialogue et de paix, autorité morale rare dans un monde en perte de repères, le pape François le fut incontestablement. Son pontificat fut celui d’une attention constante portée aux plus fragiles et aux plus démunis. Que l’on partage ou non ses opinions politiques, ses prises de position – elles ont été nombreuses et multiples –, le respect solennel dû aux morts nous oblige.

En ce moment solennel, je veux redire avec fierté que la France, fille aînée de l’Église, n’oublie ni ses racines chrétiennes, ni le lien millénaire qui l’unit à la foi et à l’Église catholique. Ce lien historique et précieux fonde une part inestimable de notre identité, de notre civilisation, de nos valeurs et, pour beaucoup, de notre espérance. Que le pape François repose en paix.

Nicola Procaccini, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Madam President, ‘a Church that goes out’ is how Pope Francis summed up the mission of his pontificate, a Church that doesn’t remain confined within its physical spaces, but instead opens itself spiritually to the world, a Church that reaches out to people, cares for them – even physically – wherever they may be.

I’ve shared many of Pope Francis’s messages, even those considered ‘politically incorrect’, but I would be hypocritical if I didn’t also admit some different points of view, particularly regarding the governance of migration. I think that for some here it’s quite the opposite. Yet despite our differences, Christianity represents all of us. It’s the only cultural bond that still holds us together. It’s the common root of Europe, even if the European Union denies it every day.

In October 2020, Pope Francis wrote to us:

‘Europe, find yourself again! Rediscover your ideals, which have deep roots. Be yourself. Don’t be afraid of your millennia‑old history, which is more a window to the future than to the past’.

Addio, Papa Francesco.

Billy Kelleher, on behalf of the Renew Group. – Madam President, sadly, Pope Francis’s death did not come as a shock to most of us. Unfortunately, his health had been waning, and while we had all hoped for the best, it was clear that his time was coming to an end.

His time, however, as supreme pontiff was different, to say the very least. His recommitment to the church being a ‘church of the poor’ was profound and real. And while he could not make all the changes he wanted, he has, I believe, changed the Catholic Church for the better. His pontificate will be known as one committed to decency, human dignity, social justice and the raising of those on the margins of society. On behalf of the Renew Europe group. I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the 1.4 billion Catholics across the globe who are mourning over the loss – not just of their spiritual leader, but also of a man who lived each day committed to the service of the poor, the marginalised and the vulnerable.

In 2018, the people of Europe welcomed Pope Francis to our shores as we hosted the World Meeting of Families. Pope Francis was welcomed with open arms and with deep respect by my fellow citizens. To everyone elected in this Parliament and to parliaments across the world who claim to profess the Christian faith: I would urge you to listen to Pope Francis’s words and his teachings. There is nothing Christian about cheering when migrants drown in the seas. There is nothing Christian about making those in the margins fear for their safety just because they are different to us. Pope Francis’s death is a loss to us all. Whether we are Catholic, another kind of Christian, practice another religion or indeed are non-believers – his humanity transcended denominations. Society has lost a great leader and a great teacher with his passing. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Martin Schirdewan, on behalf of The Left Group. – Madam President, Christianity and socialism might not share the closest link at first glance, but Pope Francis used his mandate to advance the Christian social doctrine that is also deeply rooted in socialist politics. The fight for social justice and against poverty – one of the cornerstones of Francis’s pontificate – remains a central responsibility for both the progressive Left and the progressive Church.

Pope Francis has all my respect for always taking sides for the vulnerable and for defending humanity and human rights for all, regardless of origin, status, colour or belief. And, in an increasingly hostile world, Pope Francis’s voice has constantly been one of peace. Relentlessly, he called for an end of the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza. Every single day, he cared for the Palestinian civilians whose unjust suffering he felt painfully.

Let us make his prayers for justice and peace a reality. Let’s the end politics of injustice and division. And I wish his successor all possible success in transforming the Catholic Church into a Church for the 21st century.

I’d like to conclude, in a rather secular way – I’m sure he would have understood – farewell, Francis.

René Aust, im Namen der ESN-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, sehr geehrte Damen und Herren! Im Jahre 2013 suchten die Herren Kardinäle einen neuen Papst, und sie fanden ihn, wie er selbst sagte, am anderen Ende der Welt. Sie fanden einen streitbaren Hirten, einen Papst, der seine Kirche reformieren wollte und der wusste, dass echte Erneuerung im Herzen der Menschen beginnt. Über bestimmte Aspekte wie seinen Ansatz zum Synodalen Weg wird noch lange diskutiert werden. Doch dies ist nicht der Moment für Bewertungen – heute halten wir fest: Die Welt hat einen guten Menschen verloren – einen, der als Bischof von Rom diente, der nicht thronte, sondern tröstete.

Sein Pontifikat war geprägt von seinen Erfahrungen als Seelsorger, von Bescheidenheit und dem Blick auf die Ärmsten. Möge Papst Franziskus in Frieden ruhen. Auch deshalb habe ich in der vergangenen Woche in der wunderschönen Kirche in Paris in Saint-Sulpice für ihn eine Kerze angezündet. Und mögen die Kardinäle im bevorstehenden Konklave eine weise Wahl treffen. Ich wünsche ihnen dabei Gottes Segen.

4. Approval of the minutes of the previous sitting

President. – The minutes and the texts adopted of the sitting of 3 April are available. Are there any comments?

I see that is not the case. Therefore they are approved.

5. Announcement by the President (Rule 138(2))

Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew). – Madam President, dear colleagues, on 19 March this year, the Commission put forward the SAFE regulation proposal and based it on Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, JURI considered the use of Article 122 of TFEU as the basis of the SAFE regulation proposal under Rule 138(2) of the Rules of Procedure.

On 23 April, the committee unanimously decided that Article 122 was not the appropriate legal basis for the proposed regulation. JURI came to this conclusion after having considered the aim of the SAFE proposal and in the absence of proper justification by the Commission of the choice of the legal basis. JURI also observed that Article 122 contains two paragraphs, and each of those confers on the Council a distinct competence to adopt legal acts subject to specific conditions. However, the SAFE proposal is based on Article 122, and it entirely hangs on both paragraphs. The Commission fails to explain why both paragraphs should be relied upon as the legal basis. There is also no justification why other possible legal bases under the TFEU were discarded, in particular in the context of Article 122(1), which can only apply ‘without prejudice to any other procedures provided for in the treaties’.

At the same time, although JURI discussed and analysed alternative legal bases which appear appropriate, such as Article 173(3) of the TFEU, it decided at this stage not to pronounce itself conclusively. It is enough to say at this point that JURI does consider that another legal basis under the treaties could be used, and therefore that the Union’s competence to act under a legal basis other than in Article 122 TFEU does exist.

President. – Thank you very much, Mr Kyuchyuk. So I will write, in accordance with your argumentation, to the presidents of the Council and Commission to inform them of the procedure.

6. Announcement by the President

President. – This Wednesday at 10:30, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony on the Parvis Louise Weiss to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. Then, at 11:30, there will be a further ceremony in this Chamber to mark this solemn occasion with a number of veterans.

I invite you attend both of these events, and I truly count on your presence.

7. Composition of Parliament

President. – The competent authorities of Germany have notified me of the election of Volker Schnurrbusch to the European Parliament replacing Maximilian Krah with effect from 4 April 2025. I wish to welcome our new colleague and recall that he takes his seat in Parliament and on its bodies in full enjoyment of his rights pending the verification of his credentials.

8. Request for waiver of immunity

President. – I have received a request from the competent authorities in Hungary for the parliamentary immunity of Péter Magyar to be waived. The request is referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs.

9. Request for the waiver of parliamentary immunity – closure of procedure

President. – I have received a letter from the competent authorities in Belgium withdrawing the request for the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of Jaak Madison. The procedure is therefore closed.

10. Composition of political groups

President. – Malika Sorel is no longer a member of the PfE Group and sits with the non‑attached Members as of 19 April 2025.

11. Composition of committees and delegations

President. – The EPP and PfE groups have notified me of decisions relating to changes to appointments within committees and delegations. The decisions will be set out in the minutes of today’s sitting and take effect on the date of this announcement.

12. Negotiations ahead of Parliament’s first reading (Rule 72)

President. – The LIBE, PECH and – jointly – the SEDE and ITRE committees have decided to enter into interinstitutional negotiations pursuant to Rule 72(1) of the Rules of Procedure. The reports, which constitute the mandates for the negotiations, are available on the plenary webpage and their titles will be published in the minutes of the sitting.

Pursuant to Rule 72(2), Members or political groups reaching at least the medium threshold may request in writing by tomorrow, Tuesday 6 May at midnight, that the decisions be put to the vote. If no request for a vote in Parliament is made before the expiry of that deadline, the committees may start the negotiations.

13. Negotiations ahead of Council’s first reading (Rule 73)

President. – The ENVI Committee has decided to enter into interinstitutional negotiations ahead of the Council’s first reading, pursuant to Rule 73 of the Rules of Procedure. The position adopted by Parliament at first reading, which constitutes the mandate for those negotiations, is available on the plenary webpage, and its title will be published in the minutes of the sitting.

14. Proposals for Union acts

President. – I would like to announce that, pursuant to Rule 47(2) of the Rules of Procedure, I have declared admissible a proposal for a Union act repealing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC. This proposal is referred to the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety, as the committee responsible, and to the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, for an opinion.

15. Signature of acts adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (Rule 81)

President. – I would like to inform you that, since the adjournment of Parliament’s session on 3 April, I have signed, together with the President of the Council, three acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure in accordance with Rule 81 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

I would also like to inform you that on Wednesday, I shall sign, together with the President of the Council, another three acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure.

The titles of the acts will be published in the minutes of this sitting.

16. Order of business

President. – I would like to inform you that I have received the following requests for urgent procedure pursuant to Rule 170(6):

– from the ECR Group, and jointly from the EPP, S&D and Renew groups, on the following legislative file: CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles for 2025 to 2027;

– from the ENVI Committee on the following legislative file: The protection status of the wolf (Canis lupus);

– from the ECON Committee: amendments to the Capital Requirements Regulation as regards securities financing transactions under the net stable funding ratio.

The vote on these requests will be taken tomorrow.

Now I would like to inform the House that I have received requests for points of order. I will start by giving the floor to Bas Eickhout.

⁂

Katrin Langensiepen (Verts/ALE). – Frau Präsidentin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Heute ist der Europäische Protesttag zur Gleichstellung von Menschen mit Behinderung, und hier reden wir über 100 Millionen Menschen mit Behinderungen in der Europäischen Union. Da habe ich eine schlechte und eine gute Nachricht: Alle Mitgliedstaaten haben bei der Umsetzung der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention komplett versagt. Noch immer haben Menschen mit Behinderungen keinen gleichberechtigten Zugang zum Wahllokal, zum Recht auf Wahl, zu selbstbestimmtem Leben, gleichberechtigter Teilhabe, wenn es um Bildung, Arbeit und Entlohnung geht.

Das habe nicht ich mir ausgedacht, das hat sich die UNO ausgedacht, und die UNO hat es festgehalten und hat die EU dafür massiv gerügt. Wir sind immer noch nicht gut, wenn es um die Umsetzung der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention geht. Aber ich habe auch eine gute Nachricht: Wir können es besser machen. Heute ist der Europäische Protesttag von 100 Millionen Menschen mit Behinderungen – Frauen, Kindern, Geflüchteten, Menschen, die queere Personen sind, die intersektional betroffen sind. Da ist es ein Menschenrecht – ich weiß, Menschenrechte sind gerade nicht der heiße Scheiß in diesem Haus –, aber wir müssen uns endlich um die Menschenrechte kümmern, wenn wir Wettbewerbsfähigkeit halten wollen und gleichberechtigt teilhaben wollen.

Hilde Vautmans (Renew). – Madam President, colleagues, I would like to make this point of order, because 25 April marked the ninth anniversary since Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmad Reza Djalali was arrested in Iran.

In October 2017, he was sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial. He is currently, colleagues, the longest standing EU citizen held hostage by the Iranian authorities, and as a consequence of years in prison, malnutrition, not being given the medical care he needed and torture, his situation is really serious. He said in a video: ‘I am at my breaking point’.

So, colleagues, on this heartbreaking anniversary, I call on you, Madam President, and all my colleagues to take action and repeat our call: we ask for the immediate and unconditional release of Professor Djalali, just like we voted for here in this House.

Özlem Demirel, im Namen der Fraktion The Left. – Frau Präsidentin! Am 2. Mai wurde das Schiff der NGO Freedom Flotilla in internationalen Gewässern in der Nähe Maltas von zwei Kriegsdrohnen mehrfach angegriffen. An Bord des Schiffes befanden sich 30 Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten und humanitäre Helfer. Mit ihnen dabei Lebensmittel, Medikamente, Hilfsgüter für das von Israels Krieg gebeutelte Volk in Gaza. Der Angriff löste ein Feuer an Bord aus. Die Besatzung sendete einen Notruf. Doch der nahe gelegene Inselstaat Malta ignorierte dies zunächst einmal und reagierte nicht sofort.

Kolleginnen und Kollegen, was hier passiert ist, ist ein äußerst schwerwiegender, inakzeptabler Vorfall! Sowohl der militärische Angriff auf ein ziviles Schiff als auch die Missachtung des internationalen Rechts ist inakzeptabel. Deshalb beantragen wir eine Debatte dazu, und wir fordern auch die Kommission zu einer Stellungnahme zu diesem Vorgang auf. Kolleginnen und Kollegen, zu Beginn der Debatte haben Sie den Papst Franziskus gewürdigt. Wenn Sie gleich abstimmen, denken Sie bitte daran, wie der Papst jetzt abstimmen würde.

President. – I will give the floor to any colleague who would like to speak against. I see no one does, so we will vote by roll call.

(Parliament rejected the request)

So the agenda is unchanged.

Also for Wednesday, the Greens Group has requested that a Commission statement on ‘EU response to the Israeli Government’s plan to seize the Gaza strip and promote the so-called “voluntary departure” of Gazans’ be added in the afternoon before the debates under Rule 150. As a consequence, the sitting would be extended until 23:00.

I give the floor to Mounir Satouri to move the request on behalf of the Greens Group.

Mounir Satouri, au nom du groupe Verts/ALE. – Madame la Présidente, cette nuit, le cabinet de sécurité israélien a approuvé un plan offensif. Il vise à s’emparer de toute la bande de Gaza et à s’y installer indéfiniment. Ce plan vise aussi à organiser des départs soi-disant volontaires de la population de Gaza. Ce sont en réalité des déplacements forcés de population.

Sur le plan politique, nous avons, c’est vrai, des divergences. Mais nous sommes une majorité, ici, à être attachés à la solution à deux États. Cette décision du gouvernement israélien remet en cause de manière définitive la perspective de cette solution à deux États. L’accaparement du territoire est inacceptable. Cela viole toutes les règles du droit international. Notre Parlement ne peut rester muet.

Je demande un débat sans résolution qui porte le titre «Déclaration de la haute représentante/vice-présidente sur la réponse de l’UE au projet du gouvernement israélien de s’emparer de la bande de Gaza et de promouvoir le soi-disant départ volontaire des Gazaouis».

Chers collègues, avec cette proposition, ce Parlement a pour une fois la capacité d’être dans le bon timing et d’être au rendez-vous pour rappeler son attachement au droit international.

Iratxe García Pérez (S&D). – Madam President, only one question: I would like to ask, please, the services to give the group leaders and the groups all the information, very clearly, about this from the beginning, because if we have information that, for example, this debate will be for the May II plenary, and we decide as a group to support it in May II, it’s so difficult now to take a decision about this time. Only to clarify, we as the S&D Group wanted this debate for May II.

Γεάδης Γεάδη, εξ ονόματος της ομάδας ECR. – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, με βάση το Πρωτόκολλο 10 της Συνθήκης Προσχώρησης της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας, αυτή εντάχθηκε εδαφικά στην ολότητά της στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, με αναστολή της εφαρμογής του κεκτημένου στις περιοχές όπου δεν ασκεί αποτελεσματικό έλεγχο, συνεπεία της τουρκικής εισβολής και συνεχιζόμενης παράνομης κατοχής.

Δυστυχώς, το περασμένο Σάββατο αφίχθηκε στην παράνομη αποσχιστική οντότητα στην Κύπρο —στο ψευδοκράτος, ο Tayyip Erdoğan, στέλνοντας μήνυμα εδραίωσης της κατοχής, βάζοντας —όπως δήλωσε— «μία ακόμη σφραγίδα της Τουρκίας στο νησί».

Η στάση του Τούρκου προέδρου όχι μόνο δεν δείχνει τον απαιτούμενο σεβασμό απέναντι στις αρχές και τις αξίες που πρεσβεύει η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, αλλά δείχνει και απαξίωση σε ολόκληρη την ευρωπαϊκή οικογένεια, αφού αποτελεί ξεκάθαρη πρόκληση, παραβίαση του διεθνούς δικαίου και της διεθνούς νομιμότητας. Το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο επιβάλλεται να αντιδράσει, καταδικάζοντας με τον πιο έντονο τρόπο.

Ως εκ τούτου, παρακαλώ όπως γίνει αποδεκτό το αίτημα για εγγραφή του θέματος με τίτλο «Η παράνομη επίσκεψη του προέδρου Erdoğan στις κατεχόμενες περιοχές της Κύπρου και οι κλιμακούμενες απειλές ενάντια στην Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία».

President. – OK, so let me get this clear. We’re going to vote on the debate with the title as amended by the S&D Group which was accepted by the ECR Group. What is not clear to me is whether the S&D would want the debate on Wednesday or on Thursday. You say Wednesday? OK, Wednesday. Fine. We’ll do it on Wednesday. We just add to our debates on Wednesday.

So we vote first by roll call on adding the statements.

(Parliament approved the request)

Now we vote by roll call on whether we will have a resolution.

(Parliament rejected the request)

We will see with Mr Mavrides what he meant and how we can do it.

Thank you very much. The agenda is adopted. Have a good week.

(The sitting was briefly suspended)

PRESIDENZA: ANTONELLA SBERNA
Vicepresidente

17. Resumption of the sitting

(La seduta è ripresa alle 17:52)

18. Preparation of the EU-UK summit (debate)

Adam Szłapka, President-in-Office of the Council. – Madam President, honourable Members, Mr Commissioner, with European security being the top priority of the Polish Presidency, we are striving to exploit the full potential of the EU’s relations with the United Kingdom.

Last March, the Council exchanged views on the state of play. The upcoming first EU‑UK summit will provide a unique opportunity to strengthen our relationship. We are like‑minded partners, allies and good neighbours. Therefore, we are very much welcoming the EU governments’ approach, seeking to further strengthen our relations.

We work together from sanctions against Russia to support for Ukraine through security summits and joint diplomatic efforts. The ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, and our joint support for Ukraine, is a strong reminder of why our unity matters more than ever.

At the summit, we will seek to reaffirm our mutual commitment to the full, faithful and timely implementation of our agreements, including rights of our citizens. At the same time, there is still untapped potential and room for improvement in our relations. Ahead of the upcoming EU‑UK summit, the Council presidencies work closely with the Commission to identify and explore areas for deepening our cooperation.

A whole range of areas will be discussed with our British hosts during the summit: security and defence; sanitary and phytosanitary rules for agricultural products; stronger cooperation on energy; access to waters for EU fishermen; and opportunities for young people to live, work and study across the border. Together we are working on a package in key areas that will bring tangible benefits to citizens and businesses on both sides of the Channel. Let me stress that our partnership is about more than just trade flows: it’s about people.

Madam President, honourable Members, Commissioner, we should not forget about some challenges that remain. The situation in Northern Ireland requires careful monitoring, as does the situation of Union citizens that live in the United Kingdom.

In the relations with the UK, we are following the principles, among which there are the indivisibility of our four freedoms, safeguarding the integrity of our single market and customs union, and protecting the autonomy of the Union’s decision‑making. These guiding principles remain relevant. We will carry them forward, united and speaking with one voice.

At the same time, the Government of the United Kingdom reaffirmed its position of not rejoining the single market, the customs union and on the free movement of people. Within these parameters, leaders will engage pragmatically and respectfully at the summit. We are confident to achieve solid results for moving ahead with the strengthening of our relations with the United Kingdom.

A final word on the parliamentary dimension of EU‑UK relations. To underline the importance that the Council attaches to the input of this House in this process, achieving a mutually beneficial partnership between the EU and our British partners is a shared goal of the EU institutions. Let us continue to exchange on how to make this partnership stronger.

Maroš Šefčovič, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, Honourable Minister, Honourable Members of the European Parliament, I am happy to participate in today’s plenary debate on the preparation of the EU‑UK summit. As you will be aware, we have been working intensely with our UK partners to prepare for the summit on 19 May. As you well know, this will be the first such summit at leaders‑level since the UK left the EU, and it marks an important milestone in our post-Brexit relationship.

President von der Leyen has met with UK Prime Minister Starmer on several occasions over the last few months, including most recently in London on 24 April. They have agreed that the summit offers an opportunity to strengthen EU‑UK cooperation across a number of areas, and it is clear that both sides want to deliver a positive summit. Exploratory discussions with the United Kingdom on a broad range of issues have taken place over the past weeks. This is part of an ongoing process which will further take shape at the summit and beyond.

The EU and the UK are like‑minded partners, and in recent times we have worked closely together on shared challenges, notably in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Given that we live in an increasingly uncertain and complex geopolitical environment, it is all the more important that we continue to cooperate in this manner. For our part, we see three broad areas where there is scope to further develop the EU‑UK relationship.

Firstly, security and resilience. This includes deeper and more structured cooperation between the EU and the UK as close partners and like‑minded allies in the face of unprecedented geopolitical challenges in our neighbourhood. This means defence and security will likely be a focus of the summit.

Secondly, something very important to this House: people‑to‑people contacts, which includes rebuilding bridges for our young people. This reflects our long‑standing policy of putting citizens at the heart of EU‑UK relations.

Thirdly, the protection of our planet and its resources. We aim to consolidate and advance cooperation on sanitary and phytosanitary matters, sustainable fisheries, climate and energy. We are working with our United Kingdom partners in pursuit of a balanced package that delivers tangible benefits to citizens across the EU and the United Kingdom.

Madam President, Honourable Members, while we are committed to strengthening our relations with the United Kingdom, we continue to insist on the full, timely and faithful implementation of our existing agreements – the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework, and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. These agreements are the cornerstone of our bilateral relations and form a solid foundation for our cooperation. As regards the Withdrawal Agreement, last week, I co-chaired a meeting of the Joint Committee in London with my UK counterpart, Nick Thomas-Symonds. This was an important step on the road to the summit. Together, we expressed a clear commitment to the full, timely and faithful implementation of the agreement in all its parts. We welcomed the important progress made in the areas of citizens rights as regards the true and extra cohort, and on the Windsor Framework as regards parcels and customs arrangements.

Nevertheless, further work remains to be done on the other systemic citizens’ rights issues and on the Windsor Framework, for example on SPS. As regards the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, it remains the most ambitious free trade agreement the EU has concluded with any third country, and it responds to the UK Government’s red lines, which remain in place. But this does not mean that we cannot more fully exploit the potential of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and look at what more it has to offer. It does not mean that we cannot further develop our cooperation in the areas I mentioned previously. On the contrary, there is much we can still do together to strengthen our relationship.

The first EU‑UK summit will therefore be an important moment to do just that. I am looking forward to hearing your views during this debate, and of course I will be very happy to answer your questions. Thank you very much, Madam President.

Nina Carberry, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner, since arriving in Parliament, I’ve been struck by an assumption often made here that Brexit is a settled matter. In reality, its consequences continue to shape political and economic life in Ireland, the UK and across Europe. Anticipation is building ahead of the upcoming EU‑UK summit on 19 May, and in a world where economic stability, security and trade openness matter more than ever, the EU and the UK have everything to gain from resetting relations.

Although the TCA lays a crucial foundation, the world has changed considerably since its signing four years ago. It remains a framework that can and should be built upon. A comprehensive veterinary agreement would be an immediate and impactful step forward, unlocking significant opportunities for farmers and agri‑food businesses. Progress on mutual recognition for professional qualifications would have major benefits. In the same way, bringing the UK closer to Erasmus+ would be an undeniable win for students and apprentices.

In an era where tackling climate change requires coordinated global efforts, closer alignment on emissions trading schemes would be a logical step to prevent carbon leakage. Closer integration of electricity markets and fully harnessing the North Sea’s potential would enhance energy security, reduce consumer costs, increase resilience to external shocks and support progress towards net zero.

Stabilising the EU‑UK relationship will bolster both peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland. As 19 May draws near, we are presented with a historic opportunity, one that should serve as a foundation for an ambitious and forward‑looking agenda. This is our moment to reshape a new chapter in EU‑UK relations.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Madam President, as the world feels more fragile than ever, the upcoming UK‑EU summit cannot be a photo opportunity. It is a chance to show what kind of Europe and what kind of world we want to build. Trump’s foreign policy is rooted in egomania. As the US steps back, Europe and the UK must step forward; we must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and in defence of freedom and democracy. But our values mean nothing if we apply them selectively. In Gaza, international law is being torn apart as children are bombed and starved. Their blood drips from the hands of EU and UK leaders. We should know better.

For decades, the UK and the EU worked as one to build a fairer, better and more peaceful Europe. Nowhere was that more true than in Northern Ireland. Brexit took the people of the North out of the EU against their will. Northern Ireland needs an enhanced voice in the EU, given its unique citizenship rights, its automatic right to re‑accede, and its obligations under EU law. The UK Government needs to seize the opportunity of a new EU relationship, not cower in the face of Farage’s fads army. Failure is not an option.

Matthieu Valet, au nom du groupe PfE. – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Ministre, Monsieur le Commissaire, mes chers collègues, ici, nous devons être concrets, donc je vais vous parler de manière concrète du pays dont je suis élu, la France, et de ma région de France. Mes compatriotes de Calais, de Boulogne-sur-Mer et de Dunkerque n’en peuvent plus. Enfant du Nord, je ne reconnais plus ce si beau littoral du Pas-de-Calais transformé en Alcatraz pour lutter contre l’immigration irrégulière et les clandestins. N’en déplaise à l’extrême gauche, les passeurs sont des mafieux et des assassins. En 2024, 82 migrants sont morts dans la Manche pour avoir voulu rejoindre la Grande-Bretagne.

Que dire des accords du Touquet? C’est un fiasco! La France dépense un demi-milliard d’euros par an pour protéger une frontière qui n’est pas la sienne. Policiers, CRS, gendarmes mobiles sont engagés sur le littoral: autant d’effectifs en moins pour lutter dans nos villes, dans nos campagnes, contre l’ensauvagement, contre les narcotrafiquants qui gangrènent mon pays.

