GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the report we are debating today is an intelligent and creditable attempt by Mr Poos to reform the Council without changing the Treaties. I congratulate the rapporteur on his efforts although I cannot share his optimism. I do not believe that this mini-reform can solve the problems of the Council nor do I see the political will to carry it out, unfortunately. I hope that I am wrong and Mr Poos is right. Mr President, the golden age of the General Affairs Council has passed and it seems unrealistic to believe that the European Council is prepared to reinstate the powers which it has taken away from it. European policies are not external policies but internal policies of the Member States and the important decisions must not be reserved for the Foreign Affairs Ministers. They already have enough to do with the common foreign and security policy. The institutional triangle is still essential to the good functioning of the Union, provided that each of its elements continues to adapt to the new requirements. In the case of the Council, we are facing a quagmire whose deficiencies can only be remedied: a) by recognising the decisive role of the European Council; b) by giving the General Affairs Council the task of effectively preparing its decisions so that they are not relegated to national bureaucracies; and c) by organising all the specialised Councils into an efficiently-structured system. This efficiency will not be achieved without abandoning the now obsolete system of a rotating six-monthly Presidency, replacing it with a longer-lasting Presidency. Effective political action cannot change its priorities every six months. My group raised this issue in the debate of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, although, out of respect for the focus of the report, we do not insist on this point. The Poos report has the merit of proposing to the Council some minimal reforms, which are likely to lead to a process of self-reform which is becoming increasingly essential. I would be pleased if it achieved that objective at least. We would all gain from this, even those of us who believe that Council reforms can only be achieved by the Convention because they need to be far more in-depth.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, first of all, I do not think this emergency resolution is the best way to help solve the still worrying situation in Gujarat, mainly because the violence seen in this state during recent months is a manifestation of an extremely complex phenomenon affecting the whole region and not just India. It involves social factors such as poverty, urban ‘ghettoisation’, some interference by organised crime with unknown links abroad, a certain inability of the political elite to mobilise people’s energies around political ideals and the drift towards the religious sphere, especially through fundamentalist extremism. It is, however, quite right that the European Parliament should feel concern for a case that has already cost the lives of a about thousand people – or even more, as estimates vary according to the source. This is not the time to analyse the episodes that gave rise to this violence, but it is worth pointing out that everything began with the fire in two train carriages on 27 February last, in which 58 people died, half of them women and children. Nothing can justify this kind of action, and the retaliations and revenge that followed cannot be justified at all, either. Godhra, it should be remembered, is a peripheral urban area with a high population density and a level of latent social conflict, where the forces of law and order generally find it difficult to act, apart from the possible involvement of members of the local police in one or other religious faction, according to the results of inquiries so far. What is certain is that at first the forces of law and order did not succeed in putting an end to the violence. The matter was, however, taken up immediately by the democratic institutions of the Indian Union, namely the government, the opposition parties and parliament. I did in fact visit the Indian Parliament on the very days when this subject was discussed. Urgent measures were adopted not only on the government’s own initiative but also because of strong pressure from the opposition and the Indian media. I must point out that stands adopted outside the Indian democratic system itself, however well intentioned they may be, sometimes end up being counterproductive in that they bolster nationalist and fundamentalist positions of various origins, Islamic or Hindu. In any case, on behalf of my group, I recommend adoption of this resolution without any changes, as we consider it well balanced.

