WEBVTT NOTE Brussels Live. Transcribed and translated automatically from the original sound. Mistakes are possible. Independent service, not affiliated with the European Parliament or the European Commission. Source: © European Union. AI-generated: Transcripts, translations and summaries on this site are generated automatically by AI: speech recognition (Soniox), machine translation and summaries (Mistral AI). Not edited by humans before publication. EU AI Act, Article 50. 00:00:02.657 --> 00:00:07.765 Good afternoon and welcome to our midday briefing before taking your questions. 00:00:07.817 --> 00:00:15.137 We have a couple of announcements. For you and to start with, I would like to ask 00:00:15.237 --> 00:00:23.265 Tomás to join me. For some safe-related announcements. 00:00:23.357 --> 00:00:24.377 Tomás. 00:00:24.377 --> 00:00:28.653 Thank you, Paula. Good afternoon. So today the Commission invites all member states 00:00:28.746 --> 00:00:33.947 to use the remaining 21.3 billion euro leftovers under SAFE. 00:00:34.097 --> 00:00:39.197 This will further support our member states to address urgent defense needs and we 00:00:39.257 --> 00:00:44.410 encourage them to use these remaining funds in ways that can help meet Ukraine's 00:00:44.522 --> 00:00:48.463 urgent needs. Some figures about SAFE's success so far: 00:00:48.529 --> 00:00:54.451 19 member states have requested more than 130 billion euro so far. 00:00:54.557 --> 00:00:57.386 All national plans have been approved by the Commission. 00:00:57.437 --> 00:01:04.124 We have already signed 16 loan agreements out of these 19 plans and 11 member states 00:01:04.178 --> 00:01:09.197 have already received pre-financing worth more than 13 billion euro. 00:01:09.257 --> 00:01:11.177 And you will find more information in the daily news. 00:01:12.857 --> 00:01:20.015 Thank you very much, Tomás. We know this was a much-awaited development. 00:01:20.177 --> 00:01:26.374 And let me then recall regarding President von der Leyen's agenda, that the 00:01:26.458 --> 00:01:34.252 President, as you know, is in Canada today and tomorrow for the summit with Canada. 00:01:34.337 --> 00:01:38.097 And she will deliver a speech at around 3:00 p. 00:01:38.177 --> 00:01:45.737 m. Brussels time, on EU-Canada relations. From Montréal, and you can follow it in 00:01:45.977 --> 00:01:53.762 EBS. And now to conclude our announcements, let me wish a very warm welcome to our 00:01:53.860 --> 00:02:02.382 group of visitors. And I understand you are a group of 20 journalists from Finland 00:02:02.509 --> 00:02:08.112 and 18 young leaders. I hope you enjoy your time with us. 00:02:08.177 --> 00:02:11.452 It's great to have you here in the press room. 00:02:11.537 --> 00:02:17.355 And have a wonderful time. Now, that's it for our announcements. 00:02:17.417 --> 00:02:20.777 And we can take your questions. Luke, please. 00:02:24.377 --> 00:02:28.427 Thank you, Paula. A question about the EU-Canada summit. 00:02:28.577 --> 00:02:34.971 As anyone knows by now, the term Associate Membership has been removed from the 00:02:35.035 --> 00:02:38.702 Joint Declaration that should be adopted tomorrow. 00:02:38.777 --> 00:02:45.450 Nevertheless, the Commission President has tweeted when landing in Montréal 00:02:45.677 --> 00:02:53.164 including the term Associate Membership. So can you clarify for us if this Associate 00:02:53.297 --> 00:02:55.877 Membership is still on the table for Canada? 00:02:55.937 --> 00:02:56.837 Thank you. 00:02:56.837 --> 00:03:04.207 Yes. Let me clarify. With pleasure. The Associate Membership of Canada is, as you 00:03:04.296 --> 00:03:10.953 know, the ambitious idea that President von der Leyen had put forward in her speech, 00:03:11.057 --> 00:03:17.819 her State of the Union speech in September, in the presence of Prime Minister 00:03:17.950 --> 00:03:28.014 McCartney. Mark Carney. And this week's summit is the first meaningful opportunity 00:03:28.097 --> 00:03:35.821 to develop this concept and the alliance for the future with our partners. 00:03:35.957 --> 00:03:43.817 It's also important to recall at this instance that the EU and Canada are partners 00:03:43.917 --> 00:03:52.104 of choice. And at the time of rising global uncertainty, both sides are seeking to 00:03:52.201 --> 00:03:58.988 come closer together, to strengthen prosperity, resilience, security, and 00:03:59.106 --> 00:04:04.369 sovereignty with this mutually beneficial partnership. 00:04:04.457 --> 00:04:12.517 And high on the summit agenda will be bringing Canada closer to us than ever before, 00:04:12.614 --> 00:04:21.511 as Associate Member of the EU. This is precisely an ever closer association of 00:04:21.617 --> 00:04:28.150 Canada to the European Union, short of full membership itself. 00:04:28.277 --> 00:04:34.690 And following the discussions at the summit this week, we will continue to work with 00:04:34.775 --> 00:04:42.015 the European Parliament, with member states, and our Canadian friends and 00:04:42.097 --> 00:04:48.147 counterparts to achieve these common objectives. 00:04:48.317 --> 00:04:49.817 Yes, Luke. A follow-up. 00:04:51.797 --> 00:04:56.547 Yes. Thank you. From what I understand from your reply, the Commission is pressing 00:04:56.596 --> 00:05:03.110 ahead with this concept of Associated Membership, which is nowhere in the EU 00:05:03.197 --> 00:05:10.426 treaties and which EU member states must not only Germany have made very clear they 00:05:10.508 --> 00:05:17.141 don't want to pursue. So how can the Commission keep on pressing on this without 00:05:17.187 --> 00:05:19.037 having a mandate from the member states? 