9th parliamentary term Mikuláš PEKSA

The Pirate delegation in the European Parliament decided to abstain on the Report on Mental Health on the grounds that paragraph 54 calls on the Member States to detect and prevent the use of addictive licit and illicit substances. This wording is calling for stricter prohibition in place of sound harm reduction policies, which present the preferred solution.
Additionally, the report fails to consider the latest science on certain psychoactive substances which can be addictive (ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin), but in therapeutical settings they are shown to help treat patients with depression, PTSD and addiction. The Pirates would like to see a reclassification of these substances to allow for their medical use, instead of reinforcing outdated prohibition principles.

. – We appreciate and fully support the determination expressed in this resolution for improving participation and removing discrimination in democratic processes in the EU. The resolution rightly highlights the need to address the voting opportunities of disadvantaged groups of citizens and enable persons with disabilities to exercise their full rights as EU citizens. It raises a number of favourable proposals in terms of rainbow families, children in cross—border custody, etc.
Even though we support the resolution’s digital proposals such as digitalisation of public services, or the establishment of an online one-stop-shop centralising all EU participatory instruments, we cannot agree with the call on Member States to implement remote voting options, including electronic voting.
Safe and secure electronic voting is, at this time, technologically impossible. The text evokes safeguards, which, however, cannot be realistically met. There is ample potential for fraud and misuse, which makes the proposal too risky. This is why we voted against the report.

. – This report correctly names existing problems related to structural racism in society and suggests, in a vast majority of cases, appropriate solutions to tackle them. For the Pirates, the fight for equality and against racism and discrimination is deeply rooted in our fundamental principles.
However, we voted against the report due to the calls to improve upload filters and due to provisions promoting the code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online, as the code relies on content moderation based on unilateral decisions made by the platforms instead of a judicial assessment of potential hate speech and does not limit removal of content without judicial assessment to manifestly illegal content. Both of which pose a serious risk to freedom on speech.