GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Madam Foreign Minister, Commissioner, first I should like to pass on apologises for absence from Doris Pack, our top expert on crisis regions. She is on her way to Sarajevo and has asked me to stand in for her. It is true that, once again, we are right up against the concepts of “civil crisis management” and “conflict prevention” in the crisis region, and we pray that we shall not have to deploy the third option, i.e. of putting our military capabilities to the test. Recent developments in the region have been both positive and extremely negative and I think that we have taken account of both in Parliament’s compromise resolution which will be put to the vote tomorrow. On the positive side, I would point out that efforts to keep the peace in Macedonia really have worked over recent years and the Georgievski government has made a special contribution here by including representatives of the Albanian minority in the coalition. And if you take a closer look, you will see that this is not just a formality and that many important positions in Macedonia have been given to members of the minority. We have all the more responsibility for stabilising this country and it is good to hear that relative peace has now been restored on the fifth day, including in Tanusevcí, which was temporarily occupied by UCK extremists. I should like to raise another point in this connection. Croatia has also made good progress and the Mesi government currently in power in Croatia – unlike the previous government – is not under any suspicion of encouraging Croatian extremists in Herzegovina who want to interfere with the successful community in Bosnia-Herzegovina and try to impose their own agenda there. In this respect, the appeal to the HDZ in Herzegovina is justified, but should be seen in isolation from these trends. As proof of our trust – and I think as justifiable proof of our trust – towards the new Yugoslavian Government, we had allowed Yugoslav troops to start patrolling the Presevo valley in order to keep UCK extremists there under control and, in return, NATO has also stepped up border controls. This is, I think, an important point. But what must we do when we demand that communal representatives in Kosovo and the local authorities fight the extremists? I think that it is important to say in this context that we must strengthen the legitimacy of moderate forces in Kosovo and that we strengthen Mr Rugowa – to name a name – by making it possible for elections to be held in Kosovo. I think that is an important political point. Otherwise the UCK can maintain off its own bat that they have more influence than they actually do. If we move in this direction, it will, I think, be a positive development.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, our objective in setting a framework for unit trusts and other UCTIS is to secure the highest possible safe return for our savers, which is why I want to address the issue of derivatives in my remarks today. I firmly believe that the prudent use of derivatives can help fund secure, safer, higher returns. Despite their image of danger, derivatives are usually used by asset managers as insurance. A contract that, for example, pays a substantial sum if, say, the NASDAQ or the CAC 40 share index falls, causes an extra payment by the investor if the NASDAQ or the CAC 40 share index rises. Is this speculative? Not at all. Imagine you have spent some months building up a portfolio of shares in companies in which you are confident: they have good management, good prospects and they are good investments. Then you become worried that the whole stock market is going to collapse, as it did in 1987. You have the option of selling off everything and getting into cash, but that would be to waste your research into the winners. It would also incur all the transaction costs of selling your shares and then buying them again after the fall. The solution is to take out a derivative which pays off if the NASDAQ or CAC 40 falls. But even with a tailor-made derivative or OTC derivative which would be cheaper, perhaps insuring you against a relative fall in your portfolio against the index, you would still have the portfolio and the shares, but you would have protected yourself against the risks of a collapse. In exchange, you might also have given up some of the upside of the markets. In this case, which is perhaps the most common use of derivatives by asset managers, you reduce your potential reward but you also reduce your potential risk. That is a desirable development in a soundly managed fund. History demonstrates that investors benefit from a liberal and light-handed approach to regulation. Heavy-handedness – a prescription of how private sector managers should invest and where they should invest – will merely reduce returns to savers. Pension funds which suffered from rules on where they could and could not invest, as required by of our government bonds, made returns of 5.2% a year, barely half the 9.5% annual returns made by free funds between 1984 and 1996. These are of course the returns after deducting all losses. Do not confuse a real concern for the interests of investors with a populist fear of the new and the innovative and liberal approach that pays off. This is what we should be concerned about here today.