GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
The Commissioner confirms our suspicions that Commissioner Fischler is hiding things from us and hiding himself as well. I am not surprised that he left the chamber hardly ten minutes ago because this proposal is shameful. It takes from agriculture an amount to pay for a United Nations mission in Kosovo, in European Union resources and agricultural policy resources. And then we have a Commissioner who is denying farmers subsidies for nuts, whose production they are going to lose, and who is denying European agriculture the aid to deal with the effects of the drought. All of this demonstrates that Agenda 2000 has been nothing but a great firework display. This is a disgrace for European agriculture. It does not surprise me that given this outrage the Commissioner responsible... This is a disgrace! A disgrace!

Political group: PSE
Mr President, in my opinion, Amendment No 60 is not incompatible with Amendment No 41 and can be voted on as an addition. I would like to hear the opinion of the proposing group.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Mr Yiannitsis, Mr Prodi, I have been unable to sleep for several nights; by not sleeping I cannot dream and this makes it difficult for me to give the explanations of vote which I normally give in this Chamber. Therefore, I turn to you for reassurance, in particular President Prodi, not just because he has a persuasive, calm, reassuring, almost paternal voice, but also and above all, because of the statements made so far. Why am I worried? Because many pensioners are worried and cannot sleep either. They know, as I do, that the Presidents-in-Office of the Council try to balance the accounts, for economic reasons, in any way they can, even by cutting expenditure intended for pensioners. Pensioners agree with having accounts that balance – and what well-balanced accounts they are – but some of them only have their pension to live off. The approximate number of people living exclusively off a pension does not exceed one hundred million in Europe, without taking into account the candidate countries, and they say: ‘We are all for balancing the accounts, but why not cut expenditure other than that intended for pensions?’ In some States, for example in Italy, there are laws, adopted by previous governments but still in force under the current government, according to which a 99% disabled person who has worked for a few years is given a pension of EUR 30 a month and widows of young men who have died are given pensions of EUR 18. Can we be reassured – and therefore sleep peacefully – that cuts will be made, as is only right, but that this will be done wisely?

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to express my thanks for the positive atmosphere in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, because not only this report but also those that follow – especially the legislative reports in the area of financial services – require a high degree of willingness to cooperate and need to be seen in the context of attempts to strengthen economic and monetary union as the motor of the European Union. I therefore view the Trentin report in conjunction with the report already adopted on the economic consequences of 11 September. We certainly always debated them together in committee. I do not need to repeat that. I stand by the Lisbon objectives. Yes, they are ambitious – but we need ambitious objectives, because if we just tread water and are complacent we will achieve nothing. However, we will only achieve these objectives if we do our homework. That applies not only to the European Parliament but also to the Council and the governments of the Member States. We need to get over this period of weakness, as it says in the report. But to get over a period of weakness you have to take measures and not just wait. We have to recognise that we have a great deal to do and cannot just wait for an upturn in America. We have to become independent from America's economy. For me, that means we need a properly functioning internal market, in other words we must do everything to implement in good time the directives that have already been adopted, to eliminate obstacles to the internal market, and to achieve greater coordination in the internal market despite the variations in competence, in order to remove distortion of competition. Our objectives are an action plan for financial services, structural reforms, observance of the Stability Pact and the principles of the social market economy.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner Fischler, ladies and gentlemen, in its common position, the Council did not adopt a complete and open statement but simply a meagre compromise which merely calls for a declaration according to brackets of percentages by weight. This does not tally with the notion of comprehensive transparency in the production of feedingstuffs, which we have called for on numerous occasions. Farmers do not yet know what and how many primary products are contained in feedingstuffs. That is why the Group of the supports the recommendation of the rapporteur, who systematically integrated the open declaration of feed materials in the text of the draft directive. He also repeated the demand for a legally binding positive list of permissible feed materials for feedingstuffs. The Commission has been requested to put forward a legislative proposal by