Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 12 September 2018 - Strasbourg

17. Single Digital Gateway (debate)

  Przewodniczący. – Kolejnym punktem porządku dziennego jest sprawozdanie sporządzone przez Marlenę Mizzi w imieniu Komisji Rynku Wewnętrznego i Ochrony Konsumentów w sprawie wniosku dotyczącego rozporządzenia Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady w sprawie utworzenia jednolitego portalu cyfrowego zapewniającego dostęp do informacji, procedur, usług wsparcia i rozwiązywania problemów oraz w sprawie zmiany rozporządzenia (UE) nr 1024/2012 (COM(2017)0256 – C8-0141/2017 – 2017/0086(COD)) (A8-0054/2018).

  Marlene Mizzi, Rapporteur. – Mr President, free movement in the single market is one of the biggest achievements of the EU. It provides opportunities for millions of EU citizens and businesses: to travel, study, work, shop and live in other Member States. Unfortunately, many still encounter difficulties when moving, working or studying in another Member State because facing 28 different national systems can be very frustrating and daunting both for citizens and for businesses looking to expand to new markets. Therefore, as the rapporteur on this legislation, I needed to understand where the challenges lie in order to address the issues in the interests of our citizens.

The paradox we discovered during our work was that the problem was not always a lack of legislation, information or existing procedures. On the contrary, in many cases it was the existence of legislation which complicated matters. It was therefore important to address issues such as lengthy or unclear administrative procedures, complex and confusing information – which is all over the place – and difficulties in getting access to various public services. To make matters worse, when information is available only in a single language, it is not necessarily understood by the majority of the users. So voting in favour of the new rules tomorrow will help Parliament to reach an important milestone in significantly improving the lives of citizens and businesses, and will showcase the tangible benefits that the European Union can bring to its citizens.

The new rules will establish a user-friendly, interactive European Single Digital Gateway which, based on people’s needs, will guide them to the most appropriate services and will provide access to all the necessary information and administrative procedures needed to move freely in the European Union. In simple words, we will create a European search engine which will connect all public services in Member States and will assist with information and procedures that currently are often scattered, incomplete and certainly not transparent.

The gateway will provide information on matters such as travelling, working and retiring, residing and having access to education and healthcare, family residence, and citizens and consumer rights in the EU. Furthermore, it is not only information that is important, but also the quality of information, and that is why we are introducing quality standards in Member States to ensure high-quality, accurate and up-to-date information, which will also be accessible to end-users with disabilities.

The gateway will also provide full, online, fair, non-discriminatory access to a list of 21 key administrative procedures such as requesting birth certificates, applying for study grants, requesting social security benefits, enrolling at universities, requesting diplomas, declaring income tax, and so on and so forth.

Another important milestone achieved with this legislation is the ‘once only’ principle, which for the first time ever will be introduced at European level. This means that citizens will no longer have to submit the same documents over and over again, but instead will submit them only once, and they can then be reused, while fully respecting the protection of personal data. And what is very important is that, whatever information people need, they will be able to obtain it in more than a single language.

This effectively means no more wasting precious time and money; no more red tape and complex procedures; no more papers and hours of waiting in long queues in public places. Therefore, I urge all of you to support this regulation – a new important step towards providing a responsive, inclusive, borderless, user-friendly, digital public service to citizens and businesses at national and European level.

Last, but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to the shadow rapporteurs, to the Commission and to the Bulgarian Presidency for their open and collaborative work on this report. We worked under extreme pressure and to a strict timetable but, when there is a will, a way will always be found to improve lives and to deliver tangible benefits to our citizens.

  Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, Honourable Members, thank you very much for this discussion on a single digital gateway. First, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mrs  Mizzi, the shadow rapporteurs and the Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee for the really excellent cooperation, which enabled us to improve our initial proposals and reach a quick agreement on this file last May.

Let me begin by saying why this proposal on the single digital gateway is so important. As we all know, the single market is a cornerstone of the European Union, but we observe that when crossing borders, many European citizens and companies still experience a jungle of confusing rules, complex procedures and endless paperwork. A survey has shown that more than 80% of businesses see administrative complexity as the number one problem for them in the single market, and this is exactly the problem we want to address with this regulation establishing a single digital gateway.