Political group: PSE
Water quality is an important environmental issue, and it was therefore important and commendable that the EU should have adopted a framework directive on water, 2000/60/EC. The framework directive establishes the general framework for protecting all types of water (water in rivers and lakes, together with coastal and groundwater). It is not, however, important that the EU should have a directive regulating the quality of bathing water. That is an example of the EU’s being unnecessarily detailed in regulating matters that are not even cross-border in nature. We would instead emphasise the autonomy of local authorities and the Member States in this area.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, reduction of air pollution and, in particular, benzene and carbon monoxide is a legitimate objective of the European Union. Therefore, this directive must be generally welcomed. Air sampling must be organised to give an accurate assessment of annual personal exposure levels, and I am concerned that some amendments that call for roadside inlets would give a distorted picture of the problem. Individuals are not exposed to kerb side concentrations continuously. It is the building line which is important and that may be more than five metres from the kerb. The unqualified derogation for benzene levels, referred to by Mrs Breyer for socio-economic reasons, at first seems bizarre. One would have thought that communities living in our disadvantaged areas, with all their associated health problems, would be those most in need of cleaner air. However, if this regulation were to result in the closure of a major industry in that area, the results would be counter-productive and would exacerbate the social and economic problems. Although petrol engines are the primary source of benzene, metallurgical coke-works are also implicated. If the most stringent aspects proposed are implemented, this part of the steel-making industry could be forced abroad, probably to eastern Europe, which brings me to my last point. The Commission proposal does not specifically address the problems of air pollution in applicant countries; and I think it is irresponsible, given the eminent enlargement, for Parliament not to be given any information regarding pollution levels in countries like Poland and the Czech Republic; and the likely cost and time scale involved in bringing them up to exacting new standards. Could I suggest, Mrs Wallström, that in future, when environment legislation like this is considered, the full implications regarding applicant countries be taken into account and publicised.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, since the attention of the world is focused on the huge crisis of Iraq, it is the duty of Parliament and of all people of good will to shift considerable attention back onto the issue of combating hunger, as the European Parliament is striving to do today, not least in the light of the – I am sad to say, disappointing – results of the most recent summits, the most recent international talks. Quite frankly, I would include among these the difficulty of converting a genuine impetus generated by many non-governmental organisations for rapid change and for a policy of assembling critical voices into a positive drive for change and reform, and, in this regard, I would refer to the recent statements of the President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, who both calls upon the institutions to do more and calls upon civil society to direct its critical gaze at the shortcomings of globalisation in a constructive way, setting substantial goals. I would point out that it is right, including in the instrument before Parliament today too, for greater attention to be given to the dreadful situation in some parts of Africa, particularly Ethiopia, where some millions of people are in real danger of losing their lives. It is clear to all – and the document we are about to adopt illustrates this well – that the situation can only be improved by correcting and modifying the structural errors and dreadful inadequacies of many governments which have continued to channel their money in the wrong direction, despite the fact that experience has shown, in the light of the facts, that it is necessary to change their approach in order to eliminate the root causes of poverty, the root causes of hunger and malnutrition and the lack of information whose consequences are an appalling health crisis and the denial of education and training to tens or hundreds of millions of people. Moreover, it is clear to all that, in many cases, barriers to trade are another key factor which needs to be eliminated. That would bring more freedom and, therefore, greater competition and more opportunities in addition to urgently-needed humanitarian measures. This is what the European Parliament is striving for, and I believe we must all support it today.

Political group: ELDR
Commissioner, your reply has been quite inadequate and confused, because we know from the press that on 15 March negotiations between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the agriculture chapter will be starting in Rabat. As I am sure you know, Commissioner, Mr Aznar is the President-in-Office of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union. I am therefore speaking purely in terms of the EU. I would like you, Commissioner, to tell me what basic premises you will be working on in these negotiations and whether you think a climate of good relations with Morocco would have been desirable instead of Mr Aznar’s scandalous failure. I am not speaking in the context of Spain but of the European Union, since the negotiations that will be opening on 15 March have nothing to do with Spain and are completely European, just as this House and my question are also entirely European. And yet the replies you give to the Members of this House are quite unsatisfactory, as if you have no respect for democratic representation. This is disgraceful!

Political group: PSE
I did not abstain in the final vote on the report through opposition to the European arrest warrant. It was much more the case that I was opposed to the rushed procedure with which this matter was dealt with. Report Rapkay (A5-0002/2002)

Political group: PSE
I congratulate Mrs Rühle on the report she has drawn up on a proposal for a Council decision establishing a Community action programme to promote active Community citizenship, to which I give my vote, in particular because of the need to support organisations working in the field of promoting active European citizenship. I also wish to emphasise that it is not enough to develop the concept of citizenship from a legal point of view in order to exercise the rights permitted by the Community acquis. The citizens must be involved in developing the European project and must be brought closer to the European reality. Attaining this objective will specifically require fully and effectively disseminating the Union’s values and objectives, using the media for example and involving the Community’s citizens in discussions and debates on European integration, relying on the multiplier effect of passing on their views. I would also like to emphasise that promoting active citizenship must be undertaken for all of the Union’s citizens, by no means overlooking those who live in regions that are far from the centre of Europe, particularly the citizens of the outermost regions.