Lors du prochain sommet, l’Europe doit être courageuse aux côtés de la France, face aux Britanniques. Dites à la Grande-Bretagne: «Tu es une grande fille, tu ne dois plus délocaliser ta frontière en France et, comme une grande, tu dois gérer, comme tous les grands pays du monde, tes migrations, tes problèmes et ta frontière.» Je dis donc à ce grand pays ami: «Non, la France ne peut pas accueillir et gérer toute la misère du monde, elle a déjà fort à faire avec les siens.»

Je compte sur la Commission et sur la Pologne pour aider notre grand pays à lutter contre ces migrations, notamment en affirmant que la Grande-Bretagne doit gérer aujourd’hui seule ces problèmes puisque la France n’y arrive plus.

Kris Van Dijck, namens de ECR-Fractie. – Voorzitter, ik blijf een sterke voorstander van nauwe, pragmatische en op wederzijds respect gebaseerde betrekkingen tussen de Europese Unie en het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Mijn delegatie heeft zich in het verleden altijd consequent verzet tegen elke vorm van strafmaatregel jegens het Verenigd Koninkrijk, nadat het land de soevereine keuze maakte om de EU te verlaten. We betreuren evenwel de Brexit.

Ik verwelkom het aangekondigde streven van de Britse regering naar een reset van de relatie met de EU. Hoewel ik het jammer vind dat het Verenigd Koninkrijk hierdoor niet naar onze interne markt of naar onze douane-unie zal terugkeren, geloof ik dat het van cruciaal belang is om onze samenwerking te versterken en enkele struikelblokken weg te werken.

Ik pleit specifiek voor een nieuwe veiligheidsovereenkomst waarmee onze samenwerking op het gebied van defensie, cyberveiligheid en het delen van inlichtingen wordt versterkt. Ten tweede moeten we een overeenkomst sluiten om de sanitaire en fytosanitaire controles aan de grenzen efficiënter te maken. Dit zou een concrete win-winsituatie opleveren voor onze landbouwers, bedrijven en consumenten. Ten derde hoop ik dat het Verenigd Koninkrijk zich opnieuw bij het Erasmusprogramma zal aansluiten. Ten vierde moet het positieve momentum worden benut om de samenwerking op het gebied van energie, visserij en kernfusieonderzoek te versterken. Dit geldt ook voor mijn eerdere pleidooi om de JET-kernfusiereactor (Joint European Torus) te behouden. Tot slot moeten we de mobiliteit van artiesten en inwoners van beide regio’s vergemakkelijken. Het is van groot belang dat onze burgers, jongeren maar ook ouderen, weer gemakkelijk kunnen reizen.

Laat deze top het begin zijn van een volwassen partnerschap tussen twee gelijkwaardige bondgenoten, gebaseerd op gedeelde belangen, wederzijds vertrouwen en een gezamenlijk engagement voor vrijheid en veiligheid.

Sandro Gozi, au nom du groupe Renew. – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Ministre, Monsieur le Commissaire, cher Maroš, le sommet UE-Royaume-Uni du 19 mai doit être un tournant. Les événements à Kiev, Washington ou Gaza ont déjà changé le monde et nous voyons dans plusieurs pays surgir des acteurs extrémistes qui se pensent comme des Churchill, alors qu’ils agissent comme des nouveaux Chamberlain.

Face à ces bouleversements et ces dangers, un nouveau partenariat stratégique euro-britannique s’impose. Mais, pour avancer, il faut avant tout une base solide, la confiance: construire la confiance, respecter pleinement les accords existants et les enrichir avec de nouvelles opportunités pour la défense et la jeunesse, l’intelligence artificielle et le climat, et, surtout, trouver des solutions concrètes sur les dossiers encore ouverts, comme la pêche et l’énergie.

C’est ce que nous avons demandé dans la recommandation votée lors de l’Assemblée parlementaire UE-Royaume-Uni, en mars, en vue de ce sommet. Sur cette base, nous devons repenser l’architecture de sécurité en Europe et travailler ensemble sur la scène globale pour une nouvelle alliance des démocraties.

Pär Holmgren, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, this upcoming EU‑UK summit of course offers an opportunity to rebuild bridges and strengthen cooperation, which is really crucial given the current turbulent times. But it’s also highly beneficial from a long‑term strategic perspective. We, as Greens, recognise the mutual benefit of knowledge‑sharing and research collaboration, and we warmly welcome the UK’s re-entry into Horizon Europe. However, we would also like to see similar developments in Erasmus+, to give young people a chance to study and work on either side of the channel. We therefore call on the Commission and the UK Government to be proactive in restoring and strengthening such programmes.

We would also like to see a better regulatory dynamic between the EU and the UK, for example, the better alignment of biosecurity border controls and the emissions trading schemes to endorse sustainability practices and to facilitate trade.

Last but not least, as you all know, there is a war on European soil. Geopolitical tensions are growing in many, many corners of the world, and humanity is threatened by an escalating climate crisis. We cannot be wasting time and resources conducting parallel research on both sides of the channel, and we cannot be wasting an opportunity to foster a sense of unity among the future generations of Europe. So let this summit be a starting point for a deepening relationship between the EU and the UK for the benefit of all.

David McAllister (PPE). – Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, as previous speakers have already mentioned, the upcoming EU‑UK summit marks a pivotal moment to recalibrate our partnership. Ever since the Windsor Framework, agreed in March 2023, we have seen greater political stability in our relations. The much anticipated EU Security and Defence Pact could be a real milestone. Enhanced cooperation in military mobility, joint research and development, and cyber resilience – this is all urgently needed. The EU and the UK should rise to the occasion and ensure an agreement that also fosters deeper cooperation on intelligence sharing, sanctions coordination as well as foreign information manipulation and interference.

Yet, a mature partnership should go beyond security and defence. The Commission has put substantial proposals on the table on everything from energy to youth mobility. We should deepen cooperation in further key sectors: energy interconnectivity and offshore renewables in the North Sea, financial services through regulatory equivalence, and a pragmatic sustainable fisheries arrangement for the time after 2026. As for the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the TCA is due for review next year. Long‑term stability in our relations is more important than ever. Commissioner Šefčovič, we look forward to discussing the outcome of this summit with you in the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Γιάννης Μανιάτης (S&D). – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, η εκλογή Trump στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες έχει αλλάξει τις παγκόσμιες ισορροπίες. Για να μπορέσει να αντεπεξέλθει η Ευρώπη στις γεωπολιτικές προκλήσεις, όπως είναι ο πόλεμος στην Ουκρανία, η κρίση στη Μέση Ανατολή και η εξάλειψη των αμερικανικών εγγυήσεων ασφαλείας για την ήπειρό μας, πρέπει να ενισχύσει τις σχέσεις της με εταίρους με τους οποίους έχει κοινές αρχές και αξίες, όπως είναι το Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο, ο Καναδάς, η Αυστραλία, η Ιαπωνία.

Εννέα χρόνια μετά το δημοψήφισμα για το Brexit και την καταστροφική διακυβέρνηση των Συντηρητικών, η εκλογή των Εργατικών δημιουργεί μια νέα ευκαιρία. Η επικείμενη σύνοδος Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης – Ηνωμένου Βασιλείου μπορεί να αποτελέσει το πρώτο βήμα για την εξεύρεση ενός θεσμικού πλαισίου που θα επιτρέψει την εμβάθυνση της συνεργασίας μας, ιδιαίτερα σε τομείς όπως είναι η ασφάλεια, η άμυνα, το εμπόριο, η κλιματική αλλαγή και η ενέργεια, όπως και οι ευκαιρίες για τους νέους μας. Σε αυτή την κατεύθυνση πρέπει να κινηθούμε.

Ernő Schaller-Baross (PfE). – Elnök Asszony! A közelgő londoni EU-Egyesült Királyság csúcstalálkozó rendkívüli lehetőséget kínál számunkra, hogy kapcsolatainkat új, erősebb alapokra helyezzük. Sajnálatos módon az elmúlt időszakban nem tudtuk maradéktalanul kihasználni a rendelkezésünkre álló lehetőséget, és úgy tűnt, hogy az EU inkább büntetni próbálta a briteket döntésükért, mintsem konstruktív párbeszédet folytatott volna velük.

Most azonban elérkezett az idő, hogy pragmatikus, hatékony alapokra helyezzük az együttműködésünket. Közösen dolgozunk ki olyan egyezményeket, amelyek valóban a jövőnket formálják. Fontos hangsúlyozni, hogy a briteken kívül az amerikai partnereinkkel is folyamatosan tárgyalnunk kell, és olyan megoldásokra van szükség, amelyek minden fél számára előnyösek és tartósak. Az együttműködés kulcsa a kölcsönös tiszteleten és közös érdekeken alapuló partnerség, amely hosszútávon biztosíthatja Európa stabilitását és sikerét. A következő hónapok döntőek lesznek abban, hogy hogyan alakítjuk közösen a jövőnket.

Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR). – Madam President, dear colleagues, Mr Commissioner, the upcoming first EU-United Kingdom summit after Brexit is an opportunity to open a new chapter in rebuilding our relationship. The most important issue to be addressed is, above all, cooperation in the field of defence. European defence policy is not possible without the United Kingdom.

In the face of global threats, we need a joint response to hybrid challenges, cybersecurity and the protection of our borders. Our key topics include a mobility programme for young people, trade issues, as well as the fight against illegal immigration. One of the most troubling consequences of Brexit for young people was the UK’s withdrawal from the Erasmus+ programme. I therefore welcome plans for new solutions regarding youth mobility.

Brexit has changed the formal framework of our relationship, but it has not broken the bonds between us. We must do everything we can to make everyday life easier – we cannot allow political or bureaucratic obstacles to make it harder. We need cooperation based on trust and concrete solutions, cooperation with a response to take needs of people on both sides of the English Channel.

Barry Cowen (Renew). – Madam President, colleagues, as we look ahead to the upcoming summit, I want to commend the Commission for its ongoing efforts to strengthen our relationship with the UK. Despite the challenges posed by Brexit, the UK remains a valued and like‑minded partner of the EU in the face of global challenges. In light of the recent tariff decisions by the US, it is more important than ever to deepen our engagement with our British neighbours. I urge the Commission to be ambitious in our dialogue with the UK, to work to align our trade regulations and enhance cooperation on energy, particularly on offshore wind and grid infrastructure, and, of course, to preserve the Common Travel Area.

Above all, our united and unwavering support for Ukraine must remain a central priority. With that said, any lasting partnership must begin with the full implementation of existing agreements, including the Windsor Framework. The unique status of Northern Ireland must be protected in all future negotiations, and the peace and stability secured by the Good Friday Agreement must never, ever be taken for granted. Only through trust, cooperation and mutual respect can we secure a prosperous future for both EU and UK citizens alike.

Malika Sorel (PfE). – Madame la Présidente, chers collègues, les crises actuelles le démontrent, l’histoire ne s’efface pas d’un trait de plume. Le Royaume-Uni a quitté l’Union européenne, mais il demeure européen. Washington menace de se distancer de l’Europe, aussitôt la France et le Royaume-Uni se retrouvent et prennent la tête d’un engagement pour la sécurité européenne.

En matière de coopération, beaucoup de progrès ont été faits, mais certains domaines restent en suspens, tels que la mobilité des citoyens, en particulier des jeunes. Plutôt que l’approche purement comptable, le Royaume-Uni doit considérer la richesse humaine et culturelle que permet Erasmus. C’est le vœu de nos collègues britanniques que nous avions reçus récemment ici, dans notre Parlement.

Pour notre compétitivité, nous devons intégrer, dans nos alliances, les universités britanniques de sciences et technologie.

Concernant l’intelligence artificielle, les Britanniques sont pragmatiques et souhaitent avancer très vite en unissant nos efforts. Nous devons tempérer notre obsession réglementaire en la matière.

Dernier point: l’immigration. Plusieurs pays de l’Union subissent les conséquences d’un appel d’air créé par le laxisme d’employeurs britanniques. Ce sujet doit être traité.

Chers collègues, œuvrons à une relation confiante, équilibrée, tournée vers l’avenir.

Francisco José Millán Mon (PPE). – Señora presidenta, el nuevo contexto internacional —con inclusión de la guerra de agresión rusa contra Ucrania y el cambio de la Administración en Washington— hace muy conveniente reforzar la cooperación en política exterior y de defensa con el Reino Unido. Necesitamos un marco profundo e institucionalizado de cooperación en este ámbito.

Fue una lástima que, por negativa de los conservadores británicos, este capítulo quedase fuera del Acuerdo de Comercio y Cooperación. Yo espero que la cumbre del día 19 produzca avances sustanciales en este sentido, y también en otros temas de mutuo interés como, por ejemplo, la movilidad de los jóvenes, la energía, la mayor agilización de los intercambios comerciales y la pesca.

Me detengo brevemente en este último punto: el llamado «periodo de ajuste» de los últimos cinco años ha supuesto un importante recorte de capturas para la flota europea. A partir de 2026 no deben producirse nuevos cambios. Necesitamos previsibilidad y estabilidad para la flota europea. Quiero recordar una vez más que, aunque es verdad que barcos europeos pescan en aguas británicas, también es cierto que el mercado europeo es el que recibe la gran mayoría de las exportaciones británicas de productos del mar.

Termino con una pregunta: señor comisario, ¿puede decirnos algo sobre en qué situación se encuentran las larguísimas negociaciones con el Reino Unido respecto de Gibraltar?

Nathalie Loiseau (Renew). – Madam President, dear British friends. The EU-UK summit gives us the historic opportunity to repair our relationship. There are thousands of good reasons to do it, whereas there was none to damage old ties in the first place.

We share the same aspirations and face the same challenges on both sides of the channel. All leaders have expressed political will to work more and better together. Now is the time to turn words into deeds.

A credible European defence must partner with the UK as a priority, building on the coalition of the willing for Ukraine. Let’s make it happen.

Let’s also prioritise the young generations in our decisions. Since Brexit, London deprives itself of talented young Europeans for no reason. Let’s build a youth mobility scheme.

Every side has to make efforts. We must be more welcoming towards British touring artists. You, dear British friends, must be more welcoming towards European fishermen. Because in both cases, it would make only winners and no losers.

Dear British friends, it is time to get out of splendid isolation and to enjoy again a European entente cordiale.

Thijs Reuten (S&D). – Madam President, colleagues, Commissioner, Council, in today’s geopolitical reality, we need to stand together with our best friends, and the EU and the UK are each other’s best friends. We have to join forces to preserve our freedom, democracy and security – these core values, which were re‑established with the UK’s strong involvement also 80 years ago. As today we celebrate Liberation Day in the Netherlands, I want to thank our British liberators for their incredible contribution in this regard.

A united Europe is needed more than ever to face today’s challenges. Being a member of the EU or not should be insignificant in this. We cannot be driven apart. The upcoming summit is an excellent opportunity to turn the page and to reshape our future and relationship for our citizens, for Europe. This should start with a new formal security and defence partnership to protect our people, strengthen our deterrence and ensure stability in Europe. Let’s get this done together.

Elisabeth Dieringer (PfE). – Frau Präsidentin, sehr geehrte Kolleginnen und Kollegen, geschätzte Bürger! Ich begrüße es ausdrücklich, dass die Vertreter der Europäischen Union sich nun anders verhalten als in der letzten Zeit, ja vielleicht – bildlich gesprochen – auch von ihrem hohen Ross herabsteigen und auch persönliche Befindlichkeiten hintanstellen. Man erkennt wohl nun, dass Großbritannien auch nach dem EU-Austritt keineswegs so geschwächt dasteht, wie man es sich vielleicht auch erhofft hat, und dass europäische Unternehmen sowie besonders junge EU‑Bürger weiterhin nach England streben. Ein Grund dafür: Vier der zehn besten Universitäten der Welt stehen im Vereinigten Königreich, keine einzige davon in der EU. Für EU‑Bürger sind die Studiengebühren dort inzwischen zwei- bis dreimal so hoch wie vor dem Brexit, und in der EU gibt es kaum gleichwertige Alternativen.

Doch es geht nicht nur um Studienplätze. Junge Menschen aus Europa möchten im Vereinigten Königreich leben, lernen, arbeiten – und stoßen auf Visapflicht, Sponsorship‑Systeme und einen Dschungel aus Bürokratie. Die EU hat hier einen wesentlichen Teil ihrer Jugendpolitik preisgegeben. Es gilt daher nun, den Brexit als Realität anzusehen, als demokratische Realität. Unsere Antworten sollten daher nicht in der Vergangenheit sein, sondern auf die Zukunft ausgerichtet.

Barry Andrews (Renew). – Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, I made my very first speech in the hemicycle in February 2020, and I called on the Commission to treat the UK not as a rival but as a partner. Given that we had two more years of Boris Johnson to deal with, that was probably a tall order. But, I believe, together with the voices of so many Members today in this debate, that we need to go even beyond partnership and talk about a like-minded strategic ally.

I believe the time has long passed to continue to punish the UK for Brexit, or to make an example of the UK, to discourage them. I believe that way of thinking is long over, and I believe it’s a very much a minority view among in the European Commission.

So, we need to approach the TCA review from a position of maximum ambition, including, obviously, SPS, the emissions trading scheme and youth mobility. We need to widen the scope to include finance, given the questions raised about the role of the US.

I believe it is in our towering mutual interest to work together to make our respective economies as strong as possible.

Željana Zovko (PPE). – Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, the summit of 19 May represents a unique opportunity to deepen our cooperation with the UK in areas such as defence, trade, foreign affairs and energy. We urgently need to enhance our partnership with the UK on security and strategic questions. However, in our dialogue with the UK, we must take into account the problems of every Member States, and notably the interest of coastal countries. We must make clear that the strengthening of our relations with the UK must lead to a win‑win outcome. Moreover, the UK Government must understand that for relations to be solid, it needs to be transparent. In this regard, we need clarification on the reasons why the UK Government is not willing to cooperate more with the European Union in the Western Balkans. Only by having in mind this transparent and mutually beneficial approach will we be able to take momentum of a reset in our relations.

Ana Catarina Mendes (S&D). – Senhora Presidente, Senhor Comissário, Senhor Ministro, eu sou das otimistas que acreditam que o Reino Unido ainda voltará a fazer parte da União Europeia. É por isso que vejo com muito bons olhos a próxima parceria, e sobretudo a próxima parceria porque deve ser uma parceria estratégica e o reforço das relações entre a União Europeia e o Reino Unido.

Se é verdade que já avançámos muito no Acordo de Parceria Económica, que tem sido absolutamente essencial para reforçar os nossos laços económicos, não é menos verdade que o Reino Unido tem dado sinais, neste momento de instabilidade, sinais muito fortes de presença na definição da política de defesa e segurança na Europa. E é absolutamente essencial que mantenhamos esta relação com o Reino Unido — ela é estratégica, ela é antiga, ela é absolutamente essencial.

Mas, se é verdade que estamos perante as novas ameaças, e estes são dois sinais muito bons, não é menos verdade, Senhor Comissário, que aquilo que peço aqui hoje, neste plenário, é que voltemos a trazer os jovens para o programa Erasmus. Façamos da cultura uma prioridade também na nossa relação com o Reino Unido, fazendo derrubar as barreiras que ainda existem na mobilidade dos nossos artistas.

Uma Europa de valores é uma Europa que partilha também a educação e a cultura — é isto que peço à Comissão neste momento.

Michał Szczerba (PPE). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Wysoka Izbo! Wspólna odpowiedzialność za bezpieczeństwo kontynentu wyznacza kierunek naszych relacji z Wielką Brytanią. Szczyt Unii Europejskiej i Wielkiej Brytanii, zaplanowany na 19 maja, musi być impulsem do sformalizowania strategicznej współpracy w dziedzinie obronności, produkcji uzbrojenia, bezpieczeństwa energetycznego i ochrony infrastruktury krytycznej. Stawiając na nowe partnerstwa, Unia Europejska realizuje cele polskiej prezydencji. Zmieniamy Unię Europejską poprzez wprowadzenie bezpieczeństwa w główny nurt naszych prac. Kompas strategiczny to narzędzie, którym dysponuje Unia Europejska do budowy strategicznych partnerstw. I Unia dostrzega konieczność zacieśniania współpracy z krajami trzecimi. Cieszymy się z dotychczasowych partnerstw z takimi krajami jak Norwegia, Japonia, Korea Południowa, Mołdawia, Macedonia Północna i Albania, ale mówimy: chcemy więcej. Chcemy więcej współpracy, chcemy więcej sojuszy, chcemy więcej partnerstw i więcej bezpieczeństwa.

Procedura “catch-the-eye”

Billy Kelleher (Renew). – Madam President, thank you very much. I do really welcome the reset of EU-UK relations, and I do look forward to a positive outcome in the summit. And there’s just a few points I want to allude to, Commissioner, in terms of the important issues: one being the issue of the Erasmus programme. It has been spoken about a lot, but it really is hugely fundamental to the concept of young people being able to travel, to live, to learn, to love in other cultures. And it would be a shame if over the next number of years, we were unable to see another generation of UK citizens travelling to Europe and European citizens travelling to the UK.

From my perspective, sharing a jurisdiction on the island of Ireland, it is critically important that we have that continual building of personal relationships, and universities and third-level institutions are a great way to do that.

The other key areas where I believe we have to make a lot of progress – again, I look at it from the context of Ireland being offshore – offshore in terms of wind energy and the distribution of electricity from Ireland through the UK and onwards into Europe. I believe we have to have a full and open and honest debate with the UK around that particular issue to ensure the simplification of the export and import of electricity via the UK itself. Otherwise, our ability to export the large sums of wind energy that will hopefully be generated in the years ahead would be significantly challenged, because there will have to be interconnectors directly from Ireland to France otherwise.

Lukas Sieper (NI). – Frau Präsidentin, liebe Menschen Europas! Ich hatte vor drei Wochen die große Freude, mit britischen Kollegen aus dem House of Commons und dem House of Lords Syrien zu besuchen. Und dort, am Ende der zivilisierten Welt, in einem Land, gebeutelt von Bürgerkrieg und Unterdrückung, da findet man zusammen mit den Menschen, die einen begleiten. Genauso kam ich zusammen mit meinen britischen Kollegen. Und ich habe gespürt: Während nicht alle von ihnen erkennen, dass der Brexit ein Fehler war, so sehnen sich doch alle von ihnen nach Europa. Und deswegen denke ich, dass dieser anstehende Gipfel eine wichtige Gelegenheit ist, die Probleme aus dem Weg zu räumen, die wir in der Vergangenheit schon hatten.

Ein großes Thema ist der Handel, und ein kleines Thema in diesem großen Thema ist die Fischerei. Wir werden uns alle daran erinnern, dass die Fischerei und die rechtlichen Fragen hinsichtlich dieses Problems einer der Gründe waren, der der Brexit-Bewegung damals erlaubt hat, Fahrt aufzunehmen. Ich möchte daher alle Vertreter der Europäischen Union aufrufen, insbesondere bei diesem Thema eine gute Lösung mit unseren britischen Freunden zu finden.

Diana Iovanovici Şoşoacă (NI). – Doamnă președintă, atunci când veți vorbi cu Marea Britanie, o să vă rog frumos să apărați și interesele românilor care muncesc în Marea Britanie. Avem foarte mulți români acolo, este una dintre cele mai importante grupări de cetățeni români pe care o avem în afara granițelor țării.

Din păcate, este discriminată total. Nu există săptămână să nu fiu anunțată că un copil este luat din rândul familiilor române. Nu este zi să nu fiu anunțată că un copil a fost atacat și înjunghiat de către alți britanici, și unii copii au murit.

Mă adresez ambasadei Marii Britanii la București, dar și aici, dar și pe lângă Comisia Europeană – nu vor să ne primească, nu vor să vorbească cu noi. Nu-i interesează situația românilor din Marea Britanie și vă întreb: românii care muncesc în Europa, în Marea Britanie, în Uniunea Europeană, sunt chiar de clasa a șaptea a populațiilor lumii? Chiar așa, trebuie să ne batem joc de ei, iar copilul unui român nu contează absolut deloc și nimeni nu îi apără?

Solicit Comisiei Europene, solicit Parlamentului European să ne apere și nouă copiii românilor din Marea Britanie care sunt discriminați și omorâți ca niște animale pe străzi.

(Fine della procedura “catch the eye”)

Maroš Šefčovič, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, my dear colleague, Honourable Minister, Honourable Members of the European Parliament, first and foremost, thank you very much for all your contributions. I would like to start by showing my appreciation, in particular, for the interventions of Mr McAllister, Madam Loiseau, Mr Gozi and Mr Andrews, because they have been with the file on EU‑UK cooperation from the very beginning, since the first moment of Brexit. They can see the change, they can feel the difference, and they can also judge the progress which we are achieving. I totally agree with them that, on both sides, on the side of the United Kingdom and on the on the side of the EU, we see the upcoming summit as a very important turning point, as a pivotal moment. Therefore, we are putting in all our efforts and we are very much focused on delivering tangible results, because we believe that this would clearly contribute to the strengthening of EU‑UK relations.

I absolutely agree with Mr Maniatis and Mr Reuten, who are highlighting the fact that we are now living in a different world. Indeed, the geopolitical landscape has changed dramatically and, therefore, you need to forge new partnerships, new friendships, and you have to work on the relationships you have, especially with important and close neighbours. Therefore, it’s very important for all of us for the EU and UK to work closely together and to make sure that, in all aspects of what is currently being discussed on the geopolitical level, we behave like like‑minded parties, exactly like Madam Mendes and Mr Cowen highlighted.

If you allow me to just bring you a little bit more detail of my visit to London last week, on top of a very well prepared joint committee, where we went through the entire inventory of issues linked to the Windsor Framework, with the Withdrawal Agreement and with the citizens’ rights. I want to expressly say here how much was achieved, how much we focused on this area, how much we fight for the rights of every single EU citizen in the United Kingdom, and how much we work with our Member States to make sure that British nationals who live in the EU also have also the rights which belong to them under the Withdrawal Agreement. I want to reassure everyone that this is a top priority for us. We are really taking care of every person here because we know that we are talking about families, we are talking about children, and we are talking about the fair treatment of our citizens in the UK and British nationals in the EU.

On top of the joint committee session, in one day I had very productive sessions with four ministers, with Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, with Secretary of State Jonathan Reynolds, with whom we discussed trade, with Mr Hilary Benn, where we delved into the issue of Northern Ireland and our cooperation over the Northern Ireland Protocol, and with Mr David Lammy, where we managed not only to discuss geopolitics, but also our good and positive cooperation on the issues linked with Gibraltar. This is also reflecting the new wave of partnership and positive atmosphere between EU and UK.

Coming back to the more concrete points the Honourable Members have made. Indeed, on security and defence, it’s very clear that we can do more to strengthen our cooperation in this area. The points of Madam Zovko and Mr Van Dijck are very well taken, and we are working with this clearly in our minds. I am sure that if you look at the White Paper on the future of European defence already there, we are making it very clear that the UK is an essential European ally, and we are stating that cooperation should be enhanced in our mutual interest. Therefore, I can confirm that we want to be ambitious in this area, and we see it as a core part of a renewed EU‑UK agenda.

