In some EU states – Sweden and Italy, for example – EPP member parties cooperate with parties further to the right. And EPP leader Manfred Weber is also looking in this direction. In search of new partners for his weakening party family, he is approaching the ECR parliamentary group, among others, as Markus Grabitz reports. He is said to have met Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni several times in recent months. There is protest against this development – even within his own ranks.
In the EU alone, demand for textiles has increased by 40 percent in just a few decades. More and more, faster and faster – that is often the motto in the industry. People outside the EU, in particular, suffer from the often devastating effects. To reduce the ecological and social footprint, the EU Commission is focusing primarily on recycling textiles. But the corresponding technologies are still in their infancy. Recycling companies face a whole series of obstacles, such as the question of which materials they are dealing with in the first place. Caspar Dohmen and Charlotte Wirth did some research.
The EPP member parties are not doing well in the polls. If European elections were held on Sunday, the EPP group in Parliament would drop from 176 to 166 seats, according to a calculation by political scientist Manuel Müller. While the data is still from polls before the corruption scandal involving the Socialist Group came to light, in the snapshot from early December, the EPP member parties are losing ground in Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal.
For the EPP, the strongest group in Parliament since 1999, the trend has been downward for decades. At the beginning of the millennium, the EPP accounted for 295 MEPs at times (out of 788); currently, there are 176 EPP MEPs.
Manfred Weber, group leader since 2014 and party leader since the summer, must stop the decline. The EPP can only claim to occupy important posts in the EU and significantly influence legislation from a position of strength.
Currently, an EPP member party provides the head of state or government in ten of 27 member states. There have been some recent additions, such as in Ireland, where the leadership of the government went to the Christian Democrat Leo Varadkar. It could be that EU states will be added to the list this year: Spain, Poland, and Finland have elections. And the challengers with EPP party papers are not without a chance.
In Spain, the Christian Democratic PP may have to rely on the populist Vox; in Sweden, the right-wing Sweden Democrats are tolerating a minority government with the participation of the Christian Democrats. In Italy, the Christian Democratic FI is the junior partner of the Fratelli d’Italia, which has its roots in fascism. In several EU states, EPP member parties are thus already cooperating with organizations further to the right.
Weber is largely unfamiliar with politically coarse tones, but in his search for new supporters and members for the parliamentary group, he tends to look to the right, too. He has sounded out members of the 63-member ECR parliamentary group for some time. He has his eye on Italian members of the Fratelli d’Italia, in particular. He is said to have met their leader, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, three times in recent months alone. Eight members of her party are currently in the European Parliament. After the European elections in May 2024, however, there could be many more. In the polls, the Fratelli is currently the strongest party in Italy.
Weber also talked to the Nieuw Vlaamse Alliantie (NVA) from Belgium, which currently has three deputies in Strasbourg. The right-wing populists of Vox in Spain or the Czech governing party ODS are also possible candidates. During the last week of the Strasbourg session, Weber met with the heads of the national groups in the EPP in the small town of Obernai, south of Strasbourg. On this occasion, he also informed them about the status of the poaching attempts.
It is not only among Socialists, Greens, and Communists that he is earning protests for talks with parties considered post-fascists, separatists, and right-wing populists. There is also opposition from within the EPP: His predecessor in the post of EPP party leader, Donald Tusk, who wants to win the election in the fall against PiS, an EKR member party, has reportedly given Weber a choice: them or us. The Flemish Christian Democrats have also given Weber an ultimatum, one hears. He is said to have assured both sister parties that nothing will happen until the European elections.
For the time after the election, however, Weber does not rule out defections from the ECR or loose support. Unlike in national elections, where the composition of the parliamentary groups is as good as fixed on election night, the groups form only gradually after European elections. Depending on concessions, some factions may make important new commitments on the transfer market. Apparently, many in the ECR group are tired of the dominance of Polish PiS MEPs. PiS currently has 24 of 63 deputies in Strasbourg. Internally, there is already talk of a “polish run business” in the EKR. Weber could benefit from this.
Weber is also hoping for supporters or defectors in Renew’s liberal faction. Primarily among Frenchmen. In the EPP camp, the centrifugal forces of Emmanuel Macron’s rallying movement Renaissance are expected to split the party into a left-liberal and a right-liberal wing after the European elections at the latest.
