European Parliament
Strasbourg

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Julia Reda, from the German Pirate Party, says the directive has good intentions but suffers from a "reality gap".

If digital platforms are made directly liable for everything uploaded to their sites, she argues, they will not be able to get licences from every holder in the world.

They will be forced to monitor uploaded content using "automatic filters", she says.

Until the algorithms develop a "sense of humour" they will not be able to distinguish between copyright infringements and parodies, she adds.

She urges MEPs to support her amendments at the vote tomorrow.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

However Labour MEP Catherine Stihler says the way one part of the directive - Article 13 - has been drafted "goes too far".

The Article would make large platforms responsible for checking that their users do not upload copyright-breaching content.

The text as it stands could have a "detrimental effect on the freedom of expression", she warns.

She urges her colleagues to support an amendment tabled by her internal market committee.

BBC News

It's rare that a vote in the European Parliament prompts widespread outrage by social media users, academics, and technology leaders all at once.

But as the EU tried to transform its copyright laws for the digital age, that's exactly what happened - and MEPs rejected the directive on copyright.

So what was the problem? It all came down to just two small parts of the proposed text.

Read more.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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German Christian democrat Axel Voss, who has drafted the legal affairs committee's position, says the vote in July has given MEPs a chance to take a "fresh look" at the proposals.

However he urges MEPs to ensure tomorrow to put themselves "on the side of the creators of Europe" rather than letting large tech firms "have it all their own way".

Such firms have been "making massive profits on the backs of the artists and creators of the European Union", he adds.

The proposals are "not about destroying the internet", he adds, and have been the subject of "ill-conceived campaigns".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

MEPs are now debating a controversial proposal to overhaul EU copyright rules for the internet era.

The proposals are being re-examined this month after MEPs voted in July not to begin negotiations based on a blueprint endorsed by the legal affairs committee.

The committee had faced criticism for backing plans to place more responsibility on websites to check for copyright infringements, and forcing platforms to pay for linking to news.

Tomorrow MEPs will get a chance to amend the committee’s position before European Parliament negotiators begin talks on the revision with member states.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

With interventions from MEPs finished, Viktor Orban sums up the debate and urges MEPs to read the 108-page document his government has sent them to gain "the facts".

In a final speech, European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans says Hungary should not expect to be a "member of a club" and "violate the rules".

He says the European Commission prefers to deal with the situation through "dialogue", but adds: if dialogue doesn't deliver the results, we will go to court".

Arguing that criticism of the Hungarian government constitutes an attack on the Hungarian people is the "coward's way out".

PM Viktor Orban accuses the EU of "insulting" Hungary, and says it will not bow to "blackmail".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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Luxembourg Christian Democrat Frank Engel, who sits in the same centre-right EPP group that houses Mr Orban's Fidesz MEPs, says he is "not comfortable" with his pronouncements.

Mr Orban, he says, is sounding more and more like the "leader of a sect".

Another EPP MEP, Fine Gael's Seán Kelly says "many" actions of Hungary's government are "not in line" with the principles of the group.

"Your answers are keenly awaited," he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage describes Mr Orban as a man prepared to stand up for "his principles, his nation, his culture and his people" in the face of "extreme bullying".

"Thank God you're there," he says.

Calling the European Parliament's debate a "show trial", he criticises European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans for "lecturing" the Hungarian PM about democracy.

He accuses MEPs of simply "updating the Brezhnev Doctrine of limited sovereignty" by calling for Article 7 to be triggered.

He exhorts Mr Orban to "come and join the Brexit club - you'll love it".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the Liberal ALDE group, says in the current circumstances it would be "impossible" for Hungary to join the EU as a new member.

He calls Mr Orban "the seed of discord which will ultimately destroy our European project".

Another Belgian MEP, Philippe Lamberts, the co-leader of the Green/EFA group, says Mr Orban's policies contradict the Christian values he claims to defend.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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Polish MEP Ryszard Legutko, from the governing Law and Justice party which sits in the conservative ECR group, says the criticism of Hungary in the European Parliament is "nothing new".

He calls it "another installment of an attack on a democratically elected government".

The vote insults those who voted for Hungary's government, he says.

Calling tomorrow's report "so biased", he says efforts to chide Hungary will end up proving "counterproductive".

Previous "Poland bashing" in the European Parliament has only made the Polish government more popular, he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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German MEP Udo Bullman, the leader of the Socialist and Democrat group, says Mr Orban "has not understood what this debate is about".

The European Parliament is holding the vote to uphold the rights of Hungarians, not to disrespect them, he says.

He accuses Austria of playing a game of "hear no evil, see no evil" in its time in charge of the EU's rotating presidency.

Calling Mr Orban's government the "most corrupt" in the EU, he urges MEPs from the EPP group to decide "in favour of Europe" and back the motion tomorrow.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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The first response from the group leaders is from centre-right EPP chief Manfred Weber, the German MEP who has put himself forward to be the next president of the European Commission.

He has faced criticism for allowing Mr Orban's Fidesz party to continue to sit in the EPP group.

He tells MEPs that his group will decide this evening on what line it will take for the vote tomorrow.

However he says the EPP does not support making life difficult for NGOs, and that Europe "has invented human rights, not Christian rights".

Hungary has shown a readiness to compromise on rule of law issues in the past, but without this activating Article 7 "could be needed", he says.

However he adds it is in his "DNA" to try and reach an agreement.

Tomorrow MEPs will decide whether to propose activating a disciplinary procedure known as Article 7 against the Hungarian government.

The proposal requires the backing of an absolute majority of MEPs – so 376 – and two thirds of the votes cast. The assembly has never endorsed such a proposal before.

For the process to begin, the proposal would then require four-fifths of the EU’s member states to vote in favour.

In theory the process could then eventually lead to Hungary losing its EU voting rights – although this would require approval from all other member states.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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Now its the turn of Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, who begins his speech by telling MEPs that they have already "made up their mind" about the vote.

He adds that he expects there will be a majority in favour of approval tomorrow.

Hungary is a country that has "shed its blood for freedom and democracy", he says, adding that the vote tomorrow "insults the honour of the Hungarian nation".

He accuses the European Parliament of "double standards" and overreaching its powers, and claims tomorrow's motion contains 37 "factual misrepresentations".

His government, he says, has different views about the role of nations and migration. "We will not accede to this blackmail," he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans says the EU's executive "shares the concerns" about Hungary and fundamental rights.

He points out that the Commission has itself triggered the same disciplinary procedure - Article 7 - against Poland.

He gives a rundown of the "other instruments" the Commission has pursued against Hungary, including taking the country to the EU's top court over areas such as academic freedom and its asylum legislation.

The Commission "will not hesitate to take further action if necessary", he tells MEPs.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

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Representing Austria's EU presidency, Karoline Edtstadler, a minister at the Austrian interior ministry, says EU states place the "greatest importance" on upholding rights and the rule of law.

However she says she is "not in a position" to present a common position for the EU Council - where member states decide policy - because the Parliament's proposal has not been discussed.

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Strasbourg

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Dutch Green MEP Judith Sargentini, who has drafted tomorrow's motion, opens the debate by claiming she couldn't shake Mr Orban's hand because he "turned up late".

She runs through the main charges in her report, including that the Hungarian government has "effectively silenced" independent media and put academia "on a leash".

She also accuses Hungary of having replaced independent judges with those close to the government, and making life "miserable" for NGOs and minority groups such as Roma.

The European Parliament must make an "important choice" as to whether the values in the EU's treaties are "more than just words", she says.

Urging MEPs to back the motion tomorrow, she says they have "a duty to act".