Many Honourable Members have been referring to the importance of the area of people‑to‑people contacts. I can assure you that not only for our Member States, which I’m sure Minister Szłapka can confirm, but also for the Commission, very clearly, this is one of the top priorities. We want, again, to build bridges. We want to give our youth the experience of talking to British peers, of having these exchange programmes. Of course, we will be very happy if we can manage to find a solution on Erasmus+ and other other areas of cooperation, as Madam Wiśniewska and Mr Holmgren have been calling for. Therefore for us, in this particular regard, it is very important not to look at each other’s citizens as mere statistics, but as future bridge‑builders, as people who would remember that experience for the rest of their lives. Of course, therefore, in this regard, we want the summit to bring tangible benefits to the people on both sides. For us, clearly, the ambition in this area is an indispensable part of the renewed EU‑UK agenda.

Honourable Members have been referring, among other areas, to the importance of fisheries, and I would like to reassure all of you that this is clearly a priority for us, as it was raised by Mr Millán Mon and Mr Ruissen. The current arrangements for reciprocal access to waters expires in the middle of next year, so it is essential for us to reach an early agreement that protects the rights of our fishers and provides them with certainty and predictability. We have also been open to an SPS agreement with the UK, as Madam Carberry was calling for. We do that because we are convinced that this would further facilitate the flow of SPS goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, beyond what has already been achieved with the Windsor Framework.

On top of this, the ideas mentioned by Mr Andrews, like linking the emissions trading system or strengthening cooperation in the field of energy, as was called for by Mr Kelleher and Mr Cowen – all these are areas we are currently looking at where I believe we can progress further. When you follow the statement of Commission President von der Leyen, she was very clear on this as well. So there is more that the EU and UK can do together to exploit our potential in this area, and we will be using every single remaining day to achieve this result.

Mr Millán Mon was asking about Gibraltar. I will partially respond to this: I have to underline at this stage that we are progressing in a positive direction, and I really would like to thank both Foreign Minister Alvarez and Mr Lammy for their exemplary cooperation and for understanding the position of all sides, because this will help us to advance on these very complex and difficult discussions. We will be working on this at the top level. I believe that we will be successful in that result as well.

Madam President, Honourable Members, my dear colleague, Minister Szłapka, I would like to conclude by thanking you once again, not only for the exchange we had this afternoon, but also for the very vigilant eye and constructive spirit this house has always demonstrated towards the development of EU‑UK relations. We’ve been working very closely on these issues throughout the years, and I believe that the progress which we can see right now is also thanks to your vigilance, to your support and to your to your constructive ideas. Once again, thank you very much, and I’m also looking forward to this constructive cooperation in the future. Thank you, Madam President.

Adam Szłapka, President-in-Office of the Council. – Madam President, thank you very much, honourable Members, Commissioner, the European Union and the United Kingdom are more than neighbours, we are like-minded democracies that share a deep commitment to the rule of law, human rights, market economy and the international order. We are united by a set of values that underpin stability in a world that has become increasingly uncertain.

Our relationship with the UK is about being close partners in peace, prosperity, democracy and about global leadership. We will reaffirm our commitment to this relationship at the summit in pursuit of our shared strategic interests and for the benefit of our citizens.

Presidente. – Dichiaro chiusa la discussione.

19. Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2023 (debate)

Gilles Boyer, rapporteur. – Madame la Présidente, mes chers collègues, Monsieur le Commissaire, le rapport annuel sur la protection des intérêts financiers de notre Union est bien plus qu’un exercice administratif. C’est le miroir de notre capacité collective à défendre notre budget contre les attaques dont il fait l’objet. Notre Parlement accorde une attention toute particulière aux résultats de ce rapport de la Commission, car ils mettent en lumière les failles, les risques, mais aussi les progrès qui sont réalisés dans la lutte contre la fraude. Grâce à notre architecture anti-fraude, le rapport est désormais enrichi des données du Parquet européen, d’Europol et d’autres acteurs-clés.

Nous devons cependant aller plus loin. L’architecture actuelle doit être modernisée, consolidée et surtout rendue pleinement opérationnelle. Avec la création du Parquet européen, nous avons franchi une étape. Il est maintenant temps de renforcer les synergies entre les différentes branches de notre architecture.

En parallèle, nous faisons face à une mutation rapide des menaces. L’intelligence artificielle est désormais utilisée par les organisations criminelles pour détourner des fonds européens. Notre riposte doit donc être aussi technologique. Nous devons mettre à jour nos outils: IMS, Arachne, EDES. Nous devons aussi investir massivement dans des outils numériques avancés et renforcer notre capacité d’analyse des risques, sinon nous aurons toujours un temps de retard sur les criminels.

Les chiffres sont clairs: les actions menées par les entités luttant contre la fraude ont un véritable impact financier. Les recouvrements de paiements indus par l’OLAF et la restitution au budget de l’Union des fonds confisqués grâce au Parquet européen doivent devenir des priorités stratégiques. Les montants détournés doivent être récupérés rapidement; ils doivent l’être au niveau européen et être réaffectés aux politiques communes.

Nous faisons également face à des défis structurels. Les systèmes nationaux restent trop fragmentés. Les capacités de certaines autorités anti-fraude demeurent insuffisantes. Nous devons donc poursuivre l’harmonisation de nos législations, renforcer la coopération transfrontalière et protéger celles et ceux qui ont le courage d’alerter.

Les trois grandes menaces que nous avons identifiées cette année – le crime organisé, la corruption et les conflits d’intérêts – sapent l’intégrité de la dépense publique et détournent nos fonds communs. Ces menaces ne sont pas des fatalités, mais elles appellent une réponse ferme, coordonnée, technologique, éthique et résolument européenne.

Je souligne aussi dans mon rapport l’importance du règlement sur la conditionnalité qui permet de faire le lien entre l’état de droit et la protection des intérêts financiers de l’Union. Il rappelle que l’accès aux fonds européens exige des garanties solides en matière d’indépendance de la justice et de prévention des conflits d’intérêts. Nous ne pouvons pas tolérer que des fonds européens financent des systèmes qui sapent l’état de droit.

Monsieur le Commissaire, chers collègues, nous avons la volonté. Il faut désormais nous donner pleinement les moyens de passer à l’action. Je compte sur vous pour que le prochain cadre financier pluriannuel prenne pleinement en compte nos priorités communes de lutte contre la fraude et contre le crime organisé, ainsi que l’application rigoureuse du principe de conditionnalité. Le budget européen ne peut rester vulnérable face à des réseaux criminels et à la complaisance de certains États ou à la technicité de la fraude moderne.

Piotr Serafin, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, honourable Members, first of all, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Boyer, and the members of the Committee on Budgetary Control for their report, which is balanced, forward-looking and that we not only appreciate, but we share most of the observations that have already been made.

The European Parliament has always supported and, I would say even more, inspired the European Commission to make the anti-fraud architecture more effective and up to the task – for that, I would like to thank you also today. Because of the time constraints, I will concentrate only on a few most prominent aspects of the report that have been already mentioned by the rapporteur.

First, the review of the anti-fraud architecture – this is one of the tasks for this Commission. As the rapporteur has mentioned we have new actors already in place, we might have even more, and it will be absolutely necessary to look and see for the synergies and to facilitate cooperation between the actors. So, from our perspective, to achieve efficient and effective cooperation among all anti-fraud actors will be the priority of the review of the anti-fraud architecture. That is also the precondition for effective and swift recovery of EU funds.

We have already started this process in the Commission. We had consultations with the main actors, including EPPO, OLAF, European Court of Auditors, Eurojust and Europol with a view to drawing up an action plan. I stand ready to inform the European Parliament about the progress and I will also count on the support of this House for the future implementation.

I can only echo what was said by the rapporteur on the conditionality regulation – this is clearly progress and very welcome developments, and the one that, looking ahead in view of the next Multiannual Financial Framework, we will keep in place. We would also like to build on the experience to ensure that the EU budget can be used to promote reforms that strengthen the rule of law in Member States. Therefore, there should not be any doubt – respect for the rule of law is a must for EU funds and even more in the future MFF.

Thirdly, the digitalisation and integration of data. The rapporteur has already referred to a few systems that we have in place – I will talk about them later. But what I want to say is that we are fully aware that digitalisation, interoperability of databases and integration of AI tools for fraud detection and prevention are already present in the revised action plan that accompanies the Commission anti-fraud strategy. We are progressing on its implementation, despite the challenges, and we will report about these developments in the next PIF report.

However, at the heart of any significant development in this direction lies the issue of data quality, without which any technical solution will remain fruitless. We are significantly investing in this by providing detailed guidance to national authorities and engaging in structured dialogue with those that need additional assistance.

Fourthly, refining our tools – IMS, which has been mentioned several times in your report, received an important upgrade at the end of last year to make it technologically ready for other significant developments that will follow. When it comes to Arachne – the tool already supports control and audit and helps protect the Union’s financial interests, and we will continue to strengthen it in line with financial regulation. A Member States expert group, in which the European Parliament sits as an observer, formalises the cooperation towards the development of the future system. We will also be happy to continue to update you on the progress in this project.

When it comes to the early detection and exclusion system, it is currently applicable in direct and indirect management modes as of 2028. Its scope will be extended to short management and direct management with Member States and that is something for which the European Parliament can also take credit.

Let me also mention whistleblower protection that is supporting the prevention and detection of fraud. To strengthen the culture of ethics and maintain a high level of awareness about fraud, corruption or other serious wrongdoing, the Commission will provide updated guidance to its staff on whistleblowing procedures and protection, in light of the EU standards of protection in this area.

And finally, our attention is already set on the future and on the design of the next Multiannual Financial Framework, drawing from good practices and lessons learned during the current MFF. We will need to make sure, in particular, that the legal provisions underlying the future MFF ensure transparency of fund recipients and meaningful and mandatory reporting of quality data about detected irregularities and fraud, and a strong anti-fraud architecture to ensure adequate protection of the EU budget. When the moment of the negotiations of the legislative package for the future MFF comes, the Commission will count once more on your support to ensure that the resulting legal framework will be up to the challenges we are confronted with. I thank you again for your attention and look forward to the constructive debate.

PREȘEDINȚIA: NICOLAE ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ
Vicepreședinte

Caterina Chinnici, a nome del gruppo PPE. – Signor Presidente, Signor Commissario, onorevoli colleghi, io voglio innanzitutto ringraziare il relatore, l’onorevole Boyer, e gli altri relatori ombra per il lavoro che insieme abbiamo svolto su questa importante relazione. Importante perché tutelare gli interessi finanziari dell’Unione e contrastare le frodi significa non solo proteggere il bilancio ma anche la stessa sicurezza interna dell’Unione.

Infatti, come la Procura europea ed Europol costantemente ci segnalano e come ricorda anche la relazione, dietro le frodi e gli altri reati che ledono gli interessi finanziari dell’Unione ci sono sempre più spesso – direi ormai sistematicamente – le organizzazioni criminali, le stesse responsabili anche dei crimini più violenti.

E allora, a fronte dell’aumento dei casi di frode e irregolarità nel quinquennio 2019-2023, occorre rafforzare la cooperazione e lo scambio di informazioni a tutti i livelli, intensificare digitalizzazione e trasparenza, consolidare i sistemi di gestione e controllo, in particolare nell’ambito dell’RRF, dove, secondo la Corte dei conti europea, permangono carenze preoccupanti.

Ma soprattutto, e più in generale, dobbiamo rafforzare l’architettura antifrode dell’Unione, migliorando il coordinamento tra le componenti, sia a livello orizzontale degli organismi dell’Unione, sia a livello verticale di rapporti UE-autorità nazionali degli Stati membri, che devono adottare un approccio sempre più proattivo in tale settore.

Ed è necessario, sempre in quest’ottica, procedere alla revisione dei mandati dei due attori chiave nella lotta alla criminalità economico-finanziaria: EPPO ad Europol, già prevista negli ordinamenti della Commissione, e questo non solo per rafforzarne ulteriormente il ruolo, ma anche per rendere la cooperazione fra di loro ancora più strutturale e sistematica.

Prevenzione, individuazione, indagini e repressione delle frodi non solo per un ritorno in termini economici ma per tutelare opportunità, diritti e sicurezza dei cittadini europei.

Eero Heinäluoma, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, I also would like to thank our rapporteur and the shadows for excellent cooperation in preparing this report.

Combating fraud is about protecting the EU budget. Equally much, it is about protecting European citizens and businesses.

Through European cooperation, we have managed to combat trade in faulty protection equipment during the pandemic, prevented unsafe toys from reaching our children and hindered dangerous food products from ending up on our plates.

Together, we are able to better ensure that EU financial support benefits businesses that live up to our common rules and objectives, instead of those undermining European policies of fair competition on the single market.

To be successful, however, we need all of our society to participate. A zero-tolerance culture against fraud begins with public authorities, including national governments, leading by example and condemning fraud and corruption wherever they occur.

We need an open democratic society with media and civil society free from political pressure or attempts to restrict their participation in public dialogue.

Here, the Commission has a key responsibility in ensuring that our safeguards are robust enough to meet a growing volume of EU funds and an ever more challenging fraud landscape, as our rapporteur told us. Reality shows the need for strengthened safeguards for protecting the EU budget against misuse, be it fraud or violations of the rule of law, not least in view of the upcoming MFF.

Ultimately, we need to ensure that every euro is spent to the benefit of European citizens and businesses.

Virginie Joron, au nom du groupe PfE. – Monsieur le Président, chers collègues, Monsieur le Commissaire, ce rapport sur la protection des intérêts financiers de l’Union est trop clément. En effet, à l’exception du lobbying des ONG vertes financées par Bruxelles, la plupart des scandales majeurs ne figurent ni dans le rapport ni dans les statistiques présentées.

Comment excuser l’inaction du Parquet européen dans l’affaire Pfizer-Von der Leyen? Aucune enquête n’a été menée sur d’éventuels conflits d’intérêts et sur les erreurs systématiques dans la négociation des contrats, sur les 71 milliards d’euros gaspillés en vaccins contre la COVID, sur les doses annulées de Pfizer à 10 € la dose, sur l’achat de plus de 1 milliard d’euros pour le Remdesivir du laboratoire Gilead – traitement pourtant jugé inefficace contre la COVID –, ou encore sur l’emprunt géant post-COVID à taux variable.

Il y a de grandes spoliations et il y a des décisions inexcusables de la Commission qui ne figurent dans aucun rapport. Comment autoriser le pantouflage de Thierry Breton à la Bank of America? Ou confier à BlackRock le soin d’imaginer notre futur bancaire? Laisser sans conséquences majeures le directeur général de la DG MOVE voyager aux frais du Qatar? Confier le recrutement des fonctionnaires européens à une entreprise américaine? Ou encore le blanchiment présumé de 1 million d’euros par le commissaire à la justice via des tickets de loto achetés dans une station-service? De quelle crédibilité la Commission peut-elle se targuer quand elle ne respecte pas ses propres principes?

Cette Commission «VDL II» veut aujourd’hui contrôler les urnes, car les citoyens refusent cette mauvaise gestion. C’est ça, la solution?

Lucia Yar, za skupinu Renew. – Vážený pán predsedajúci, pán eurokomisár, kolegovia, kolegyne, dnes presne dnes, keď tu diskutujeme o ochrane európskych peňazí, sa v krajine, z ktorej pochádzam, na Slovensku, vo veľkom diskutuje o okrádaní bežných ľudí na úkor oligarchov. Tí si z eurofondov, dámy a páni, stavajú na Slovensku haciendy. Eurofondy na podporu vidieka a turizmu opakovane končia v rukách vyvolených s prepojením na premiéra Fica a jeho vládnu moc. Už pred rokmi na tieto schémy s dotáciami upozorňoval zavraždený novinár Ján Kuciak. Od jeho smrti ubehlo sedem rokov, no podvodné praktiky pretrvávajú. Presne tieto prípady ukazujú, prečo je potrebné, aby sme na úrovni Európskej únie dôsledne chránili naše financie. A presne k tomu nabáda aj táto správa. Je dôležité, a to nielen pre krajiny, ktoré najviac prispievajú do európskeho rozpočtu, ale je to dôležité aj pre obyvateľov krajín ako Slovensko, ktorí vedia vďaka eurofondom dobiehať západ a vďaka tomu aj dobiehajú. My tu v europarlamente musíme urobiť všetko pre to, aby európske peniaze slúžili tam, kde sú potrebné, a najviac ľuďom v najmenej rozvinutých regiónoch.

Daniel Freund, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, 228 bottles of champagne, turning a former royal palace into a private golf club, yachts, private jets, Ferraris, vacations in the Maldives – dear colleagues, these are all things that have been purchased by the French Rassemblement National and by the Hungarian Fidesz with money that they stole from the European Union. EU funds that were meant to improve the lives of ordinary Europeans have instead been misused for the luxury lives of a few individuals from the extreme right.

The Rassemblement National and Fidesz – it’s a match made in extremist heaven, and together they form the most corrupt group in this European Parliament: PfE. And while they’re giving their hate and lie-filled speeches – and we just heard it here a couple of seconds ago – blaming people’s problems on Soros, on Eurocrats, on trans people, on NGOs, on refugees, whatever is the matter of the day, they just can’t hide the fact that Viktor Orbán and Marine Le Pen are ultimately the biggest risk to EU taxpayers’ money.

And while Marine Le Pen, who has defrauded this Parliament of EUR 4.6 million, has been rightfully convicted and is not allowed to run for election for five years, Viktor Orbán remains yet unpunished. But it is time that he gets punished for the EUR 14 billion that he and his cronies have stolen from EU taxpayers.

Commissioner, we need to do something about this. We cannot keep sending billions of euros to what is the biggest financial risk in this Union. It’s the corrupt system of Viktor Orbán. So, the best thing we can actually do to protect the EU’s financial interests from fraud, from embezzlement, from corruption, is that we stop paying the corrupt autocrat in Budapest.

Rudi Kennes, namens de The Left-Fractie. – Voorzitter, het vertrouwen in de Europese Unie heeft een dieptepunt bereikt. Het is onze verantwoordelijkheid ervoor te zorgen dat overheidsgeld niet wordt verspild of verduisterd. Het verslag benadrukt hoe veel er nog moet gebeuren om de capaciteit van de fraudebestrijdingsarchitectuur te versterken. De opsporing en de melding van fraude blijven ontoereikend, hoewel er aanzienlijke aantallen onregelmatigheden zijn gemeld.

We moeten de rol van ngo’s en journalisten erkennen bij het blootleggen van misbruik van EU-middelen; we moeten respect opbrengen voor hun werk en hun moed.

Digitalisering is van cruciaal belang om de besteding van overheidsgeld te kunnen volgen; de systemen en het personeel voor grensoverschrijdende onderzoeken moeten toereikend zijn. Wanneer criminelen zich geld toe‑eigenen, moet dat geld snel worden teruggevonden.

Een belangrijk deel van het verslag houdt ook verband met sancties. Persoonlijk vind ik het verkeerd om hele bevolkingsgroepen sancties op te leggen. Ten eerste werken sancties niet. Ten tweede zijn sancties enkel nadelig voor de gewone mensen.

Tot slot stel ik met teleurstelling de gebruikelijke dubbele standaarden vast bij het aan de kaak stellen van corruptie, crimineel gedrag en schendingen van de mensenrechten. Ik zou willen dat de Europese Unie zich met evenveel toewijding voor de rechtsstaat in het Midden-Oosten inzet als ze dat voor Oekraïne doet.

Arno Bausemer, im Namen der ESN-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, meine sehr verehrten Damen und Herren! Der vorliegende Bericht konstatiert für das Kalenderjahr 2023 einen historischen Höchststand der Korruptions- und Betrugsfälle in der Europäischen Union: 13 563 Fälle von Betrug und Unregelmäßigkeiten wurden von den Behörden der EU und der Mitgliedstaaten gemeldet. Die betroffenen Mittel belaufen sich auf 1,9 Milliarden EUR.

Nun sind wir als Abgeordnete dieses Hauses hier verantwortlich für den Umgang mit den Mitteln der Steuerzahler – für den verantwortungsbewussten Umgang. Aber wie soll dieses Ziel erreicht werden, wenn wir mit Ursula von der Leyen eine Kommissionspräsidentin haben, deren Handeln sehr viele Fragen aufwirft? Die Ermittlungen der EU-Staatsanwaltschaft zur Beschaffung von zig Millionen Corona-Impfdosen sind offensichtlich mittlerweile eingeschlafen, denn davon hat man seit dem Sommer letzten Jahres nicht mehr viel gehört. Trotz Aufforderung der EU-Ombudsfrau hat Frau von der Leyen bis heute ihre damaligen Chatverläufe mit dem CEO von Pfizer nicht öffentlich gemacht.

Schaffen Sie, Frau von der Leyen, bitte endlich die notwendige Transparenz, denn Sie stehen nicht über dem Recht und können hier machen, was Sie wollen. Denn Ihnen fehlt im Gegensatz zu uns allen – uns 720 Abgeordneten – nicht nur die demokratische Legitimation, sondern offensichtlich auch jeglicher Anstand. Werte Frau von der Leyen – Sie sind ja nicht da, vielleicht kommen Sie irgendwann mal wieder –, denken Sie daran, dass die Opposition von heute die Regierung von morgen ist. Denken Sie daran, dass man eine Opposition vielleicht kurzfristig behindern kann, aber dass man einen demokratischen Wandel und den damit verbundenen Willen der Bevölkerung niemals aufhalten kann. Und denken Sie daran, dass in der Geschichte schon der eine oder andere Machthaber in seinem Elfenbeinturm eingeschlafen und im Gefängnis wieder aufgewacht ist.

José Cepeda (S&D). – Señor presidente, señor comisario Serafin, muchas gracias por este trabajo. Es un trabajo importante que, de verdad, nos tomamos —como muy bien decía mi colega del PPE— muy en serio, porque hay algo que nos preocupa de una forma muy especial, y es el incremento del fraude.

Hemos visto que en este presupuesto de 2023 se investigaron 13 563 casos, con un impacto financiero de 1 900 millones de euros. Es verdad que, además, estamos evaluando una sofisticación cada vez más creciente. La utilización de las nuevas tecnologías va en aumento, como la de la inteligencia artificial, sin lugar a dudas, para suplantar identidad, desarrollar clonaciones de bots o llevar a cabo ataques cibernéticos.

Yo creo que la Comisión todo esto se lo tiene que tomar muy en serio. Desde luego, yo quiero apostar muy fuerte por las nuevas tecnologías y la implementación de la inteligencia artificial, pero tenemos también que saber proteger. Tenemos que dar formación también a los trabajadores de la Comisión y de nuestras instituciones. En definitiva, es muy importante que desarrollemos muchas capacidades, pero sobre todo que sepamos cada vez protegernos mejor.

Julien Sanchez (PfE). – Monsieur le Président, ce rapport confirme que les intérêts financiers de l’Union ne sont pas protégés. En 2023, les fraudes et irrégularités ont atteint un record historique: 13 563 cas et 1,90 milliard d’euros détournés de leur objectif, et ce ne sont que les chiffres officiels.

Vu le peu de contrôles effectués dans les dépenses, ici, c’est en réalité bien davantage. Pire, 233 enquêtes du Parquet européen sont en cours sur les fonds de la FRR avec 1,86 milliard d’euros en jeu. Et cela ne fait que commencer, car vous confiez le contrôle de la FRR à ceux qui en perçoivent les fonds: c’est affligeant d’amateurisme!

J’étais en mission en Lettonie en avril et la Cour des comptes locale n’a pu répondre à aucune de mes questions sur le sujet. Un scandale! Si je peux me rendre compte de cela, moi, vous, vous ne le pouvez pas? Vous préférez faire l’autruche?

En tant qu’ancien maire, je suis dégoûté par ce que je vois ici. Si nos concitoyens étaient conscients de votre légèreté dans le contrôle des dépenses, ils demanderaient vos têtes. Votre responsabilité est immense. Pendant que la Commission tergiverse, l’argent des contribuables européens alimente la corruption et les mafias. Ça suffit!

Ce ne sont pas des rapports ou des vœux pieux que nous voulons, mais de la transparence, un contrôle systématique et exhaustif au centime près et donc des résultats. En attendant, nous continuerons à dénoncer vos lacunes et à proposer des moyens d’éviter ce qui se passe ici. Il est temps que le laxisme cède sa place à l’exigence.

Alexander Jungbluth (ESN). – Herr Präsident! Der größte Betrugsskandal in der Geschichte der EU wird in dem vorliegenden Bericht nicht einmal erwähnt. Rund 35 Milliarden EUR hat der Impfstoffdeal von von der Leyen den Steuerzahler in etwa gekostet. Nach wie vor verweigert sie die Aufklärung, was die Europäische Staatsanwaltschaft nicht zu stören scheint. Betrug auf allerhöchster Ebene ist in dieser EU längst Standard geworden. Und an die Adresse der Grünen: Herr Freund, es ist immer ganz interessant, dass Sie hier Frau Le Pen ansprechen.

Wir wollen an dieser Stelle doch mal feststellen, dass Ihre Parteivorsitzende, Frau Brantner, dem Magazin Tichys Einblick zufolge genau im Verdacht steht, das Gleiche gemacht zu haben. Im rheinland-pfälzischen Wahlkampf 2011, als die Grünen nicht im Parlament vertreten waren, hat sie genau das gemacht, was Sie heute Le Pen vorwerfen. Sie haben Mitarbeiter dazu verwendet, ihren Wahlkampf zu unterstützen. Sie sind an Korruption in diesem Haus überhaupt nicht zu übertreffen. Sie machen nämlich zwei Dinge: Sie haben eine korrupte Parteivorsitzende Brantner auf der einen Ebene, und mittelbar nutzen Sie über Ihre NGOs diesen Staat, nutzen Sie die EU als Selbstbedienungsladen. Sie sind der korrupteste Haufen, den dieses Parlament überhaupt zu bieten hat, Herr Freund!

(Der Redner ist damit einverstanden, auf eine Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“ zu antworten.)

Lukas Sieper (NI), Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“. – Schauen Sie mal, Herr Jungbluth, mit Ihnen diskutiere ich so gerne. Da opfere ich sogar mein Catch the eye, nur um Ihnen hier diese Frage zu stellen. Ich hoffe, Sie sind bereit. Sie sagen, dass dieser oder jener Teil der korrupteste Haufen hier im EU‑Parlament ist oder auch die Kommission. Ich meine, dass die Berichte da mal öffentlich gemacht werden müssen und die SMS, da sind wir uns ja alle einig. Was da drin steht, das weiß auch nur der liebe Gott. Aber ich schweife ab. Meine Frage an Sie lautet: Wie können Sie eigentlich sagen, dass jemand anderes der korrupteste Haufen ist, wenn es Ihre Partei ist, die sich von ausländischen Agenten schmieren lässt, weswegen wir hier die Immunität aufheben müssen?