00:05:20.477 --> 00:05:26.835 As said earlier, we are fully on board with our member states on the approach, on 00:05:26.897 --> 00:05:36.811 the objective, on the ambition of pursuing an ever closer association with Canada. 00:05:36.917 --> 00:05:46.083 Fully agreed there. And we continue to work intensely with our member states on the 00:05:46.221 --> 00:05:57.857 basis for Associate Membership. As it is also foreseen in the summit text. 00:05:58.217 --> 00:06:04.822 It would have been much better to have unity from member states on the initial 00:06:04.877 --> 00:06:08.852 wording, but we have a strong basis that is agreed. 00:06:08.957 --> 00:06:15.915 And we are, as I said, fleshing out the details but most importantly we have a 00:06:15.974 --> 00:06:20.897 common approach in terms of what is the objective that we want to pursue. 00:06:22.877 --> 00:06:24.077 Jorge. 00:06:26.777 --> 00:06:31.456 Hello, Paula. Following up on Luka's question, how do you respond to the criticism 00:06:31.510 --> 00:06:36.507 that you copy-pasted the name from the non-paper that the German Chancellor put 00:06:36.571 --> 00:06:41.224 earlier this year of Associate Membership but in this case for Ukraine? 00:06:41.297 --> 00:06:42.497 Thank you. 00:06:42.917 --> 00:06:50.014 I think that what I replied earlier is also the reply to you, Jorge. 00:06:50.117 --> 00:06:55.665 As said, we fully agree with the member states that we want to pursue an ever closer 00:06:55.732 --> 00:07:01.795 association of Canada to the European Union, short of a full membership itself, 00:07:01.852 --> 00:07:09.182 which is precisely one of the characteristics of Canada, not being a European. 00:07:09.257 --> 00:07:14.728 Country, cannot pursue membership. So this is as close as we can come in a 00:07:14.816 --> 00:07:21.884 relationship with a country which is not in the in Europe. 00:07:22.097 --> 00:07:23.297 Yes, Gerardo. 00:07:25.397 --> 00:07:31.164 Thanks, Paula. Gerardo from Politico. In the wording that has been picked up 00:07:31.218 --> 00:07:36.313 yesterday by member states and that you repeated and that I guess the Commission 00:07:36.377 --> 00:07:41.491 interpret as an. Endorsement of the concept of Associate Membership. 00:07:41.537 --> 00:07:46.860 At the same time, the original wording was Associate Membership and we move toward 00:07:46.932 --> 00:07:54.168 something different. And then it might be considered as a signal from member states 00:07:54.230 --> 00:08:00.775 that they don't want that branding because, as you said, there's a common goals, 00:08:00.822 --> 00:08:06.567 there's an agreement of common goals of this what is ever closer association would 00:08:06.617 --> 00:08:11.548 mean. It's mostly about the branding. And then the first thing that the President 00:08:11.597 --> 00:08:16.037 does once landing in Montreal is using Associate Membership. 00:08:16.097 --> 00:08:24.639 So is it some sort of snubbing toward what the member states told the Commission 00:08:24.725 --> 00:08:26.357 just one day earlier? 00:08:27.317 --> 00:08:29.980 I said we're working very closely with the member states. 00:08:30.017 --> 00:08:36.117 And as I said, an Associate Member of the EU is precisely an ever closer association 00:08:36.197 --> 00:08:42.385 of Canada to the European Union, short of full membership itself. 00:08:42.557 --> 00:08:48.238 And the discussions will continue. And I won't go further into it because, of 00:08:48.284 --> 00:08:55.923 course, the summit is coming. Today, tomorrow, and as said, you will be able to hear 00:08:55.997 --> 00:09:02.980 more about it during the summit. Other questions on different topics? 00:09:03.077 --> 00:09:04.277 Razia. 00:09:06.317 --> 00:09:12.317 Thank you. Razia Akoch, AFP News Agency. Tomas had told us that we would get a 00:09:12.377 --> 00:09:17.919 response as in we would find out the Commission's opinion on Austria's social media 00:09:18.055 --> 00:09:23.816 law. So I wanted to know has the European Commission told Austria it cannot ban 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:28.226 social media for children until the EU-wide law enters into force? 00:09:28.337 --> 00:09:32.448 And I just want to know if that's the case does this then mean that you're going to 00:09:32.485 --> 00:09:37.123 stop other countries in their tracks because they notified the Commission of their 00:09:37.268 --> 00:09:42.209 laws after or there's a timing issue I'm not quite sure of but those that did it 00:09:42.257 --> 00:09:44.417 earlier are okay say Greece. Thank you. 00:09:47.297 --> 00:09:50.481 Thanks, Razia. So let's start with the Kids Act. 00:09:50.537 --> 00:09:55.920 So we have a very clear proposal that we have put on the table whereby we're 00:09:55.997 --> 00:10:02.413 introducing a gradual approach and safety by design obligations for all online 00:10:02.523 --> 00:10:07.887 services. Now our proposal harmonizes the rules to make sure that all children 00:10:07.931 --> 00:10:11.693 across the EU receive equal levels of protection. 00:10:11.777 --> 00:10:17.541 Because a European problem requires a united European response. 00:10:17.657 --> 00:10:21.967 This is why I can confirm today that the Commission has decided to postpone for 12 00:10:22.037 --> 00:10:29.139 months any draft national laws overlapping with the future harmonized rules why is 00:10:29.201 --> 00:10:34.194 this important this is absolutely crucial to avoid a fragmentation of our internal 00:10:34.249 --> 00:10:38.997 market to preserve the work of our co-legislators we need to now focus on the 00:10:39.058 --> 00:10:45.214 negotiations of the EU Kids Act and to ensure an effective enforcement of our rules. 