Let me go through the three points that I think are the most important. First, we want to inform people better – because most people and businesses are really keen to respect the law, but imagine yourself settling in another country, even for a very short time, and think about how difficult it is to find out which rules you have to comply with, let alone in another language. Two in every three small enterprises say that finding out about applicable rules is a huge challenge for them for exporting. As for bigger businesses – this is also very interesting data – bigger businesses dedicate up to 20% of human resources to keeping track of rules applicable to them. Even those twelve million people in Europe who reside in another Member State – if they even find information, they are not certain that they can really rely on it.

The regulation will make sure that citizens and small businesses can easily find all the information they need on single market rules and it will be done at both EU and national level via the Your Europe web portal. They will be guided directly to official national websites that provide the precise clarification that they need. The information must be easy to find, easy to understand, up to date and translated into English. Thanks to the gateway quality label, they will know that they can trust this information. But speaking about quality, let me mention one very important thing that you have drawn attention to: the specific needs of persons with disabilities. In this context, I really welcome the introduction of requirements similar to those we have at national level for the Commission websites which will be part of the gateway. Second, the regulation will ensure that in five years, the most important procedures can be handled entirely online in all EU Member States. You are very ambitious on this because this will apply not just to the 13 procedures that we initially proposed but to the more than 20 that were proposed by you. The regulation will also ban any discrimination against cross-border citizens or companies who want to make use of national procedures that are already online. They will no longer be blocked because their phone numbers, postcodes or eID are rejected.

The regulation also makes a start with the implementation of the so-called ‘once only’ principle for cross-border data exchange. You rightly insisted that the regulation should ensure full data protection for the European citizens and, again, I want to reassure you that all the necessary data protection safeguards are in place in this regulation.

The third point: the Commission and the national authorities have already set up numerous assistance services that citizens and companies can contact when facing problems, but still more than 9 out of 10 consumers and businesses – a huge majority – are unaware of their existence. Thanks to this regulation, anyone looking for assistance will be guided towards the service that is most suited to help.

Let me conclude by saying that users are at the centre of our interest. Users should not be asked to adapt to public authorities, but the other way round. This is what this regulation will ensure. With this regulation, the EU will deliver on some of the commitments from our Digital Single Market communication and from the Tallinn declaration. It will be a big step towards making the single market work better. Thank you very much for your valuable help and I am looking forward to this discussion.

  Othmar Karas, im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, Frau Kommissarin, meine Damen und Herren! Wer von uns hat nicht schon die Frage gestellt bekommen: Was macht ihr eigentlich für mich? Und mit dem zentralen digitalen Zugangstor tragen wir maßgeblich dazu bei, das Leben eines jeden EU-Bürgers und jeder EU-Bürgerin einfacher zu machen. Darüber freue ich mich. Ob ich nun Informationen zur Arbeitsmöglichkeit in einem EU-Staat suche, ob ich mich zur Anerkennung meiner Berufsqualifikation aus einem anderen Mitgliedstaat aufmache, zur Unternehmensgründung Informationen suche oder zur Einstellung von Mitarbeitern – mit dem zentralen digitalen Zugangstor stellen alle EU-Staaten allen Bürgerinnen und Bürgern in der EU diese Information nun zur Verfügung.

Aber nicht nur das. Wir gehen weiter und digitalisieren eine Reihe von Behördenverfahren, die durch das zentrale digitale Zugangstor nun allen EU-Bürgerinnen und -Bürgern zur Verfügung stehen. Vom Ansuchen der Geburtsurkunde, des Meldezettels, der Bewerbung für Studienbeihilfen hin zur Anmeldung einer Geschäftstätigkeit, Registrierung eines Mitarbeiters bei der Kranken- und Pensionsversicherung oder bei der Einkommens- und Körperschaftssteuererklärung – sämtliche Behördengänge hierfür und noch viel mehr werden der Vergangenheit angehören und für alle Bürgerinnen und Bürger digital erledigbar sein.

Ich bedanke mich daher für die ausgezeichnete Zusammenarbeit vor allem bei der Berichterstatterin und den Schattenberichterstattern sowie der bulgarischen Ratspräsidentschaft. Es war eine große Freude, an diesem Projekt mitarbeiten zu können, und ich hoffe, dass viele Bürgerinnen und Bürger in ihrem täglichen Alltag von diesem Projekt profitieren und spüren, dass es nur die gemeinsame Europäische Union möglich machen konnte, grenzüberschreitend diese Erleichterungen zu schaffen.

  Nicola Danti, a nome del gruppo S&D. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, la creazione di un mercato unico digitale europeo è stata una fra le priorità politiche di questa legislatura. In questo ambito, una delle principali sfide è quella di rendere i benefici delle nuove tecnologie direttamente percepibili dai cittadini semplificando la loro vita quotidiana.