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this debate is about nothing less than the future of European cohesion policy after 2006. My thanks also go to Messrs Mastorakis and Pomés Ruiz for their outstanding work. Promoting economic and social cohesion must be given top priority, particularly in an enlarged Union. The discrepancies between richer and poorer regions will be much greater in the Union of 25. The past has shown, however, how meaningful programmes under European regional policy can make an important contribution to creating similar living conditions. It is obvious that in the future it is precisely the regions in the acceding countries that will be in receipt of European aid, because it is in regional policy that we actually see Europe in action and catch a glimpse of European solidarity. As a Member from Saxony, I know what it has been possible to achieve thanks to European solidarity in eastern Germany, in Saxony. That is why I can only welcome the Commission's talk in the Second progress report of a just settlement for the 18 regions in the current Member States that would be caught by the statistical effect. I do not need to convince you that just because the regions are calculated to be rich from a statistical point of view does not mean that their structural problems are resolved. That is why it is not only a just but also a robust solution that needs to be found for the 18 regions concerned. Special transitional arrangements must make it possible for them to be treated in the future if not as Objective 1 areas then at least as similar to Objective 1 areas and to have their aid administered accordingly. Only in this way will the funds that they have received hitherto pay dividends in the long term and not prove to have been worthless.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the Carnero González report raises a fundamental and timely issue, an important aspect of which is the problem of the Union’s legal personality. It is easy to say what the issue is: the European Union needs at last to be given a face, a clear profile. Look, quite recently we were told to be careful: the building of Europe has progressed under wraps, without revealing its features and its intentions, playing on calculated ambiguities to disarm resistance and dodge the stiffest opposition. Thus for decades there was a succession of partial achievements and de facto solidarity, to borrow an expression dear to Jean Monnet and enshrined in the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950. Things went forward like that, without too much definition of the political and institutional individual that was growing up, without too much pretence at coherence in the building of Europe. Well, we reply, the time has come for clarity, the time has come to explicitly characterise the supranational body that has gradually been taking shape until now we have a single currency. The Convention must say who we are and what we want. The fact that the European Community may have been an original construction, without historical precedent or pre-established models, cannot mean that it should remain inexpressible or indefinable, and certainly not that it should remain incomplete. We must respond to the citizens’ legitimate questions and present ourselves as a union that has its own plan, that equips itself with clear institutional checks and balances, that recognises itself through a Constitution, that wants to play a strong international role, and therefore endows itself with a legal personality. Hence the coherent, convincing argument of Mr Carnero González’s report, which the Committee on Constitutional Affairs has fully endorsed.

Political group: PSE
Commissioner Byrne, I should like to go back to the question of imported meat from outside the European Union. You say that it has to be licensed. I think there are problems with this licensing. When cases break out in these countries there is a time lag. All this needs to be tightened up. You need to be absolutely certain that meat from countries that have foot-and-mouth disease infection cannot enter the European Union. I should like to join with other colleagues and say how terrible it has been for the farming community in Britain. The farmers feel that the gods have deserted them entirely after BSE, and now foot-and-mouth. Can I also ask as regards compensation whether it is possible for the Commission to consider compensation, not only for those farmers that are directly hit by foot-and-mouth disease, but those that are also closed down by not being able to move their livestock?

Political group: PPE-DE
If Turkey was an EU Member State there would be a whole host of reasons for suspending its membership. Officially this country is a parliamentary democracy which outwardly resembles Member States in terms of custom and practice, but for large minority groups amongst the population, this comparison does not hold water. Sadly, the inhabitants of Turkey are not participants with equal rights yet, because they have different political beliefs or speak a different language. The countless political prisoners, the ban on organisations, the press censorship, the army’s internal war against the Kurdish-speaking population, the denial of the mass murder of the Armenians and the Turks’ persistent refusal to completely abolish the death penalty, show that Turkey is still a very different sort of country at present than a large majority of people in the current Member States would think desirable. Under these circumstances, there is not a single reason for tightening the bonds of friendship and allowing Turkey to qualify for contributions from pre-accession funds such as ISPA and SAPARD. Awarding Turkey this funding would only create the misunderstanding that the country is on the right path and that Turkey is going to accede to the EU just as soon as the Czech Republic, Slovenia or Malta. It is not possible to bring about change in Turkey by giving money to the government. It will only come through supporting the struggle of the internal opposition there and that of the exiles living in the EU Member States. (The sitting was suspended at 1.21 p.m. and resumed at 3 p.m.) IN THE CHAIR: MR PROVANVice-President