00:10:45.257 --> 00:10:47.297 So this is our position on this matter. 00:10:49.037 --> 00:10:50.237 Razia, a follow-up. 00:10:51.977 --> 00:10:56.897 Can you clarify for us which other countries' laws the European Commission is due to 00:10:56.957 --> 00:11:02.448 give opinions on and if I'm right in understanding that if you're still due to give 00:11:02.511 --> 00:11:06.888 opinions that those laws also have this postponement that you speak of and I 00:11:06.937 --> 00:11:11.703 specifically want to touch upon France because France had been told that it needed 00:11:11.751 --> 00:11:16.832 to amend its law so are you going to tell France that it also can't ban social media 00:11:16.878 --> 00:11:21.750 for children despite the fact that France has been leading on this subject and I 00:11:21.873 --> 00:11:27.762 just want to ask do you not worry that you're essentially saying Austrian children 00:11:27.836 --> 00:11:32.302 maybe Portuguese children if I'm naming the right countries that it's fine it 00:11:32.359 --> 00:11:37.881 doesn't matter for 12 months they don't they can go on social media as they wish you 00:11:37.943 --> 00:11:42.449 not suggesting that it doesn't matter kind of contradicting your own positions from 00:11:42.497 --> 00:11:43.697 before thank you. 00:11:45.197 --> 00:11:51.997 All children in the EU deserve the same level of safety online we absolutely do not 00:11:52.067 --> 00:11:57.255 question that quite on the contrary that's what is our aim and our aim is precisely 00:11:57.317 --> 00:12:04.940 to have a harmonized approach which applies across the EU without any distinction 00:12:05.027 --> 00:12:06.737 anything to add Tomas? 00:12:06.917 --> 00:12:11.153 Yes. On the latter this is precisely why we have always said from this podium and 00:12:11.209 --> 00:12:16.268 during press conferences at political level that our Kids Act proposal will in any 00:12:16.327 --> 00:12:20.369 case go hand in hand with strong DSA enforcement where we're making sure that 00:12:20.417 --> 00:12:23.748 platforms and they're the ones who are harming our kids play the role and we will 00:12:23.791 --> 00:12:28.447 hold them accountable to make sure that in the meantime all kids are of course 00:12:28.548 --> 00:12:34.557 protected. That's one point. On the other point I will not go into detail of which 00:12:34.607 --> 00:12:40.025 national law is at which stage indeed you have other national laws that have been 00:12:40.076 --> 00:12:44.865 notified to the European Commission work is ongoing on these but this will not 00:12:44.916 --> 00:12:50.048 change our baseline position which is we will not fragment our internal market. 00:12:50.117 --> 00:12:55.277 If you do that you have different ages different laws in different member states 00:12:55.337 --> 00:13:00.377 this becomes almost impossible to enforce platforms will not be able to comply with 00:13:00.434 --> 00:13:04.757 such a fragmented market and in the end we will all end up with no level of 00:13:04.821 --> 00:13:09.219 protection and this is precisely why we come up with a harmonized proposal to 00:13:09.278 --> 00:13:12.246 protect all kids as Paula has just recalled. 00:13:12.317 --> 00:13:17.320 Now on the French law because you refer to that one and you refer to the Greek ones 00:13:17.377 --> 00:13:21.016 there are some slight nuances again I will not go into details but there are some 00:13:21.054 --> 00:13:27.590 slight nuances and these are legal judicial nuances these laws have been notified to 00:13:27.657 --> 00:13:33.529 us and the standstill period elapsed before our Kids Act proposal was made and here 00:13:33.587 --> 00:13:38.445 there is a slight difference with the Austrian law and the subsequent notifications 00:13:38.501 --> 00:13:39.701 from other member states. 00:13:42.317 --> 00:13:43.997 Razia, final follow-up. 00:13:45.017 --> 00:13:51.550 I just want to clarify though assuming. Everything goes fast there's a six-month 00:13:51.617 --> 00:13:57.164 enforcement whatever the ban at the European level won't be until 2028 tell me if 00:13:57.220 --> 00:14:01.988 I'm wrong on my timeline and I I just want to really insist upon the fact that you 00:14:02.040 --> 00:14:06.166 can't just say you won't give the details it's kind of unfair you're expecting me to 00:14:06.208 --> 00:14:10.885 write an article saying the EU says they have to postpone to Austria and then I have 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:15.415 to say to my readers who include European countries oh by the way there are some 00:14:15.459 --> 00:14:20.240 other countries but like I don't the European Commission refuses to tell me thank 00:14:20.297 --> 00:14:21.497 you. 00:14:22.997 --> 00:14:31.886 So on the last part of your questions you have Slovenia Italy Belgium France you 00:14:31.997 --> 00:14:35.877 have other member states that have of course notified to us this is publicly 00:14:35.917 --> 00:14:41.987 available I'm very happy to send you the link after midday when it comes to the 00:14:42.077 --> 00:14:47.726 first question I mean again we cannot afford a fragmentation of our internal market 00:14:47.768 --> 00:14:53.284 this will not work now in terms of the timeline we of course urge our co-legislators 00:14:53.357 --> 00:14:58.080 and we look forward to working with all these member states who have done of course 00:14:58.157 --> 00:15:02.029 solid work and who have taken initiatives to protect their kids in the online world 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:07.033 we look forward precisely to working with them to find a harmonized solutions with 00:15:07.097 --> 00:15:12.690 our co-legislators this is precisely why this postponement is crucial to preserve 00:15:12.745 --> 00:15:16.901 the work that is now crucial we need to speed up the work with the co-legislators 00:15:16.949 --> 00:15:21.793 because the top priority is to pass the Kids Act on which our member states can now 00:15:21.857 --> 00:15:23.057 agree. 