Sophia in ‘t Veld, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr President, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is now the best known European law ever, even in the US Congress.

Yes, thank you, Mark, this one’s for you! I think Mr Zuckerberg would be well advised to appear before this House out of respect for hundreds of millions of European Facebook users who feel deceived. There are actually more users here than in the US, and I think Zuckerberg should be here. We should not be visiting him in the United States. He should be here.

But today’s debate is not about Facebook. The European Parliament, yes, and also the European Data Protection authorities will scrutinise very closely whether the new Facebook privacy arrangements are compliant with all EU legislation, but we also need to take a very critical look at ourselves.

We talk the talk, but do we also walk the walk, Commission, Council and dear friends? Because amongst those who are voicing their outrage at Facebook are many who have consistently voted against stricter privacy protection, and continue to do so. Like those – including the President of this House, dear friends – who summoned Mr Zuckerberg to the European Parliament, but they voted against e-privacy, so a bit of consistency, please.

I also note that the European data protection authorities have hardly responded to earlier reports on Cambridge Analytica and Facebook. It has been known since last year – why have they been so slow? And despite the jubilation about GDPR, Member States have not nearly allocated the necessary means to the national data protection authorities to enable them to properly enforce the GDPR.

I also note that the advice of designated experts, like the European Data Protection Supervisor and Working Party 29, are being systematically ignored. Their advice on data retention, PNR, Safe Harbour: ignored! And all subsequently scrapped by the European Court of Justice. Worryingly, decisions by the European Court of Justice are also being ignored. Now will the Commission remain deaf to the recommendations of Working Party 29 on PNR and Privacy Shield, or act?

Because while we are busy barricading the front door to keep the likes of Mr Zuckerberg out, the back door is wide open. And we are giving away our way our personal data by the truckload, not just to our own government agencies, but also to other countries like the United States, with legal safeguards that carry about as much weight as Donald’s tweets.

European citizens are left out in the cold, unprotected. Yes, the Facebook case is a wake-up call for all of us. Mr Zuckerberg, privacy is not dead. It’s alive and kicking.