Weber is open to new alliances, including with new right-wing parties – especially since many traditional partners such as the Républicains in France and Forza Italia have lost massive importance. Weber has defined minimum conditions for possible partners: they must be pro-European, clearly support NATO, and be in favor of the social market economy.
As party leader, Weber must organize the EPP’s lineup for the European elections in terms of content and personnel. The top candidate is to be elected at a great party congress in January 2024. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she is still undecided about whether to seek a second term. However, although her relationship with Weber and the German Christian Democrats is not good, she is not expected to face any obstacles if she wanted to continue.
Von der Leyen, who as President of the Commission is a member of the EPP presidium by virtue of her office, would have to declare her candidacy for the European Parliament in her CDU regional association by summer. If she does not run again, Parliament President Roberta Metsola is expected to be the top candidate. The shortcoming of the 44-year-old Maltese is that she has no government experience.
“Let’s make fast fashion out of fashion,” said SPD MEP Delara Burkhardt when she presented her own-initiative report on recyclable textiles last week. The Social Democrat wants to break with the model in which ever-new textile trends are produced ever faster and cheaper. In the EU alone, demand for textiles has increased by 40 percent in just a few decades.
A few figures show how far the textile industry is from being socially and environmentally sustainable: In Europe, the sector ranks 4th in terms of negative impact on the environment and climate change, and the greatest impact is felt outside the EU: According to a study by the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), 76 percent of greenhouse gas emissions occur outside Europe. More than 90 percent of water and land use for textile production takes place in non-EU countries.
The social component is also making itself aware abroad in the EU: The mostly female workers at the beginning of the supply chain suffer under the harmful purchasing practices of the big retail brands. It is time for an EU law against harmful practices in the textile industry, the chairman of the trade committee, Bernd Lange (SPD) said on Monday.
“We need to use the market specifically to set sustainable production standards,” demands Delara Burkhardt. She advocates, for example, that the overproduction of garments and shoes should be remedied and that the destruction of unsold textiles should be banned. Her own-initiative report is based on the strategy for sustainable and recyclable textiles presented by the EU Commission last year. According to this, all textile products in the internal market should consist largely of recycled fibers and be free of hazardous substances by 2030.
To achieve this, the Commission is relying on a whole mosaic of instruments: from the Ecodesign Directive to the Waste Framework Directive and the REACH Regulation for the regulation of chemicals.
One example: Starting in 2025, textiles are to be collected separately under the Waste Framework Directive. This could be a great opportunity for the recycling market. But most technologies for textile sorting and recycling textile fibers are still in their infancy. The EU Commission also admits: It writes in its strategy that sorting systems and modern recycling systems urgently need to be developed.
Recycling textile fabrics is complicated because they often consist of mixed fabrics made from a wide variety of fibers. So far, research into better recycling processes has only been worthwhile for high-priced fibers that are available in large quantities, says textile researcher Thomas Fischer. In the fast fashion sector, in particular, clothes are composed almost exclusively of synthetic or petroleum-based materials. These include substances that the Commission classifies as hazardous, for example, because they are carcinogenic or can have negative consequences for the fertility of women and men.
New recycling technologies such as fiber-to-fiber recycling or chemical recycling technologies are expected to remedy the situation but they are either not yet ready for the market or require high investments to be suitable for mass production.
In addition, the recycling industry is not yet ready to process the large mass of used textiles that will be produced by 2025 at the latest – regardless of the technology used. The JRC calculates that the capacities would have to cope with up to an additional 90,000 tons of textiles per year.
Another problem is that recycling companies often lack important information about the composition of the textiles, Delara Burkhardt points out. It is thus not enough for recycling companies to adapt. Transparency rules for textile producers and the composition of products would also have to change.
Under the Ecodesign Directive, for example, stricter requirements are to apply to the conception and design of products so that they are suitable for reuse or recycling. With this approach, the EU Commission is taking its cue from the principle of slow fashion, which has occupied a niche position in global textile production so far. The Commission’s legislative proposal is currently being discussed in Parliament and the Council. Trilogues are not expected until the second half of the year.
It is complicated to change consumers’ buying habits, the Commission admits in its strategy. Rather, companies would have to rely on new business models to get their customers to rethink: for example, by valuing the product as a service and offering repair services or second-hand collections.