00:15:24.017 --> 00:15:28.946 Thank you. Tomas other questions to Tomas. 00:15:29.057 --> 00:15:37.194 No I see some online. For instance Verena. 00:15:37.337 --> 00:15:38.537 Verena Mayer. 00:15:41.957 --> 00:15:44.597 Hi. Can you hear me? Yeah I can hear myself. 00:15:44.657 --> 00:15:51.217 Thank you. I had to follow up actually for Tomas on the social media law of Austria 00:15:51.297 --> 00:15:56.580 did the Commission now not form a legal assessment of the Austrian law at all or 00:15:56.653 --> 00:16:02.956 just tell Austria to postpone it and a clarification Austria notified in July if I'm 00:16:03.011 --> 00:16:07.817 not wrong so that was too late because the Kids Act was proposed in September. 00:16:13.577 --> 00:16:19.418 Yes. Absolutely I can confirm that the notification was in July this is why in the 00:16:19.477 --> 00:16:25.157 legal detail is really that what matters is when the standstill period elapses and 00:16:25.217 --> 00:16:29.839 when the standstill period is over and we give an opinion to our member state and 00:16:29.926 --> 00:16:35.221 this happens after our Kids Act proposal which is the case here for the Austrian 00:16:35.318 --> 00:16:39.457 draft law we come to the conclusion that indeed let's not fragment the market let's 00:16:39.497 --> 00:16:43.323 postpone this for 12 months and give our co-legislators the time to find an 00:16:43.380 --> 00:16:48.785 agreement. Now on our discussions with the Austrian government I can confirm that 00:16:48.842 --> 00:16:52.697 definitely executive vice president Hannah Wirkkunen had yesterday already a 00:16:52.742 --> 00:16:57.882 discussion with the Austrian government to inform about today's decision and the 00:16:57.930 --> 00:17:01.544 notification the formal assessment of the draft law has also been sent to the 00:17:01.589 --> 00:17:05.716 Austrian authorities so again it's a very good cooperation let's bring this 00:17:05.767 --> 00:17:10.306 cooperation now to the council to the parliament to find an agreement on the Kids 00:17:10.348 --> 00:17:11.477 Act. 00:17:11.477 --> 00:17:16.877 Thank you. I don't see more questions in the room for Tomas. 00:17:17.057 --> 00:17:24.497 Lucas that for Tomas let me first take this request here on the front. 00:17:25.457 --> 00:17:32.213 Yes, hello Pascal Anzens for Investigate Europe and also as a member of the API. 00:17:32.309 --> 00:17:38.333 Yesterday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen received a letter from 00:17:38.405 --> 00:17:44.619 around fifteen press freedom organisations and investigative media calling for a 00:17:44.683 --> 00:17:51.111 review of these practices regarding access to documents, in particular the rules 00:17:51.206 --> 00:17:57.911 adopted in December 2024, which raise questions, particularly about the general 00:17:58.006 --> 00:18:02.088 principle of non-disclosure. And my question is quite simple: 00:18:02.137 --> 00:18:07.105 does the Commission have an initial reaction to this letter, and does it intend to 00:18:07.172 --> 00:18:11.306 follow up on some of the recommendations made in this letter? 00:18:11.391 --> 00:18:12.591 Thank you. 00:18:13.637 --> 00:18:16.864 Yes, thank you Pascal. Yes, that is another matter. 00:18:16.925 --> 00:18:18.125 Go ahead, Tomas. 00:18:18.557 --> 00:18:23.762 Hello Pascal. So first of all, I will start with one of the most important points. 00:18:23.820 --> 00:18:28.301 The Commission is the most transparent organisation in the world. 00:18:28.374 --> 00:18:32.189 And we, of course, take this responsibility extremely seriously; 00:18:32.243 --> 00:18:38.057 in terms of figures, we receive more 7,000 requests per year, which is roughly 30 00:18:38.110 --> 00:18:45.137 requests per day. All of these requests are are systematically processed. 00:18:45.182 --> 00:18:49.411 We do this with a system that is extremely rigorous in order to be able to process 00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:53.662 this enormous influx of requests, which is by the way the largest of all the 00:18:53.726 --> 00:18:58.737 European institutions. and we do this, of course, always in compliance with the 00:18:58.798 --> 00:19:03.245 guidelines, the legal framework and, of course, the recommendations that are 00:19:03.282 --> 00:19:06.023 sometimes made by the Court of Justice of the European Union. 00:19:06.097 --> 00:19:11.313 The processing time for requests, of course, depends on various factors, including 00:19:11.420 --> 00:19:15.998 the scope of the request and, of course, the type of documents involved. 00:19:16.045 --> 00:19:20.607 requested, or indeed any potential internal consultations that need to be carried 00:19:20.651 --> 00:19:24.919 out in order to retrieve these documents. But once again, we are the most 00:19:24.966 --> 00:19:28.974 transparent organisation in the world; we take this extremely seriously and we will, 00:19:29.036 --> 00:19:30.737 of course, continue to do so. 00:19:32.177 --> 00:19:35.632 Thank you, Tomas. Any further questions for Tomas? 00:19:35.685 --> 00:19:37.577 Pascal has a follow-up question. 00:19:39.557 --> 00:19:44.667 Yes. A follow-up question. On the follow-up envisaged by the European Commission 00:19:44.703 --> 00:19:45.903 regarding this letter. 00:19:47.417 --> 00:19:50.246 So we can therefore confirm that we have indeed received this letter. 