Political group: PPE-DE
I wanted to table an oral amendment both on behalf of my own Group of the and on behalf of the Group of the . The intention is to add a few words which will then make it clear that the definition of terrorism, in the form that we adopted yesterday, will also apply to these measures. In other words, the amendment will not affect the entry into force but the interpretation of the definition of terrorism. The text reads: “would like the implementation of these four measures and especially the common position on specific measures to combat terrorism to be subject to the interpretation of the definition, as laid down in the framework decision concerning the definition of terrorism that was laid down by the Council on 6 December 2001, particularly with regard to the guarantees described in the recitals and the relevant statements made by the Council”. I hope that this is acceptable to everyone. (The House gave its assent to the tabling of the oral amendment) (Parliament adopted the resolution) *** Joint motion for a resolution(3) on the financing of development aid (Parliament adopted the resolution) *** Joint motion for a resolution(4) on the UNCHR in Geneva Regarding paragraph 5

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I do not wish to be rendered superfluous by what previous speakers have said. I also come from an area, the Basque Country, where there is a great sense of solidarity, due to the fact that Venezuela is a country which has received immigrants from the whole of Spain and the Basque Country in particular, and which, during the long years of Franco’s dictatorship, lent us inestimable moral and material support. Furthermore, as we say, “it never rains but it pours”; in recent days we have discovered that there has been an earthquake which measured 6 on the Richter Scale as well as a tidal wave. Since we all share this sense of solidarity and condolence, I would also like to talk about certain aspects which go beyond material aid in the short term and the resolution itself. We should examine the model of development, not only in Venezuela but also in other countries, bringing it more into line with the need to preserve and respect the environment. We also need to provide aid for the study of these aspects and the negative influence which certain industrial sectors have on the environmental balance, and not only in Venezuela. We should hold a European Union-Latin America Conference in order to reverse the tendency towards dependency on, and the exportation of, energy resources, as well as the blind exploitation of those resources. We should do everything necessary to prevent these catastrophes. Therefore, we must turn our attention to all these points and also – of course – to the points appearing in the resolution. Finally, I do not wish to miss this opportunity to also draw your attention to the claims of human rights violations in Venezuela under the pretext of taking action against looting in the areas affected. We cannot close our eyes to this either. Our solidarity with the Venezuelan people must not lead us to lower our guard in the monitoring of individuals such as President Chávez, a populist President who has shown worrying signs of intolerance and threats to various sectors, including the media, although some European leaders are willing to ‘laugh at his jokes’.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, we shall vote in favour of the Group resolution because it denounces Total-Fina’s responsibility in this ecological disaster and I endorse the proposal that flags of convenience and the use of superannuated vessels should be prohibited, or that double hulls should be mandatory for oil tankers. I shall only add that it would be the least that Total could do to compensate for the direct and indirect damage caused by the oil slick. How can we stop similar disasters occurring in future if we do not institute draconian measures against the major oil corporations, and indeed many others who, in order to make more profit, take the risk of making the world uninhabitable? How is it possible not to be outraged when a bank refuses to divulge the names of the Erika’s owners on the grounds of professional confidentiality, without governments reacting? The crux of the problem is that all governments, and indeed all the European institutions, acknowledge the right of major corporations such as Total-Fina and its ilk to maximise profits whether it be harmful to their employees or to the environment. They accept the professional confidentiality of business and banks, even though this same confidentiality serves to conceal what are essentially criminal actions. In these circumstances, even the best resolutions will remain little more than appeals to principle which are powerless to limit the great corporations’ capacity to cause damage.