But this approach is likely to be extremely difficult, concludes a study on circular business models by Finland’s Aalto University School of Science. For decades, company cultures, competencies, and processes have been designed to produce more and more, faster and faster, and ever-new products. The researchers speak of behavioral barriers that are very difficult to change. In addition, they say, circular business models are often not financially viable: “The new, designed for circularity products may not fit in with the existing product portfolio, as they may be expensive or can’t be produced in the necessary quantities.”
Delara Burkhardt is more optimistic, saying that stricter market regulation would ultimately provide the necessary incentives for investments needed to transform the textile industry into a more sustainable one. Caspar Dohmen, Charlotte Wirth
The European Parliament wants to restrict technology transfers to China in the chip industry. “Given the offensive espionage program of the Chinese government, we no longer want any transfer of intellectual property to China,” said Dutch MEP Bart Groothuis, shadow rapporteur for the Liberals in the lead industry committee.
The committee adopted amendments to the Commission proposal on the Chips Act with a large majority on Tuesday, according to which a corresponding article (27 a) would be added. The report by rapporteur Dan Nica (S&D) is the basis for the final negotiations of the European Parliament with the member states. The approval of the plenary in February is considered a formality. The Chips Act’s goal is to strengthen Europe as a location for research and production in the strategically important sector and to prepare it for supply bottlenecks.
MEPs call for semiconductor companies to be allowed to transfer trade secrets and IP-protected information only to third countries with which agreements on the protection of intellectual property exist. Companies receiving government funding under the Chips Act should commit in agreements with the Commission or the relevant member state not to transfer such information. Existing works or technology for older generations of chips would be exempt. In the event of violations, the companies would have to pay back the state aid.
The MPs’ move is likely to be welcomed in Washington: In October, the US government imposed far-reaching export restrictions to make it more complicated for Chinese manufacturers to access modern chip technology. Washington is particularly pressing the Netherlands, home of leading chip maker ASML, to follow suit. The Hague agreed to halt exports of advanced EUV machines. However, the government is hesitant about technology that ASML has already supplied to China.
The new China article is one of several changes MEPs want to make to the Commission proposal. The member states had already decided on their negotiating position for the trilogue at the beginning of December.
Parliament sharpens up on these points:
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) has significantly tightened up the EU Commission’s draft on political advertising on the Internet. According to the amendments adopted in Brussels on Tuesday, the evaluation of personal data is to be restricted. In the future, only personal information that has been released by citizens expressly for this purpose may be used for targeted political advertising.
The Commission presented its proposal for a regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising in November 2021. The regulation is intended to safeguard next year’s European elections and help prevent abuse and manipulation such as with Cambridge Analytica or the Brexit referendum. The Council set its position in December 2022. After a final vote in the plenary of the European Parliament in February, the way is now clear for negotiations in the trilogue. An agreement is expected in the summer.
However, the positions are still far apart. The Council had weakened the Commission’s proposal, while the Parliament wants to tighten it up. MEPs are calling for an EU-wide database for all political ads on the Internet. This should increase transparency and help identify disinformation and foreign interference. Targeting is to use only information explicitly provided by citizens. “Surveillance advertising” is to be banned.
“It is about strengthening liability and transparency,” said Sandro Gozi (Renew), the responsible rapporteur. The amendments would send a “strong signal” before the European elections and make possible manipulations more difficult. However, compromises had to be made. Political advertising on the Internet should still be possible in the future, but the distinction from commercial ads is not always clear-cut. It was also not possible to limit the new rules exclusively to parties and politicians.
The scope of the new rules has been causing heated debate for weeks. Critics fear that the EU could restrict free political expression. Google and other platforms also warn of this. However, the European Parliament does not see any danger. Even posted content is excluded from the proposed targeting rules, says Patrick Breyer, MEP for the Pirate Party. The amplification of organic content will not be re-regulated.
In contrast, he calls for more toughness against parties and politicians. The targeting rules advocated by the Council are “a farce” and would allow the manipulation of elections and referendums to continue unabated. Parliament must thus “stand firm to protect our democratic elections and votes” in the upcoming trilogue, he said.
Alexandra Geese of the Green Party said, “I am pleased that we have achieved that our democratic elections are better protected against manipulation and covert influence.” Sensitive data such as a person’s sexual orientation or political opinion would no longer be allowed to be misused for political advertising purposes. “Parties that feed contradictory content to different groups of voters will be exposed.”