00:19:50.312 --> 00:19:56.299 We will now analyse it in detail and then I cannot prejudge what follow-up we will 00:19:56.374 --> 00:19:57.574 give to this letter. 00:19:57.977 --> 00:20:04.707 There we go. And I still have a few hands raised online. 00:20:04.766 --> 00:20:05.966 So, Tomas. 00:20:10.517 --> 00:20:13.982 Yes. Good afternoon. Tomas Gallavotti Edin Kronos Italy. 00:20:14.057 --> 00:20:19.156 It's just a question I think it's for Tomas because it's on the draft budgetary 00:20:19.217 --> 00:20:30.790 program of plan of Italy it contains the they extend the threshold to exceed to the 00:20:30.889 --> 00:20:37.127 flat tax for self-employed to 100,000 euros. 00:20:37.337 --> 00:20:41.691 I wonder if this measure is in line with the recommendations of the Commission or 00:20:41.738 --> 00:20:44.344 not and if you have any comment about this measure. 00:20:44.417 --> 00:20:45.617 Many thanks. 00:20:46.877 --> 00:20:50.649 Thanks Tomas so I will not prejudge the upcoming semester package we are definitely 00:20:50.688 --> 00:20:55.037 assessing it and you can expect definitely some developments later this year. 00:20:55.877 --> 00:21:00.437 Good. Thank you. Alexandra Voudouri online. 00:21:04.037 --> 00:21:06.797 Yes thank you Paula. For the floor do you hear me well. 00:21:07.217 --> 00:21:08.117 Yes. 00:21:08.117 --> 00:21:16.220 It's unsafe. Hi Tomas. Greece has already expressed interest in participating in the 00:21:16.267 --> 00:21:21.898 second round of SAFE funding. First of all can the Commission confirm whether it has 00:21:21.971 --> 00:21:28.077 received any indication of the additional amount Greece intends to request and if 00:21:28.217 --> 00:21:35.605 demand exceeds the available 21. 3 billion what criteria will determine the final 00:21:35.683 --> 00:21:42.255 allocations and last one if I may can member states use the second SAFE call to 00:21:42.340 --> 00:21:47.594 expand projects already included in their approved investment plans or will they be 00:21:47.648 --> 00:21:51.497 required to submit entirely new proposals. 00:21:51.557 --> 00:21:52.757 Thank you so much. 00:21:53.297 --> 00:21:57.080 Thanks Alexandra. On the first question I will not go into bilateral discussions 00:21:57.114 --> 00:22:00.569 we're currently having with our member states I can definitely confirm that we have 00:22:00.617 --> 00:22:03.846 sent Commissioner Kubilius has just sent a letter on behalf of the Commission to all 00:22:03.883 --> 00:22:08.073 member states including Greece Greece can now like all other member states express 00:22:08.115 --> 00:22:10.170 their interest and we will take it from there. 00:22:10.217 --> 00:22:13.628 Now on the amount let's make sure first that the 21. 00:22:13.697 --> 00:22:16.922 3 billion will be taken. This is our first priority. 00:22:16.997 --> 00:22:21.608 We hope definitely that there will be need interest from our member states given the 00:22:21.685 --> 00:22:26.819 need to increase Europe's security also of course in close coordination with Ukraine 00:22:26.868 --> 00:22:30.857 as also announced by the President during the State of the Union address. 00:22:30.917 --> 00:22:37.402 Now on the new plans or expand existing plans I'm not in full details of the exact 00:22:37.457 --> 00:22:41.009 criteria set out in the regulation. I don't think we have changed them. 00:22:41.057 --> 00:22:45.482 What would happen after the expression of interest will of course in a very fair way 00:22:45.543 --> 00:22:49.413 as always reallocate tentatively the amount to our member states. 00:22:49.457 --> 00:22:53.198 They can then submit additional SAFE plans to the Commission and we would then take 00:22:53.242 --> 00:22:54.977 it from there and have to reassess them. 00:22:55.997 --> 00:23:02.057 Okay. Still for Tomas in the room. Luca. 00:23:05.297 --> 00:23:13.108 Thank you. So reading your news item I understand the Commission is encouraging 00:23:13.212 --> 00:23:19.534 member states to use these second round of SAFE to do joint ventures with Ukraine 00:23:19.620 --> 00:23:24.780 and to take Ukraine's needs into accounts. 00:23:24.917 --> 00:23:32.777 The. Language is very soft these are loans member states are taking how can the 00:23:32.897 --> 00:23:41.563 Commission encourage them to use them together with the Ukrainians and not just to 00:23:41.717 --> 00:23:44.777 give contracts for the national industry. 00:23:46.757 --> 00:23:51.181 Thank you. You have a very good first point we haven't changed the regulation in the 00:23:51.218 --> 00:23:55.259 meantime it's just a new call meaning that the criteria remain the same. 00:23:55.337 --> 00:23:59.477 You're right member states will have to be taking the loans and this is and this has 00:23:59.537 --> 00:24:02.297 been the entire idea behind SAFE since the very beginning. 00:24:02.357 --> 00:24:06.309 This is about joint procurement and given the current context and I don't have to 00:24:06.353 --> 00:24:12.567 elaborate on this we have obviously associated Ukraine from day one to SAFE the war 00:24:12.628 --> 00:24:18.477 is intensifying we are definitely encouraging our member states to do whatever they 00:24:18.562 --> 00:24:22.841 can to do joint projects as also announced again by the President during the State 00:24:22.884 --> 00:24:27.304 of the Union address to see how these leftovers can potentially benefit definitely 00:24:27.383 --> 00:24:31.648 national defense industries but also Ukraine in the current context. 00:24:31.697 --> 00:24:36.634 So I think we can align both interests but again these loans are taken by the member 00:24:36.677 --> 00:24:37.877 states. 