2022/2198(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls for the EU~~, in view of the strategic autonomy considerations raised by virtual worlds, to ensure substantial investment in this field; notes that the Horizon~~ to continue and step up support to Europe and Creative Europe programmes both fund augmented and virtual reality projects; points out, however, that the budgets of these programmes are inadequate to foster a real EU strategy for immersive technologi actors in augmented and virtual reality sectors through the Horizon Europe and Creative Europe programmes;

Amendment 15 #

Laurence FARRENG, Irena JOVEVA, Ilana CICUREL, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Salima YENBOU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls for the EU~~, in view of the strategic autonomy considerations raised by virtual worlds, to ensure substantial~~ to ensure adequate investment in this field; notes that the Horizon Europe and Creative Europe programmes both fund augmented and virtual reality projects; ~~points out, however, that the budgets of these programmes are inadequate to foster a real EU strategy for immersive technologies;~~

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls for the EU, in view of the strategic autonomy considerations raised by virtual worlds, to ensure substantial investment in this field; welcomes the VR/AR Industrial Coalition launched by the European Commission as part of the Media Audiovisual Action Plan; notes that the Horizon Europe and Creative Europe programmes both fund augmented and virtual reality projects; points out, however, that the budgets of these programmes are inadequate to foster a real EU strategy for immersive technologies;

Amendment 17 #

Isabella ADINOLFI, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls for the EU, in view of the strategic autonomy considerations raised by virtual worlds, to ensure ~~substantial~~the necessary and efficient investment in this field; notes that the Horizon Europe and Creative Europe programmes both fund augmented and virtual reality projects; points out, however, that the budgets of these programmes are inadequate to foster a real EU strategy for immersive technologies;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls for the EU to ensure sufficient investments in the field of digital education in order to promote the development of critical thinking users in the digital world; underlines the importance of granting support to teachers and educators in the process of equipping students with the necessary knowledgebase to safely navigate through the virtual worlds;

Amendment 19 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Isabella ADINOLFI, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on the Member States and EU institutions to prioritise STEAM education and enhancing digital skills, including a range of skills and know-how for writing, design, artistic creation, digital development, publishing, all of which are key for the building of metaverses;

Amendment 2 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Isabella ADINOLFI, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Believes that virtual worlds or ‘metaverses’ are a ~~major step for~~significant step of key importance toward ins the ~~digital transition,~~real world application of existing technologies, integration into the education sector and that they can be ~~defin~~considered as a simulation of real-time, immersive 3D or 2D spaces in which users can interact;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Calls on the Member States and EU institutions to ensure that the upskilling of teachers is prioritised and that, throughout the EU, teachers must benefit from pedagogical training to ensure they have the right skills needed to become digitally competent and proficient with technology;

Amendment 21 #

Isabella ADINOLFI, Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Emphasises the necessity to better counteract the phenomenon of cyberbullying, both by awareness raising campaigns and implementation of more accurate controls in cyberbullying-prone environments;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

3c. Regrets the difficulty generally encountered by individuals and SMEs in the tech and digital sector in obtaining access to bank credit;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)

3d. Notes with regret that European citizens are often unprepared and fall prey to the dangers of online illegal activities;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Emphasises the importance of developing metaverses for the EU’s cultural and creative ecosystems, as new spaces for creativity and expression; insists on ensuring the accessibility of metaverses in order to make them truly democratic spaces;deleted

Amendment 25 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Emphasises the importance of developing metaverses for the EU’s cultural and creative ecosystems, as new spaces for creativity and expression, which can ultimately lead to human flourishing; insists on ensuring thsociety-wide accessibility of metaverses in order to make them truly democratic spaces; , especially for vulnerable groups of society, with particular attention on minors, elderly, and people with low levels of digital literacy; acknowledges the importance of giving users adequate means to seek and obtain redress from online harm taking place in virtual worlds;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
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4. Emphasises the importance of developing metaverses for the EU’s cultural and creative ecosystems, as new spaces for creativity and expression~~; insists on ensuring the accessibility of metaverses in order to make them truly democratic spac~~, which can be used to promote European cultural and linguistic diversity; insists on the importance of making virtual worlds truly democratic spaces, fostering digital literacy and access to quality and affordable internet as a basic right for all citizens, ensuring connectivity and accessibility to all citizens, namely those living in rural areas, and to facilitate inclusion of vulnerable groups, notably people with disabilities;

