Written explanations of vote Daniel ATTARD

I have voted for the rejection of the prolongation of the temporary derogation of the e-privacy directive as it could undermine the progress made in trilogue on a permanent framework in the CSAM Regulation. Bringing back the temporary derogation in second reading, despite the Parliament voting against it in March, is risking delaying the negotiation on a permanent legal basis to fight sexual abuse material online. The temporary measures resemble closely the position of the Council, to allow voluntary scanning by providers, while the Parliament has demanded more safeguard and targeted detection authorized by a judicial authority. The support for prolongation could be used to push Parliament to accept this form of scanning in the permanent framework. If we fail to agree on the permanent Regulation, we will lose all the preventive measures including an EU Centre that will detect CSAM and keep a database of known material to remove or block abuse images online. We cannot rely only on providers to scan our communication; it has also proven to not be effective in the fight against child sexual abuse. The permanent framework could make an actual difference, and at the same time respect the fundamental rights of EU citizens.

Today we have voted in favour of the Commission's 'stop-the-clock' proposal as regards the dates from which Member States are to apply certain requirements related to corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence. This will ensure stability and predictability for citizens and businesses.
Furthermore, it is encouraging that the pro-European majority in Parliament will be working jointly on the Omnibus package. The commitment to deliver results for the common good of our citizens, businesses and planet is crucial.
We will now be working as the Maltese Labour Delegation towards a balanced EP approach aimed at simplification that protects our citizens and our SMEs, and one that takes into consideration the specificities of the countries, while simultaneously maintaining the high-level EU standards that we are all accustomed to.