00:24:39.497 --> 00:24:42.977 Good. And I see still online Maximilian. 00:24:47.717 --> 00:24:51.542 Hello thank you. Can you hear me well. Hi. 00:24:51.977 --> 00:24:56.227 Perfect. Thank you. I have a question on AI. 00:24:56.297 --> 00:25:02.466 There was a video call yesterday organized by Finland and Norway on the safety of 00:25:02.544 --> 00:25:07.432 frontier AI models. I wanted to ask if the Commission took part in this call and if 00:25:07.493 --> 00:25:11.673 yes who took part what was the Commission's perspective and what was the outcome of 00:25:11.721 --> 00:25:12.921 the call. Thank you. 00:25:14.717 --> 00:25:19.593 Thank you Maximilian. We definitely welcome the steps taken at this level. 00:25:19.637 --> 00:25:23.045 We have always been clear we cannot tackle AI risks in isolation. 00:25:23.117 --> 00:25:27.628 We have to do it with our like-minded partners and definitely with our EU member 00:25:27.677 --> 00:25:33.455 states. So work is ongoing. On the call itself I will have to double check but many 00:25:33.547 --> 00:25:38.775 college members including the President are traveling so there may be a logistics 00:25:38.837 --> 00:25:40.457 issue to be able to join such a call. 00:25:40.877 --> 00:25:47.516 Thank you. But we'll check. Good. I see no further questions. 00:25:47.597 --> 00:25:50.957 In the room we change topic. Yes please. 00:25:55.457 --> 00:25:58.240 Hello Nicholas Pichler Austrian Press Agency. 00:25:58.337 --> 00:26:05.195 I have a question regarding the Hungarian special taxes for retailers there are 00:26:05.297 --> 00:26:12.273 reports about a letter from the chief of the Austrian retailer Spar to the 00:26:12.345 --> 00:26:18.283 Commission. So what's the position of the Commission to this letter in this letter 00:26:18.377 --> 00:26:24.341 the chief of Spar calls for. I don't know how. 00:26:24.497 --> 00:26:31.327 Do I say yeah he calls for a case to the European Court of Justice because of the 00:26:31.375 --> 00:26:35.597 special taxes so yeah what's the position of the Commission on that. 00:26:37.637 --> 00:26:48.222 Good. I have I'm looking at the Teams to see first of all if we are aware of such a 00:26:48.406 --> 00:27:00.017 letter. Luisa is approaching so I. Let's see what we can tell you about it. 00:27:03.677 --> 00:27:08.620 Hi thank you and good afternoon. So we are not aware of this letter. 00:27:08.657 --> 00:27:12.905 We would have to check and we can come back to you. 00:27:13.457 --> 00:27:18.341 However we're aware of this this case there's been several infringement cases 00:27:18.430 --> 00:27:23.900 regarding this tax framework which discourage investments by resident investors in 00:27:23.965 --> 00:27:30.245 government securities of other EA states. The Hungarian infringement case is only 00:27:30.295 --> 00:27:35.412 one case that is part of an ongoing broader horizontal assessment of member states 00:27:35.477 --> 00:27:41.383 legal frameworks and based on the outcome of the overall assessment we'll the 00:27:41.431 --> 00:27:45.836 Commission will determine appropriate follow-up actions but so on the specific 00:27:45.879 --> 00:27:47.177 letter we'll come back to you. 00:27:47.897 --> 00:27:53.117 Yeah. Nicholas you have a follow-up. 00:27:53.357 --> 00:27:59.995 But excuse me you said you are not aware of this letter because Austrian newspaper 00:28:00.077 --> 00:28:04.194 Daily Newspaper depressed today reports about it. 00:28:04.277 --> 00:28:10.427 This letter went to Stefan Sejun on 21th of October. 00:28:10.517 --> 00:28:15.497 21st of October. So yeah I'm interested. 00:28:15.977 --> 00:28:22.052 Yes Nicholas. So we will check precisely whether this letter did arrive and thank 00:28:22.107 --> 00:28:28.189 you also for specifying the addressee so EVP Sejourné was the addressee of this 00:28:28.250 --> 00:28:33.881 letter we will check with him and the team to indeed see if the letter has been 00:28:33.932 --> 00:28:37.897 received and we will follow up with you. Okay. 00:28:38.057 --> 00:28:52.210 Good. Other questions to Luisa? No. Other topics that you'd like to raise today and 00:28:52.367 --> 00:28:55.037 yes please. Here in the room. 00:28:57.077 --> 00:29:00.315 Thank. You Paula. Olena Abramovich Radio Free Europe. 00:29:00.377 --> 00:29:08.767 I have a question on peace negotiations between Russia Ukraine US and participation 00:29:08.860 --> 00:29:14.391 of EU. I know that it was commented a bit yesterday but since then there were some 00:29:14.460 --> 00:29:22.180 new statements from Russia for example that EU is not part of trilateral talks and 00:29:22.286 --> 00:29:28.007 also Ukrainian President said that if US will insist it should be only three 00:29:28.085 --> 00:29:34.928 participators it's fine for Ukraine because Ukraine wants it to happen could you 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:40.333 share with us the latest information about possible participation of the EU did EU 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:49.301 reach to I don't know US Ukraine and since EU participated in previous two technical 00:29:49.395 --> 00:29:52.517 rounds what could go wrong since then. Thank you. 00:29:54.557 --> 00:29:59.541 For. Of all I don't think anything went wrong but as we've said a number of times 00:29:59.597 --> 00:30:05.034 also from this podium these negotiations are happening in different formats at 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:12.014 different places at different levels involving sometimes heads of state and 00:30:12.070 --> 00:30:18.261 governments sometimes ministers sometimes senior officials and we have been involved 00:30:18.349 --> 00:30:29.670 and we continue to pursue an. End to this terrible war and to achieve peace that is 00:30:29.735 --> 00:30:35.117 lasting that is sustainable. Now on the next possible meetings we have no further 00:30:35.177 --> 00:30:40.617 information to share at this point it could change any moment. 