In some EU states – Sweden and Italy, for example – EPP member parties cooperate with parties further to the right. And EPP leader Manfred Weber is also looking in this direction. In search of new partners for his weakening party family, he is approaching the ECR parliamentary group, among others, as Markus Grabitz reports. He is said to have met Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni several times in recent months. There is protest against this development – even within his own ranks.
In the EU alone, demand for textiles has increased by 40 percent in just a few decades. More and more, faster and faster – that is often the motto in the industry. People outside the EU, in particular, suffer from the often devastating effects. To reduce the ecological and social footprint, the EU Commission is focusing primarily on recycling textiles. But the corresponding technologies are still in their infancy. Recycling companies face a whole series of obstacles, such as the question of which materials they are dealing with in the first place. Caspar Dohmen and Charlotte Wirth did some research.
The EPP member parties are not doing well in the polls. If European elections were held on Sunday, the EPP group in Parliament would drop from 176 to 166 seats, according to a calculation by political scientist Manuel Müller. While the data is still from polls before the corruption scandal involving the Socialist Group came to light, in the snapshot from early December, the EPP member parties are losing ground in Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal.
For the EPP, the strongest group in Parliament since 1999, the trend has been downward for decades. At the beginning of the millennium, the EPP accounted for 295 MEPs at times (out of 788); currently, there are 176 EPP MEPs.
Manfred Weber, group leader since 2014 and party leader since the summer, must stop the decline. The EPP can only claim to occupy important posts in the EU and significantly influence legislation from a position of strength.
Currently, an EPP member party provides the head of state or government in ten of 27 member states. There have been some recent additions, such as in Ireland, where the leadership of the government went to the Christian Democrat Leo Varadkar. It could be that EU states will be added to the list this year: Spain, Poland, and Finland have elections. And the challengers with EPP party papers are not without a chance.
In Spain, the Christian Democratic PP may have to rely on the populist Vox; in Sweden, the right-wing Sweden Democrats are tolerating a minority government with the participation of the Christian Democrats. In Italy, the Christian Democratic FI is the junior partner of the Fratelli d’Italia, which has its roots in fascism. In several EU states, EPP member parties are thus already cooperating with organizations further to the right.
Weber is largely unfamiliar with politically coarse tones, but in his search for new supporters and members for the parliamentary group, he tends to look to the right, too. He has sounded out members of the 63-member ECR parliamentary group for some time. He has his eye on Italian members of the Fratelli d’Italia, in particular. He is said to have met their leader, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, three times in recent months alone. Eight members of her party are currently in the European Parliament. After the European elections in May 2024, however, there could be many more. In the polls, the Fratelli is currently the strongest party in Italy.
Weber also talked to the Nieuw Vlaamse Alliantie (NVA) from Belgium, which currently has three deputies in Strasbourg. The right-wing populists of Vox in Spain or the Czech governing party ODS are also possible candidates. During the last week of the Strasbourg session, Weber met with the heads of the national groups in the EPP in the small town of Obernai, south of Strasbourg. On this occasion, he also informed them about the status of the poaching attempts.
It is not only among Socialists, Greens, and Communists that he is earning protests for talks with parties considered post-fascists, separatists, and right-wing populists. There is also opposition from within the EPP: His predecessor in the post of EPP party leader, Donald Tusk, who wants to win the election in the fall against PiS, an EKR member party, has reportedly given Weber a choice: them or us. The Flemish Christian Democrats have also given Weber an ultimatum, one hears. He is said to have assured both sister parties that nothing will happen until the European elections.
For the time after the election, however, Weber does not rule out defections from the ECR or loose support. Unlike in national elections, where the composition of the parliamentary groups is as good as fixed on election night, the groups form only gradually after European elections. Depending on concessions, some factions may make important new commitments on the transfer market. Apparently, many in the ECR group are tired of the dominance of Polish PiS MEPs. PiS currently has 24 of 63 deputies in Strasbourg. Internally, there is already talk of a “polish run business” in the EKR. Weber could benefit from this.
Weber is also hoping for supporters or defectors in Renew’s liberal faction. Primarily among Frenchmen. In the EPP camp, the centrifugal forces of Emmanuel Macron’s rallying movement Renaissance are expected to split the party into a left-liberal and a right-liberal wing after the European elections at the latest.