the end of 2001. This too has our full support. Surely it cannot be so very difficult to draw up a list of permissible feed materials for feedingstuffs. At least we know what the various feedingstuffs should as a rule contain, or perhaps, after what has been said, we do not. The eight months proposed by the rapporteur seem to me to be a reasonable and adequate time within which to draw up such a list. This list is urgent, since we cannot do without industrially produced feedingstuffs in the future. Just like people, animals need balanced nutrition. If they are only fed water, hay and cereals, which was called for in the past, this would not satisfy current conditions for agricultural production and is, in my opinion, a far cry from reality. Given that feedingstuffs are the most important part of meat production we must ensure that these feedingstuffs are safe. How else can we restore consumer confidence in meat. All in all, the Council would be well advised to accept Parliament’s proposals without amending them and to demonstrate that it has learnt from past mistakes. We cannot wait until it is too late and then tinker about with the symptoms. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I rise on the same point which has just been made. I sincerely hope that you would write to the Sudanese Government and suggest that these barbaric punishments be stopped immediately: not just for this crime, but for all crimes. They cannot continue to use Sharia law and these dreadful, horrendous punishments.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, previous speakers have mentioned the broad consensus that exists concerning the profits arising from the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector. There was no such consensus previously. To my great delight, I note that it is liberals who have been in the vanguard of this change: Commissioner Bangemann, together with Finland’s former Minister for Transport, Mr Norrback, who was among the first ministers to liberalise this sector. I would point out, for example, that, last year, we in Finland noted that GSM prices were, on average, seven per cent lower. Even foreign calls were ten per cent lower than previously. We are therefore still making quite large strides in this area. I also hope that, in the future, we shall be able to conduct a similar open dialogue with the Commission regarding development within this sector. The Commission is undertaking many investigations and inquiries. We need impartial information to be able to keep track of developments and, as public decision makers, to be able to take the necessary decisions. These two reports deal with issues both large and small. In common with previous speakers, I would express my appreciation of the constructive cooperation that has taken place with the rapporteurs. The major issues are about the ways in which broadband services can be made available to everyone and about the auctions we have touched upon. Clearly, it is up to each Member State to decide upon its strategy for obtaining networks with high transmission speeds for everyone. However, we wish today to offer vigorous support to the Commission’s recommendation that dominant network operators should be responsible for permitting combined services all the way to the subscribers. In certain Member States, that is already the case, for example in my own country, Finland. Even there, consideration might be given to going further by introducing a situation in which dominant operators become responsible for hiring out the telecommunications companies’ premises for the purpose of housing equipment. I think we need to see to it that we utilise existing capacity as far as possible and obtain better service and, in that way, lower prices. The auctions issue has provoked discussion and does so every day. One might well wonder if it is a question here of being penny wise and pound foolish. Apart from the risk of the auction prices for third generation mobile telephones putting the brakes on development, there are two other matters I should like to emphasise. There is a risk of roaming for third generation mobile telephony being put in jeopardy. There may also be a risk of barriers arising between the Member States. I would therefore hope that the Commission is alert to this question and that we can engage in a creative discussion on the subject.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, faced with massive mergers and industrial restructuring resulting in thousands of redundancies, many employees, many European citizens, have found Europe to be powerless if not actually colluding with these actions, in line with the law of free competition. It is high time that we provided means to intervene on behalf of employees. There is an intolerable contradiction between the Council and the Commission’s declared priority of promoting employment and the massive redundancies that big businesses are making, and who are, at the same time, making fantastic profits. Michelin, Moulinex, Danone and Alstom are not businesses experiencing difficulties. They are perfectly competitive, and have a record of making more than adequate profits, but they are laying off thousands of people nonetheless. The case of Danone is very instructive, making 3 000 people redundant in Europe and 1 700 in France. In the year 2000, this firm’s European installations made a net profit of EUR 795 million, or 17% more than in 1999. It