00:30:40.757 --> 00:30:48.317 Good. I have a question I think still on foreign affairs from Momchil. 00:30:52.817 --> 00:31:01.167 Yes. Hello. Yes. Yesterday there was another drone attack in the Black Sea very near 00:31:01.242 --> 00:31:07.067 very nearly to the Bulgarian coast. So my question is first is the what is the 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:12.531 comment of the Commission about this attack and second has Bulgaria requested any 00:31:12.617 --> 00:31:16.697 help from the Commission in connection with this accident. 00:31:18.257 --> 00:31:24.326 Yes. Thank you. Momchil indeed. Another strike yesterday. 00:31:24.497 --> 00:31:25.697 Christian. 00:31:25.937 --> 00:31:31.529 Thank you Momchil for your question. Well first of all let me say that we stand in 00:31:31.577 --> 00:31:40.532 full solidarity with Bulgaria. In the context of this latest attack. 00:31:40.877 --> 00:31:45.725 Drone attacks on commercial ships are unfortunately part of a wider pattern of 00:31:45.779 --> 00:31:48.257 increased attacks that we have seen recently. 00:31:48.317 --> 00:31:53.127 They represent a dangerous and unacceptable escalation. 00:31:53.297 --> 00:31:58.598 These are threats to regional maritime security to EU interests and those of the 00:31:58.659 --> 00:32:04.172 broader international community which of course relies as you know on Black Sea 00:32:04.245 --> 00:32:09.224 supply chains. And they are the result of Russia's war of aggression against 00:32:09.305 --> 00:32:14.480 Ukraine. So civilian lives global trade food security and critical infrastructure 00:32:14.537 --> 00:32:19.982 are at stake and this is why the EU calls for a safe and open Black Sea for Ukraine 00:32:20.068 --> 00:32:25.343 for the EU member states and for the world. 00:32:25.517 --> 00:32:32.005 On a specific context to to request support I'm I'm at the moment not aware if I if 00:32:32.057 --> 00:32:38.400 I find out more I'm happy to tell you but of course as I said we stand by Bulgaria 00:32:38.477 --> 00:32:44.905 and also stand ready to work with the member states Bulgaria Romania in this in this 00:32:44.957 --> 00:32:50.311 context of course also in the context of the maritime security hub that we have 00:32:50.355 --> 00:32:51.555 discussed here before. 00:32:52.277 --> 00:33:02.957 Thank you. Other questions to Christian. I don't see any. 00:33:03.137 --> 00:33:07.071 On the other hand we may have one for Anwar. 00:33:07.337 --> 00:33:12.677 Nicholas. Nicholas Nielsen. 00:33:14.237 --> 00:33:15.317 Yes. Can you hear me? 00:33:15.317 --> 00:33:16.517 Yeah. 00:33:17.477 --> 00:33:21.619 Yeah. There's a strange echo. Okay. Oh Nicholas Nielsen EU observer. 00:33:21.677 --> 00:33:24.209 Yeah. I had a so yes indeed I have a question on Egypt. 00:33:24.257 --> 00:33:30.239 I I saw your statement on Egypt's crackdown against independent media organization 00:33:30.331 --> 00:33:35.426 Madame Asf. But there's still two things that are a bit unclear to me. 00:33:35.597 --> 00:33:41.777 So for one first thing is will you ask Egypt to drop its case charges and conviction 00:33:41.844 --> 00:33:46.577 against journalist Lina Atala? So that's the first question. 00:33:46.637 --> 00:33:53.652 And then the second question I mean your multi-billion euro macro financial 00:33:53.744 --> 00:33:59.594 assistance to Egypt is also preconditioned on Egypt taking and I quote concrete 00:33:59.645 --> 00:34:05.618 incredible steps towards human rights. Democracy and the rule of law. 00:34:05.717 --> 00:34:11.335 So the question is would you qualify Egypt's crackdown against this particular media 00:34:11.417 --> 00:34:18.790 independent media outlet and the journalist as a concrete and credible step? 00:34:18.917 --> 00:34:20.057 Thank you. 00:34:20.057 --> 00:34:26.317 Thank you Nicholas. So indeed for Anwar also following a. 00:34:26.537 --> 00:34:33.677 A spoke statement by Anwar on the topic of Egypt and media. 00:34:34.637 --> 00:34:36.927 Yes indeed. Thank you. Thank you for your question. 00:34:36.977 --> 00:34:40.939 Look I will not go further than what we have already put out there in terms of our 00:34:40.992 --> 00:34:44.604 position on the matter that I will recall from here and that my colleague Guillaume 00:34:44.650 --> 00:34:48.737 can maybe come to the stage in terms of your second angle on this strategic 00:34:48.797 --> 00:34:53.354 comprehensive partnership itself. But let me recall here that freedom of expression 00:34:53.408 --> 00:34:58.311 is a fundamental right for both the European Union and for Egypt. 00:34:58.457 --> 00:35:02.339 Our association agreement together with our strategic and comprehensive partnership 00:35:02.386 --> 00:35:09.247 as you pointed to entail a shared commitment to the universal values of democracy 00:35:09.317 --> 00:35:14.382 the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. 00:35:14.477 --> 00:35:21.687 And in light of such as we have been vocal on the preservation and the protection of 00:35:21.783 --> 00:35:26.215 independent media outlets including the one that you have mentioned and that we have 00:35:26.248 --> 00:35:31.097 been also vocal on in our statement Madame Asf are essential. 00:35:33.737 --> 00:35:41.624 Thank you Anwar. Other questions to Anwar on foreign affairs. 00:35:42.017 --> 00:35:51.077 No. Then we can change subject. Other questions today for us in the room. 00:35:51.257 --> 00:36:04.329 No. I see an. Uber. Yes. Hello thank you for the floor. 