Alexander Jungbluth (ESN), Antwort auf eine Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“. – Der Kollege hat es gerade richtig gesagt. Sie haben hier eine Märchenstunde, die Sie erzählen. Und wissen Sie was? Folgendes ist der Fall: Es ist doch tatsächlich so, dass bei uns immer Kleinigkeiten hervorgehoben werden und dann ein angeblicher Korruptionsskandal daraus gemacht wird. Da gibt es irgendwelche dubiosen Geschichten, die Leute wie Sie dann immer gerne erfinden. Auf der anderen Seite haben wir tatsächliche Korruption, die eben nicht geahndet wird, weil wir eben unter anderem keine unabhängige Gerichtsbarkeit haben.

Wir sehen das gerade in Deutschland, was passiert. Wir haben einen abhängigen Inlandsgeheimdienst, wir haben eine abhängige Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit, und das ist das eigentliche Problem. Das eigentliche Problem ist, dass eine Rechtsstaatlichkeit innerhalb dieser EU kaum noch gegeben ist.

Evin Incir (S&D). – Mr President, every misuse of taxpayers’ money is essentially theft. Viktor Orbán, the leader of the far right in Europe, is one of the biggest ones. The European Commission is currently withholding … So are the colleagues going to be silent or am I allowed to continue?

(The President asked for silence in the room)

Every misuse of taxpayers’ money is essentially theft. Viktor Orbán, the leader of the far right in Europe, is one of the biggest ones. The European Commission is currently withholding many billions in EU funds from Hungary due to rule of law and corruption concerns.

This is corruption. Anti‑democrats remain anti‑democrats. Transparency and accountability are their greatest enemies. Their shamelessness knows no bounds, even extending to spying on investigators from the EU Anti‑Fraud Office, OLAF.

Those who misuse public funds and target our anti‑corruption agencies also attempt to demonise the cornerstone of democracy: civil society. A vibrant civil society is a vital pillar of healthy democracies, which explains why Orbán is attacking it.

Let us also not forget the baseless allegations against important international organisations like UNWRA. Democracy is currently in jeopardy.

András László (PfE). – Elnök Úr! Képviselő Asszonynak rögtön válaszolnék is. Magyarország uniós forrásait részben azért tartják vissza, mert nemet mondunk az ukrajnai háborúra, nemet mondunk az illegális migrációra, és nemet mondunk a genderideológiára. De ami Brüsszelt illeti, az NGO-k finanszírozási botránya végre elérte az Európai Uniót is. Az Európai Számvevőszék jelentése egészen megdöbbentő, egyértelműen átláthatatlan finanszírozásról beszél. Még az sincs rendesen szabályozva, hogy mi számít ténylegesen nem kormányzati szervezetnek.

Az EU egyszerűen elfogadja azt, hogyha egyes szervezetek annak vallják magukat, miközben fontos politikai kérdésekben rájuk hivatkozik az Európai Bizottság mint akik az európai polgárok akaratát képviselik. Az elmúlt években az Európai Parlament korrupciós botránya, a legutóbb zöld botrányban érintett Frans Timmermans esetében is kiderült, hogy NGO-k a politikai befolyásszerzés eszközei voltak. A Magyarországon működő legnagyobb, magukat civilnek hazudó szervezetek pedig támogatásuk túlnyomó részét nem magyar magánszemélyektől kapják, hanem külföldről. Ennek véget kell vetni, véget kell vetni a politikai árnyékhatalomnak, és át kell világítani ezt a rendszert. A bújtatott politikai lobbinak véget kell vetni.

Intervenții la cerere

Maria Grapini (S&D). – Domnule președinte, domnule comisar, stimați colegi, discutăm o problemă extrem de importantă și este păcat că suntem atât de puțini.

Apărarea intereselor financiare ale Uniunii ține, de fapt, de credibilitatea instituțiilor europene și cum le putem apăra?

În primul rând, toate instituțiile care sunt desemnate și plătite pentru a apăra interesele financiare și a combate frauda trebuie să lucreze transparent, să ne informeze, să transmitem în țara noastră, în țările noastre, ce fac aceste instituții, pentru că le plătim și nu cu bani puțini.

Am exemple concrete – Parchetul European – am fost raportor în mandatul trecut, Parchetul European nu este eficient. A recuperat 1%, circa 1% din sumele pentru care au cheltuit bani, au controlat. Mai mult, sunt cazuri extrem de grave: trei ani de zile terorizează o companie și, în final, nu este vinovată compania de a o scoate din piață.

Deci, dacă nu lucrează pentru cu adevărat pentru recuperarea pagubelor și evitarea fraudelor, ne pierdem credibilitatea și să nu ne mirăm că se dezvoltă extremismul.

Asta cer Comisiei Europene: transparență și eficiență în munca pe care o fac.

Lukas Sieper (NI). – Mr President, dear people of Europe, dear Commissioner, when I was researching the most important administrative body of the European Union regarding the topic of this debate, OLAF – who, by the way, also has one of the funniest names of all European institutions, at least from a German or maybe Scandinavian perspective – I found a shocking truth: this so important administrative body does not have Instagram, no TikTok, nothing but a LinkedIn account and a website.

Everyone in this room, maybe because of different political ideas, agrees on the fact that fraud is hurting this Union, is hurting the trust in our Union. And so I’m wondering, why do we not publish this important work of OLAF in a system that is modern, that reaches the young generation? How can this be?

And maybe we should also ask ourselves, which other institutions make the same mistake? I hope you can take this with you, Commissioner, even though you are not directly responsible.

(Încheierea intervențiilor la cerere)

Piotr Serafin, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, many thanks for the debate. I appreciate a number of suggestions and remarks that have been raised and that can help us to improve the way in which the anti-fraud architecture operates.

And as I said already in the opening remarks, the work on the reform and the review of the anti-fraud architecture will be absolutely key during this mandate.

I think a lot of positive developments took place in the last few years. The fact that we have in place EPPO is clearly a positive development. The fact that we have been and we will continue to invest also European taxpayers’ money into the development of the anti-fraud architecture, let me just make a reference to the announcement of President von der Leyen to increase financial resources available for Europol, that is also a positive development.

But it’s also true that since we have new actors, since we are also going to have a few new players in the area of anti-fraud architecture, that’s why that review is really necessary. And I believe that that review is not just important from the perspective of the protection of the financial interests of the EU, not only from the perspective of the protection of the EU budget, but also from the perspective of our Member States. Because the truth is that the single market is an opportunity not only for our companies, not only for our citizens, but it is also an opportunity for fraudsters. And I’m absolutely certain that without a system that we have at EU level, Member States alone would not be able to detect and fight against fraud. And that is one of the important takeaways that we will also keep in mind while looking into the future of the anti-fraud architecture.

The second point that I would like to make refers to the data on the detection of fraud. Many of you have referred to that data. Yes, it is an issue of concern. That is an issue that we would need to continue to address. But that is also a measure that we have put in place: an anti-fraud system that is able to detect fraud, that is able also to fight fraud and corruption. The system is not perfect, that’s why we would need to review it. That’s why we need to continuously work to improve it. Because as we know, one thing that the fraudsters are not missing is creativity. They will continue to look for ways in which they can misuse public money, including the EU budget money.

But that system is already is already bringing results. And to be frank, I’ve heard about some countries, not necessarily in the European Union, in which those in power say there is no fraud, there is no corruption – I don’t believe it. I think there is fraud and there is corruption everywhere because that risk is everywhere. The question is whether we have a system in place that can address it and fight it.

And that is another point that I would like to share with you, and one last on the NGOs: I think it has to be stated clearly, we’ll discuss it also tomorrow, there is no fraud. There has never been fraud. And those who are referring to NGOs, they know it. I have more and more the impression that they are doing that, because they would like to eliminate NGOs from the public debate at the European level.

Gilles Boyer, rapporteur. – Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Commissaire, chers collègues, merci pour ce débat utile qui fait émerger des positions non pas unanimes, parce que l’unanimité n’est pas de ce monde, mais des positions largement consensuelles ou en tout cas une volonté partagée de faire, tous ensemble, le meilleur usage de l’argent public européen, de lutter contre une fraude protéiforme, massive, inventive et souvent plus rapide que nous, décideurs européens.

À partir de ce consensus, j’aimerais que l’ensemble des groupes qui partagent cette vision, au-delà des nuances que nous pouvons avoir, ne se laissent pas polluer par un sujet important, mais finalement marginal dans notre architecture européenne, celui des ONG. Ce sujet, vous l’avez évoqué, il a été évoqué dans ce débat et il sera à nouveau évoqué dans cet hémicycle, j’en suis certain, à plusieurs reprises.

J’ai proposé une formulation, dans le rapport, qui me semble équilibrée, qui rappelle le rôle important des ONG dans le débat public européen, que nous devons préserver, et qui rappelle aussi que tous ceux qui perçoivent des fonds européens doivent la transparence aux contribuables européens et aux autorités de contrôle. Je crois que c’est ce que nous pouvons dire dans le cadre de ce rapport.

Je pense que c’est un bon rapport, non pas parce que c’est le mien – pas seulement parce que c’est le mien –, mais parce qu’il est issu d’un travail réfléchi avec l’ensemble des rapporteurs fictifs que je remercie pour leur collaboration. Je souhaite que, lors du vote de demain, nous gardions en tête, comme on dit en bon français, «the big picture».

Preşedinte. – Cu acest anunț am încheiat dezbaterea. Votarea va avea loc mâine.

20. Composition of committees and delegations

Preşedinte. – Am un anunț de făcut: deputații neafiliați au comunicat președintelui o decizie referitoare la modificări cu privire la numirile în cadrul comisiilor.

Această decizie va fi consemnată în procesul-verbal al ședinței de astăzi și produce efecte de la data prezentului anunț, respectiv, domnul Volker Schnurrbusch îl înlocuiește pe domnul Taner Kabilov în Comisia pentru petiții.

21. Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2023 (debate)

Ondřej Knotek, rapporteur. – Mr President, good afternoon colleagues, Vice-President Fitto and Vice-President of the EIB de Groot. Despite the fact that the main scope of the report is dedicated to the financial activities of the bank in 2023, we considered, on top of this scope, other useful elements to better understand the EIB’s operational model, internal system and also strategy in current vibrant times. Why? Because the EIB already now plays a crucial role in implementing EU policies, and its role might grow in the near future. Therefore, I am extremely grateful for the openness and hospitality that the bank provided while drafting this report.

I would like to also remind all of us that the EIB is not the subject of the standard discharge procedure we are used to. To sum up the activities we have done: firstly, there was a questionnaire based on the inputs from the CONT committee members that was effectively answered by the bank. Then on 11 December 2024, we held a one-day working visit in the EIB, meeting eight representatives of departments and one vice-president. And on 25 January, we held a follow-up video conference on topics like transparency and prevention of the conflict of interest.

Now, on the substance, the EIB maintained in 2023 the triple A rating and liquidity ratio within the limits and had a positive result of EUR 2.3 billion. Also, the 2023 signed investments are expected to create 1.4 million new jobs in coming years, and this shall contribute growth of one percentage in GDP.

The EIB manages up to 130 mandates, both from the Commission and the shared management, and produces 450 reports every year. Therefore, simplification is not only needed here, but as well has been recognised within the system and addressed in the system, and of course not at the cost of sound management. By the way, EIB manages six mandates from the RRF, namely for Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain.

On energy security, the bank focuses on the security of supplies via grids reinforcement, cross-border infrastructure, but also introduces new modern elements like demand response and energy storage projects, and also value chains for critical materials.

Another important topic is security – EIB supports the EU defence and security industry under the dual-use principle, and the budget has been increased here from EUR 6 billion to EUR 8 billion and newly includes also activities in space. The bank cooperates with the European Defence Agency and, in order to mobilise money for innovative projects, has opened the One-Stop-Shop.

When we look at the climate, it is one of the main priorities of the bank – there has been EUR 40 billion in climate, EUR 25 billion in sustainability and also many projects newly in climate adaptation. The bank is active also outside the EU, namely in Ukraine, Western Balkans, Moldova but also Africa. When it comes to accountability, the bank cooperates within OLAF and EPPO and has its own ethics and compliance committee.

We are running slowly out of time, so to sum up, the EIB has demonstrated, I would say, unprecedented engagement with the Parliament in preparing this report. I am very thankful, in my opinion, as also an auditor outside the European Parliament, the EIB is running a successful operational model applying risk prevention and continual improvement approach and tries to address existing challenges and opportunities effectively. I would like to thank all the representatives of the CONT committee, of course, of the bank, of the Secretariat, and I am looking forward to the debate to come.

Robert de Groot, Vice-President of the EIB. – Mr President, honourable Members, it’s my pleasure to be with you here today to address some important issues raised in the report and update you on the activities of the EIB Group. And I want to thank the rapporteur, Mr Ondřej Knotek, for his thorough work and the excellent cooperation to reach a well‑balanced report.

Your report rightly acknowledges the bank’s achievements in 2023, and since then, a lot has happened. 2024, the first year of President Calviño at the helm of the bank was a year of change. The bank signed EUR 89 billion in new financing for high‑impact projects supporting EU policy priorities. Our investments help close the investment gap Europe faces. Investment strengthens European competitiveness, it bolsters our strategic autonomy and makes the European economy more resilient in this increasingly complex world.

Last year alone, nearly 60 % of our financing went to supporting the green transition, including circular economy and climate adaptation. The EIB Group made more investments than ever to strengthen the EU’s energy security, mobilising over EUR 100 billion for projects in the new and upgraded infrastructure, such as grids and interconnectors, renewables, net zero industries, efficiency and energy storage.

At the same time, higher risk operations for Europe’s most innovative companies have sharply increased, with EUR 8 billion in equity and quasi‑equity investment for start‑ups, scale‑ups and European pioneers. This number will increase in 2025.

We operate with clear priorities set out by our shareholders in our 2024‑2027 strategic roadmap. We have significant progress in simplification – the rapporteur alluded to it – resulting in cutting red tape for clients and shortening the time to market required to improve and deploy new investments, and, thanks to the support of your House, with the change of our statute to increase the gearing ratio, allowing us to invest more while maintaining our equity base.

The EIB Group plans to increase its overall investments, as I said, to EUR 90‑95 billion in 2025, with flagship initiatives to support European tech champions through a dedicated Tech EU programme, contributing to a deeper and broader European capital markets union, which is essential to support our start‑up and scale‑up companies and to keep them in Europe.

We will act on critical raw materials, water management, energy efficiency of SMEs, as well as sustainable and affordable housing. Housing is a top priority for the EIB Group, as it is for so many citizens all over Europe. That’s why we have designed an action plan, working closely with the Commission to set up a pan‑European investment platform. Our aim is to generate about EUR 10 billion of investment over the next two years. This is a good example of how the bank is willing and able to evolve, adapt and be part of the solution to the multiple challenges Europe currently faces.

InvestEU is a success story with a multiplier effect of close to 15 times, according to the Commission. It’s an excellent example of how leveraging is realised. Indeed, the market demand and pace of deployment are such that we are even at risk of missing the firepower to deliver some of our projects in the last years of the budget cycle.

I turn now to another area which is highly relevant in the current geopolitical context, namely defence and security. The EIB board decided in March to broaden the EIB Group’s eligibility criteria for security and defence investments, ensuring that excluded activities remain as minimal as possible. This allows us to finance large‑scale strategic projects in areas such as border protection, military mobility, space, cybersecurity, anti‑jamming technologies, radar system, seabed and other critical infrastructure and critical raw materials. These changes will further facilitate investment to bolster Europe’s industrial defence capabilities. I think this is very important at this moment in time.

Mr President, once again, many thanks to the rapporteur for the report and thank you very much for this opportunity.

Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, Vice-President of the EIB, dear rapporteur, honourable Members, I would like to thank the European Parliament for the opportunity to present the Commission’s views in this regard. This was another year of positive cooperation with our long-standing partner, the European Investment Bank group, which we value very much. It is essential that our institutions keep working together as strategic partners.

Today, the EIB group has been provided indispensable financial support to ensure implementation of the EU priorities on the ground. This concerns areas such as energy, electricity distribution, networks, water, social and affordable housing, education and the mobile network, to name just a few. We welcome the eight strategic priorities of the EIB Strategic Roadmap adopted last year. They are well-aligned with EU priorities, including new ones such as defence and security.

The projects and the investments carried out by the EIB also contribute to the competitiveness agenda of the current Commission. This agenda critically depends on the ability of highly innovative start-ups. This is especially relevant in areas such as AI, quantum computing and deep tech, biotech and clean tech, or in the defence sector.

Given the scale of the investment needed, as mentioned in the Draghi report, we will have to strive to attract institutional investors, such as the insurers and the pension funds to leverage all available resources. The Commission and the EIB group should continue working together to identify all options available. At the same time, we encourage the EIB group to further exploit the risk-taking potential, to foster higher additionally in its interventions and avoid the risk of crowding out other investors.

In March, the Commission published the communication on the Savings and Investments Union. I therefore welcome the EIB’s recent initiative to address the most challenging needs of strategically important, innovative companies. These initiatives, such as the European Tech Champions Initiative 2.0, aimed to scale-up venture capital investments, facilitate easier exits of the venture funds, thus allowing circularity of investment and better use of available funds.

The Commission has strongly connected competitiveness to simplification: one cannot exist without the other. Our strategy on implementation and simplification for the next five years aims at making sure that EU rules are as simple and cost-effective as possible, and that they deliver on the ground to achieve our economic, social, security and environmental goals. We are working closely with the EIB to deliver on our simplification agenda, for example via the Invest EU omnibus regulation.

Outside the EU, the role of EIB Global will be crucial in delivering EU policy priorities and enhancing the EU’s visibility and development impact. The EIB remains our important partner in ensuring continued support to Ukraine now and in the long-term. In April, the Commission witnessed the signature of four new EIB operations, which will address Ukraine’s most pressing recovery needs, supporting municipalities in renewable energy and energy efficiency, water infrastructure and district heating.

These projects, backed by the EU budget through the Ukraine Facility, reflect our commitment to Ukraine’s long-term resilience and to its people. In this regard and in view of an increasingly difficult geopolitical context, strengthening EU security and defence has been brought to the forefront of our agenda. Rebuilding Europe’s defence capabilities requires urgent and significant investment.

In March, the Commission presented the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 initiative to facilitate a unique surge in defence investment. It aims to unlock up to EUR 800 billion of additional defence expenditures – a game changer for European defence. The EIB has a clear role to play here, particularly in supporting the investments needed to ramp up the defence industry. This also includes targeted support for small and medium enterprises across the supply chain. In this sense, we welcome the recent amendment of the EIB group’s exclusion policy to further boost its investment in security and defence, while safeguarding the group’s financial capacity. I believe that by working together, focusing investment and maintaining a coherent regulatory framework, we can ensure Europe’s continued growth, technological leadership and resilience in the face of an increasingly volatile and competitive global environment.

I welcome the EP report, which brings important insights and recommendations. The EIB has been successful in ensuring a balance between being a bank with public commission and maintaining agility to ensure it remains an attractive partner for projects, promoters and to advance our important investment policies, often with private partners. I hope this balance will be further retained.

Kinga Kollár, a PPE képviselőcsoport nevében. – Elnök Úr! Európa következő évei az óriásberuházásokról fognak szólni: évi 800 milliárd euró az európai vállalkozásokba, további 800 milliárd euró Európa védelmi iparába. Végül, de semmiképpen sem utolsósorban, jelentős összegek a kohézió, a jólét és az egészséges környezet fenntartására, különösen a megfizethető lakhatásra és a kapcsolódó egészségügyi, oktatási és közlekedési infrastruktúra finanszírozására.

Az Európai Beruházási Bank több szempontból is előnyös helyzetben van, hogy ezeket a nagymértékű befektetéseket mozgósítani tudja. Egyrészt tőkeerős helyzete, az EU által biztosított garancia és kiváló hitelminősítése lehetővé teszi számára, hogy előnyös feltételek mellett tudjon hitelt nyújtani. Másrészt jelentős tapasztalata van a privát befektetők és a tőke bevonásában, amire mindenképpen szükség lesz a célok eléréséhez. Kérem ezért a bankot, hogy a prudens és gazdaságos működés megtartása mellett, fokozza a beruházási tevékenységét és merjen bátrabban kockázatot vállalni.

Az EIB-nek a tagállamok beruházási bankjaként arra is figyelnie kell, hogy finanszírozási tevékenysége földrajzilag is kiegyensúlyozott legyen. Magyarországon például a bank által befektetett összeg jelentősen elmarad az európai átlagtól, pedig Magyarországon külön kiemelt szerepe is lenne a banknak, a magyar kormány korrupciója miatt kiesett uniós támogatások pótlásában. A bank az EU pénzügyi érdekeinek védelme mellett tudna a magyar gazdaságba és vállalkozásokba, infrastruktúrába pénzt pumpálni.

Végül kiemelném, hogy az, hogy a jelentéstevő a Patrióta csoport tagja, nem szoríthatja háttérbe azt, hogy mi mindannyian azért vagyunk itt, hogy a választópolgárok érdekeit szolgáljuk. A Tisztelt Ház előtt lévő jelentés ezt teszi, ezért remélem, hogy széles körű támogatásra talál a holnapi szavazáson.

Maria Grapini, în numele grupului S&D. – Domnule președinte, domnule comisar, domnule vicepreședinte, sunt raportor din partea grupului meu la acest raport și, așa cum am spus și la audierea în comisie, apreciez activitatea Băncii Europene de Investiții. Vin din mediul privat, știu procedurile de lucru în bănci, știu că nu își asumă de multe ori riscuri, vor să fie acoperiți.

Ce mi-aș dori, domnule vicepreședinte, este ca în viitor, din acele multe zeci de miliarde pe care ați spus că le-ați investit, să crească procentul investițiilor și creditelor acordate întreprinderilor mici și mijlocii. Am spus asta și în dezbaterea din comisie.

De asemenea, mi-aș dori să flexibilizați, și mai multă transparență, să eliminăm aceste bariere în calea celor care ar dori să investească, să aibă credite. De asemenea, în mediul rural, foarte puțini din mediul rural pot să aibă acces la credite. Poate vă gândiți la alte mecanisme.

Femeile care conduc afaceri, de asemenea, am pus amendament, îmi doresc să aibă mai mult acces, și poate la următorul raport ne aduceți, așa întreg, procentele de creștere la investițiile, la creditele acordate IMM-urilor, femeilor, apoi în domeniul sanitar.

Și avem o mare problemă cu locuințele. S-a mai spus aici: este o criză de locuințe, în special la tineri și aici trebuie să ne gândim cum putem să facem prin Banca Europeană de Investiții să acordăm credite tinerilor pentru a avea locuințe.

Şerban Dimitrie Sturdza, în numele grupului ECR. – Domnule președinte, stimate domnule Fitto, stimați colegi, în calitate de raportor al ECR pentru dosarul cu privire la activitatea anuală a Băncii Europene de Investiții, mi-am asumat un rol activ în protejarea intereselor financiare ale Uniunii Europene.

Fondurile publice ale Uniunii Europene trebuie să fie utilizate eficient și transparent, fără a risipi vreo resursă. De aceea, am cerut ca evaluările de impact să fie riguroase și să garanteze că fiecare euro cheltuit aduce beneficii concrete cetățenilor europeni, în special în contextul crizelor economice și sociale cu care ne confruntăm.

Consider că este esențial ca alocarea banilor europeni să se facă pe baza unor principii raționale și nu pe fundamente ideologice care pot pune în pericol stabilitatea economică a Uniunii.

În virtutea acestui raționament, prin amendamentele pe care le-am susținut, am cerut ca Fondul European de Investiții să fie orientat clar către creșterea competitivității, a rezilienței și a dezvoltării economice. Cerințele privind obiectivele climatice nu trebuie să devină scopuri în sine și nici să afecteze competitivitatea.

Împreună cu colegii deputați din Grupul ECR, voi continua să urmăresc cu atenție modul în care Banca Europeană de Investiții gestionează fondurile și să mă asigur că deciziile financiare sunt luate în interesul tuturor cetățenilor europeni.

Vlad Vasile-Voiculescu, în numele grupului Renew. – Domnule președinte, apreciez rolul Băncii Europene de Investiții în arhitectura instituțională a Uniunii Europene. Este o instituție cheie pentru coeziune, dezvoltare durabilă, tranziție verde.

Dar tocmai pentru că știm ce rol esențial are, avem datoria să spunem și acolo unde lucrurile nu merg bine.

Am evaluat din partea grupului politic Renew activitatea băncii în 2023. Doar un sfert, doar un sfert din finanțările BEI au mers către regiunile mai puțin dezvoltate din Uniunea Europeană în 2023. Este un procent care ar trebui să ne îngrijoreze, dacă ne pasă cu adevărat de reducerea inegalităților între Est și Vest, între centrul și periferia Uniunii.

România este un exemplu elocvent. Este o țară cu nevoi uriașe în infrastructură, digitalizare, sănătate, tranziție energetică, dar cu o prezență relativ modestă în portofoliul BEI.

Este clar că trebuie să înțelegem ce nu funcționează, și ce nu funcționează este colaborarea cu autoritățile naționale și locale. Există blocaje administrative și de capacitate și parteneriatele public-private sunt prea puțin folosite și ar trebui să fie o prioritate pentru viitor.

În final, salut cooperarea cu OLAF și Parchetul European. Cred că este un pas esențial pentru întărirea transparenței și a încrederii cetățenilor.

Rudi Kennes, namens de The Left-Fractie. – Voorzitter, de Europese Investeringsbank (EIB) werkt op basis van een non-profitmandaat, met als doel projecten te financieren die ten goede komen aan gewone mensen in de Europese Unie en daarbuiten. In werkelijkheid heeft de EIB echter vooral bijgedragen aan het verhogen van bedrijfswinsten met belastinggeld. Miljarden euro’s aan overheidsleningen zijn toegekend aan zeer winstgevende bedrijven die hun projecten perfect zonder overheidssubsidies hadden kunnen financieren.

Tussen 2020 en 2023 ontvingen zeven zakelijke EIB-klanten – Iberdrola, Stellantis, Intesa San Paolo, Leonardo, Orange, Nordfolk en Gavi (the Vaccine) Alliance – meer dan 11 miljard EUR aan EIB-leningen. In dezelfde periode boekten deze bedrijven samen 100 miljard EUR winst, keerden zij 38,7 miljard EUR aan dividend uit, besteedden zij €11,9 miljard EUR aan aandeleninkoop en betaalden zij hun CEO’s maar liefst meer dan 146 miljoen EUR.