Lo sportello unico digitale costituisce un primo esempio concreto. Esso, infatti, è una significativa tappa in avanti verso la digitalizzazione delle pubbliche amministrazioni e verso la semplificazione delle procedure per cittadini e imprese. Il cambiamento fondamentale introdotto nel nuovo regolamento riguarda infatti l'obbligo per le pubbliche amministrazioni europee di digitalizzare una serie di procedure amministrative, così da renderne possibile il completamento online. Richiedere un certificato di nascita o il riconoscimento di un diploma ottenuto all'estero, o comunicare il possesso di un veicolo, notificare l'apertura o la chiusura di un esercizio commerciale o l'attività che svolgono in un altro paese sarà per i cittadini e le imprese più facile.

Oltre a favorire la digitalizzazione di numerosi servizi, questo regolamento istituisce nell'Unione il principio dell'una volta sola, "once only". Le autorità europee potranno scambiarsi così dati e documenti già forniti dall'utente, così da minimizzare gli oneri amministrativi. Il gruppo S&D si è battuto per garantire che l'applicazione di tale principio sia pienamente conforme con il regolamento generale per la protezione dei dati, nel pieno rispetto della privacy.

Il regolamento sullo sportello unico digitale rappresenta dunque un importante passo avanti nella digitalizzazione e nella semplificazione del rapporto tra pubblica amministrazione e cittadini e imprese, aumentandone la trasparenza e favorendo la mobilità all'interno dell'Unione europea.

  Ryszard Czarnecki, w imieniu grupy ECR. – Panie Przewodniczący! Pani Komisarz! Miło jest mówić do Państwa oraz do Pań Posłanek i Panów Posłów w języku ojczystym. Warto podkreślić, że ważną częścią tego sprawozdania jest to, że nowa regulacja unijna nie zmienia istoty przepisów krajowych. Nasza grupa polityczna, jako konserwatyści, z zadowoleniem przyjmuje uznanie zasady pomocniczości oraz fakt, że wspólny sposób udostępniania informacji jest ważny, a różne podejścia krajowe nadal współistnieją. I to jest chyba istota Unii Europejskiej, tak w pigułce, w tej sprawie.

Żałuję, że niemożliwe było włączenie jeszcze większego wsparcia dla przedsiębiorstw, aby móc współpracować cyfrowo z podmiotami krajowymi, ale mam nadzieję, że przyszłe zmiany mogą bardziej ograniczyć biurokrację, która szkodzi biznesowi. Cieszę się, że w tej sprawie możemy działać ponad podziałami politycznymi – to rzecz ważna. W dzisiejszym społeczeństwie, w którym dostęp do internetu jest coraz powszechniejszy, a aplikacje i narzędzia cyfrowe umożliwiają realizację coraz większej liczby zadań w trybie online, właściwie jest, żeby nasze kraje szły z duchem czasu. Cieszę się, że to czyni rząd mojego państwa. Chodzi o to, aby ludzie tracili mniej czasu w urzędach, a mogli więcej pracować i dzięki temu zarabiać więcej pieniędzy. Jest krok w dobrym kierunku – tak podsumowałbym tę regulację.

  Mylène Troszczynski, au nom du groupe ENF. – Monsieur le Président, la création d’un portail unique numérique administré par la Commission permettrait aux utilisateurs d’obtenir toutes les informations, l’aide et les services dont ils ont besoin pour exercer leurs activités efficacement au-delà des frontières. Les États membres devront veiller à ce que tous les services administratifs définis par le texte soient disponibles entièrement en ligne, sans discrimination, dans au moins une langue étrangère, et fournir les liens et informations à la Commission.

Ce guichet unique numérique paraît être une bonne idée. Mais à qui s’adresse ce texte? En théorie, à tous. En réalité, il s’adresse à la proportion des ressortissants de l’Union européenne souhaitant exploiter le sacro-saint principe de liberté de circulation. Les études sont formelles et les chiffres sont malheureusement cruels: il apparaît que la proportion des ressortissants concernés par l’application de ce règlement ne dépasse même pas les 5 % de la population totale de l’Union européenne. Les efforts consentis sont honorables pour faciliter la vie de ces pauvres gens, mais il serait tout de même plus urgent de s’occuper des 95 % restants, qui attendent et réclament autre chose de la part de leurs responsables politiques.