is not possible to sit back and simply watch the unfolding spectacle of mergers that make men and women redundant, plunging entire families into chaos. The European citizenship we so often refer to in this society will continue to be nothing more than just so much hot air as long as employees are not properly informed and consulted on choices which determine their own future and that of their region and their country. How, furthermore, can we find it acceptable for groups to benefit from grants of public financial aid to promote employment without being obliged to comply with the commitments they have made? In such instances, the aid funds should be paid back to the community which will have to bear the social costs resulting from the choice of financial profitability over employment. I do not think that the problem boils down to employability or adaptability or to simply dealing with the social fallout, as the Commissioner suggested. I therefore endorsed the proposals made in the resolution as well as the amendments that clarify and strengthen certain aspects. We shall have to go much further to respond to the democratic demands of the working citizens of Europe. I therefore feel that rights should be developed to the point where it is possible to halt scheduled redundancies and ongoing mergers. Any merger contract must include social clauses. Penalties must also be introduced for failure to comply with the directives on worker consultation. At this time when there is a great deal of debate on the subject of European identity and the direction that European integration should be taking, I feel that a text specifying certain employee rights in the face of financial objectives would be the least that could be done so as to give the European Union a degree of credibility. I shall therefore vote in favour of the resolution which I hope will be enhanced by a number of amendments.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, our group can support the guidelines at this stage, but will make a judgement on the overall budget later in the year, depending on the outcome of various policy debates that are of key concern to us. Firstly, the EU must be able to welcome new member states in the best possible circumstances, meaning that they must be able to fully benefit from the funds originally earmarked for them at Berlin by switching, if necessary, underspends from accession to pre-accession, depending on the pace of individual countries. Secondly, another matter related to enlargement is the reform of the common agricultural policy. Instead of getting into a heated debate about whether or not to give the new member states direct payments, would we not do better to concentrate our energies on reforming the common agricultural policy by encouraging integrated rural development schemes and sound environmental working practices suitable not only for the existing Member States but for our applicant countries too? The third area of concern is the funds available in category 4 (external policy). Every year we face new international crises and we want to help solve them. We have a duty to help solve them, but if this has to be done year after year without new money, then of course we will run out of money and will have to make difficult decisions such as cutting off aid to one poor area to help another, or spreading our aid so thinly that it does not have the desired effect anywhere. Surely this cannot be our aim. Also in this respect, we would like to know to what extent countries which receive aid will be encouraged and enabled to tender for contracts in public works and services themselves, so as to give long-term benefits to their economies.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, my heart goes out to the Galicians, and to the people who are clearing up the oil, which is now more than a metre thick. Unfortunately, however, we do not have an emergency response team, and we do not have a professional approach. I find this particularly regrettable. We must, however, stop simply passing the buck. Naturally it is important to have this discussion, but not now, and not here. It is much more important to pay attention to making sure that Europe’s coastline is protected. My colleague Mr Dirk Sterckx’s specific suggestions about ports of refuge are particularly appropriate. I would like to call upon the Commission and Council to avoid hot-air politics when it comes to the safety of shipping. I support the Commission in respect of the agency and the exercising of controls, as Mrs de Palacio has just mentioned. A ban on single-hull tankers carrying crude oil is soap-box politics and avoids the actual structural problems of international shipping. A well-maintained single-hull tanker is safer than a badly maintained double-hull tanker. I am not a fan of the IMO, but it is absolutely necessary for coming to agreements and for honouring and implementing agreements that are already in place. It looks as if we are creating a more realistic policy than the one you are proposing. In my opinion it is important to negotiate with Russia on the control of ships that are loaded there and travel along the European coast to Africa. I think that it is very important to check classification agencies so that we know the responsibilities of the skippers, captains and shipowners and in particular in order to plan clear shipping routes. I hope that this will result in a better policy.