Sommige van deze bedrijven liggen bovendien onder vuur vanwege betrokkenheid bij sociale onregelmatigheden en milieumisstanden, corruptie en het leveren van wapens aan landen die het internationale recht schenden. Dit moet veranderen.

De EIB moet prioriteit geven aan publieke partnerschappen en onze publieke diensten financieren. Zij moet hoge sociale en milieunormen hanteren voor alle projecten, strenge voorwaarden stellen aan bedrijfsleningen en nauwer samenwerken met de EU en nationale publieke financiële instellingen om de positieve impact van overheidsinstellingen te maximaliseren.

Tomáš Zdechovský (PPE). – Pane předsedající, vážený pane komisaři, vážený pane místopředsedo, vážení kolegové, rád bych poděkoval všem kolegům za velmi dobrou práci. Je to jasný signál, že Evropská investiční banka musí převzít klíčovou roli v oblasti strategické obrany Evropy – technologie dvojího užití, tedy ty, které slouží k civilním i obranným účelům, zásadní pro naši bezpečnost a suverenitu. A Evropská investiční banka se musí s touto výzvou utkat. Je skvělé, že Evropská investiční banka opustila zastaralý model příjmového testu. Evropská investiční banka ale musí investovat i do oblastí, jako je kybernetická bezpečnost nebo inovace v oblasti obrany. Potřebujeme také cílené investice do energetické bezpečnosti, což jsme viděli jako Evropská lidová strana ve Španělsku minulý týden. Ale řekněme si to otevřeně – bez bezpečnosti nebude stabilita. Právě proto musí být obranné schopnosti a duální technologie jádrem budoucího mandátu Evropské investiční banky. Podporuji tuto zprávu, protože nevidím v Evropské investiční bance jenom banku, ale i instituci, která chrání odolnost Evropy.

Jonás Fernández (S&D). – Señor presidente, señor comisario, en primer lugar, me gustaría felicitar y agradecer el trabajo del Banco Europeo de Inversiones en todos estos años, y especialmente —como ha dicho el vicepresidente— en esta última etapa con una nueva presidenta, que sin duda está reactivando el trabajo del Banco Europeo de Inversiones, tan necesario ante el volumen ingente de financiación que debemos acometer en los próximos años.

Quisiera quizá hacer dos apuntes. En primer lugar, necesitamos más financiación para la vivienda social. Y tengo un mensaje para la Comisión: la propuesta de reforma de la definición de pequeña y mediana empresa que está en la revisión del Reglamento por el que se establece el Programa InvestEU he de decir que a los socialistas no nos gusta mucho, porque creo que no define bien lo que es una pyme y podría distraer la atención y los esfuerzos del Banco Europeo de Inversiones en financiar a las pequeñas y medianas empresas.

En todo caso, y para terminar, me gustaría anunciar que el Grupo Socialista votará en contra de este informe, porque realmente entendemos que el Grupo parlamentario de los Patriotas, que ha estado haciendo uso fraudulento de la financiación europea en Francia con Le Pen, en Hungría con Orbán o en España con VOX, no puede firmar un documento como este.

Sandra Gómez López (S&D). – (inicio de la intervención fuera de micrófono) … especialmente al ponente del informe. ¿Cómo se puede hablar del Banco Europeo de Inversiones sin mencionar a las personas que más lo necesitan? Este informe olvida lo que es el corazón de Europa: nuestras empresas, nuestras pymes, nuestros jóvenes agricultores y nuestras zonas rurales. Y también se borran referencias importantísimas como el pilar europeo de derechos sociales, los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible o el impacto de la guerra de Rusia contra Ucrania.

Así que nosotros no queremos que se refleje que el BEI tiene que ser un banco técnico y distante; queremos que se refleje que es un banco humano y social, que está comprometido con las personas que viven en Europa, con la cohesión social y con nuestro futuro, y por eso vamos a votar en contra de este informe como grupo.

La buena noticia que tenemos es que, pese a lo que ustedes querrían, hoy contamos con un gran liderazgo, Nadia Calviño como presidenta del BEI, que va a permitirle ser garante de los valores que nos representan como Unión Europea.

Intervenții la cerere

Lukas Sieper (NI). – Mr President, first of all, I beg your forgiveness for being too loud a few minutes ago. Actually, being present in this room sometimes requires having a conversation and listening to the debate at the same time.

Herr Präsident, liebe Menschen Europas! Wir haben ein Recht darauf zu wissen, was mit dem Geld der Europäischen Union passiert. Die Europäische Investitionsbank verwaltet einen wesentlichen Teil dieses Geldes. Sie nimmt wichtige Investitionen vor in Klimaschutz, in unsere Wirtschaft, in die Transformation zu einer gerechteren Gesellschaft – und sie unterstützt unsere Partner auf der ganzen Welt, wie etwa die Ukraine.

Umso schockierender ist es, dass der Bundesrechnungshof der Europäischen Investitionsbank vor allen Dingen mangelnde Transparenz vorwirft. Wir leben in einer Zeit, in der die Skepsis an der Demokratie wächst, in der Populisten überall auf diesem Kontinent auf dem Vormarsch sind. Wir können es uns nicht erlauben, dass unsere Bevölkerung nicht genau weiß, was mit unserem Geld geschieht.

(Încheierea intervențiilor la cerere)

Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, thank you for this very engaging and substantive discussion. It is clear that we all are determined to act together to push the European agenda of competitiveness and security, and deliver on our main priorities.

The EIB Group will remain an important player in this. I want to say this now, because we are working, for example, for the mid-term review of the cohesion policy, with the five new priorities. I heard during this discussion some of these points – for example, water, housing, competitiveness. I think this can be an important occasion to reinforce this cooperation in this way. The EIB Group is our natural closest partner, and we are aligned on our strategic priorities.

We will continue to rely on the EIB Group to support the implementation of our agenda and adjust our support in view of new and emerging priorities when needed. I look forward to continuing our close cooperation, with the common goal of achieving greater impact inside and outside the Union.

Robert de Groot, Vice-President of the EIB. – Mr President, thank you for the words of the Vice-President of the Commission, honourable Members, thanks for your remarks and questions. Let me go into more detail on some of the points you have made.

First, on cohesion – cohesion was the number one obligation of the European Investment Bank group when we started in 1958, and today, 48 % of our national budget is still spent on cohesion. It is in the least advantageous areas of Europe, it is in rural areas where public services are under pressure, and we will continue to work in that direction.

Secondly, we are a demand-driven organisation, which implicates that we do not go out into the Member State and force upon them a loan by the European Investment Bank group. It is the other way around; people knock on our doors and we try and help as much as possible. One of the first criteria we look at is if there is a market failure – the EIB is active and will be active in those areas where other financial institutions will not go.

One of the most important elements, which makes us such an important player in Europe, is that we have a very large unit of hundreds of engineers and economists, which not only work on making a loan and a financial proposition possible, but also look at the content and help each and every applicant, whether in the private sector or in the public sector, to bring about a project which really gives a return to European taxpayers.

I noticed very well the remarks on small- and medium-sized enterprises, but also micro businesses, and I fully agree the access to credit for these companies, these very small companies, who are so important when it comes to the labour market inside the EU, is still an issue we really have to worry about and work on, and that’s what we are doing as the EIB group. We cannot do this directly with SMEs and micro businesses in Europe. We always go through a financial intermediary, mostly European commercial banks – a very important element of our business.

I listened very carefully to the remarks on agriculture, and especially young farmers receive our attention when it comes to the area of agriculture. For this year, we envisage to invest at least EUR 3 billion in this area.

In the area of housing, which was also mentioned by honourable Members, we are trying to leverage the financing we are going to make available to a couple of billion euro, hopefully in a couple of years, to EUR 300 billion annually. We have three priorities in the area of housing: one – innovation, supporting innovative building technologies like modular housing to make construction faster, cheaper and easier; second – sustainability, scaling up energy efficient renovation to reduce living costs when it comes to energy prices; and three – affordability, strengthening support for public investment tailored to the specific needs of each country and piloting private investments.

Now, on the issue of climate, which is also close to a bit more than half of what we are doing annually. This is about climate adaptation; this is about dealing with droughts, it is about dealing with floods – we have seen both inside many countries of the European Union, and they require large-scale investment to counter. But also in the area of energy, we have to be more self-sufficient when it comes to energy. This requires investments, not only in the energy carriers but also in the grids, which is a big and very expensive investment too.

Now, when it comes to high risk, some of the honourable Members have called for more risk. Others have said: no, we should not take risks. We are in the banking business and banking business is about giving a loan and getting a loan paid back with interest. But there are cases where this will not happen, and one of the examples was mentioned. But I want to stress here that when it comes to becoming more self-sufficient in the area of energy: we have provided more than EUR 6 billion over the past years to finance the sector and trying to find the best, innovative and technologically sound way forward when it comes to the energy sector. And we have to take into account too that sometimes we will fail by taking risks. But it’s part of the business of finding the best answer.

Finally, Mr President, when it comes to the auditing that the European Investment Bank is undergoing, I have to say we are one of the most audited financial institutions in the European Union. Whether it’s from the Central Bank of Luxembourg, because we have our headquarters there, whether it’s from external accountants, external audit committees, I think we fulfil every obligation and every best bank banking practice around.

Finally, on security and defence, we have done away with the concept of dual use, which means that today we can also invest directly in the domain of defence. Let’s talk about military mobility across Europe and the big corridors. And let’s also talk about the military bases we need to have more and more, especially in Central Europe.

Ondřej Knotek, rapporteur. – Mr President, thank you Vice-President Fitto, Vice-President de Groot, thank you colleagues for the debate – the debate shows the high importance of the European Investment Bank, and also it shows the high level of expectation that the members in this House have of the institution, of the bank, about the role of the bank in achieving its goals and addressing risks, not only for you as such, but also for our Member States and, in the end, for our citizens and communities.

I have been very grateful for many of the topics that have been put on the table during the debate: geographical balance, taking higher risks, focus on SMEs, climate adaptation, security, cybersecurity, housing, agriculture and cohesion, and, of course, many others. I am happy that the Budgetary Control Committee has put forward the report which touches on those topics, clearly describes the development and successes of the bank, but also the expectations and needs of the Parliament when it comes to the needs for investment and the future role of EIB, which this House, I believe, sees as a partner, and is looking forward to cooperating with in the very long term. Allow me once again to thank you for the chance of being a rapporteur, and I would like to invite all of you voting tomorrow to support the report.

Preşedinte. – Mulțumesc, domnule raportor și vă urez succes cu acest raport.

Cu această contribuție, dezbaterea este închisă. Votarea va avea loc mâine.

22. Ninth report on economic and social cohesion (debate)

Jacek Protas, Sprawozdawca. – Panie Przewodniczący! Szanowni Państwo! Panie Komisarzu! Debatujemy dzisiaj nad bardzo ważnym sprawozdaniem, które po przegłosowaniu stanie się stanowiskiem Parlamentu Europejskiego na temat przyszłości polityki spójności po 2027 roku. Dokument, którego jestem sprawozdawcą, był szeroko konsultowany z organizacjami i instytucjami reprezentującymi różne środowiska oraz z Komitetem Regionów Unii Europejskiej. Odzwierciedla poglądy zdecydowanej większości grup politycznych reprezentowanych w Parlamencie Europejskim.

Oto 10 podstawowych tez, które w tym krótkim wystąpieniu chcę uwypuklić. Po pierwsze, polityka spójności jest głównym narzędziem Unii Europejskiej służącym inwestycjom w zrównoważony rozwój gospodarczy, społeczny i terytorialny, sprzyjającym zmniejszeniu różnic rozwojowych europejskich regionów.

Po drugie, aby polityka spójności nadal odgrywała tę ważną rolę, musi mieć zapewnione po 2027 roku wystarczająco ambitne i łatwo dostępne finansowanie, co najmniej na poziomie obecnych wieloletnich ram finansowych w ujęciu realnym.

Po trzecie, Parlament Europejski opowiada się za zdecentralizowanym modelem programowania i wdrażania polityki spójności, opartym na zasadzie partnerstwa i na wielopoziomowym sprawowaniu rządów. Tylko wtedy może być ona skuteczna i akceptowalna dla naszych obywateli. Sprzeciwiamy się wszelkim formom centralizacji i ograniczania roli władz regionalnych i lokalnych.

Po czwarte, wzywamy do dalszych wysiłków na rzecz uproszczenia i uelastycznienia przepisów i procedur administracyjnych regulujących fundusze polityki spójności na szczeblu unijnym, krajowym i regionalnym. Kluczem do sukcesu może być zwiększenie elastyczności na etapie programowania i wdrażania z odejściem od sztywnych ram koncentracji tematycznej i z uwzględnieniem specyfiki regionów.

Po piąte, podkreślamy jednocześnie konieczność zapewnienia przejrzystego, sprawiedliwego i odpowiedzialnego wykorzystywania zasobów Unii Europejskiej przy należytym zarządzaniu finansami, podkreślając rolę Europejskiego Urzędu do Spraw Zwalczania Nadużyć Finansowych i Prokuratury Europejskiej. Uznając także warunkowość w zakresie praworządności jako warunek podstawowy finansowania w ramach polityki spójności. Podkreślamy strategiczne znaczenie silnych regionów przygranicznych dla bezpieczeństwa i odporności Unii Europejskiej. Wzywamy Komisję Europejską do szczególnego wspierania regionów graniczących z Rosją, Białorusią i Ukrainą, by mogły radzić sobie ze skutkami społeczno-gospodarczymi wojny dla ich ludności i terytoriów.

Zwracamy uwagę na konieczność specjalnego podejścia do problemów regionów najbardziej oddalonych i wyspiarskich, które stoją w obliczu wyjątkowych i skumulowanych wyzwań strukturalnych. Wyrażamy zaniepokojenie rosnącą liczbą regionów znajdujących się w pułapce rozwoju, które dotknięte są stagnacją gospodarczą, problemami demograficznymi i ograniczeniem dostępu do usług publicznych.

Specyficznym i ukierunkowanym wsparciem powinny też być objęte obszary wiejskie, ale także miasta i obszary metropolitalne borykające się z własnymi poważnymi wyzwaniami. I w końcu nalegamy także, by polityka spójności dążyła do zwiększenia innowacyjności i ukończenia tworzenia jednolitego rynku Unii Europejskiej zgodnie z wnioskami zawartymi w sprawozdaniu Draghiego w sprawie konkurencyjności Europy.

I na koniec, apelujemy o przestrzeganie zasady “nie szkodzić spójności”, by żadne działania nie utrudniały procesu konwergencji europejskich regionów.

Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for the opportunity to address you today. First, let me thank the rapporteur, Mr Protas, for preparing this important report. This is particularly timely. I very much welcome the strong alignment with the Commission’s perspective. This shared perspective reinforces the fundamental message of the 9th Cohesion Report.

Cohesion policy has a positive and significant impact in terms of convergence. It reduces the disparities among EU Member States and regions, it stimulates long-term growth and competitiveness, and it plays a key role in supporting public investment. To continue to achieve our goals, we need to bring the cohesion policy up to date, considering the current situations and challenges that we are facing. If we want a stronger, more resilient and competitive Europe, we must reinforce and relaunch the cohesion policy – both for the present and for the future.

As many of you know, the mid-term review of the cohesion programme has been a central focus for me during these past months. The Commission’s recent proposals respond directly to many of your concerns. The proposal will bring more flexibility, more incentives and simple rules to allow Member States and the regions to respond to urgent challenges now – not waiting for the next period.

In this regard, I would like to stress certain important aspects. First, the new priorities identified are affordable housing, water resilience, energy transition, competitiveness and defence.

Second, since compliance with the review is voluntary, it will be up to each Member State to decide whether and how to update its programmes.

Third, the cohesion policy funds remain under the shared responsibility of Member States and the regions under shared management.

My ambition is clear: to modernise, simplify and strengthen cohesion policy so that it is more targeted and responsive, keeping our regions at the centre, and fully respecting the diversity and specific needs of our territories. This ambition is based on four key pillars.

First, a tailor-made solution for the Member States will include the key reforms and investment, focusing on our joint priorities. They will be designed and implemented in close partnership with the national, regional and local authorities. I would like to underline that the principles of partnership, shared management, multilevel governance and the place-based approach will remain core principles of the cohesion policy.

Second, we must also make cohesion policy more accessible, with fewer administrative burdens. We will work to reduce complexity and offer a more performance-based delivery mode to increase speed and efficiency, as underlined in your report.

I will continue to advocate for a strong territorial dimension. This will ensure the cohesion policy addresses the real challenges faced by regions undergoing structural transitions, as your report rightly identifies. This includes our eastern border regions as well as less developed peripheral, remote and rural areas, islands and outermost regions.

Honourable Members, I remain fully committed to the principles this House defends. The cohesion policy core mission has always been to stimulate growth and development across the EU. This mission remains as vital as ever, and this report marks an important step forward in that journey. Let us work together, speaking with one strong and united voice to make this mission a success.

Andrey Novakov, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, Mr Vice-President, dear colleagues, we are having this debate at a very crucial moment. I would like to start by thanking Mr Protas for his work, because he dedicated a lot of his time, and he is a decent man who is doing a good job. In times when such crucial decisions are taken, I think those who contribute have to be mentioned.

I would like to congratulate Mr Fitto for his efforts to increase the absorption rate of cohesion policy, and to speak to those who don’t believe in the future of cohesion. Because the future of the cohesion policy means the future for Europe. The Founding Fathers put cohesion policy in the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union. So, no cohesion policy means no European Union.

I hope that with this we are going to put an end to the debate about the future of cohesion. Very rightly so, the Founding Fathers decided to have cohesion policy to balance the imbalances of the single market. So we need regions and cities in.

I am against – and a lot of other colleagues are against – further centralising cohesion policy and isolating mayors, regions and cities from the governing of this policy. We need more Europe at local level, not less. Every euro spent at local level solving local problems means more Europe tomorrow.

Sérgio Gonçalves, em nome do Grupo S&D. – Senhor Presidente, Senhor Vice-Presidente Raffaele Fitto, gostaria de começar por agradecer ao relator e a todos os grupos políticos pela postura construtiva demonstrada ao longo das negociações deste relatório. Acredito que o Parlamento Europeu envia hoje uma mensagem clara: a política de coesão deve ser mantida descentralizada, onde as autoridades locais e regionais tenham um papel fundamental, quer na definição das políticas, quer na sua implementação.

Estamos conscientes dos desafios estruturantes que a Europa enfrenta, como a defesa e a segurança, o alargamento ou as migrações. Mas não podemos desvirtuar o objetivo principal da política de coesão de reduzir as disparidades entre as várias regiões europeias, promovendo o desenvolvimento sustentável e dando respostas a problemas específicos, como é o caso da habitação.

Este relatório reafirma a necessidade de a Europa se adaptar aos desafios que tem pela frente, assegurando, em simultâneo, o respeito pelo princípio da subsidiariedade que sempre norteou a política de coesão. É nesta Europa que acreditamos, é por esta Europa que continuaremos a lutar.

Séverine Werbrouck, au nom du groupe PfE. – Monsieur le Président, chers collègues, une fois de plus, nous constatons l’inquiétante dérive fédéraliste de l’Union européenne au travers de ce rapport sur la bien mal nommée «politique de cohésion» – celle-là même qui sert à financer à perte le développement des pays fraîchement intégrés, sur le dos des travailleurs français qui n’ont malheureusement plus le luxe de la charité.

Dans l’Union, quand une politique dysfonctionne, la solution consiste toujours à augmenter son budget et à élargir son champ d’application. Vous demandez plus de largesse pour utiliser les fonds, vous les superposez – fonds de cohésion, fonds d’urgence, politique sectorielle –, vous éparpillez les objectifs – climatiques, numériques, démographiques et bien d’autres –, vous offrez un statut de quasi-État aux régions et enfin, vous en arrivez à votre serpent de mer habituel, celui de la prétendue nécessité de percevoir des ressources propres, dernier clou dans le cercueil de notre souveraineté.

Mais ne pourrait-on pas mieux utiliser cet argent? Le rendement annuel surévalué et médiocre est d’environ 4 % sur chaque euro investi, ce qui correspond à des centaines de milliards, alors que des politiques industrielles nationales, que vous interdisez, permettraient, par exemple, des profits bien supérieurs et des résultats plus concrets pour la France.

Nous continuerons de nous opposer à votre agenda fédéraliste spoliateur pour les Français.

Antonella Sberna, a nome del gruppo ECR. – Signor Presidente, signor Commissario, onorevoli colleghi, la politica di coesione è il volto visibile dell’Europa nei territori: è quella che riapre un asilo nido in un piccolo comune dove i genitori erano costretti a fare diversi chilometri al giorno per portare i figli a scuola; è quella che permette a un’impresa di digitalizzarsi e restare sul mercato o che finanzia un’unità mobile di assistenza sanitaria che porta cure e visite mediche a chi non ha alternative.

Eppure, leggendo questa relazione, emerge chiaramente che la distanza tra le intenzioni e la realtà è ancora troppo ampia. Se vogliamo che la coesione resti una leva per la crescita e non solo un capitolo di spesa, dobbiamo cambiare approccio: lo sta facendo il Commissario Fitto con la proposta di modifica di medio termine della politica di coesione, la cui procedura d’urgenza abbiamo appena votato in commissione REGI.

Il gruppo ECR ha presentato diversi emendamenti che vanno in una direzione molto chiara: anche i comuni devono accedere direttamente ai fondi insieme alle regioni. Un sindaco che vuole riqualificare un edificio scolastico, creare uno spazio per giovani e anziani, non può affrontare ostacoli amministrativi da grande ente. Tutto deve essere più semplice e flessibile. Chi lavora con persone fragili non può impiegare mesi solo per capire come rendicontare un finanziamento.

Servono regole che si adattino ai territori e non territori che devono seguire regole troppo rigide, perché la politica di coesione serve là dove il mercato non arriva. Io credo in una coesione che non misuri solo la spesa ma il cambiamento che genera; che non si perda nella burocrazia, ma che parli il linguaggio della concretezza, della prossimità e dell’equità.

Ľubica Karvašová, za skupinu Renew. – Vážená pani predsedajúca, na Deň Európy organizujem podujatie s regiónmi. Volá sa Ruka v ruke za našu Európu. Prečo? Pretože regióny sú miesto, kde začína, ale veľakrát, bohužiaľ, aj končí podpora pre našu Úniu. Počúvam županov, primátorov, ľudí, ktorí v nich žijú. A posolstvo je jasné: chceme byť súčasťou EÚ. Dnes ale napríklad hrozí, že slovenská vláda sa chystá presunúť 400 miliónov EUR z rúk samospráv na svoje priority. Aj keď mnohé projekty sú už pripravené a obce na ne vyčlenili svoje zdroje. To je neprípustné. Kohézna politika v prvom v prvom rade patrí ľuďom v regiónoch na ich dlhodobý rozvoj. Zároveň zohráva kľúčovú úlohu v podpore Európskej únie v regiónoch. Ako tieňová spravodajkyňa som preto presadila dôležitý princíp, aby mali regióny a mestá priamejší prístup k európskym zdrojom, a to vďaka nástrojom ako integrované územné investície. A chcem sa poďakovať spravodajcovi Jacekovi Protasovi za prácu na celej správe, ale aj za to, že sa nám v tejto téme podarilo nájsť nateraz dobrý kompromis.

Gordan Bosanac, u ime kluba Verts/ALE. – Poštovani predsjedavajući, povjereniče, kohezijska politika je valjda uz politike proširenja jedna od najuspješnijih politika Europske unije i to će ovaj deveti izvještaj također potvrditi, o tome koliko smo smanjili nejednakosti, i regionalne i socijalne, diljem teritorija Europske unije.

Posebno mi je zanimljivo da se govori o tome kako je ona važna u borbi protiv klimatskih promjena i nastavljamo dalje u tom smjeru, a naravno, mene će posebno zanimati uloga malih gradova i gradova i regija, koji ponovno u ovom devetom izvještaju se naglašava da im je potreban direktan pristup financiranju. Jer znate, često se govori o tom multi level, načinu konzultacija, razgovorima, ali u realnosti stvari su drugačije – konzultacije izostaju, gradovi ostaju izbačeni.

Vi imate, na primjer, mog premijera moje zemlje koji govori da je on sam donio koheziju i fondove iz Europske unije u Hrvatsku. Kao da gradovi ne provode tu politiku. Vjerojatno ga vi možete, povjereniče, ispraviti.

Ali ono što je sada pred nama je nova era kohezijske politike i vi ste došli pred ovaj parlament s novim prijedlogom, u vrlo vrlo brzoj proceduri. Maloprije smo na Odboru regija izglasali, nažalost, brzu proceduru i ono što se ja sada brinem da je EPP zajedno s ekstremnom desnicom išao na neki način poniziti ovaj parlament i gurnuti sve ovo kroz vrlo vrlo brzu proceduru, a radi se o temeljnoj politici koja je jedna od najuspješnijih politika Europske unije zajedno s proširenjem.

Ja ću vas još jednom pozvati, vrijeme je možda da ipak povučemo hitnu proceduru i vratimo budućnost kohezije u redovnu parlamentarnu proceduru.

Kathleen Funchion, on behalf of The Left Group. – Mr President, thank you, Commissioner, for being here. I firstly want to thank Mr Protas and all his team for their cooperation and work, as in many ways this is the report the European Parliament needs. It is ambitious for a well-budgeted and progressive cohesion policy.

However, it has a major flaw, which means it fails the litmus test for myself and for my colleagues on the Left. It opens the door to the militarisation of cohesion policy.

Let’s take a step back and think about what that means. Cohesion policy, the flagship policy of solidarity of the EU, is now on the road, with the Parliament’s blessing, to being just another military policy. This is shameful.

We are, of course, all aware of the geopolitical realities. But is nothing sacred? Is absolutely everything now just fuel for the fire and drive towards the militarisation agenda of the EU? Our regions, all of them, need investment and need the EU to help protect jobs, develop our environment and support our workers in these very uncertain times.

Yet this report, which I acknowledge has many strengths, says that spending on military infrastructure, disguised as so-called dual technology, is as important as investing in our workers or our infrastructure.

Let’s be clear that each cent diverted into military spending is a cent taken away from my constituency of Ireland South, and all of our regions. The EU cohesion policy that funded roads and funded jobs and funded some of our community childcare facilities in Ireland is now being used to feed the war machine. This is a new low and I call upon all MEPs, especially our Irish MEPs, to reject it.

Irmhild Boßdorf, im Namen der ESN-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Kaum Erfolge, Milliarden an deutschen Steuergeldern versickern – das ist die traurige Bilanz der REGI‑Förderung. Weniger Armut, mehr Jobs, weniger Abwanderung aus ländlichen Regionen – Fehlanzeige, trotz 270 Milliarden Euro Förderung. Doch was ist eigentlich mit dem vielen Geld passiert? Ich habe Elisa Ferreira, die letzte REGI‑Kommissarin, danach gefragt. Sie hat zugegeben, dass es nicht um Kosten und Nutzen geht, sondern um Frieden, Freiheit und Wohlstand. Schließlich würden diese Mittel auch helfen, rechtspopulistische Parteien im ländlichen Raum einzudämmen.

