GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, if good intentions and earnest words could change the world, Mrs Boumedienne-Thiery’s congenial report would constitute a revolution. When, however, I read about all these rights couched in long words, I am led to think about a Danish politician who, back home in our windswept country, got elected on a programme designed to give a boost to cycle paths. It is the same refrain that underlies this report, namely the notion that rights are derived from words. In fact, rights are derived from social practice, struggle and political activity. What also strikes me in this report is a detail of the tribute paid to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. I have nothing against rights – quite the contrary – but why was the European Union as such not allowed to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights? Its doing so would have achieved the same result. The reason is that there is another agenda whereby these rights are, to the very greatest degree, concerned with the actual process of integration, and it is this duplicity in the agenda that prompts me to make this observation.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, during the years when I was President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I had the opportunity to support many Croatians in their efforts towards the freedom and prosperity that they, like other peoples on our continent, identified with their integration into the European institutions. In the 20th Century, Croatia has gone through the same stages that many of us that are now part of the European Union had to go through. In the last 60 years, Croatia experienced a particularly awful form of fascism. A fascism like that in Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain: a characteristically European path, therefore. Then the Croats, through a particularly militant anti-fascist resistance, freed themselves from Nazism. This journey of resistance is part of the best of European heritage. After a new and long period of authoritarianism came the outbreak of independence, led by nationalist forces and others based more on purely democratic aspirations. In the struggle between them the Croatians had to go through a new chapter of ultra-nationalist authoritarianism, supported paradoxically by their Serbian counterparts, through the occupation of part of their territory and through the war. With peace and the consolidation of democracy, the Croatian people have chosen the path of moderation and tolerance, freedom and respect. And they have clearly identified that choice with their full participation in the project for European construction. The entry of Croatia into the Council of Europe made a decisive contribution to the positive developments that have been taking place in the country, and was a step further along the road to the stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union, which we are debating today and which we want to become a reality as soon as possible. This agreement is nothing if not a step further towards Croatia’s accession as a full member of the European Union, and there is no place on that path for any conditions other than those that the other applicant countries have to comply with. The Croatians have a right to that accession, but, moreover, I think it is obvious that the European project would be incomplete as long as Croatia was missing from the mosaic, along with its other neighbours from the former Yugoslavia. We will therefore vote in favour of the proposals put forward by our friend Mr Baltas and we commit ourselves to continuing to support Croatia in its efforts to become one more member of the European Union.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, underlying this report is the decision to liberalise the internal energy market through the privatisation of the public electricity and gas sectors that still exist in the European Union. Failing to heed negative experiences of similar processes, as in the case of California, for example, the report insists on the need to open up and liberalise these strategic sectors, and to make them more competitive in order to satisfy the interests of various economic groups, even with the knowledge that they are thereby endangering fundamental aspects of a universal public service: the right to the supply of high-quality energy at a reasonable price and the commitment to develop alternative and renewable forms of energy. Although these reports express some concern about universal access, minimum environmental rules, information and guaranteeing consumer choice and security of supply in every country, the fact is that taking the route towards the liberalisation and total opening up of the market will undermine these concerns. Consequently, we have, of course, voted against the report.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, we have reached a point where, when we talk publicly about the situation in the Basque Country, we cannot know what the consequences will be. I take this opportunity to enthusiastically greet all the Members of this Parliament. Montaigne said that most of the ills of the world resulted from ‘ânerie’, a word which is untranslatable into Spanish, but which is related to ‘ass’. I do not believe that it is worth wasting much time replying to criminal asses. Thank you very much.