Political group: ELDR
It is perfectly clear from the vote in favour of more and more obstacles to fisheries that all the ΕU wants is to establish a restrictive fisheries policy. Policies so far have managed to reduce the number of vessels, especially coastal fishing vessels, hitting small family businesses hard and driving people out of this profession. On the pretext of maintaining fish stocks, the aim is to end subsidies and limit funding for fleet renewal, thereby accelerating the demise of small and medium-sized enterprises in countries such as Greece, where fisheries are traditionally of both social and economic importance. The objective is to shift fisheries into the hands of large companies. This will destroy the social aspect of fisheries, which will become the exclusive preserve of a few fishermen employed by fisheries companies, who will be cut off in their work from their social roots. At the same time, the aim is to develop the fish farming sector during the course of overall increases in the production of all types of aquaculture products. What we need is a change in general orientation and approach, which is not in the nature of the capitalist ΕU, together with an overall policy based on its interests, the interests of small and medium-sized farming and fishing enterprises, not the interests of big business.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I think we should establish from the outset that the reasons why this lucrative illegal trade is flourishing are exactly the same as those at the root of both the illegal narcotics trade and of illegal arms trading. Analysis of these activities demands a better understanding of the contribution which, as the Commissioner said, conflict and weak governance in particular make to this problem, and we in the European Union, as donors, should perhaps be more serious about supporting conservation and biodiversity projects. Running alongside this, the efforts we make on conflict prevention and the peace facility proposed for the African Union, etc. will play their part in addressing some of the concerns raised here today. This is an issue which has been regularly debated in the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and which has consistently received the support of our ACP parliamentary colleagues. They tell us, and we have had discussions with them, about the importance – also emphasised by the Commissioner – their governments must attach to the priority of making sustainable management and conservation of natural resources a clear part of their national indicative programmes. That is something in which we have a role to play in the JPA, and in the Committee on Development and Cooperation and elsewhere, because, unless governments make this a priority, I am afraid we are whistling in the wind. It must also be said that bushmeat provides a major source of protein. In some parts of Nigeria, up to 84% of protein is obtained from bushmeat, which plays a significant part in people's lives. Where access to wildlife is restricted, people will have to adapt and continue to adapt in ways that entail even greater risks. It is much better to talk about controlling the trade than to suggest we stamp it out. If we talk about stamping out the illegal trade in bushmeat, all we will do is drive it underground and make it much more difficult to deal with. The importance of bushmeat in the livelihoods of poor people has never been assessed. We have made a lot of pronouncements this afternoon, but there has been no clear assessment of the importance of bushmeat in people's livelihoods. I would end by saying that better management of the trade might contribute in no small way to our objective of meeting poverty eradication targets.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, it is clear from your reply that you personally are holding the Council to ransom. It is also clear that your personal prejudices, which bear no relation to the situation in Austria and contradict the experts' report, also have a great deal of influence on your function as President-in-Office, as can be seen from your itinerary in preparation for the French President's and the President-in-Office's tour des capitales. My question, therefore, is when do you intend to start performing all your duties in a way which reflects the spirit of Robert Schuman, the content of the experts' report and the situation in Austria, and leaving your personal prejudices to one side? (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the elections in Zimbabwe are a democratic joke. The opposition’s election workers have been threatened, persecuted, imprisoned and killed. Freedom of expression is non-existent. Many Zimbabweans queued for hours and were still not allowed to vote. Mr Mugabe has broken promise after promise and driven his country into the ground. Under his leadership, Zimbabwe, a country with fantastic potential, has headed straight for the abyss. It is worrying that so many African leaders have tried to explain away what has been happening in Zimbabwe and maintained that the elections were fair. I assume that the Foreign Ministers and the Commission will discuss Zimbabwe in Barcelona and decide upon suitable, wider sanctions and a strategy to involve the whole region. A lot of pressure must be exerted upon South Africa. In no way can we recognise these elections as fair. We waited far too long before taking action against Zimbabwe. We hoped and believed. Our former colleague, Mr Schori, had to be thrown out of the country before the sanctions were introduced. We must not betray those who are fighting for democracy in Zimbabwe.

Political group: ELDR
Madam President, on a point of order. I wish to draw the attention of the House to an unfortunate incident which has occurred since our last part-session, and that is the case of Mr Panikos Tsiakourmas. Many of you may be unaware that part of Cyprus is already part of the European Union because Great Britain retained sovereign bases on Cyprus and Mr Tsiakourmas was seized from one of those bases shortly before Christmas. That seizure was an illegal act. Mr Tsiakourmas is now being held in North Cyprus. I would appeal to the House to express its sympathy with Mr Tsiakourmas and his family. He has been accused of a crime of which I do not think he is guilty. However, whatever the merits of his case, the circumstances of his abduction were unacceptable. He was abducted from the territory of a European Union Member State. I would ask the President to express our concern to the Ankara Government about this incident and our hope that this unfortunate incident will not affect the solution to the Cyprus problem and the peace negotiations which are continuing at this moment, and to express our hope that Mr Tsiakourmas will be released as soon as possible.

Political group: PPE-DE