Tatsächlich gab es im vergangenen Jahr eine Studie der Uni Kiel, die nachgewiesen hat, dass ohne die REGI‑Mittel rechte Parteien in entlegenen Regionen zwei bis drei Prozent mehr bekommen hätten. 270 Milliarden umgewidmet in den Kampf gegen Rechts – das ist ungeheuerlich. Machen wir den ländlichen Raum wieder lebenswert. Setzen wir die REGI‑Mittel endlich für unsere Heimat ein.

Gabriella Gerzsenyi (PPE). – Tisztelt Kollégák! Tisztelt Alelnök Úr! Szeretném megköszönni mindazoknak az eddigi munkáját, akik ezen a jelentésen dolgoztak. Kulcsfontosságú megállapításokat tartalmaz, olyanokat, hogy a beruházások helyben tudnak jobban megvalósulni, hogy a források felhasználási szabályait egyszerűsíteni szükséges, hogy a vállalkozások adminisztratív terheit csökkenteni kell, és hogy ne üres szólam maradjon az az alapelv, hogy senkit nem hagyunk hátra, senkit nem hagyunk magára. Hogy gondolnunk kell a fogyatékossággal élő személyekre, a vidéki területekre, az elnéptelenedő régiókra, hiszen Európa biztonságának záloga, hogy együtt maradunk, együtt vagyunk erősek a globális kihívások közepette. Külön öröm számomra, hogy a helyi és regionális szereplők partnerségének megemlítése és megerősítése a szövegben hangsúlyt kap. Külön öröm ez magyarként, a Tisza képviselőjeként, hiszen mi azon dolgozunk, hogy a helyi és regionális szereplők, a városok, az önkormányzatok szót kaphassanak, hogy meghallgassák őket, hogy bevonják, hogy partnerként kezeljék, és hogy forrásokhoz jussanak. Kormányra kerülése után a Tisza Párt azon fog dolgozni továbbra is, hogy minél több uniós forrást hazahozhasson és biztosíthasson a kedvezményezetteknek, akiknek ezek járnak.

Marcos Ros Sempere (S&D). – Señor presidente, señor vicepresidente, la política de cohesión es la política social de la Unión Europea, la política que invierte en hospitales, la política que invierte en centros de salud, en escuelas, la política que invierte en carreteras. Es la política que nos ayudará a alcanzar nuestros objetivos a pesar de los retos que tenemos por delante.

Nos ayudará a completar la transición ecológica, digital y social; a que todas las regiones de la Unión Europea avancen al mismo ritmo. Y lo hará a pesar de las dificultades: la pandemia, la guerra en Europa, la nueva era de Trump.

Para conseguirlo, necesitamos una política de cohesión que refuerce sus cimientos, que tenga en mente a los ciudadanos, que tenga menos trabas burocráticas, que potencie la participación de regiones y de ciudades. Necesitamos una política de cohesión que invierta en un parque público de viviendas y que esté condicionada a cumplir con el Estado de Derecho. Necesitamos una política de cohesión que tenga presupuestos suficientes para afrontar los nuevos retos.

Mélanie Disdier (PfE). – Monsieur le Président, la proposition de résolution dont nous débattons ce soir porte sur la cohésion entre tous les territoires d’Europe. Ceci est censé être une bonne chose, mais, malheureusement, même lorsque les propositions se fondent sur les meilleures intentions, la Commission européenne et ses soutiens réussissent à y injecter leur poison.

C’est ainsi qu’on y retrouve insidieusement la promotion de la conditionnalité des aides. Selon eux, ceux qui s’opposent à la Commission devraient se voir priver des aides auxquelles ils ont droit, alors même qu’ils ont participé à leur financement. Au nom d’un état de droit à géométrie variable, certains voudraient donc faire pression sur un gouvernement démocratiquement élu – les mêmes qui, par ailleurs, sont étrangement silencieux lorsque l’on révèle que la Commission finance des ONG pour faire du lobbying.

Les Européens méritent mieux que vos discours creux où les bonnes intentions ne sont que de façade – des discours où vous déplorez la diminution des fonds nationaux tout en étant responsables des causes, des discours qui prônent la décentralisation alors que vous voulez contourner la volonté nationale.

La cohésion de l’Europe ne doit pas être uniquement sociale, elle doit être aussi démocratique.

Ciaran Mullooly (Renew). – Mr President, I welcome this report and its well-rounded assessment of what cohesion funds and policy actually stand for today. I compliment the rapporteurs.

The report makes it clear, however, that stark disparities remain among the EU’s regions, especially in rural areas. And in this context, I support the report’s call for the need to address these disparities and simplify access to the funds, Commissioner: simplification.

As a rapporteur of Parliament’s own-initiative report on the just transition, I am glad to see the report calling for the continuation of that process and ensuring its reinforced financial means for the post-2027 period.

However, I’m less happy with the announcement in the mid-term review of the cohesion policy of what seems to be the exclusion of my country, Ireland, from the one-year extension of the current year transition fund? I don’t understand it. We must seek adequate flexibility in the capacity for Member States, such as Ireland, to have full access to the extended timeline to provide extra time to spend their allocations.

As an MEP, I know how vital cohesion policy is for the regions. As we prepare for the next programming period, let’s ensure cohesion policy remains properly funded, simplified and accessible to all the regions.

Valentina Palmisano (The Left). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, per il Movimento Cinque Stelle i fondi di coesione sono quella straordinaria opportunità di investire nelle persone, nella loro istruzione, nella loro crescita professionale, nelle infrastrutture, nella sanità pubblica. In una parola: per ridurre il divario tra territori ricchi e territori poveri.

Il rapporto che discutiamo oggi introduce in modo ambiguo la possibilità di utilizzare questi fondi per tecnologie militari, nascondendosi dietro la dicitura dual use, doppio uso. Ecco, per fare un esempio, potremmo utilizzare i fondi di coesione per comprare droni da impiegare anche nei teatri di guerra.

Per noi questo cambiamento di rotta è inaccettabile: la politica di coesione non è nata per sostenere le industrie belliche della difesa ma per dare risposte concrete ai bisogni sociali, economici e ambientali dei territori più fragili.

E Lei, Commissario Fitto, lo sa bene, visto che proveniamo entrambi da una regione che ha una necessità vitale di questi fondi. Quindi, per noi nessun euro va dirottato verso la logica del riarmo. Difendere la coesione significa difendere la pace, l’equità e il diritto di ogni territorio ad avere un futuro sostenibile.

Krzysztof Hetman (PPE). – Panie Przewodniczący! Panie Komisarzu! Ile to już razy na tej sali rozmawialiśmy o tym, co trzeba zrobić, jeśli chodzi o politykę spójności? Ile razy omawialiśmy tego typu sprawozdania, z których płynął zawsze ten sam wniosek, który mamy także i tym razem – uelastycznić i uprościć politykę spójności.

Panie Komisarzu, wielu przed Panem to zapowiadało. Nikomu nie udało się tego zrobić. Może być Pan pierwszy, może stać się Pan bohaterem wszystkich beneficjentów polityki spójności w całej Unii Europejskiej, tych beneficjentów, którzy z coraz mniejszym zainteresowaniem patrzą w stronę polityki spójności, biorąc pod uwagę tę całą biurokrację, którą muszą przebrnąć, aby te pieniądze uzyskać. Szczególnie, gdy porównują to do procedur związanych z krajowymi planami odbudowy.

Cieszę się, że w sprawozdaniu przygotowanym przez Parlament Europejski, znalazło się miejsce dla obronności, dla wsparcia produktów podwójnego zastosowania na rynek wojskowy i cywilny. To niezwykle ważne w tej chwili.

I na koniec chciałbym, Panie Komisarzu, odnotować z zadowoleniem, że dostrzega Pan potrzebę pomocy regionom przygranicznym, które odczuwają skutki agresji Rosji na Ukrainę. Jeśli chce Pan rzeczywiście im pomóc, trzeba natychmiast zmienić mapę intensywności pomocy publicznej. Każdy przedsiębiorca ocenia ryzyko. Jeśli będzie mógł uzyskać wsparcie, które to ryzyko zmniejszy, z pewnością tam zainwestuje.

Sabrina Repp (S&D). – Herr Präsident, Herr Kommissar! Die Kohäsionspolitik ist eine europäische Erfolgsgeschichte – sichtbar, wirksam und unverzichtbar für den Zusammenhalt in unseren Regionen. Wie der neunte Kohäsionsbericht zeigt, entfalten die Investitionen spürbare Wirkung, insbesondere in strukturschwachen Gebieten. Der wiederholte Vorwurf vom Kommissar, dass zu wenig Gelder abgerufen würden, ist irreführend. Die Mittel sind verplant, Projekte sind längst auf dem Weg.

Kohäsionspolitik und Kohäsionsmittel sind keine Reservekasse für spontane politische Richtungswechsel. Sie dienen einer langfristigen Entwicklung, gerade auch im ländlichen Raum. Doch genau diese Räume drohen nun erneut, ins Hintertreffen zu geraten. Der Gesetzentwurf zur Halbzeitbewertung verlagert Mittel zugunsten urbaner und industrieller Zentren – entgegen dem Versprechen, insbesondere ländliche Räume in den Blick zu nehmen. Wer Kohäsionspolitik ernst nimmt, muss ländliche Räume stärken. Wir sollten die Prinzipien der Kohäsionspolitik wahren, statt die dafür vorgesehenen Gelder gießkannenartig und zweckfremd auszuschütten. Denn Kohäsionspolitik ist das Fundament eines widerstandsfähigen und vor allem demokratischen Europas, das wir gerade mehr denn je brauchen.

PRESIDENZA: PINA PICIERNO
Vicepresidente

Julien Leonardelli (PfE). – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Commissaire Fitto, chers collègues, ce neuvième rapport sur la cohésion économique et sociale ne peut passer sous silence l’une des urgences vitales pour nos territoires: l’eau.

En France, chez moi, en Occitanie, comme dans tant d’autres régions européennes, les sols s’assèchent, les nappes s’épuisent et les conflits d’usage se multiplient. L’agriculture est menacée, la santé publique est fragilisée et nos villages perdent leur souffle, car, oui, l’eau, c’est la vie. Cependant, au lieu d’aider les peuples à faire face à cela, les technocrates imposent une vision centralisée, hors sol et obnubilés par le réchauffement climatique.

À chaque urgence concrète, ils répondent par des rapports abstraits. Ils freinent les retenues d’eau, ils entravent les initiatives locales et ils accablent ceux qui nourrissent nos nations, nos paysans.

Cela n’est pas notre Europe. L’Europe que nous voulons, c’est l’Europe des peuples, celle qui défend les nations – les nations gardant la maîtrise de leurs ressources – et où les décisions sont prises au plus près du terrain et non imposées par une bureaucratie lointaine et idéologique.

L’heure est venue de redonner aux nations leur souveraineté hydraulique, de protéger l’eau comme un bien commun, nécessaire au développement urbain et touristique, indispensable à notre agriculture, à notre industrie et à nos territoires. Sans eau, il n’y aura ni renaissance rurale, ni cohésion, ni avenir pour nos enfants.

Rasmus Andresen (Verts/ALE). – Frau Präsidentin! Viele Menschen haben Angst in diesen Zeiten. Menschen, die in ländlichen Regionen oder in Grenzregionen leben, haben Angst, ihren Job zu verlieren oder abgehängt zu werden, weil die Bahn nicht mehr fährt oder das Krankenhaus vor Ort schließt. Viele Menschen in Metropolen haben Angst, dass ihre Einkommen durch die hohen Mieten oder hohe Lebenshaltungskosten aufgefressen werden und sie nicht mehr mithalten können. Viele Menschen merken, dass das Leben nicht mehr so einfach ist. Und ich finde, dass die Europäische Union ein klares Versprechen für ein gutes Leben an alle Menschen in der Europäischen Union abgeben muss. Dafür kann die Europäische Union zuständig sein, und die Kohäsionspolitik ist dafür ein sehr zentrales Element.

Es ist wirklich sehr schön zu hören, dass sich der Kommissionsvizepräsident Fitto hier heute dem Bericht angeschlossen hat, den wir im Parlament verhandelt haben. Aber ich muss auch ganz ehrlich sagen: Das passt nicht zur Realität, wie wir sie wahrnehmen. Die Realität ist, dass die EU‑Kommission weiter Zentralisierungspläne hat, dass die Kohäsionsgelder zukünftig in nationalen Plänen ausgezahlt werden müssen, dass Regionen die Gelder nicht mehr bekommen, dass soziale Organisationen, dass kleine Unternehmen, dass Gewerkschaften in Zukunft ausgeschlossen werden. Und das will ich ganz deutlich sagen: Das darf nicht passieren, und dafür setzen wir uns auch mit diesem Bericht zur Wehr.

Wir sagen aber auch, dass die Kohäsionspolitik besser werden muss. Es muss einfacher werden, EU‑Fördermittel zu bekommen, es muss weiterhin klare Ziele geben – soziale Ziele und grüne Ziele –, und wir brauchen direkte Instrumente für Städte, damit auch sie besser an EU‑Fördermitteln partizipieren können. Hier im Parlament sind wir uns einig. Jetzt kommt es darauf an, dass Sie handeln und dass Sie im Sommer den richtigen Vorschlag machen und sich an der Position des Parlaments orientieren.

Έλενα Κουντουρά (The Left). – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, κύριε Επίτροπε, η πολιτική συνοχής έχει βασικό στόχο την επίτευξη ισόρροπης ανάπτυξης σε όλη την Ευρώπη μέσω της κοινωνικής, οικονομικής και εδαφικής σύγκλισης όλων των περιφερειών. Ωστόσο, παρά την πρόοδο, είμαστε ακόμα πολύ μακριά από την επίτευξη αυτών των κρίσιμων στόχων.

Η πράσινη και η ψηφιακή μετάβαση, η στεγαστική κρίση, η κλιματική κρίση, το υψηλό μεταφορικό και ενεργειακό κόστος δημιουργούν νέες προκλήσεις για τις τοπικές κοινωνίες, ειδικά στα νησιά και στις απομακρυσμένες περιοχές.

Η ιδέα χρηματοδότησης αμυντικών τεχνολογιών από τα Ταμεία Συνοχής πρέπει να απορριφθεί. Χρειαζόμαστε ενίσχυση της χρηματοδότησης της πολιτικής συνοχής στο νέο Πολυετές Δημοσιονομικό Πλαίσιο. Πρέπει να διασφαλίσουμε ότι θα βασίζεται στις ιδιαίτερες ανάγκες των τοπικών κοινωνιών, στην αρχή της πολυεπίπεδης διακυβέρνησης, στο αποκεντρωμένο μοντέλο προγραμματισμού και στην ενισχυμένη συμμετοχή των περιφερειακών αρχών.

Τέλος, θα πρέπει να αντιμετωπιστούν οι ενδοπεριφερειακές ανισότητες σε επίπεδο NUTS 3, συνυπολογίζοντας παράγοντες πέραν του περιφερειακού ΑΕΠ, όπως η δημογραφική ερήμωση, η νησιωτικότητα, η περιβαλλοντική επιβάρυνση και η ποιότητα ζωής.

Isabelle Le Callennec (PPE). – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Commissaire Fitto, la politique de cohésion vise la réduction des disparités économiques, sociales et territoriales au sein de l’Union européenne, et pèse pour un tiers de son budget. La politique de cohésion, parfaitement identifiée et incarnation de l’Europe dans nos territoires, est au cœur du projet européen et ne saurait être remise en cause. A contrario, elle doit être renforcée dans ses budgets et améliorée dans sa mise en œuvre.

Non à une ponction des fonds de cohésion à d’autres fins que celles pour lesquelles ils ont été créés. Oui à un régime spécial et légitime pour les régions ultrapériphériques, non à une recentralisation de la gestion. Oui à une simplification du fonctionnement; non à une utilisation des fonds inadéquate et oui à une meilleure synergie avec les programmes sectoriels de l’Union et le soutien de la BEI dans les investissements d’avenir.

À vous écouter, Monsieur le Commissaire Fitto, j’ai bon espoir que nous soyons enfin entendus.

Maravillas Abadía Jover (PPE). – Señora presidenta, señor comisario, la política de cohesión es una palanca esencial de la competitividad europea, pero Europa sufre hoy un déficit de ejecución para su ambición global. La revisión intermedia muestra avances, pero también revela un problema grave: las tasas de absorción son inaceptablemente bajas.

En España, donde Eurostat confirma una vez más el triste liderazgo del paro en Europa, la ejecución del Fondo Social es del 0 %. Esta parálisis no es un fallo de Bruselas, sino de una gestión centralizada ineficaz y de una burocracia que bloquea inversiones estratégicas. La cohesión no se consigue con papeles, sino invirtiendo en la vida cotidiana: en empleos de calidad, en trenes que circulen con normalidad, en el acceso garantizado al agua, en luz encendida cada día y no en apagones de los cuales aún no hay respuesta.

Para lograrlo, los entes locales y regionales deben tener un papel protagonista. Son ellos los que mejor conocen las necesidades reales. La política de cohesión debe garantizar una ejecución eficaz, promover inversiones de calado y seguir siendo el motor de una Europa fuerte, solidaria y competitiva.

Paulo Do Nascimento Cabral (PPE). – Senhora Presidente, Senhor Vice-Presidente Raffaele Fitto, a política de coesão tem de ter um orçamento robusto, e recorda-se que cada euro investido através desta política deverá ser multiplicado por três até 2040. Isto só será possível se envolvermos as autoridades regionais e locais numa abordagem multinível no seu desenho e gestão, respeitando o princípio da subsidiariedade e de parceria.

Este tem de continuar a ser o principal instrumento no combate às desigualdades regionais. No último quadro, a política de coesão representou 13 % de todo o investimento público na União Europeia e 51 % nos Estados-Membros das regiões menos desenvolvidas. Isto mostra que é a maior política de investimentos da União Europeia e beneficia todos os Estados-Membros, direta ou indiretamente.

O relatório refere ainda flexibilidade na gestão que defende, quer para os beneficiários, quer para as administrações, e saúdo, portanto, o nosso relator Protas por isto.

Destaco apenas as regiões ultraperiféricas, com os seus desafios estruturais permanentes, que devem continuar a ter uma abordagem específica, como estabelecido no artigo 349.º do Tratado. Mas são também territórios de elevado potencial estratégico para a União, com condições únicas para liderar processos de inovação territorial.

É essencial que a Comissão Europeia promova sempre avaliações de impacto nessas regiões de novas propostas legislativas, para evitarmos erros como o ETS e evitarmos sobrecargas regulatórias que possam comprometer o seu desenvolvimento económico e social. E termino com um desafio: os transportes são a principal limitação da competitividade das empresas nas RUP e por isso precisamos urgentemente de um POSEI Transportes.

(O orador aceita responder a uma pergunta «cartão azul»)

João Oliveira (The Left), Pergunta segundo o procedimento «cartão azul». – Senhora Presidente, Senhor Deputado Paulo do Nascimento Cabral, os fundos de coesão são um instrumento absolutamente essencial para países como Portugal, para garantir o desenvolvimento e a coesão nas suas três dimensões — económica, social e territorial.

Ora, este relatório faz uma referência direta à promoção do investimento em projetos e bens de dupla utilização, ou seja, com dimensão militar e civil. E as perguntas que lhe faço são duas: primeiro, se o senhor deputado está de acordo com esta possibilidade de desvio de fundos da coesão para fins militares e, em segundo lugar, como é que o senhor deputado entende que o desvio de fundos de coesão para objetivos militares pode servir o desenvolvimento de países como Portugal.

Paulo Do Nascimento Cabral (PPE), Resposta segundo o procedimento «cartão azul». – Senhor Deputado, de facto, há esta referência numa lógica facultativa, não é obrigatório — os Estados-Membros podem utilizar esta possibilidade para desenvolver a sua indústria militar, como foi apresentado também aqui na revisão intercalar da política de coesão.

Neste caso específico, a indústria militar pode ser considerada de várias formas. Falamos também daquilo que mais valoriza o território, desde logo a ocupação do território, a promoção das zonas rurais, e falo também daquilo que tem que ver com a possibilidade que nós temos para desenvolver estes mesmos locais, essas mesmas zonas rurais com alguma indústria. Pode estar diretamente relacionado, ou não, com as questões militares, mas, por exemplo, a agricultura também pode ser considerada segurança e defesa, autonomia alimentar — a autonomia estratégica da União Europeia também tem de ser considerada.

Não vejo no relatório uma obrigação; vejo uma possibilidade para aumentar a taxa de execução dos fundos de coesão.

Nikolina Brnjac (PPE). – Poštovana predsjedavajuća, povjereniče, drage kolegice i kolege, deveto izvješće o koheziji potvrđuje ono što znamo iz prakse, a to je da kohezijska politika donosi konkretne i donosi mjerljive rezultate.

Kao zastupnica iz Republike Hrvatske iz prve ruke svjedočim koliko su upravo kohezijska ulaganja ključna za ravnomjerni razvoj naših regija, za jačanje naših gospodarstava, za prometnu i socijalnu infrastrukturu, ali koliko su važna i za očuvanje radnih mjesta. No, pred nama su i dalje važni i ozbiljni izazovi: od demografskog pada i administrativnih prepreka do niske apsorpcije sredstava.

Kao koordinatorica EPP-a u Odboru za stambenu krizu, posebno pozdravljam što izvješće prepoznaje stratešku važnost ulaganja u priuštivo stanovanje. To je temelj socijalne kohezije, zadržavanje mladih i obitelji i radne snage u našim regijama te borbe protiv depopulacije.

Za Hrvatsku i druge članice, manje države članice, snažna, fleksibilna i pojednostavljena kohezijska politika i nakon 2027. godine mora ostati prioritet. Europska unija mora ostati savez jednakih prilika za sve.

Procedura “catch-the-eye”

Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D). – Señora presidenta, señor vicepresidente Fitto, lo ha escuchado usted claramente: una mayoría de este Parlamento Europeo concuerda en que la política de cohesión es la razón de ser de Europa, correctora de desigualdades –también territoriales– en origen.

Tiene que ser particularmente sensible con regiones expuestas a conflictos en su frontera inmediata –como es el caso de la guerra de Ucrania– y en regiones particularmente expuestas por ser la primera línea ante el hecho migratorio –como es el caso de las regiones ultraperiféricas–. Pero, además de eso, este Parlamento subraya que sí es posible simplificar la gestión de los fondos de cohesión y los fondos de solidaridad distintivos de la Unión Europea sin que ello perjudique su gestión compartida y su gobernanza multinivel, y que –por tanto– le permita rendir cuentas asimismo en su gestión regional.

Se presenta, además, un objetivo muy importante: que tengan financiación suficiente para atender las nuevas prioridades, las emergencias y las catástrofes climáticas –cada vez más frecuentes– y, sobre todo, la extrapolación de la política social europea a la política de vivienda, que es el gran desafío de la solidaridad intergeneracional en la Unión Europea.

João Oliveira (The Left). – Senhora Presidente, a política de coesão é, de facto, um instrumento absolutamente essencial para combater desigualdades económicas, sociais e territoriais, e garantir que todos os países possam, efetivamente, ter a possibilidade de estar no mesmo patamar de desenvolvimento.

Mas, para isso, é absolutamente essencial aumentar o investimento dos fundos de coesão e garantir que eles não sejam negligenciados. E, também, não associar a política de coesão a um modelo de financiamento baseado em objetivos ou resultados, como muitas vezes a Comissão Europeia procura querer, porque isso é, naturalmente, um elemento de limitação na possibilidade da utilização mais adequada dos fundos de coesão à realidade e à circunstância de cada país.

É também absolutamente essencial garantir uma governação descentralizada, com o nível adequado de articulação entre governos nacionais, regionais e locais, e assegurando que as estratégias locais de desenvolvimento sejam de responsabilidade partilhada e que não sejam impostas a cada região e a cada localidade.

Por fim, é absolutamente essencial garantir que o próximo quadro financeiro plurianual tenha um nível adequado de investimento na política de coesão, garantindo que o princípio da coesão seja um princípio horizontal que atravessa todas as políticas setoriais como critério de decisão para que esses objetivos de coesão possam ser alcançados.

Maria Grapini (S&D). – Doamnă președintă, domnule comisar, stimați colegi, politica de coeziune este esența Uniunii Europene. Nu o să putem, domnule comisar, să consolidăm și să fie puternică piața unică în raport cu piața globală dacă nu vom rezolva politica de coeziune.

Și cred că s-au făcut câteva greșeli: nu analizăm prea des efectele, pentru că dacă nu reușim să avem coeziune socială, să eliminăm disparitățile sociale, uitați-vă între est și vest, uitați-vă între regiunile periferice, între rural și urban. Deci, dacă nu reușim să facem aceste lucruri, înseamnă că nu avem politică de coeziune.

Apoi, ca să poată să aibă acces la bani, și cei din rural, și întreprinderile mici și mijlocii și zonele îndepărtate, trebuie foarte multă flexibilitate, foarte mult pus accent pe rezultate, simplificare, descentralizare, foarte important. Și sigur că trebuie, așa cum s-a și spus aici, trebuie să avem grijă acum ca țările care sunt în regiunile vecine cu Rusia, cu Bielorusia, cu Ucraina, cum este și țara mea, România, să aibă fonduri alocate, pentru că aceste state au preluat cetățeni ucraineni, copii ucraineni și nu putem să susținem singuri.

Politica de coeziune este cea care va da viitorul Uniunii Europene!

(Fine della procedura “catch the eye”)

Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the Commission. – Madam President, Members, thank you for this debate. Let me begin by thanking you all for your valuable contributions. I have listened closely to your comments and concerns. Your insights this evening confirm a strong, shared commitment to the future of cohesion policy, one that is modern, responsive and grounded in the real needs of our regions. The status quo is not an option.

You spoke about the role of the regions, the role of the cities, less bureaucracy, defending the principles of cohesion, defending the financial dimension, the simplification; these are the most important issues that you raised and I agree with you, but it’s important to underline some points. For example, we cannot defend the cohesion policy as it is if we want to give a future to this policy. About defence, for example, you know that – some of you know that and said that –defence now is a new opportunity that the Commission gives with the mid-term review. Well, you know that the current programmes are already financing some projects on defence. The mid-term review gives the possibility on a voluntary basis to use all of the five priorities, or some of the priorities, or, if the Member States can simply decide to not use the mid-term review, solve the problem. There is not an obligatory decision of the European Commission. There is not a transfer of money from cohesion. I want to be clear, it’s important to be clear about this point. This is a voluntary basis. And now we have these opportunities because in the current programmes, without a mid-term review, there is the opportunity, the possibility, to use the resources of cohesion for defence. We have some clear examples in this way. It’s important to have the right approach between us, because I think that for the mid-term review to be successful, we must act swiftly and a modernised policy framework needs to be in place as soon as possible so that Member States and the regions can choose which investments should be directed towards our new and emerging priorities without delay. At the same time, we must remain attentive to the ongoing challenges that many EU regions continue to face – challenges clearly highlighted in the Cohesion Report. We also have a duty to ensure that every euro we spend delivers maximum impact.