Amendment 27 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Emphasises th~~e importance of developing metaverses for~~at augmented and virtual reality technologies can bring benefits to the EU’s cultural and creative ecosystems, as new spaces for creativity and expression; insists on ensuring the accessibility of ~~metavers~~all new digital technologies in order to make them truly democratic spaces;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Emphasises the pressing need to foster education, training and upskilling of workers in the field of virtual worlds, in order to create and keep talent within the European Union, avoiding a brain drain towards other markets and facilitating the harmonisation of training and mutual recognition of qualifications across Member States;

Amendment 29 #

Isabella ADINOLFI, Peter POLLÁK, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Stresses the importance of safeguarding the physical and mental health of European citizens from the negative effects often caused by excessive use of social media and other tools accessible through metaverses, including, among others, the development of addiction and psychological or eating disorders;

Amendment 3 #

Laurence FARRENG, Irena JOVEVA, Ilana CICUREL, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Salima YENBOU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Believes that virtual worlds or ‘metaverses’ are a major step forward in the digital transition, and that they can be defined as a simulation of real-time, immersive 3D or 2D spaces in which users can interact; takes the view that virtual worlds can generate synergies with Web 3.0;

Amendment 30 #

Laurence FARRENG, Irena JOVEVA, Ilana CICUREL, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Salima YENBOU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Stresses that SMEs, which make up the vast majority of Europe's cultural and creative ecosystem, must be able to take advantage of immersive technologies for their development, without being held back by entry barriers that would only benefit large digital companies;

Amendment 31 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. States that virtual worlds can significantly impact education and research by transforming how we acquire knowledge; stresses that metaverses can allow for better visualisation of educational content, awareness raising and increased possibilities for collaboration between learners and enhanced distance and lifelong learning; highlights the potential of virtual worlds to empower individuals and bridge the digital divide through education, promoting digital literacy among all society groups and reducing inequalities in terms of gender, socioeconomic differences and for people with disabilities;

Amendment 32 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Isabella ADINOLFI, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. States that virtual worlds can significantly impact education and research ~~by transforming how we acquire knowledge; stresses that metaverses can allow for~~, especially through better visualisation of educational content, ~~increased possibilities for~~as well as increase collaboration between learners and enhanced distance and lifelong learning; highlights that public and societal interests must be prioritized when developing any comprehensive strategy on virtual worlds, especially on education;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
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Amendment 34 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. States that ~~virtual worlds can significantly impact education and research by transforming how we~~augmented and virtual reality technologies can be used as a support to the education students receive from teachers by making it easier to acquire new knowledge~~; stresses that metaverses can~~, allowing for better visualisation of educational content~~, increased possibilities for collaboration between learners~~ and enhanceding distance and lifelong learning;

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. States that virtual worlds can significantly impact education and research by transforming how we acquire knowledge; stresses that metaverses can allow for ~~better~~additional and innovative visualisation methods of educational content, increased possibilities for collaboration between learners and enhanced distance and lifelong learning;

Amendment 36 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Notes that ‘metaverses’ or virtual worlds are currently in the hands of few established market players and that, as such, they are subject to monopolistic tendencies and market concentration; understands that decentralization is a necessary precondition for any rights- preserving and human-centric virtual world;

Amendment 37 #

Laurence FARRENG, Irena JOVEVA, Ilana CICUREL, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Salima YENBOU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Welcomes the progress made in the field of artificial intelligence; notes nonetheless that AI still represents an unreliable and often problematic instrument for knowledge sourcing activities, especially in the context of production of socially or culturally relevant texts such as academic or legislative works;

Amendment 38 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Welcomes the impact that virtual worlds can have in safeguarding and promoting European cultural heritage, by making it possible to offer personalised experiences to users, for educational or tourism purposes;

Amendment 39 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Raises concerns regarding the data sourcing process of AI instruments used for the production of art works when mimicking and reproducing techniques, colour composition or brushstrokes of notable works of art;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Believes that virtual worlds or ‘metaverses’ ~~are a major step forward in the digital transition, and that they~~ can be defined as a simulation of real-time, immersive 3D or 2D spaces in which users can interact;