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that this evening and tomorrow's vote will see us reaching another milestone in the European Union's manifestation of European solidarity. The floods have wrought their havoc, and we have taken immediate action. Let me take this opportunity to remind you of the resolution Parliament passed by a large majority – over 470 votes in favour – at the first September part-session in Strasbourg. We showed how aid can be provided quickly and secured on a durable basis, and that there can be an instant guarantee of European aid. I would like to express my gratitude to the Commissioner, who has so quickly taken on board this initiative by Parliament and submitted proposals, and say that it would be proper for Parliament to process these proposals without delay, even though our rules actually provide for a different procedure, and even though my parliamentarian convictions do not always lead me to favour our all too ready abandonment of our rights. In this case, though, it makes sense, and in this case it is right that we should act in this way. We have now created lines in the Supplementary Budget that we have just passed. We are now discussing the legal basis, about which we want to have agreement with the Council by the time we meet in Strasbourg at the end of this month. What this means is that the formal conditions for the disbursement of funds have been fulfilled. Two are required – the legal basis and the Budget line. What I ask is that the Commission should manage to come up with a supplementary budget quickly. That, Mr Barnier, is a job for your fellow Commissioner Mrs Schreyer rather than for you! Money must also then be allocated to these lines, because – as I have told this House three times already – if a disaster strikes in the middle of August and emergency aid takes until just before Christmas to arrive, then that is not emergency aid at all! We should not be deceiving ourselves. That being so, Mr Barnier, my request is to be passed on to Mrs Schreyer – who, I am glad to see, is coming in on cue – that a supplementary budget be set as quickly as possible, so that the lines can be funded and so that European solidarity can be a matter of deeds and not just words. This needs to be given expression, and it is time that we did so. I think that we in this Parliament have made our advance payment, and I hope that help can be given quickly, and in accordance with definite criteria, in any future disasters such as we have experienced in August, and that the events leading to the abolition, without legal grounds, of the former Disaster Fund do not recur. Not all the problems in Europe should be allowed to become European solidarity issues. This is where a clear dividing line must be drawn between solidarity and subsidiarity. If we manage that, we will be on the right track! (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
Hedge funds and derivatives are good examples of how finance has become the focus of today’s economy, in which financial flows take precedence over the real economy. Their main purpose is financial speculation and, in contrast to their supposed aim of risk limitation, they actually increase systemic risks in the financial system because the high volumes of finance (it is estimated that hedge funds alone total around USD 500 billion!) increase the volatility of the capitals markets. Hedge funds were behind the crisis that beset Europe’s financial system in 1992 and behind the Asian crisis of 1997-1998. Recent IMF studies have demonstrated the impact that financial crises have on reducing world production. Many of these funds are located in tax havens, which may also lead to money-laundering. This report, which we must reject, is structured around promoting the action plan for financial services and seeks to stimulate and support these instruments, referring to hedge funds as ‘sophisticated alternative investment vehicles’. This support entails reducing excessive regulation, thereby increasing the degree to which the regulatory framework for these funds is liberalised, when what is really needed is exactly the opposite, namely the imposition of a tax on capital movements, which would not only generate income for other activities, but would also help to combat purely speculative movements and to monitor these instruments more effectively.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, before we take a vote – and I would rather a vote not be taken straight away – I should also like to join Mrs Theorin in appealing to Mr Duff as a friend and colleague to withdraw his request to establish the quorum. Last time, at the Friday sitting here in Strasbourg, a request of this type had a disastrous effect on the European Parliament’s image. It was broadcast on television the same day that there were not enough Members present in plenary to discuss aid to Ethiopia. Pictures of children who had died from famine and starving people were shown at the same time by the same channels. The same thing will happen today with the fight against trafficking in women. Pictures of poor girls living in districts that are unfit for habitation will be shown, and it will be broadcast that not enough Members were present in Parliament to discuss the matter. So, please, I beg you to withdraw your request to establish the quorum, and let us take a vote!