Honourable Members, cohesion policy has proven its value time and again. Its core principles – partnership, shared management, multi-level governance, place-based approach – are not just a technical terms, they are what makes this policy work, what brings Europe closer to its citizens. With a renewed vision and determination, we can build on these foundations and shape a cohesion policy fit for the future. I will continue to engage closely with this House, with the Member States, with the regions, with the mayors, and with all authorities in the weeks and months ahead to listen, to learn, to create tailored solutions for every region. This has been and will always remain my approach. T.

hank you once again for this valuable exchange and for your continued commitment to Europe’s regions and citizens. And thank you again, Mr Protas, for this report. I think that this is a very positive basis for our work for the next weeks or the next months. It is not simple, the debate for the future, but I think that it’s important to build one position between us. I think that there isn’t a different approach. Now we need to have only one voice, not to defend cohesion policy, but to relaunch and modernised cohesion policy. These are our challenges and I count on you about this future and for the next steps that together we will have for these important challenges.

Jacek Protas, Sprawozdawca. – Pani Przewodnicząca! Szanowni Państwo! Drogie Koleżanki i Koledzy! Bardzo serdecznie dziękuję zarówno za tą dzisiejszą debatę i za ciepłe słowa skierowane również do mnie, ale bardzo też serdecznie dziękuję za prace nad tym ważnym dokumentem, który – tak jak powiedziałem – moim zdaniem będzie naszym mocnym stanowiskiem, mocnym stanowiskiem Parlamentu Europejskiego w dalszej debacie, tak jak powiedział pan komisarz, na temat modernizacji polityki spójności.

Pozwólcie państwo, że podobnie jak pan komisarz, odniosę się do produktów podwójnego zastosowania, bo wydaje mi się, że nie wszyscy rozumieją, o co chodzi. Otóż, po pierwsze, rzeczywiście to nie jest obligatoryjne podejście. Tylko te regiony, te państwa, które czują taką potrzebę, żeby przesuwać środki na niektóre działania, mogą to uczynić. Komisja Europejska zarówno w czasie przeglądu śródokresowego, jak i – mam nadzieję – w przyszłości pozwoli na takie działania. I nie jest to przesuwanie środków na wspieranie zakupów zbrojeniowych, jak tutaj też słyszałem. W żadnym wypadku.

Ja, szanowni państwo, mieszkam 30 kilometrów od granicy z Rosją, 30 kilometrów od granicy z agresorem, z wrogim państwem. I chciałbym, żeby w moim regionie można było budować nowe hale sportowe ze schronem pod tą halą, żeby można było modernizować wskazane szpitale, które w razie zagrożenia wojennego będą również pełniły rolę wsparcia dla wojska. Chciałbym móc wzmacniać mosty, modernizować drogi dojazdowe czy budować je w takich parametrach, żeby mogły również służyć celom obronnym. I to nie jest militaryzowanie polityki spójności, ale danie możliwości tym regionom, które czują taką potrzebę, realizowania tych celów.

Szanowni państwo, panie komisarzu, bardzo serdecznie dziękuję za te dzisiejsze wystąpienia. Dziękuję za współpracę. Mam głębokie przekonanie, że ten dokument, który w czwartek przegłosujemy, również pomoże panu, bowiem znamy pana historię zawodową. Wiemy, że jest pan samorządowcem. Był pan szefem regionu, ministrem odpowiedzialnym również za politykę regionalną, więc wiemy, że rozumie pan potrzeby regionu, potrzeby społeczności lokalnych. Ale u nas w Polsce się mówi, że diabeł tkwi w szczegółach. Co do głównych założeń polityki spójności zgadzamy się również, że trzeba iść w kierunku modernizacji, ewolucji, nie rewolucji. Ale będziemy dyskutować na temat tego, jak to w praktyce ma wyglądać i jak Komisja Europejska to widzi. Mam nadzieję, że wspólnie osiągniemy sukces.

Presidente. – La discussione è chiusa.

La votazione si svolgerà giovedì.

23. One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Rody Tolassy (PfE). – Madame la Présidente, chers collègues, voici le vrai visage du pacte vert quand il affecte les Outre-mer: un cataclysme économique déguisé en vertu écologique.

Costa Croisières quitte la Guadeloupe, non pas parce que notre territoire est moins attractif ou compétent, mais parce que Bruxelles impose aux régions ultrapériphériques (RUP) une transition énergétique restrictive et destructrice. Résultat: 15 000 à 20 000 passagers en moins, des dockers au chômage, des transporteurs en détresse, un port affaibli, et ce n’est que le début. L’augmentation du prix des billets d’avion frappait déjà nos familles, maintenant ce sont nos entreprises ainsi que notre tourisme qui sont touchés. Ce n’est plus une alerte, c’est un signal d’alarme.

Je vous pose donc une question simple: que compte faire la Commission pour compenser concrètement ces pertes? Mieux encore, arrêtez de faire les poches de nos compatriotes. Ainsi, je vous demande la suppression du dispositif d’échange de quotas d’émission dans les RUP sur la base de l’article 349 du traité FUE.

Daniel Buda (PPE). – Doamnă președintă, stimați colegi, în România s-a încheiat primul tur al alegerilor prezidențiale. Mi-aș fi dorit ca domnul Crin Antonescu, un lider cu viziune, cu experiență, capabil să fie un pilon de stabilitate pe scena politică europeană, să fi ajuns în turul al doilea. Din păcate, la doar câteva zeci de mii de voturi distanță, alegătorii au ales alt drum, plasând România într-un moment de răscruce.

Privind înainte, îmi doresc ca țara noastră să-și continue parcursul european și să rămână un punct de stabilitate într-o regiune marcată de războiul din Ucraina.

Astăzi, mai mult ca oricând, Europa are nevoie de o Românie puternică, responsabilă, fidelă valorilor democratice, o Românie care să nu cadă pradă extremismului sau populismului.

O Europă puternică este o Europă unită, unită în jurul valorilor care garantează pacea, libertatea, stabilitatea și prosperitatea.

Tocmai de aceea, România trebuie să aleagă candidatul pro-european Nicușor Dan, rămas în cursă și să spună nu izolării și nu întoarcerii în trecut.

Ciaran Mullooly (Renew). – Madam President, the housing crisis is crippling thousands of families and young couples all over Europe and especially in Ireland. I went to the town of Naas in County Kildare, a town which had 5 000 people in 1971, now a car-based town with 30 000 people in housing estates, and another 4 500 waiting for homes. A town that’s been forgotten. Planning is terrible. The demand is just incredible.

I spoke to Angela Garrett. She has two children, one aged 32, who has autism, the other 28. They’re still living at home. She tells me the average price of a family home in this town is half a million euro – five hundred thousand euro! It is out of control. And what does our government do in Ireland? We put in charge a man who’s paid a salary of almost half a million euro in another job to come in to take over this job.

We lack ideas. We lack strong thinking. We lack an ability to consider the people who are involved here, the people who are suffering because of the lack of a home. It is an absolute disgrace. We need, throughout Europe and in Ireland, to focus on real progress for families like these.

Nicolae Ştefănuță (Verts/ALE). – Doamnă președintă, România are de ales. Între Europa și extrema dreaptă. Între viitor și frică.

Nu mai e despre „îmi place de tine, tu mă placi pe mine”. Nu mai e nici măcar despre negocieri banale, despre funcții, ministere și mai știu eu ce.

Este despre direcția în care merge România, despre ce alegem să fim: o țară europeană, liberă, demnă, sau o țară închisă, izolată, vulnerabilă, slabă.

Fac un apel sincer și direct către toate partidele europene prezente în sală și cele de acasă: să ne unim în sprijinul pentru turul doi, pentru democrație. E momentul să fim împreună. Nu pentru un om, ci pentru un drum. Pentru drumul european al României.

Tinerii din România nu vor să trăiască în ură, nu vor să aibă un președinte care ne izolează, care alimentează ura, care ne scoate din Europa.

Pe 18 mai avem o singură opțiune cu toții: să ieșim la vot și să încurajăm unitatea europeană a României.

Anthony Smith (The Left). – Madame la Présidente, chers collègues, les secteurs stratégiques de l’économie comme l’industrie de l’acier doivent devenir des secteurs publics sous contrôle des États. Oui, nous n’hésitons pas à le dire dans cet hémicycle, qui continue de faire du néolibéralisme moribond son étendard.

Depuis des mois, les syndicats européens et français du secteur sonnent l’alarme sans réponse ni action de la Commission.

En France, c’est la direction d’ArcelorMittal qui a annoncé, fin avril, la suppression de centaines de postes qui s’ajoute aux annonces précédentes, laissant des milliers de familles sur le carreau. C’est toute la filière de l’acier en France et en Europe qui est menacée, alors qu’elle a été gavée d’argent public sans contrepartie. Au lendemain de cette annonce, le commissaire européen français Séjourné a même osé exprimer son incompréhension face à la décision du géant de la sidérurgie; mais de qui se moque-t-on?

La Macronie applique ici et au sein de la Commission le laissez-faire capitaliste pour permettre aux industriels d’accumuler toujours plus. Avec La France insoumise, nous le répétons sans faiblir: nationalisez ArcelorMittal!

Tomasz Froelich (ESN). – Frau Präsidentin! Die Opposition bespitzeln, die Opposition kriminalisieren, die AfD verbieten? Das sind Zustände wie in einem autoritären Staat – das sind Zustände in Deutschland. Wer so was tut, rettet nicht die Demokratie. Wer so was tut, der schafft die Demokratie ab, weil er Angst vor ihr hat, weil er zu schwach für sie ist. Veranlasst hat all dies Nancy Faeser, scheidende Innenministerin, gesichert linksextrem, Autorin des Antifa‑Magazins.

Das Gutachten gegen die AfD, auf das sie sich beruft, bleibt geheim. Es bleibt geheim, weil es harmlos ist. Der Presse wurde es dennoch gesteckt. Weil wir das deutsche Volk erhalten wollen, sollen wir rechtsextrem sein? Lächerlich! Marco Rubio hat völlig recht – das ist keine Demokratie, das ist verkappte Tyrannei. Und dann erdreistet sich diese Bundesregierung auch noch, dem Rest der Welt Demokratiedefizite vorzuwerfen. Einfach nur frech! Wer keine Argumente hat, muss auf Repression setzen, aber ich verspreche Ihnen: Wir halten das aus, denn unsere Überzeugungen sind stärker als diese Arroganz der Macht.

Maria Grapini (S&D). – Doamnă președintă, domnule comisar, am ales să vorbesc astăzi despre criza de locuințe pentru tineri. O locuință decentă este o condiție esențială pentru aspirațiile tinerilor și există studii făcute de Banca Mondială, există studii, are Comisia Europeană rezultatele acestor studii?

Este clar că sunt mai ales state cum ar fi Grecia, Bulgaria, România, chiar și Germania, unde criza locuințelor a crescut. Există însă și soluții.

Am vorbit mai devreme de politica de coeziune. Ține și acest lucru de politica de coeziune. Aceste rapoarte și analize dau și niște recomandări. De exemplu, să se acorde teren din spațiile publice neutilizate, tinerilor. Să aibă acces, așa cum am spus mai devreme, la finanțare, de exemplu la Banca Europeană de Investiții, simplificarea procedurilor prin care să se primească, dar și construcția de locuințe sociale.

Cum facem să asigurăm aceste lucruri? Pentru că tot rapoartele arată că există o legătură între productivitate, competitivitate, dar chiar și legătură cu sănătatea mintală, nu mai spun de demografie.

Deci trebuie să găsim soluții pentru ca tinerii să aibă acces la locuințe.

Tiago Moreira de Sá (PfE). – Senhora Presidente, quando James Madison elaborou as primeiras 10 emendas à Constituição dos Estados Unidos, que ficaram conhecidas como «Bill of Rights», fê-lo para garantir que, mesmo numa república acabada de nascer de uma guerra, a liberdade era constitucionalmente protegida.

O acordo «Pandemic», que deverá ser aprovado na próxima sessão da World Health Assembly, em Genebra, evoca intenções nobres, como proteger a saúde global. Está bem, mas deve ser encarado com cautelas e máxima vigilância. Há quatro áreas onde essa vigilância é absolutamente crítica — as liberdades individuais, a soberania nacional, a confidencialidade dos dados genéticos e a liberdade de expressão.

A responsabilidade histórica que temos hoje é a mesma que Madison teve no seu tempo: assegurar que a prevenção de um mal nunca se faça à custa da liberdade, seja dos indivíduos, seja, neste caso também, dos Estados. Porque a liberdade não é o preço da segurança; é a sua condição moral.

Cristian Terheş (ECR). – Doamnă președintă, dragi colegi, am atras atenția din toamna lui 2019 că programul utopic Green Deal, promovat de Ursula von der Leyen, va conduce la o criză energetică în Europa, cu efect dezastruos asupra populației și economiilor europene.

Pe de o parte, aceste politici au condus deja la creșterea consumului de energie, pe de altă parte, în loc să diversifice sursele și să asigure independența energetică, UE a impus statelor să-și închidă surse de energie, cum sunt termocentralele pe cărbune, ceea ce a redus producția de energie.

Efectul a fost că prețul energiei a crescut peste tot în UE, cu efect devastator, în special asupra pensionarilor și celor mai săraci europeni. Acest lucru a afectat și economia, făcând bunurile și serviciile europene mai scumpe și mai greu de vândut pe piața mondială.

Această politică centralizată de tip comunist, care pornește de la premisa că cei de la Bruxelles știu mai bine decât guvernele statelor membre UE ce e mai bine pentru țările lor, și-a dovedit eșecul și trebuie să înceteze.

Pentru a gestiona cu adevărat criza energetică, statele membre trebuie să-și definească propriul mix energetic. Viitorul nu poate fi dictat de dogme verzi impuse de birocrații de la Bruxelles, ci de soluții funcționale specifice fiecărei țări.

Michael McNamara (Renew). – (start of speech off mic) … I suppose the instability and unprecedented level of conflict in the world is such that when two of the world’s greatest powers, two of the world’s most populous nations, both nuclear armed, are squaring up and threatening each other, it barely receives a word here in the European Union, or indeed from this Parliament. I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the families of those slaughtered so savagely in Kashmir recently. But I think it is also important for this Parliament to call for restraint and dialogue.

The speech of Pakistan’s army chief, General Munir, to representatives of the diaspora a couple of days before the attack is viewed as inflammatory in India. However, there is no evidence of any link between Pakistan and the heinous attack and, in the absence of such evidence, any attack by India and Pakistan, which is itself a frequent victim of terrorist attacks, would be unjustified.

However, one cannot help but reflect on the benefits of democratically elected leaders speaking on behalf of their country rather than military men. In that regard, one might recall that when the Great Leader Jinnah outlined his vision of Pakistan in 1947, he spoke of no distinction between one community and another.

Jaume Asens Llodrà (Verts/ALE). – Señora presidenta, con el genocidio en Gaza, la historia nos mira y nos va a juzgar.

Albert Camus decía que no hay mejor combate –combate más fuerte– que el del ser humano que se enfrenta al mundo con las manos vacías, pero con la dignidad intacta. Israel ha atacado un buque de ayuda humanitaria: Flotilla por la Libertad. Se trata de un crimen de guerra gravísimo que nos recuerda esa distinción moral, la de quienes tienen las manos limpias porque ayudan a las víctimas, y las de los que las tienen manchadas de sangre porque ayudan a los verdugos y callan ante esos crímenes.

Ningún líder europeo ha dicho nada. ¿Qué habría sucedido si hubiera sido Putin –y no Netanyahu– quien hubiera intentado hundir un barco europeo?

El ministro español Albares ha condenado hoy el ataque al aeropuerto sin víctimas, pero no ha dicho nada del hundimiento del barco ni de los más de mil asesinados –cooperantes, médicos y enfermeras– que intentan salvar vidas. Esas muertes son una mancha indeleble en la conciencia de los líderes europeos que siguen cooperando con el genocidio en Gaza.

Nuestra obligación como ciudadanos es movilizarnos como garantes del Derecho internacional y recordar que, cuando la barbarie se normaliza, la desobediencia es una obligación moral.

Γεώργιος Αυτιάς (PPE). – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, κύριε Επίτροπε, η άσκηση οικονομικής πολιτικής, πέραν της ανταγωνιστικότητας και της σταθερότητας —και το ξέρετε πολύ καλά αυτό, γιατί η πατρίδα μου πέρασε από τρία μνημόνια— πρέπει να έχει και έντονο κοινωνικό χαρακτήρα, δηλαδή στήριξη μισθών και συντάξεων, στήριξη φορολογικών ελαφρύνσεων, λύση δημογραφικού, στέγη. Το ξέρετε πολύ καλά, κύριε Επίτροπε, το θέμα, και εσείς, αξιότιμοι συνάδελφοι. Μείωση της ανεργίας και φθηνή ενέργεια.

Προς αυτή την κατεύθυνση, η χώρα μου κινείται με ταχύτατο ρυθμό, αποπληρώνει δάνεια δεκαετίες μπροστά, έχει άριστες κριτικές από οίκους αξιολόγησης και, παράλληλα, πλεόνασμα. Αυτό το πλεόνασμα, λοιπόν, επιστρέφεται στην κοινωνία.

Να ξέρετε, κύριε Επίτροπε, ότι αυτός ο βηματισμός θα συνεχιστεί και το επόμενο χρονικό διάστημα και προς αυτή την κατεύθυνση σας ενημερώνω συνεχώς.

Anne-Sophie Frigout (PfE). – Madame la Présidente, chers collègues, enfin, après avoir mené l’industrie automobile au bord de la mort, la Commission européenne revient à la raison et nous propose d’offrir un court répit aux constructeurs automobiles, avec davantage de flexibilité dans l’application des objectifs d’émissions de CO2.

Cela fait des années que nous alertons sur les conséquences désastreuses de l’écologie punitive imposée par les technocrates bruxellois. Sans cet assouplissement, nos constructeurs auraient dû payer jusqu’à 15 milliards d’euros d’amende dès cet automne.

Ce revirement partiel est une première victoire, mais le combat continue. Il est essentiel de revenir sur la fin des moteurs thermiques neufs en 2035, une décision absurde et complètement hors sol qui menace nos emplois et le pouvoir d’achat des Européens.

Avec notre groupe des Patriotes pour l’Europe, nous avons déposé des amendements de bon sens pour défendre notre industrie et une transition écologique réaliste. Ils seront, je l’espère, votés par tous les collègues qui déplorent comme nous cette désastreuse politique de sabotage industriel.

Quoi qu’il en soit, nous ne lâcherons rien et nous ne laisserons pas Bruxelles sacrifier l’Europe qui travaille.

Mélanie Disdier (PfE). – Madame la Présidente, chers collègues, dans mon département du Nord, ArcelorMittal, une industrie structurante du secteur métallurgique, est contrainte de licencier des salariés par centaines. À cause d’une concurrence déloyale et des prix de l’énergie exorbitants, ce sont plus de 600 salariés et, à travers eux, plus de 600 familles qui vont se retrouver en difficulté. Je peux déjà voir venir le programme d’aide de l’Union pour aider face aux désastres de la mondialisation et donc poser un nouveau pansement sur une jambe de bois, mais les Français en ont marre, les Européens en ont marre!

Ce dont l’Europe a besoin, ce n’est pas de cacher la misère, mais de créer les conditions de son éradication. C’est en se donnant les moyens de produire des richesses que l’Europe pourra se redresser. Si vous vous contentez de nier les conséquences désastreuses de votre politique, vous n’arriverez à rien et l’Europe continuera de décliner. Si, à l’inverse, vous regardez la vérité en face et qu’enfin vous décidez de sortir de votre idéologie régressive et criante, peut-être que nous pourrons enfin lancer le chantier du redressement économique de l’Europe.

Şerban Dimitrie Sturdza (ECR). – Madame la Présidente, chers collègues, après l’annulation abusive du premier tour des élections présidentielles roumaines de décembre 2024, le premier tour a été de nouveau organisé hier.

L’humiliation et la trahison du peuple roumain par l’annulation de son vote, simplement parce qu’il avait exprimé une préférence européenne, mais souverainiste, ont provoqué une vague de colère sociétale sans précédent contre le parti globaliste au pouvoir en Roumanie depuis 35 ans. Parce que le vote en faveur de Călin Georgescu a été annulé et qu’il lui a été interdit de se présenter à nouveau, les Roumains ont voté massivement pour George Simion.

Le message des Roumains est extrêmement clair: ils exigent d’être respectés tant par les dirigeants de Bruxelles que par leurs représentants nationaux et rejettent de nombreuses décisions absurdes, contraires à leurs intérêts, à leurs traditions, à leur foi et à leur identité, imposées de manière autoritaire. Les Roumains ont commencé à prendre leur pays en main.

Nous sommes un peuple européen avec des aspirations dignes de la grande famille européenne, et en même temps un peuple conservateur, fier.

Δημήτρης Τσιόδρας (PPE). – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, τα νέα γεωπολιτικά δεδομένα ωθούν την Ευρώπη από καταναλωτής ασφάλειας να πάρει τις τύχες στα χέρια της και να οικοδομήσει κοινή άμυνα. Κοινή άμυνα, όμως, δεν σημαίνει μόνο κοινή παραγωγή αμυντικών συστημάτων. Σημαίνει κοινή πολιτική άμυνας. Και, σε αυτή την πολιτική, προφανώς χωρούν και τρίτες χώρες. Όμως, χώρες οι οποίες μοιράζονται κοινές αρχές και κοινές αξίες. Όχι χώρες, όπως η Τουρκία, που κατέχουν παράνομα ευρωπαϊκό έδαφος στην Κύπρο, απειλούν χώρες μέλη και έχουν βρεθεί απέναντι στην Ευρώπη σε μια σειρά από περιοχές, όπως στη Μέση Ανατολή, στη Λιβύη και στον Καύκασο.

Η διάθεση εθνικών κονδυλίων για άμυνα αποτελεί, προφανώς, απόφαση κάθε χώρας, όμως δεν μπορεί να μη λαμβάνονται υπόψη οι ευρωπαϊκές αρχές. Διαφορετικά, δεν θα διαμορφώσουμε κοινή πολιτική, που είναι ακριβώς αυτό που χρειαζόμαστε. Οι Ευρωπαίοι πολίτες θα αισθάνονται ασφαλείς όταν νιώθουν ότι τα σύνορα της χώρας τους είναι ευρωπαϊκά σύνορα και ότι η απειλή εναντίον ενός είναι απειλή εναντίον όλων.

Ştefan Muşoiu (S&D). – Doamnă președintă, dragi colegi, am fost invitat recent să le explic unor elevi de clasa a doua ai unei școli din Slobozia, orașul din România din care provin și eu, despre arhitectura Uniunii Europene și despre rolul său decizional reflectat în viața cetățenilor ei, indiferent de vârsta, sexul, statutul sau preocupările lor.

Bucuria mi-a fost răsplătită de interesul viu al școlarilor și de numeroasele cunoștințe pe care le au despre Uniunea Europeană. La rândul lor, copiii mi-au cerut să dau citire aici, în plen, scrisorii pe care mi-au adresat-o, astfel încât dezvoltarea Uniunii Europene și un viitor mai bun și mai sigur să se edifice și pe interesele lor.

Vă citez: „Vă rugăm să aveți grijă de planeta noastră. Vrem o Europă cu aer și ape curate, cu păduri verzi și cu animale protejate. Ne dorim să trăim în pace, să mergem în siguranță la școală și să ne facem prieteni în toate colțurile continentului. Vrem ca toți copiii europeni să aibă acces la educație, sănătate, să nu sufere de foame sau să fie speriați de război. Vă rugăm să ne ascultați rugămințile, pentru că noi suntem viitorul Europei. Dacă ne ajutați să creștem într-o lume mai bună, promitem că vom avea grijă de ea și de ceilalți când vom fi și noi mari. Vă mulțumim!” Am încheiat citatul.

Întrebarea mea este: le lăsăm o lume mai bună?

Presidente. – La discussione è chiusa.

La prossima seduta si svolgerà domani 6 maggio 2025 ore 9:00.

24. Agenda of the next sitting

Presidente. – L’ordine del giorno è stato pubblicato ed è disponibile sul sito internet del Parlamento europeo.

25. Approval of the minutes of the sitting

Presidente. – Il processo verbale della seduta sarà sottoposto all’approvazione del Parlamento domani.

La seduta è tolta.