Les défis auxquels nous faisons face sont immenses, les enjeux sont graves et notre action n’est pas à la hauteur des attentes de nos concitoyens, qui subissent ces règlements fantaisistes, plus qu’ils n’en profitent. Les textes de cette nature paraissent parfaitement accessoires pour nos électeurs et risquent, par la complexité de leur mise en œuvre, d’être en plus inefficaces.

  Róża Gräfin von Thun und Hohenstein (PPE). – Mr President, I believe that this portal will become an important element, reinforcing the identification of millions of citizens with our Europe. So, thank you very much, Marlene Mizzi and Othmar Karas, and congratulations for achieving compromise with the Council on this difficult file.

It is a very concrete step forward and a very necessary one, because, according to different studies, we already have forty different EU information and problem—solving services, but 91.6% of EU citizens and businesses are unaware of any European—level online services. You say, Madam Commissioner, that 80% of businesses see administrative complexity as the number one problem in the single market, and that their costs go up to EUR 55 billion per year. But even worse than those billions is the frustration and anger when a tourist, an artist – and we love them, we proved this today – a company proprietor or a worker, a student, a patient or a doctor cannot find that necessary information, such as a form to fill out when he or she encounters problems when delivering documents online. This portal will help to solve those problems.

I find it especially important today, when some politicians call Europe an imaginary community, the imaginowana wspólnota, which serves only those bureaucrats. You know what I am talking about. Instead, Member States must play an active part, not only in harmonising laws in the European Union, but also in informing citizens and sharing information, for example by building together this digital gateway so that all citizens of Europe can profit fully from the possibilities that our Europe gives them and that the single market offers.

  Maria Grapini (S&D). – Domnule președinte, doamna comisar, dragi colegi, eu am să intru direct în subiect. Era un lucru foarte așteptat - foarte așteptat de cetățeni, foarte așteptat de întreprinderi, mai ales de cele mici. Discutăm adeseori în intergrupul pentru IMM-uri ce probleme au firmele mici, ce probleme au în lucrul transfrontalier.

Acest portal vine în sensul îmbunătățirii funcționării pieței unice, iar acest lucru este un obiectiv al Comisiei. Digitalizarea este un alt obiectiv al Comisiei. Portalul rezolvă această problemă și trebuie să spunem că ne dorim de foarte mult timp să existe acel principiu „o singură dată”. Ar face foarte multe economii și la cetățean, și la întreprinderi, dar sigur că aceste economii până la urmă merg la bugetele statelor, merg la bugetul Uniunii Europene.

Trebuie să spunem, de asemenea, că munca aceasta administrativă este facilitată prin portal pentru că, așa cum s-a spus în raport și cum a prezentat raportoarea aici, va fi o traducere în limba engleză. Sigur, statele au foarte multă și mare răspundere, și Comisia de asemenea, să verifice, să actualizeze informațiile, să fie informații corecte pentru a nu deruta, pentru a nu încurca, pentru că scopul nu este acesta. Scopul este de a ajuta. Mai e o problemă, și mă bucur, doamna comisar, că ați amintit-o - trebuie să fie nediscriminatoriu, trebuie să se adreseze și persoanelor cu dizabilități și trebuie să fie nediscriminatoriu și pentru ceilalți cetățeni.

Există foarte multe petiții și cred că fiecare dintre noi primim aceste petiții legate de faptul că nu se descurcă un cetățean când merge într-un alt stat. Spunea și colegul mai înainte, domnul Karas, că până la urmă munca noastră pare abstractă și trebuie să facem ceva care să ajungă la cetățean. Ei, acest regulament sigur va veni și va fi bine receptat de cetățeni și, până la urmă, câștigă toată lumea. Să interconectăm cetățenii și companiile, întreprinderile cu autoritățile locale, cu cele centrale și nu numai în statul în care sunt rezidenți, ci și în alte state.

  Ева Майдел (PPE). – Г-н Председател, г-жо Комисар, живеем в сферата на интернет, работим за извеждането на Европа на челни позиции в сферата на дигиталните технологии, искаме нашите граждани да се възползват от възможностите, които предоставя вътрешният пазар.

Имаме свободно движение на хора, капитали, услуги, стоки, а в същото време години наред нашият Съюз не разполага с единна точка за информация, в която бизнесът и гражданите да получат информация за огромния потенциал за развитие, който 28 държави членки и 500 милиона потребители предлагат. Това е недопустимо, това са пропуснати ползи в продължение на години.