Political group: PSE
Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, mean that industry and, ultimately, human beings themselves are, in the name of health, medicine, larger harvests, insect-resistant crops and other supposed forms of future progress and improvements to human existence, embarking upon a path towards an unknown destination. The path may one day prove to have led to something which is the total opposite of all the promises which were given when the journey was begun. I want to issue this warning today. The European Union needs new, tighter regulations in place of the first and still current directives concerning GMOs from 1991. Since 1998, the Commission’s proposals have been under discussion. Further delays would be a mistake. As a Swedish Christian Democrat Member of the European Parliament, I want to state that it must never be the GMO industry and economic interests which are allowed to govern legislation and regulations. The representatives of these have, on repeated occasions, expressed the view that Europe has “fallen behind” the GMO industry in, above all, the United States and China, that the GMO industry cannot be “developed” as “freely” in Europe and that opportunities for new jobs and businesses “are being lost” in the EU’s fifteen Member States. Our political decisions must instead be guided by the concept of stewardship and not by manipulation of the genetic code. Our task is to hand the earth and the environment over to future generations in as good a state as possible. We must be able to show that, on the basis of stewardship and the precautionary principle, human beings have a desire to forgo what might appear to be short-term “gains” in favour of higher and significantly more long-term values such as a concern for creation and for genetic diversity. In purely practical terms, this means regulations which guarantee a minimised risk of the spread of GMOs, a halt to the use of antibiotic resistance markers, an increase in independent research into the risks presented by GMOs, liability for damages based on the principle that those who release GMOs into the environment with deleterious effects upon health or the environment should be held strictly liable, long-term evaluations of the socio-economic and environmental consequences of the release of GMOs into the environment, permanent labelling of GMO products, compliance with all current regulations, such as the Biosafety Protocol, and an open application and decision-making process in which the public are entitled to express an opinion and in which each application is dealt with separately and no simplified application procedures are approved.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the main aspects of European integration remained unresolved in Nice and will remain so for many years. However, the national governments' claim to be the constitutional legislator of Europe has finally been laid to rest, as has the hope that the heads of state and government think of themselves as the trustees of the idea of European unification. No, what they have done is to turn Europe into a bazaar at which nationalistic, national interests are bartered. Amsterdam and Nice have given us a Europe of imperial rulers, a Europe of national administrations, not a Europe of political unification. What were they supposed to be doing? According to Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union, they were supposed to be creating an ever closer political union. But no, the heads of state and government blocked the idea of European unification. Back home from Nice, they are priding themselves not on what they have given Europe, but on what they have withheld from Europe. They are holding the flags of national veto, hindrance and delay high. This is not the Europe which we have been talking about for decades. It is a Europe of administrations. Now it is the turn of the parliaments, now the time has come to show that the purpose of parliaments is to tame the power of governments and ... (The President cut the speaker off)

Political group: Verts-ALE
This directive will give valuable protection to many employees whose livelihoods are at risk, in particular due to the increasing ease with which companies relocate. It will not, of course, stop job losses but it will prevent situations from arising where employees read that they are being made redundant in the newspaper. It will also enable preparations for large-scale job losses to be made if they are inevitable. It does not adversely affect the 97% of companies with fewer than 50 workers that fall outside the terms of the directive. This final agreement is certainly not as strong as the Green/EFA Group wanted. Nevertheless, we will support the agreement because it is a major step forward in some states like the UK, which currently has no such protection for workers. We saw this in my constituency, Wales, when Corus made 3,000 steelworkers redundant, with disastrous effects on many communities and no prior consultation with the workforce. The six-year exemption unfortunately shows that the UK Government has learned nothing from that experience and workers in Wales will continue to be amongst the most vulnerable in Europe to job losses. I hope it will not take six years before all workers in Europe enjoy the same rights.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Madam President, Commissioner, I shall not criticise either the Commission or the European Parliament. I shall just say that I personally have become aware that something important has happened with the ultimate collapse of the WTO Conference in Cancún. This need not, and must not, be the end for the WTO, but it means that the EU and the United States must adjust to a new situation. Until now, we have in actual fact completely dominated as actors in the WTO but, by setting the agenda ourselves, we have given the developing countries the feeling of being excluded and of having been ridden roughshod over. When we prepare ourselves – and we prepare ourselves quite well – we naturally do so because we want to give a good account of ourselves, but we have not given enough thought to what is best for the world. The time when we could conduct this type of policy is now past. We must realise that the world’s most populous countries, such as China and India, and large producer countries, such as Brazil, are in the process of acquiring clear contours on the map of world trade, and the poorest developing countries are beginning to be noticed. It is important for us to acquire a new map of world trade.