00:36:04.397 --> 00:36:07.168 Je vais poser ma question en français si c'est possible. 00:36:07.217 --> 00:36:10.837 C'est une question pour Ricardo je pense une partie de la classe politique française 00:36:10.885 --> 00:36:16.724 s'est insurgée en début de semaine contre les exigences supposées de la Commission 00:36:16.769 --> 00:36:20.126 dans les négociations sur l'aide d'État française au nouveau nucléaire. 00:36:20.177 --> 00:36:23.643 Est-ce que vous confirmez que la Commission pousse pour plus d'interconnexion en 00:36:23.697 --> 00:36:27.444 France en échange du feu vert pour l'aide d'État au nouveau nucléaire? 00:36:27.497 --> 00:36:31.268 Et que répond la Commission à ces représentants politiques qui en France vous 00:36:31.320 --> 00:36:35.736 accusent de je cite dicter à la France sa politique énergétique d'interférer en fait 00:36:35.787 --> 00:36:40.683 dans la politique énergétique française à travers des supposées exigences de la 00:36:40.757 --> 00:36:41.957 DGCOMP? Merci. 00:36:43.877 --> 00:36:47.988 Bonjour. Alain et merci pour ta question. Je pense que je vais commencer par dire 00:36:48.029 --> 00:36:52.331 que je ne vais je ne vais pas briser un des principes sacrés de cette salle de 00:36:52.381 --> 00:36:54.814 presse et faire des commentaires sur des commentaires. 00:36:54.857 --> 00:36:58.372 Maintenant ce que je peux vous dire c'est que la Commission continue à être en 00:36:58.438 --> 00:37:03.372 contact étroit avec les autorités françaises sur ce projet d'aide d'État. 00:37:03.437 --> 00:37:08.578 Nous avons bien conscience de l'importance du projet y compris de de l'objectif de 00:37:08.631 --> 00:37:13.781 prendre une décision finale sur ceci sur une finale d'investissement sur ceci avant 00:37:13.823 --> 00:37:19.913 la fin de 2026. Maintenant la Commission mène son évaluation le plus rapidement 00:37:19.982 --> 00:37:22.763 possible de forme à pouvoir prendre une décision. 00:37:22.817 --> 00:37:26.452 Maintenant ce qui est important de savoir aussi c'est qu'une une enquête approfondie 00:37:26.505 --> 00:37:31.840 est une étape courante quand il s'agit de plan de plan d'aide d'État complexe comme 00:37:31.892 --> 00:37:35.889 c'est le cas ici. C'est une enquête qui implique également les parties prenantes et 00:37:35.939 --> 00:37:40.920 exige une coopération étroite entre la Commission et les autorités françaises sur 00:37:41.009 --> 00:37:46.793 plusieurs sujets. Sur les points de détail de ce qui est dans la discussion ça par 00:37:46.830 --> 00:37:50.280 contre c'est un point sur lequel nous ne pouvons pas mener avoir des des 00:37:50.329 --> 00:37:51.797 commentaires en plus sur ceci. 00:37:53.537 --> 00:37:59.538 Il faut juste rappeler que la législation communautaire qui est d'application par 00:37:59.589 --> 00:38:03.837 les États membres la Commission en tant que gardienne du traité c'est son rôle 00:38:03.896 --> 00:38:09.283 d'assurer son application. Et toute législation communautaire est le résultat d'un 00:38:09.362 --> 00:38:15.455 accord entre les États membres. Il faut toujours le rappeler. 00:38:15.617 --> 00:38:23.600 D'autres questions pour Ricardo. Ce n'est pas le cas. 00:38:23.717 --> 00:38:28.277 D'autres questions? Max Ramsey. 00:38:34.697 --> 00:38:38.382 Hi. Thank you. Max Ramsey from Bloomberg. Sorry I'm not sure who it's for. 00:38:38.417 --> 00:38:42.931 It's about the ECB following President Lagarde saying she would step down in 00:38:42.977 --> 00:38:47.841 February. I saw that President Von der Leyen made a comment on social media. 00:38:47.897 --> 00:38:53.669 Thanking her. But I just wondered if the Commission has any more to add about the 00:38:53.740 --> 00:38:56.009 process. Is this just with the Council now? 00:38:56.057 --> 00:39:00.887 Will the does the Commission have any I guess hopes for how the process should go? 00:39:00.977 --> 00:39:06.458 But obviously it's coming at a time when there's been a certain amount of concerns 00:39:06.545 --> 00:39:11.904 over fiscal sustainability. A certain amount of volatility in European bond markets. 00:39:12.077 --> 00:39:16.280 Are there any concerns around there. It's a drawn out or contentious process. 00:39:16.337 --> 00:39:17.537 Thank you. 00:39:17.897 --> 00:39:25.397 Thank you Max. As you rightly indicated President Von der Leyen posted earlier this 00:39:25.502 --> 00:39:30.430 morning on the stepping down of Mrs. Lagarde. 00:39:30.617 --> 00:39:39.986 She wanted to thank her for everything she has done for Europe for the euro and I 00:39:40.115 --> 00:39:45.689 quote the President also posted saying that Mrs. 00:39:45.737 --> 00:39:53.365 Lagarde has championed deeper financial integration at home and she embodies trust 00:39:53.477 --> 00:39:59.043 and authority. And she further praised Mrs. 00:39:59.117 --> 00:40:06.646 Lagarde by saying that the world leads needs more leaders alike her and that the 00:40:06.695 --> 00:40:10.966 President hopes that many more women will follow in her footsteps. 00:40:11.057 --> 00:40:16.207 Now the race for her successor is open for the moment. 00:40:16.277 --> 00:40:23.660 We do not have further comments to make on it but we look forward to having somebody 00:40:23.717 --> 00:40:30.767 who is as strong and has delivered so much as Mrs. 00:40:30.857 --> 00:40:38.028 Lagarde has done in her mandate. Other questions for us today? 00:40:38.104 --> 00:40:41.940 Not the case. So we wish you a very good afternoon. 00:40:42.015 --> 00:40:45.400 Thank you all. Thank you to our interpreters. 00:40:45.476 --> 00:40:47.657 And we will see you tomorrow.