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, may I take this opportunity to be the first Member to congratulate Professor Diamandouros on his election as European Ombudsman. It has been my pleasure over the last few years to work with Jacob Söderman, who has been an outstanding Ombudsman for Europe, but I am very happy to see that the position of Ombudsman will continue in the safe hands of Professor Diamandouros. The post of Ombudsman is a crucial post for European democracy. It is important that it is in competent hands and we now see that it will be. One point I would like to make is this. All the candidates for Ombudsman – and they should all be thanked for their contribution to the debate – have upheld the code of good administrative behaviour proposed and endorsed by this Parliament and proposed by Mr Söderman. We should very firmly say to the institutions of Europe, particularly the Commission, that they should also now seize the opportunity without any further delay to endorse that code, so that we can be quite sure that Europe has the good administration it needs and deserves and which all the servants of the institutions wish to provide. I offer Professor Diamandouros all my congratulations. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, firstly, I am pleased for both rapporteurs that their reports have met with such broad approval, not only in the Committee but also here in Parliament. It shows that we are all of the opinion that an accelerated process of change on the internal European financial markets must also have consequences for our political work. Of course, this was also highlighted in the report by the Committee of Wise Men on European securities markets regulation chaired by Mr Lamfalussy, which we will be debating later on this week. A second piece of evidence for this change is the exponential growth in the volume of shares, of over 30% each year between 1995 and 1999. This is of prime importance, owing to the strategic significance of well-functioning financial markets for increasing economic prosperity in the EU. When the investment services directive is upgraded, three aims must be taken into account simultaneously: firstly, speeding up market integration; secondly, improving the level of protection afforded to investors, and thirdly, market stability. On the one hand this benefits the markets and on the other it protects investors. In this way, financial stability will be safeguarded in the future. Two further points, which have also already been mentioned, are of concern to me here. Firstly, a fully operational European passport needs to be created for investment firms. In order to use this opportunity and remove the existing obstacles to its introduction, we urgently need to move over to the country-of-origin principle. For major investors this should happen as quickly as possible and for small investors – Mrs Kauppi has already referred to this – the same principle applies but transitional arrangements will probably be necessary. An additional issue in this context is the harmonisation of conduct of business rules, which is a prerequisite for a healthy internal market. My second concern is that there should be genuine competition between stock exchanges and trading platforms. To make fair competition possible an appropriate and efficient system of supervision needs to be set up. This should avoid competition being determined and thus distorted by differing rules and the ensuing hunt for the more favourable regulatory framework. There is a trend towards ever increasing investments in securities – we also talk about this in connection with pension funds – and that is why I would recommend speedy adoption and implementation, hopefully before 2005. This too would be in line with the Lamfalussy report.

Political group: PPE-DE
Given the characteristics of the World Trade Organisation, I wonder how a large and poor country hopes to benefit from it. I would advise China to stay out of it and to rather rely on self-support than participation in world trade. But I also agree that China’s accession should not be refused if she asks for it herself. The People's Republic of China was internationally isolated for many years and was not recognised by most countries. Since it was ultimately recognised, the territory on the island of Taiwan that is controlled by the successors to the government driven out in 1949 is regarded as a non-recognised state, which is something we should now try to find a solution for. On the one hand, there are economic and military ties, and on the other, some people act as if she does not exist. It is just as contrived to automatically allocate Taiwan to China as it was to allocate China's territory to Taiwan in the past. The two territories have grown far apart over the past 50 years or more, and there have always been ethnic differences anyway. I reluctantly endorse the proposed structures, but they will not solve the real problems. – Ghent European Council (RC B5-0696/2001)

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I cannot refrain from delivering this explanation of vote. The document is entitled: ‘eEurope 2005: An information society for all’. For all? For absolutely everybody? Mr Silvio Berlusconi has issued a letter giving money to students to buy computers. What about pensioners? I would like pensioners not to be overlooked in this information society. I propose that, when pensioners draw their first pension payment, together with this first pension payment they should be given – and I stress, given – a computer, so that they too can enjoy the benefits, the marvels and the joys of information technology.

Political group: PPE-DE