Amendment 40 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses that an EU strategy ~~for virtual worlds must go hand in han~~must be aligned with an appropriate framework tohat ensures the protection ~~and promotion~~ of intellectual property~~; notes that most intellectual property systems in the metaverse are based on blockchain technology, and believ~~ rights while promoting artistic creativity; notes that non-fungible tokens can represent a new source of revenue for the EU’'s cultural ecosystem if accompanied with sufficient and adequate standards that address speculative tendencies in crypto markets, as well as addressing their current adverse environmental impact; highlights that current market tendencies in crypto markets are characterized by high levels of market centralization.

Amendment 41 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses that an EU strategy for ~~virtual world~~digital technologies must go hand in hand with an appropriate framework to ensure the protection and promotion of intellectual property; ~~not~~believes that ~~most intellectual property systems in the metaverse are based on blockchain technology, and believes that non-fungible tokens~~the lack of interest in non-fungible tokens among the general public and cultural professionals shows that they cannot represent a stable and viable new source of revenue for the EU’s cultural ecosystem.

Amendment 42 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses that an EU strategy for virtual worlds must go hand in hand with an appropriate framework to ensure the protection and promotion of intellectual property, in particular authors' rights and copyright, and stresses the need to protect artist and their creations in the virtual worlds; notes that most intellectual property systems in the metaverse are based on blockchain technology, and believes that non-fungible tokens can represent a new source of revenue for the EU’s cultural ecosystem.

Amendment 43 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Stresses that an EU strategy for virtual worlds must go hand in hand with an appropriate framework to ensure the protection and promotion of intellectual property and personal data protection provisions; notes that most intellectual property systems in the metaverse are based on blockchain technology, and believes that non-fungible tokens can represent a new source of revenue for the EU’s cultural ecosystem.

Amendment 44 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Isabella ADINOLFI, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Notes that current metaverses and ancillary technologies, in particular blockchain and NFTs, are currently characterized by extremely high levels of energy consumption; stresses that any EU strategy for the virtual worlds must address the environmental impact of these new technologies, especially in regards to energy consumption, in order to be future proof and sustainable in the long term; recommends these technologies to be subject to adequate environmental risk assessments before being placed in the single market and to be accompanied with energy labels that can make consumers aware of their environmental impact.

Amendment 45 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Recognises the importance of multilateral fora in topics of global significance such as this, and encourages the Commission to take a coordinated approach with the Member States as regards contributing to important international standardisation efforts, such as ‘The Metaverse Standards Forum’, as well as other related initiatives within the OECD and other international organisations such as the ITU and ISO;

Amendment 46 #

Laurence FARRENG, Irena JOVEVA, Ilana CICUREL, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Salima YENBOU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Considers that virtual worlds can also create risks, and that these spaces should be regulated to prevent any abuses linked to harmful behaviour in a digital environment or to inappropriate use; calls, in particular, on the European Commission to address the issues related to cyberbullying in the metaverse, as part of its new European strategy for a better internet for kids (BIK+);

Amendment 47 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Emphasises the need to ensure a safe and healthy environment in virtual worlds, where cybersecurity, privacy, transparency and the rights and needs of the users are properly preserved and protected, preventing any form of harassment, bullying, discrimination and surveillance of citizens and workers;

Amendment 48 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Insists that copyright in European works of art must remain European, including in relation to the digitalisation of works of art and relevant material, including, but not restricted to, digitalisation carried out by industries outside the EU; discourages economic speculation in this field;

Amendment 49 #

Victor NEGRESCU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Reiterates the call made by the European Parliament in its report on shaping digital education policy to develop AI and robotics education across the Union as a method to empower EU citizens and protect the European innovation ecosystem and ethics standards;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Believes that virtual worlds or ‘metaverses’ are a ~~major step forward in the di~~n important technologitcal ~~transition~~development, and that they can be ~~define~~understood as a simulation of real- time, immersive 3D or 2D spaces in which users can interact;

Amendment 50 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Notes that it is vital to ensure the safety of users of virtual worlds, especially young people, as the wide range of accessible and uncontrolled content can have a harmful influence on them;