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, this time we are discussing Russia’s financial crisis. It is just one of those serious inter-related problems, or crises, Russia is struggling against at the same time. These problems have one sole cause: the political crisis. In this I am in full agreement with the view of Mr Paasilinna. Since the collapse of the system, Russia has had no viable political system. The parliamentary elections organised for the end of this year and the presidential elections next year may create a basis for solving the political crisis; at least we must hope they will. The international community must be patient with Russia. As the political system and the main social institutions do not function properly, some of the aid to the country is getting wasted. Aid and assistance to Russia must, however, continue, but we have to learn from experience so that the operation may be as successful as possible. The European Union must strive to ensure in particular that Russia can develop a workable democratic system for itself, with viable social and economic institutions. To assist the operation it would be of value to establish regionally and locally based contact and co-operation between the countries of the EU and Russia. This would provide, on a massive scale, a context for providing Russia with the social and economic know-how the country badly needs. There are particularly favourable opportunities for this in border areas between the EU and Russia, as the bilateral agreement on co-operation in neighbouring areas made between Finland and Russia at the start of the 1990s shows. Unfortunately, there have been difficulties in communication between the European Parliament and the Duma. The meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Development and Co-operation planned for this autumn has been postponed. We must hope that it will be organised again as soon as possible. The Committee on Development and Co-operation has grown, and it has many new members from our group. For this reason, we should make our work more effective to increase, for example, the knowledge our members have of Russia. It might still be appropriate to hold a seminar this autumn, one in which we could acquire more expert knowledge on economic and social conditions in Russia. In addition, we need a monitoring committee to help members to keep their knowledge of Russia continuously up to date. Mr President, in my opinion, the Commission’s report was well-informed and valid, and I believe that the Commission will attend to the issue of the economic crisis in Russia and matters generally connected with Russian relations.

Political group: ELDR
Madam President, as we all know, Parliament will be in recess in August. Therefore, I would like to recall today that 8 August 2001 is the anniversary of a tragedy: the 45th anniversary of the terrible accident which took place in the Marcinelle mines. On 8 August 1956, 262 miners died in the most tragic accident in the workplace ever to take place in Europe: 262 miners from all over our continent. I am sure, Madam President, that you will want to take suitable measures to mark the anniversary of this tragic event, and I am also sure that the Belgian presidency, which has announced that its programme will include the creation of an equitable social Europe, will make every endeavour to ensure that this proposal establishes the conditions necessary to prevent a tragedy such as that of Marcinelle ever occurring in Europe again. (Applause)

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, Iraq today belongs to the Iraqi people. Freedom from the yoke of a terrible tyranny has been achieved. 30 years of vicious oppression, marked only by a few bloodied milestones of failed invasions abroad and genocidal assaults at home lie in the past. Yet guilty men and women are still at large. Trials are essential, but Iraqi judges cannot carry the burden alone. Their vulnerability is too acute to act in isolation of an international judicial framework and a freer Iraq lies vulnerable to gangs of organised criminals as well as to terrorist incursions. Securing her borders as well as the provision of increased protection for the Iraqi people are both imperatives today. Surely the time has come for Nato to join with the Coalition forces. These already number many nations, but lack the benefits of Nato's longstanding expertise and close coordination. The Nato umbrella could properly protect the UN's essential guiding hand in an advisory, humanitarian and developmental role. Without that protection the UN agencies simply cannot function. The keynote themes of the late and much mourned Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim included the demand for the full establishment of the rule of law and of the entrenchment of human rights in a federal constitution. Inward investment, the development of civil society, small businesses and citizens’ rights and freedoms, are also part of the democratic process that is starting to come together. We in the European Union have decades of confidence and experience in all these fields. Let us now take up the challenge and join, in every way we can, in the restoration of Iraq's rich culture and human diversity and her return into the family of nations, through the establishment of a free and democratic state.

Political group: ELDR