Деветдесет и два процента от потребителите и предприятията не познават предоставените на европейско равнище онлайн услуги и не знаят към кого да се обърнат в случай на проблем. Европа печели, когато дава конкретни резултати и решения за своите граждани, и точно затова е важно да приемем този регламент.

С откриването на портала Европа ще спести близо един милион часа от времето на своите граждани – време, в което те могат да реализират своите идеи, да започнат бизнес и да го превърнат в реалност или да споделят времето си с любими хора.

Ако бъде предоставен онлайн достъп до висококачествена и леснодостъпна информация, европейските предприятия биха могли да спестят между 11 и 55 милиарда евро годишно. Единният цифров портал не е просто база данни или справочник. Това е място, чрез което ще се промени обликът на нашия вътрешен пазар – ще се преодолеят бариери, ще се даде равен достъп на студенти, на предприемачи, на работници до информация, от която те се нуждаят, когато пътуват, когато работят, когато се обучават или стажуват в чужбина, когато се пенсионират, преместват, регистрират автомобил в друга страна.

Европа печели, когато третира всички свои граждани еднакво. Именно затова порталът ще бъде достъпен на всички европейски езици за всеки гражданин безплатно.

Бих искала да благодаря на колегите, които работиха по файла, както и на българското председателство на Съвета за тяхната инструментална подкрепа да направим единния дигитален портал реалност за европейските граждани.

  Michela Giuffrida (S&D). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, compiamo oggi un passo essenziale per realizzare uno degli obiettivi del mercato unico digitale europeo. Lo sportello digitale unico mira a creare un punto d'ingresso unico, per l'appunto, a livello dell'Unione, integrando portali, siti web, reti, servizi e sistemi europei e nazionali esistenti. Questo è fondamentale per aiutare i cittadini e le imprese a sfruttare appieno i vantaggi offerti dai nuovi strumenti digitali e dalle strategie di e-goverment.

Il Parlamento ha chiesto più volte di rispondere alle esigenze dei cittadini e delle imprese nelle loro attività transfrontaliere nel mercato interno europeo, e questa proposta, per la quale mi congratulo con la collega Mizzi, fa sì che per la prima volta gli Stati membri saranno obbligati a rendere disponibili online procedure amministrative chiave, e che altrettanto importanti informazioni a livello nazionale siano disponibili in un'altra lingua ufficiale dell'Unione europea.

È un successo che possiamo rivendicare come autenticamente europeo, viste le resistenze degli Stati membri, e mi auguro soltanto che si vigili affinché le possibili eccezioni concesse agli Stati non diventino poi un pretesto per non rispettare gli obblighi imposti.

  Bendt Bendtsen (PPE). – Hr. formand! Jeg hilser aftalen om en fælles digital portal, ”digital single gateway”, meget velkommen. Det er vigtigt, at vi skaber de bedst mulige vilkår for vores borgerne, og ikke mindst for vores små og mellemstore virksomheder, der er så afgørende for væksten i Europa. Her spiller administrative lettelser nemlig en rigtig stor rolle, og den fælles digitale portal er et rigtig godt skridt på vejen. Der er dog to ting, jeg vil pege på her i dag, der er fuldstændig afgørende for, at vi får succes med projektet. For det første må og skal medlemsstaterne spille med i den praktiske gennemførelse af portalen, vi ved, at implementeringen er utrolig vigtig. Det er med portalen, som det er med EU generelt, at den kan kun så meget, som medlemsstaterne vil understøtte. Medlemsstaterne skal sikre digitale løsninger og give adgang til deres nationale procedurer og ordninger, ellers kan portalen ikke blive den succes, som den skal. For det andet håber jeg virkelig, at Kommissionen vil sikre, at den praktiske gennemførelse af portalen er stærkt forankret i DG GROW. DG GROW driver allerede i dag succesfyldte portaler for borgerne, og de små virksomheder. Det er vigtigt, at vi trækker på de årelange positive erfaringer med succesfulde EU-værktøjer, som for eksempel ”Your Europe”, når den nye portal nu etableres.

Zgłoszenia z sali

  Nicola Caputo (S&D). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, internet e le tecnologie digitali stanno trasformando il modo in cui le persone e le imprese vivono, lavorano, studiano, svolgono un'attività e viaggiano. Vantaggi per tutti gli europei potranno essere realizzati con una pubblica amministrazione aperta, efficiente, inclusiva e orientata a progetti ambiziosi di e-government che forniscono servizi digitali pubblici end-to-end senza frontiere, personalizzati e facili da utilizzare.