Amendment 51 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6b. Stresses the importance of protecting children and minors in the virtual worlds, drawing on the existing European legislation and strategies such as the DSA and the new European strategy for a better internet for kids (BIK+), to ensure online safety and a positive use of the metaverses;

Amendment 52 #

Laurence FARRENG, Irena JOVEVA, Ilana CICUREL, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Salima YENBOU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6b. Believes that the development of virtual worlds should coincide with raising European citizens' awareness of their responsible use, and enhancing digital literacy for users of these technologies and, where appropriate, for their parents or carers;

Amendment 53 #

Isabella ADINOLFI, Peter POLLÁK, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6b. Calls on the Commission to preserve European artistic heritage and European virtual artistic heritage, comprising of newly generated elements as well as elements of artistic heritage replicated or, in any way, transposed to the metaverse;

Amendment 54 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)

6b. Expresses concern about the possible negative effects the increased use of virtual worlds could have on physical and mental health;

Amendment 55 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6c. Calls on the European Commission for a close and continuous monitoring on the development of virtual worlds, to identify issues and challenges that may arise and that are not addressed by the current legal framework or that may need further harmonisation among Member States;

Amendment 56 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6c. Calls for particular attention to be paid to the risks associated with disinformation and comments against democratic values that may be present in virtual worlds;

Amendment 57 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)

6c. Calls on the Commission to ensure the protection of the intellectual property of digitised European landscape, which must remain European;

Amendment 58 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)

6d. Notes that future developments of the virtual worlds should be guided by a set of ethical and human centric principles, in line and up to date with existing and future EU legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Market Act, the Copyright Directive, etc.;

Amendment 59 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)

6d. Underlines that the value of markets in which European products are universally recognised as being of the highest standards, such as art and fashion, are in constant growth in the metaverse; stresses the importance of safeguarding the reputation for high quality and standards of these European products;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls for the EU to adopt a comprehensive human-centric strategy for virtual worlds, ~~building on the strengths of its industry to overcome the hardware and software challenges, while harnessing the innovation and progress of the video game industry~~which can adequately protect users' rights to privacy and data protection while addressing different forms of online harm and exploitation, especially for minors including addiction and hateful speech, recommends any virtual world technology to undergo thorough fundamental rights impact assessments before being introduced in the single market;

Amendment 60 #

Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, João ALBUQUERQUE

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)

6d. Expresses concern about the vast amount of personal data that is easily accessible in virtual worlds and the hacking issues that may arise;

Amendment 61 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)

6e. Underlines the value of the recommendations by the European citizens' panel on virtual worlds and recalls the currently ongoing European Parliament Pilot Project "A space for the metaverse", which will contribute to create an interdisciplinary European network of experts, thinkers and leaders, for an ethical and democratic development of the metaverses;

Amendment 62 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)

6e. Expresses concern about how the cost of the required equipment is widening the digital gap; stresses the importance of making virtual worlds accessible and inclusive;

Amendment 63 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 f (new)

6f. Expresses concern about how the cost of the required equipment is widening the digital gap; stresses the importance of making virtual worlds accessible and inclusive;

Amendment 64 #

Tomasz FRANKOWSKI, Peter POLLÁK, Isabella ADINOLFI, Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 g (new)

6g. Expresses concern about the sense of impunity one can have in virtual worlds, which can cause people to behave in a manner that runs counter to social norms;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls for the EU to adopt a comprehensive strategy for virtual worlds, building on the strengths of its industry to overcome the hardware and software challenges, while harnessing and promoting the innovation and progress of ~~the video game industry;~~ relevant sectors such as the video game industry, including technologies such as VR, XR, game engines, haptics, which are key building blocks for digital skills and for the metaverse(s);

Amendment 8 #

Laurence FARRENG, Irena JOVEVA, Ilana CICUREL, Morten LØKKEGAARD, Salima YENBOU

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls for the EU to adopt a comprehensive strategy for virtual worlds, building on the strengths of its industry to overcome the hardware and software challenges, while harnessing the innovation and progress of the video game industry; stresses the need to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the development of European metaverses, without separating technology from content;

Amendment 9 #