Weber is open to new alliances, including with new right-wing parties – especially since many traditional partners such as the Républicains in France and Forza Italia have lost massive importance. Weber has defined minimum conditions for possible partners: they must be pro-European, clearly support NATO, and be in favor of the social market economy.
As party leader, Weber must organize the EPP’s lineup for the European elections in terms of content and personnel. The top candidate is to be elected at a great party congress in January 2024. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she is still undecided about whether to seek a second term. However, although her relationship with Weber and the German Christian Democrats is not good, she is not expected to face any obstacles if she wanted to continue.
Von der Leyen, who as President of the Commission is a member of the EPP presidium by virtue of her office, would have to declare her candidacy for the European Parliament in her CDU regional association by summer. If she does not run again, Parliament President Roberta Metsola is expected to be the top candidate. The shortcoming of the 44-year-old Maltese is that she has no government experience.
“Let’s make fast fashion out of fashion,” said SPD MEP Delara Burkhardt when she presented her own-initiative report on recyclable textiles last week. The Social Democrat wants to break with the model in which ever-new textile trends are produced ever faster and cheaper. In the EU alone, demand for textiles has increased by 40 percent in just a few decades.
A few figures show how far the textile industry is from being socially and environmentally sustainable: In Europe, the sector ranks 4th in terms of negative impact on the environment and climate change, and the greatest impact is felt outside the EU: According to a study by the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), 76 percent of greenhouse gas emissions occur outside Europe. More than 90 percent of water and land use for textile production takes place in non-EU countries.
The social component is also making itself aware abroad in the EU: The mostly female workers at the beginning of the supply chain suffer under the harmful purchasing practices of the big retail brands. It is time for an EU law against harmful practices in the textile industry, the chairman of the trade committee, Bernd Lange (SPD) said on Monday.
“We need to use the market specifically to set sustainable production standards,” demands Delara Burkhardt. She advocates, for example, that the overproduction of garments and shoes should be remedied and that the destruction of unsold textiles should be banned. Her own-initiative report is based on the strategy for sustainable and recyclable textiles presented by the EU Commission last year. According to this, all textile products in the internal market should consist largely of recycled fibers and be free of hazardous substances by 2030.
To achieve this, the Commission is relying on a whole mosaic of instruments: from the Ecodesign Directive to the Waste Framework Directive and the REACH Regulation for the regulation of chemicals.
One example: Starting in 2025, textiles are to be collected separately under the Waste Framework Directive. This could be a great opportunity for the recycling market. But most technologies for textile sorting and recycling textile fibers are still in their infancy. The EU Commission also admits: It writes in its strategy that sorting systems and modern recycling systems urgently need to be developed.
Recycling textile fabrics is complicated because they often consist of mixed fabrics made from a wide variety of fibers. So far, research into better recycling processes has only been worthwhile for high-priced fibers that are available in large quantities, says textile researcher Thomas Fischer. In the fast fashion sector, in particular, clothes are composed almost exclusively of synthetic or petroleum-based materials. These include substances that the Commission classifies as hazardous, for example, because they are carcinogenic or can have negative consequences for the fertility of women and men.
New recycling technologies such as fiber-to-fiber recycling or chemical recycling technologies are expected to remedy the situation but they are either not yet ready for the market or require high investments to be suitable for mass production.
In addition, the recycling industry is not yet ready to process the large mass of used textiles that will be produced by 2025 at the latest – regardless of the technology used. The JRC calculates that the capacities would have to cope with up to an additional 90,000 tons of textiles per year.
Another problem is that recycling companies often lack important information about the composition of the textiles, Delara Burkhardt points out. It is thus not enough for recycling companies to adapt. Transparency rules for textile producers and the composition of products would also have to change.
Under the Ecodesign Directive, for example, stricter requirements are to apply to the conception and design of products so that they are suitable for reuse or recycling. With this approach, the EU Commission is taking its cue from the principle of slow fashion, which has occupied a niche position in global textile production so far. The Commission’s legislative proposal is currently being discussed in Parliament and the Council. Trilogues are not expected until the second half of the year.
It is complicated to change consumers’ buying habits, the Commission admits in its strategy. Rather, companies would have to rely on new business models to get their customers to rethink: for example, by valuing the product as a service and offering repair services or second-hand collections.