26. Closure of the sitting

(La seduta è tolta alle 22.05)

MIL OSI Europe News –

May 7, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Trump HHS Nominee Dodges Cantwell Questions on Admin’s Proposed $18B in Medical Research Cuts

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
05.06.25
Trump HHS Nominee Dodges Cantwell Questions on Admin’s Proposed $18B in Medical Research Cuts
During his Finance Committee hearing, James O’Neill pleads ignorance when asked about Trump’s massive budget cut proposal for NIH: “I haven’t had a chance to review the details”; White House proposal released Friday would slash 40% of NIH research funding and “reform” its priorities to align with Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, pressed James O’Neill – President Trump’s nominee to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — on the Trump administration’s latest budget proposal that would wipe out $18 billion from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the federal agency tasked with lifesaving medical research.
“Mr. O’Neill, do you support the proposed $18 billion cuts to NIH funding?” asked Sen. Cantwell.
O’Neill responded: “Senator, I had no involvement in the development of any proposed budgets. I think it’s important to pursue gold standard research, and anything we can do to improve NIH, ensure that it’s promoting gold standard research, ensuring that it’s funding research that replicates seems completely reasonable to me.”
Sen. Cantwell: “You mean the proposed cuts seem reasonable because there’s some stuff we’re doing that isn’t gold standard?”
O’Neill: “Senator, I believe the President’s proposal for NIH suggests combining some separate institutes of NIH into single institutes, where the functions belong together to reduce duplication.”
Sen. Cantwell: “That would cut $18 billion?”
O’Neill: “Senator, I haven’t had a chance to review the details that went into the budget. All I can say is I did not participate in that decision.”
Sen. Cantwell: “Okay, well, I’m looking for a little bit of philosophy here. I come from a part of the world where we like innovation. We certainly like NIH investment in that because we look at it and say, ‘How are we going to reduce these unbelievable costs of a Baby Boomer population reaching retirement and having huge demand?’ So places like the University of Washington have done incredible work on Alzheimer’s research. So we’re going to strive to solve these huge health care costs by innovation, not by shortcutting innovation.”
On Friday, President Trump released a budget proposal that would cut NIH research funding by $17.97 billion and “reform” the agency so that its remaining $27 billion for research aligns with his administration’s priorities. The budget also proposes more than $3.5 billion in cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Washington state, NIH funding supports over 12,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in economic activity.
Last month, National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Sethuraman Panchanathan resigned after the White House directed the NSF to accept a 55% cut in funding – part of “a deliberate dismemberment of America’s innovation engine,” Sen. Cantwell said at the time.
In February, Sen. Cantwell joined the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. expressing serious alarm over the Trump Administration’s decisions that threatened to undermine America’s life-saving biomedical research infrastructure, in violation of federal law. The letter followed her strong opposition to RFK Jr.’s nomination, which she articulated in a speech on the Senate floor:
“Now we are at the possibility of the beginning of another crisis, the avian flu. This crisis is yet another reminder of the importance of medical research and collaboration,” Sen. Cantwell said in her February floor speech. “Does it make sense to cut science at the time we might have another pandemic? Does it make sense to continue to cut the collaborative efforts of research?”
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s Q&A today is available HERE, audio HERE, and a full transcript is HERE.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Cantwell Joins Schumer & Colleagues To Call on GOP: Don’t Cut Medicaid

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
05.06.25
Cantwell Joins Schumer & Colleagues To Call on GOP: Don’t Cut Medicaid
Last week, Cantwell released a snapshot report showing how long-term care & nursing homes would be decimated by even a 5% cut
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other colleagues for a press conference at the Capitol calling on Republican lawmakers to protect Medicaid funding.
“We’re here today to say it’s time for the war on health care to stop,” Sen. Cantwell said. “President Trump’s cutting of NIH is causing great impacts to our health care system. President Trump’s tariffs are causing higher cost on prescription drugs. And the proposed budget that we still haven’t seen the details on — $880 billion in Medicaid cuts — is going to cause a devastating impact to communities all across the United States.”
In her remarks, Sen. Cantwell cited a letter sent by a coalition of Washington state hospital leaders and Republican elected officials opposing any cuts to Medicaid. The group included the CEOs of Skyline Health and Klickitat Valley Hospital, as well as multiple Republican members of the Washington state legislature, leaders of Klickitat County, and councilmembers of White Salmon and Goldendale.
The letter emphasized that hospitals in rural areas are especially reliant on Medicaid, and any funding reductions would result in loss of services or even hospital closures.
“The fact that in my state, five to seven hospitals could close as a result of that, and many other impacts on rural health care has caused a group of citizens to send a letter to my House colleagues urging them to oppose cuts to Medicaid rates, any adjustment to the Federal Medical Assistance Program, or direct Medicaid payment programs,” Sen. Cantwell continued.
“Who are these people? Some of them are hospital CEOs. But guess who else they are? Republican state representatives, Republican county commissioners, city councilpeople from the communities, they all know this is the wrong idea. And they are not interested in a sneak attack by the Republicans of saying that they can successfully cut $880 billion and not have an impact on our communities.”
Medicaid, also known as Apple Health in Washington state, pays for home-based long-term services and supports for 105,700 Washingtonians. Last week, Sen. Cantwell released a snapshot report highlighting the impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Washington state’s highly-ranked long-term care system for seniors and people with disabilities. In February, she additionally released a snapshot report that demonstrated how cuts would harm health care access in Washington state, and followed up with a report in March that dove into impacts on the Puget Sound region.
Highlights of those snapshot reports include:
In Washington state, WA-04 (Central Washington) and WA-05 (Eastern Washington) have the highest proportions of adults and total population on Medicaid (Apple Health). In District 4, 70% of children are on Medicaid.
In the Puget Sound, children in Seattle’s blue-collar strongholds would feel the deepest pain from Medicaid cuts. More than half of children in Burien, SeaTac, Kent, Federal Way, Auburn, Renton, and Rainier Valley depend on Medicaid.
In an exclusive new survey of 68 WA nursing homes, 67 of 68 would cut services if Medicaid were cut by 5% or more, and 65% would consider closing.
In the coming weeks, Congressional Republicans are expected to release details of their plan to cut as much as $880 billion from Medicaid, the federal program that insures many low-income adults and children, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities.
READ MORE:
Axios: GOP faces Medicaid conundrum with clock ticking
Newsweek: Medicaid funding reduction suggested by Mehemet Oz
Medicaid is a crucial support for WA’s long-term care system, paying for home care workers that help seniors and people with disabilities stay in their homes. When these patients need a level of care that only a nursing home can provide, Medicaid can reimburse nursing homes for that care.
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks today are available HERE and a full transcript is HERE.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NREL Researcher Craig Turchi Brings Small Business Experience to Big Concentrating Solar Projects

Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Turchi’s Years at a Tech Startup Gave Him a Savvy Outlook on Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Systems Analysis and Innovation

NREL researcher Craig Turchi soaks up the sunshine along the banks of the Gunnison River in Colorado. Turchi is the manager of the Thermal Energy Science and Technologies group in NREL’s Center for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems. His love for nature led him to work in solar technologies after completing his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. At NREL, his work has focused on a range of issues in concentrating solar technologies, from systems analysis to reducing water use at concentrating solar power plants in desert environments. Photo from Craig Turchi

Honesty is the best policy, and from his early days at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Craig Turchi embraced that policy in his work as a chemical engineer in concentrating solar power (CSP).

In fact, fresh out of his Ph.D. program and working at his first job, he was not afraid to tell the U.S. Department of Energy the truth about a solar detoxification reactor his team was working on: Based on the reaction rates he had modeled, it was not going to work—at least, not as currently planned.

It was his first CSP project at the laboratory in the early 1990s, when NREL was called the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI). The reactors used sunlight concentrated from parabolic mirrors into fluid-filled tubes to break down contaminants in water, using titanium dioxide as a catalyst. Concentrating the sunlight sped up reaction rates, but for this chemistry, it also reduced the reaction efficiency. Turchi knew the efficiency results meant the cost would not add up. The team pivoted.

“We followed the science,” he said. “You’re initially pursuing things based on hope in many cases, but when the data come in, you have to follow the science.”

This first research result at SERI earned him a reputation as a straight shooter that stayed with him for 35 years as he built a career in CSP and thermal energy science.

“That scientific integrity is something everyone looks up to,” said Guangdong Zhu, CSP subprogram lead at NREL and Thermal and Hybrid Energy Systems group manager. “As researchers, we should focus on simply assessing the results based on scientific justification. For Craig, this comes naturally. His evaluation is never going to be influenced by any other factors.”

Turchi now serves as the Thermal Energy Science and Technologies group manager in NREL’s Energy Conversion and Storage Systems (ECaSS) Center, and he led NREL’s CSP subprogram from 2022 until 2024, when he passed the baton to Zhu. He also serves as the partnership director for the Heliostat Consortium, a U.S. Department of Energy consortium led by NREL and Sandia National Laboratories in partnership with the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute.

His leadership extends beyond his work at the laboratory. An avid outdoorsman, Turchi is known around NREL for leading paddling trips on Colorado’s and Utah’s scenic rivers. He and his wife, Jeannette, along with their daughter also help run a food bank at their church through Food Bank of the Rockies, where they serve 150–200 people once a month.

“I find that very fulfilling, and it’s a nice counterpoint to writing reports at a computer to go out and physically do something and see the immediate benefit happening in your community,” he said. “I think it’s very important to give back.”

Bringing Small Business Experience to Systems Analysis Research

Turchi returned to NREL in 2008 after working at two small technology companies. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL

Turchi started working at SERI in 1990 but left in 1996 for a position with a startup that did not fully launch. He then joined a small company called ADA Technologies, where he served as a principal investigator and program leader for 10 years.

At ADA, Turchi obtained his first patents. He was particularly proud of a product he created to separate amalgam for dental offices. At the time, when dentists placed or removed silver fillings, which are nominally 50% mercury, tiny bits of the filling would get suctioned out and end up in city sewer systems—where the mercury could eventually be released. His system trapped the amalgam bits at the dental office for recycling, keeping mercury from accumulating to harmful levels in bays and estuaries.

Upon his return to NREL in 2008, he found that his time in the startup world translated well at the laboratory. He had honed his proposal-writing skills when working at ADA. He also brought new experiences when he returned, including an eye for innovation and a keen business sensibility. That outlook, paired with his truth-seeking ethos as an engineer, helped him build a robust research program in CSP systems analysis. The program allowed NREL to fill a niche that had been missing in the industry.

“NREL started doing a lot of systems analysis,” said Mark Mehos, an emeritus NREL researcher who hired Turchi back to NREL in 2008. “And the U.S. Department of Energy really appreciated the robustness of Craig’s analysis. He was very thorough, he was very honest, and he didn’t hold back. If the analysis seemed to show that this was the right path or the wrong path, Craig didn’t have any qualms about sharing that.”

CSP is a flexible technology. It can be used to generate electricity, create thermal energy for long-duration energy storage, or create thermal energy for a range of industrial processes that require heat, such as those used in food processing or desalination. That flexibility means there are a lot of factors to consider when analyzing costs, and making an honest assessment is crucial. As early-career researchers joined Turchi’s team, they learned from his rigorous approach to research and analysis.

“He’s the real CSP guru—Craig keeps things grounded with his practical mindset,” said Judith Vidal, Building Thermal Energy Science group manager. Vidal got her start at NREL as a postdoc for Turchi in CSP. “His advice stuck with me: Always approach things with economic sensibility.”

Vidal’s research emphasis is no longer in CSP, but those lessons still apply.

“Since many of our projects are applied research, you always have to keep cost-effectiveness in mind,” she said. “But I also learned from him that sometimes, simply saying ‘This is too expensive’ pushes you to think differently in the lab—to optimize, to explore new directions. It challenges you. This is how Craig shaped me as a young researcher.”

Craig Turchi received the NREL Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Performance on April 2, 2015. Turchi has won other awards at NREL as well, including one for his strategic guidance on advancing thermal systems research and development in 2015 and one for bringing $10 million in funding to NREL for Generation 3 CSP research in 2018. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL

Applying a New Power Cycle to CSP

In addition to his main body of work in systems analysis and related topics, Turchi was looking for brand-new areas of research when he returned to NREL. A power cycle that was becoming popular in nuclear energy circles, but not solar, caught his attention: the supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) power cycle.

“There was a renaissance in this power cycle development after a study came out that showed it could be valuable at nuclear power plants,” Turchi said. “It’s a type of power cycle development that had been looked at decades ago, and it kind of got stuck on a back shelf. No one really looked at it.”

Turchi saw potential for supercritical CO₂ power cycles to replace the steam turbines in traditional CSP systems, potentially unlocking greater efficiencies.

This initial curiosity about supercritical CO₂ for CSP has grown into a major path forward for the CSP industry—Generation 3 CSP. In Gen 3 CSP, arrays of mirrors called heliostats concentrate sunlight onto a central receiver to collect and store heat at high temperature (over 700°C). This heat is transferred to supercritical CO₂ to generate power in a closed-loop Brayton cycle. Sandia National Laboratories now has a Gen 3 Particle Pilot Plant at its National Solar Thermal Test Facility to study supercritical CO₂ as the working fluid in a plant with particle energy storage.

Turchi won two NREL awards for his work on the supercritical CO₂ power cycle for CSP. But nowadays, he is more focused on elevating other researchers’ work.

“As you progress in your career, you either remain an expert in some area, or in my experience, you broaden out into what the interesting areas are in your field, and you help others develop,” Turchi said. “I think as a group manager, that’s your role. It’s very rewarding when you see those people succeed.”

Learn more about NREL’s concentrating solar power research.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NASA Live Coverage, Original Content Now Streaming on Prime Video

Source: NASA

NASA’s on-demand streaming service, NASA+, launched a FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) channel on Prime Video Tuesday, giving viewers another way to watch the agency’s aeronautics, human spaceflight, science, and technology missions unfold on screen.
As the agency continues to improve life on Earth and inspire new generations through innovation, exploration, and discovery, NASA+ is dedicated to sharing stories through live launch coverage, original documentaries, family-friendly content, and more.
“Streaming NASA+ on multiple platforms allows the agency to more efficiently share its missions, from launching astronauts to the International Space Station, to going behind the scenes with the team that defends Earth against asteroids, to showcasing new, high-definition images of the cosmos,” said Wes Brown, acting associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA provides an up-close look at how the agency explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all by ensuring content is easily accessible and widely available to the public.”
In addition to the FAST channel, NASA+ is available to download without a subscription on most major platforms via the NASA App on iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices, as well as streaming media players like Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV. Users also may stream online at:

Home

-end-
Jennifer Dooren / Jessica TaveauHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov / jessica.c.taveau@nasa.gov

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NASA’s IXPE Reveals X-ray-Generating Particles in Black Hole Jets

Source: NASA

The blazar BL Lacertae, a supermassive black hole surrounded by a bright disk and jets oriented toward Earth, provided scientists with a unique opportunity to answer a longstanding question: How are X-rays generated in extreme environments like this?
NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) collaborated with radio and optical telescopes to find answers. The results (preprint available here), to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters, show that interactions between fast-moving electrons and particles of light, called photons, must lead to this X-ray emission.

Scientists had two competing possible explanations for the X-rays, one involving protons and one involving electrons. Each of these mechanisms would have a different signature in the polarization of X-ray light. Polarization is a property of light that describes the average direction of the electromagnetic waves that make up light.
If the X-rays in a black hole’s jets are highly polarized, that would mean that the X-rays are produced by protons gyrating in the magnetic field of the jet or protons interacting with jet’s photons. If the X-rays have a lower polarization degree, it would suggest that electron-photons interactions lead to X-ray production.
IXPE, which launched Dec. 9, 2021, is the only satellite flying today that can make such a polarization measurement.
“This was one of the biggest mysteries about supermassive black hole jets” said Iván Agudo, lead author of the study and astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía – CSIC in Spain. “And IXPE, with the help of a number of supporting ground-based telescopes, finally provided us with the tools to solve it.”
Astronomers found that electrons must be the culprits through a process called Compton Scattering. Compton scattering (or the Compton effect) happens when a photon loses or gains energy after interacting with a charged particle, usually an electron. Within jets from supermassive black holes, electrons move near the speed of light. IXPE helped scientists learn that, in the case of a blazar jet, the electrons have enough energy to scatter photons of infrared light up to X-ray wavelengths.
BL Lacertae (BL Lac for short) is one of the first blazars ever discovered, originally thought to be a variable star in the Lacerta constellation. IXPE observed BL Lac at the end of November 2023 for seven days along with several ground-based telescopes measuring optical and radio polarization at the same time. While IXPE observed BL Lac in the past, this observation was special. Coincidentally, during the X-ray polarization observations, the optical polarization of BL Lac reached a high number: 47.5%.
“This was not only the most polarized BL Lac has been in the past 30 years, this is the most polarized any blazar has ever been observed!” said Ioannis Liodakis, one of the primary authors of the study and astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics – FORTH in Greece.
IXPE found the X-rays were far less polarized than the optical light. The team was not able to measure a strong polarization signal and determined that the X-rays cannot be more polarized than 7.6%. This proved that electrons interacting with photons, via the Compton effect, must explain the X-rays.

Steven Ehlert
Project Scientist for IXPE at Marshall Space Flight Center

“The fact that optical polarization was so much higher than in the X-rays can only be explained by Compton scattering”, said Steven Ehlert, project scientist for IXPE and astronomer at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
“IXPE has managed to solve another black hole mystery” said Enrico Costa, astrophysicist in Rome at the Istituto di Astrofísica e Planetologia Spaziali of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofísica. Costa is one of the scientists who conceived this experiment and proposed it to NASA 10 years ago, under the leadership of Martin Weisskopf, IXPE’s first principal investigator. “IXPE’s polarized X-ray vision has solved several long lasting mysteries, and this is one of the most important. In some other cases, IXPE results have challenged consolidated opinions and opened new enigmas, but this is how science works and, for sure, IXPE is doing very good science.”
What’s next for the blazar research?
“One thing we’ll want to do is try to find as many of these as possible,” Ehlert said. “Blazars change quite a bit with time and are full of surprises.”
More about IXPE
IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. IXPE is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder. Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here:
https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe
Elizabeth LandauNASA Headquarterselizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov202-358-0845
Lane FigueroaMarshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov256.544.0034

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SPHEREx Starts Scanning Entire Sky

Source: NASA

A soot-like cloud is revealed in a section of the sky in this May 1, 2025, image from NASA’S SPHEREx space observatory. On May 1, SPHEREx began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day for the next two years to provide new insights about the origins of the universe, galaxies, and the ingredients for life in the Milky Way. The observatory won’t be the first to map the entire sky, but it will be the first to do so in so many colors. It observes 102 wavelengths, or colors, of infrared light, which are undetectable to the human eye.
When SPHEREx takes a picture of the sky, the light is sent to six detectors that each produces a unique image capturing different wavelengths of light. These groups of six images are called an exposure, and SPHEREx takes about 600 exposures per day. When it’s done with one exposure, the whole observatory shifts position — the mirrors and detectors don’t move as they do on some other telescopes.
Read more about SPHEREx and the images it will capture.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NASA’s NICER Maps Debris From Recurring Cosmic Crashes

Source: NASA

Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí.
For the first time, astronomers have probed the physical environment of repeating X-ray outbursts near monster black holes thanks to data from NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) and other missions.
Scientists have only recently encountered this class of X-ray flares, called QPEs, or quasi-periodic eruptions. A system astronomers have nicknamed Ansky is the eighth QPE source discovered, and it produces the most energetic outbursts seen to date. Ansky also sets records in terms of timing and duration, with eruptions every 4.5 days or so that last approximately 1.5 days.
“These QPEs are mysterious and intensely interesting phenomena,” said Joheen Chakraborty, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. “One of the most intriguing aspects is their quasi-periodic nature. We’re still developing the methodologies and frameworks we need to understand what causes QPEs, and Ansky’s unusual properties are helping us improve those tools.”

[embedded content]
Watch how astronomers used data from NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) to study a mysterious cosmic phenomenon called a quasi-periodic eruption, or QPE.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Ansky’s name comes from ZTF19acnskyy, the moniker of a visible-light outburst seen in 2019. It was located in a galaxy about 300 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. This event was the first indication that something unusual might be happening.
A paper about Ansky, led by Chakraborty, was published Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal.
A leading theory suggests that QPEs occur in systems where a relatively low-mass object passes through the disk of gas surrounding a supermassive black hole that holds hundreds of thousands to billions of times the Sun’s mass.
When the lower-mass object punches through the disk, its passage drives out expanding clouds of hot gas that we observe as QPEs in X-rays.
Scientists think the eruptions’ quasi-periodicity occurs because the smaller object’s orbit is not perfectly circular and spirals toward the black hole over time. Also, the extreme gravity close to the black hole warps the fabric of space-time, altering the object’s orbits so they don’t close on themselves with each cycle. Scientists’ current understanding suggests the eruptions repeat until the disk disappears or the orbiting object disintegrates, which may take up to a few years.

“Ansky’s extreme properties may be due to the nature of the disk around its supermassive black hole,” said Lorena Hernández-García, an astrophysicist at the Millennium Nucleus on Transversal Research and Technology to Explore Supermassive Black Holes, the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, and University of Valparaíso in Chile. “In most QPE systems the supermassive black hole likely shreds a passing star, creating a small disk very close to itself. In Ansky’s case, we think the disk is much larger and can involve objects farther away, creating the longer timescales we observe.”
Hernández-García, in addition to being a co-author on Chakraborty’s paper, led the study that discovered Ansky’s QPEs, which was published in April in Nature Astronomy and used data from NICER, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and Chandra X-ray Observatory, as well as ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) XMM-Newton space telescope.
NICER’s position on the International Space Station allowed it to observe Ansky about 16 times every day from May to July 2024. The frequency of the observations was critical in detecting the X-ray fluctuations that revealed Ansky produces QPEs.
Chakraborty’s team used data from NICER and XMM-Newton to map the rapid evolution of the ejected material driving the observed QPEs in unprecedented detail by studying variations in X-ray intensity during the rise and fall of each eruption.
The researchers found that each impact resulted in about a Jupiter’s worth of mass reaching expansion velocities around 15% of the speed of light.

The NICER telescope’s ability to frequently observe Ansky from the space station and its unique measurement capabilities also made it possible for the team to measure the size and temperature of the roughly spherical bubble of debris as it expanded.
“All NICER’s Ansky observations used in these papers were collected after the instrument experienced a ‘light leak’ in May 2023,” said Zaven Arzoumanian, the mission’s science lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Even though the leak – which was patched in January – affected the telescope’s observing strategy, NICER was still able to make vital contributions to time domain astronomy, or the study of changes in the cosmos on timescales we can see.”
After the repair, NICER continued observing Ansky to explore how the outbursts have evolved over time. A paper about these results, led by Hernández-García and co-authored by Chakraborty, is under review.
Observational studies of QPEs like Chakraborty’s will also play a key role in preparing the science community for a new era of multimessenger astronomy, which combines measurements using light, elementary particles, and space-time ripples called gravitational waves to better understand objects and events in the universe.
One goal of ESA’s future LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, in which NASA is a partner, is to study extreme mass-ratio inspirals — or systems where a low-mass object orbits a much more massive one, like Ansky. These systems should emit gravitational waves that are not observable with current facilities. Electromagnetic studies of QPEs will help improve models of those systems ahead of LISA’s anticipated launch in the mid-2030s.
“We’re going to keep observing Ansky for as long as we can,” Chakraborty said. “We’re still in the infancy of understanding QPEs. It’s such an exciting time because there’s so much to learn.”

By Jeanette KazmierczakNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media Contact:Claire Andreoli301-286-1940claire.andreoli@nasa.govNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NASA Expands SPHEREx Science Return Through Commercial Partnership

Source: NASA

NASA is partnering with commercial industry to expand our knowledge of Earth, our solar system, and beyond. Recently, NASA collaborated with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to support data transfer for the agency’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission to explore the origins of the universe.
“Not only is NASA moving toward commercialization, the agency is making technological advancements to existing systems and saving millions of dollars in the process — all while expanding human knowledge through science and exploration missions,” said Kevin Coggins, associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program.
To receive data from missions in space, NASA relies on the Near Space Network and Deep Space Network, a collection of antennas around the globe.
In preparation for the recently-launched SPHEREx observatory, NASA needed to upgrade an antenna on the world’s most remote continent: Antarctica.

[embedded content]
Transmitted via NASA’s Near Space Network, this video shows SPHEREx scanning a region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The shifting colors represent different infrared wavelengths detected by the telescope’s two arrays. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s SCaN program took a novel approach by leveraging its established commercial partnership with KSAT. While upgraded KSAT antennas were added to the Near Space Network in 2023, SPHEREx required an additional Antarctic antenna that could link to online data storage.
To support SPHEREx’s polar orbit, KSAT upgraded its Troll, Antarctica antenna and incorporated their own cloud storage system. NASA then connected KSAT’s cloud to the NASA cloud, DAPHNE+ (Data Acquisition Process and Handling Environment).
As the Near Space Network’s operational cloud services system, DAPHNE+ enables science missions to transmit their data to the network for virtual file storage, processing, and management.
“By connecting the Troll antenna to DAPHNE+, we eliminated the need for large, undersea fiberoptic cables by virtually connecting private and government-owned cloud systems, reducing the project’s cost and complexity,” said Matt Vincent, the SPHEREx mission manager for the Near Space Network at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Each day, SPHEREx downlinks a portion of its 20 gigabits of science data through the Troll antenna, which transfers the files across KSAT’s network of relay satellites to the DAPHNE+ cloud. The cloud system combines and centralizes the data from each antenna, allowing access to all of SPHEREx’s health and science data in one convenient place.

With coverage throughout its orbit, SPHEREx transmits its 3D maps of the celestial sky, offering new insight into what happened a fraction of a second after the big bang.
“Missions like SPHEREx use the Near Space Network’s combination of commercial and government antennas,” explained Michael Skube, DAPHNE+ manager at NASA Goddard. “And that is the benefit of DAPHNE+ — it enables the network to pull different sources of information into one central location. The DAPHNE+ system treats government and commercial antennas as part of the same network.”
The partnership is mutually beneficial. NASA’s Near Space Network maintains a data connection with SPHEREx as it traverses both poles and KSAT benefits from its antennas’ integration into a robust global network – no new cables required.
“We were able to find a networking solution with KSAT that did not require us to put additional hardware in Antarctica,” said Vincent. “Now we are operating with the highest data rate we have ever downlinked from that location.”

For NASA, its commercial partners, and other global space agencies, this expansion means more reliable space communications with fewer expenses.
Troll’s successful integration into the Near Space Network is a case study for future private and government partnerships. As SPHEREx measures the collective glow of over 450 million galaxies as far as 10 billion light-years away, SCaN continues to innovate how its discoveries safely return to Earth.
The SPHEREx mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the agency’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech. The SPHEREx dataset will be publicly available at the NASA-IPAC Infrared Science Archive. Funding and oversight for DAPHNE+ and the Near Space Network come from the SCaN program office at NASA Headquarters and operate out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Troll Satellite Station is owned and operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services and located in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: HARRISBURG – Growing Tomorrow’s Workforce – Shapiro Administration to Host Area K-8 Students for Hands-On Agriculture Career Inspiration, Exploration

Source: US State of Pennsylvania

June 07, 2025 – Harrisburg, PA

ADVISORY – HARRISBURG – Growing Tomorrow’s Workforce – Shapiro Administration to Host Area K-8 Students for Hands-On Agriculture Career Inspiration, Exploration

Agriculture Secretary and Acting Education Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe will join area K-8 students for a highlights tour of Farm City Day – a day of hands-on agriculture career inspiration and exploration at the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. The event is part of the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to creating opportunities for meaningful careers for all Pennsylvania students and growing the skilled workforce ag employers need to keep Pennsylvania a national ag leader in the future.

Throughout two school days, more than 1,300 students from Carlisle, Central Dauphin, Conewago, Harrisburg, Lower Dauphin, Muhlenberg, Reading, Schuylkill Valley, Susquehanna, Warrior Run, and West Shore School Districts, as well as private, charter, and homeschool students from across southcentral PA will encounter horses, rabbits, lambs, and pigs up close, and learn about careers from dairy farming and beekeeping to sustainable forestry, plant science, and animal care.

WHAT:
2025 Farm City Day – media availability and brief highlight tour

WHO:
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding
Acting Education Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe
Educators and students from across southcentral Pennsylvania

WHEN:
Wednesday, May 7, 11:30 a.m.

WHERE:
PA Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, 2300 N. Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110
(Enter Main Hall via Maclay St. Lobby entrance)

RSVP:
Media wishing to attend should RSVP to Shannon Powers, shpowers@pa.gov.

Contact:
shpowers@pa.gov, 717.603.2056

MIL OSI USA News –

May 7, 2025

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