Il regolamento di cui discutiamo punta a semplificare il contatto tra cittadini e imprese, con servizi di assistenza di risoluzione dei problemi mediante l'istituzione di uno sportello unico digitale per accedere alle informazioni sulle norme e sui requisiti da soddisfare in virtù del diritto dell'Unione europea o nazionale.

La Commissione europea e gli Stati membri devono però cooperare in sinergia per favorire un'attuazione efficace e graduale del progetto e per favorire la realizzazione di procedure interamente online, pienamente accessibili anche per gli utenti transfrontalieri dell'Unione europea.

  Νότης Μαριάς (ECR). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, θα ήθελα να ευχαριστήσω την εισηγήτρια, την κυρία Mizzi, για την έκθεσή της και νομίζω ότι από τη συζήτηση αναδεικνύεται η προσπάθεια που κάνει το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο προκειμένου η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση να υπηρετεί τους πολίτες· να βρίσκεται στην υπηρεσία της κοινωνίας των πολιτών· να μπορεί να συμβάλλει στο να υπάρχει ενημέρωση και πληροφόρηση διότι αυτό είναι το βασικό στοιχείο. Μέσα από αυτή την ενιαία πλατφόρμα είναι βέβαιο ότι οι πολίτες αλλά και οι επιχειρήσεις θα έχουν τις κατάλληλες πληροφορίες, είτε πρόκειται για υποτροφίες για τους νέους μας, είτε πρόκειται για αναζήτηση εργασίας σε άλλες περιοχές, είτε πρόκειται για την φορολογία που ισχύει σε συγκεκριμένα κράτη, διότι αυτό είναι βασικό κριτήριο προκειμένου διάφορες επιχειρήσεις να ενισχύσουν την εξωστρέφειά τους. Αλλά και η αναγνώριση πτυχίων επίσης θα μπορεί να εξυπηρετηθεί μέσα από αυτή την πρόσβαση στην ενιαία πλατφόρμα που νομίζω ότι όλοι, με τις παρεμβάσεις μας, στηρίζουμε.

(Koniec zgłoszeń z sali)

  Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, Honourable Members, I want to thank you very much for your interventions, for your positive remarks and, of course, especially and primarily for your work on this proposal. With this proposal, we have a real opportunity to make the single market work a little bit better, both for our citizens and for our companies. Both of those groups should be able to enjoy the opportunities that the single market offers them.

Also thanks to this new instrument, small businesses – let me underline this – will save costs, more easily innovate and more easily expand across Europe. Let me also mention one important thing: with your help we can bring to reality another important promise of the digital single market strategy – that we want to ensure that public administrations modernise and respond better to the needs of the users. I, therefore, hope that you will endorse the regulation tomorrow. I hope and expect that in two years we will be able to launch the gateway with the proud name of ‘Your Europe’. Thank you very much for your help and for your work.

  Marlene Mizzi, Rapporteur. – Mr President, I would like to thank everyone for their contributions to this debate, and particularly my shadows. Thanks is due also to my political advisers, my assistants, the Commission and the Bulgarian Presidency. I am proud of the cooperation between all European institutions to make this important legislation a reality, but in truth I am proud mostly of the results we have achieved where in many instances we have achieved far more than we thought we would. Our ambitious stand really paid off.

In the troubled and challenging times in which we live, with so many different crises facing the European Union on different fronts, I believe that it is our duty to communicate to our citizens the positive elements that the EU brings us. As we have seen in today’s debate, the regulation is a perfect example of how the EU can work and how it can change our lives for the better. The Single Digital Gateway will tangibly help citizens and businesses. It will pool together national and European information procedures and problem-solving services into a single entry point of the Your Europe portal, through which citizens can easily find and access what they need. The gateway will be user—friendly and multi-lingual, and will help start-ups and SMEs looking to start operating in other Member States. Such a service is of paramount importance when starting a business, accessing finances, taxation rules, accessing pensions rights and social benefits, as well as other information which citizens may require for their cross-border activities.

So it is on days like this that we should be particularly satisfied with our work as MEPs, seeing how our work will positively and tangibly impact European citizens: something that we really need to communicate. So thank you everyone, and I look forward to tomorrow’s vote.

  Przewodniczący. – Zamykam debatę.

Głosowanie odbędzie się w czwartek 13 września 2018 r.