But this approach is likely to be extremely difficult, concludes a study on circular business models by Finland’s Aalto University School of Science. For decades, company cultures, competencies, and processes have been designed to produce more and more, faster and faster, and ever-new products. The researchers speak of behavioral barriers that are very difficult to change. In addition, they say, circular business models are often not financially viable: “The new, designed for circularity products may not fit in with the existing product portfolio, as they may be expensive or can’t be produced in the necessary quantities.”
Delara Burkhardt is more optimistic, saying that stricter market regulation would ultimately provide the necessary incentives for investments needed to transform the textile industry into a more sustainable one. Caspar Dohmen, Charlotte Wirth
The European Parliament wants to restrict technology transfers to China in the chip industry. “Given the offensive espionage program of the Chinese government, we no longer want any transfer of intellectual property to China,” said Dutch MEP Bart Groothuis, shadow rapporteur for the Liberals in the lead industry committee.
The committee adopted amendments to the Commission proposal on the Chips Act with a large majority on Tuesday, according to which a corresponding article (27 a) would be added. The report by rapporteur Dan Nica (S&D) is the basis for the final negotiations of the European Parliament with the member states. The approval of the plenary in February is considered a formality. The Chips Act’s goal is to strengthen Europe as a location for research and production in the strategically important sector and to prepare it for supply bottlenecks.
MEPs call for semiconductor companies to be allowed to transfer trade secrets and IP-protected information only to third countries with which agreements on the protection of intellectual property exist. Companies receiving government funding under the Chips Act should commit in agreements with the Commission or the relevant member state not to transfer such information. Existing works or technology for older generations of chips would be exempt. In the event of violations, the companies would have to pay back the state aid.
The MPs’ move is likely to be welcomed in Washington: In October, the US government imposed far-reaching export restrictions to make it more complicated for Chinese manufacturers to access modern chip technology. Washington is particularly pressing the Netherlands, home of leading chip maker ASML, to follow suit. The Hague agreed to halt exports of advanced EUV machines. However, the government is hesitant about technology that ASML has already supplied to China.
The new China article is one of several changes MEPs want to make to the Commission proposal. The member states had already decided on their negotiating position for the trilogue at the beginning of December.
Parliament sharpens up on these points:
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) has significantly tightened up the EU Commission’s draft on political advertising on the Internet. According to the amendments adopted in Brussels on Tuesday, the evaluation of personal data is to be restricted. In the future, only personal information that has been released by citizens expressly for this purpose may be used for targeted political advertising.
The Commission presented its proposal for a regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising in November 2021. The regulation is intended to safeguard next year’s European elections and help prevent abuse and manipulation such as with Cambridge Analytica or the Brexit referendum. The Council set its position in December 2022. After a final vote in the plenary of the European Parliament in February, the way is now clear for negotiations in the trilogue. An agreement is expected in the summer.
However, the positions are still far apart. The Council had weakened the Commission’s proposal, while the Parliament wants to tighten it up. MEPs are calling for an EU-wide database for all political ads on the Internet. This should increase transparency and help identify disinformation and foreign interference. Targeting is to use only information explicitly provided by citizens. “Surveillance advertising” is to be banned.
“It is about strengthening liability and transparency,” said Sandro Gozi (Renew), the responsible rapporteur. The amendments would send a “strong signal” before the European elections and make possible manipulations more difficult. However, compromises had to be made. Political advertising on the Internet should still be possible in the future, but the distinction from commercial ads is not always clear-cut. It was also not possible to limit the new rules exclusively to parties and politicians.
The scope of the new rules has been causing heated debate for weeks. Critics fear that the EU could restrict free political expression. Google and other platforms also warn of this. However, the European Parliament does not see any danger. Even posted content is excluded from the proposed targeting rules, says Patrick Breyer, MEP for the Pirate Party. The amplification of organic content will not be re-regulated.
In contrast, he calls for more toughness against parties and politicians. The targeting rules advocated by the Council are “a farce” and would allow the manipulation of elections and referendums to continue unabated. Parliament must thus “stand firm to protect our democratic elections and votes” in the upcoming trilogue, he said.
Alexandra Geese of the Green Party said, “I am pleased that we have achieved that our democratic elections are better protected against manipulation and covert influence.” Sensitive data such as a person’s sexual orientation or political opinion would no longer be allowed to be misused for political advertising purposes. “Parties that feed contradictory content to different groups of voters will be exposed.”