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I voted for the report on regulations relating to the performance of clinical trials with a view to finding new medicinal products. Before I left Bergamo for Strasbourg, I told Mr Giuseppe Rossi, a pensioner from Bergamo about this, and he said that he was very happy about this regulation. However, he urged me to draw Parliament's attention – which I am very willing to do – to the fact that, when selecting the diseases for which it is intended to find complete cures by performing clinical trials on new medicinal products, priority should be given to diseases affecting the elderly, in particular, who do not have time to wait for trials to be performed, unlike youngsters who have all the time in the world. Therefore, priority must be given to the diseases affecting the elderly.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, a small error: in the English version of the Minutes, at the end of that section, it stated that Mr Napolitano is chairman of the CONT – I presume the Committee on Budgetary Control. In fact, he is chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, I wholeheartedly applaud the efforts of my Labour colleague, David Bowe, to put forward measures to control the release of GMOs into the environment. With such fast-changing science and a host of possible unknown effects, it is important to protect Europe’s people and our environment. Strict controls on plants to prevent the transfer of genes from GMOs to other species are crucial. This will ensure that other species are protected. We must put safety first and make sure that GMOs do not enter the food chain unseen by the back door. Furthermore, those responsible for the release of GMOs should bear full financial liability for any damage to human health and the environment. Industry should pay and face the consequences of its actions, not the man-on-the-street. Europe should stand up for the rights of the citizen and force industry to take responsibility. Of course, the health and well-being of our citizens is of paramount importance. I say no to the release of GMOs resistant to antibiotics. We must not put our people or our animals at unnecessary risk. Labour Euro MPs have been at the forefront of protecting our citizens and our environment. We have consistently backed proposals to ensure that the use of GMOs and products derived from GMOs are strictly controlled within the EU. David Bowe’s report is yet further proof of Europe greening up its act and putting the safety of our citizens first. - Papayannakis report (A5-0088/2000)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, the proposals put forward in the report that we are now considering interpret – or should interpret – the will of the European Parliament to prepare itself to meet the challenges facing the European Union. It has to be this way, as we have been through a tricky time, and there are permanent tensions and glaring contradictions. It seems that we expect everything and, at the same time, we expect nothing at all from the European Union’s priorities, as we can see from the level of budgetary transposition – or lack thereof. It is our ability to take advantage of something that could potentially transform tensions and to reduce the amount of contradictions which will make the difference between the stagnation and the consequent decline of the project and the dynamism that its implementation requires. Have the competences of the European Parliament increased substantially with the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam and the consequent extension of the codecision procedure to further areas of policy, for example? If that is the case, we would have to provide Members of the House with a greater ability to carry out their mandate, more and better information and we would have to ensure that the political groups are more accountable and that the staff of the European Parliament is more efficient. Does enlargement require subtle changes in the membership and functioning of this Parliament? If it does, then we need to prepare for them, anticipate the challenges and how to respond to them and not fall into a situation of ‘wait and see’, which would leave us trailing in the wake of events that we can neither prevent nor influence. This applies to the European Union as a whole. We are at a turning point and, now that we have reached this point, nothing will be the same as it was before and things will not remain as they are now. Now that economic and monetary union has been achieved, the euro cannot be a point of arrival but a starting point, which, in time, will bring about and require further changes. Now that the process of enlargement has been launched, fundamental changes are required as well as renewed ambition. The need to make the economic sphere correspond to the political sphere is becoming increasingly clear. We are swinging between deepening and dilution, solidarity and selfishness, decisiveness and delay, coherence and contradiction and convergence and divergence. By increasing the influence of core principles, amongst which I would highlight subsidiarity and social and economic cohesion, we will be able to launch and see through new initiatives. I congratulate Mr Ferber on the care he has taken over this work.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Hutus of Bantu origin form the majority tribe in Burundi with a population of 6 million. The Tutsis of Nilotic origin are the minority tribe, but they dominate the government and the army. Such tribal polarisation as we often see in Africa has been a major factor in the internal conflict, not only in Burundi but in neighbouring states. In 1993 Burundi's Hutu President was assassinated and within a month over 100,000 civilians were killed. A further 150,000 civilians have been killed since then. More than half a million are refugees in Tanzania's refugee camps to this day. The Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced similar conflict and almost 2 million civilians have been killed there or are missing over the last two to three years. In the Horn, East and Central Africa covering 12 countries, there are 20 million displaced persons, displaced from their homes and their villages. These people were poor before. They are even poorer today. They have no education, no access to health care, no employment and no shelter. They depend totally on the World Food Programme for their food and they fear those who run the refugee camps where they live. It is not surprising, therefore, that these refugee camps are breeding grounds for disease, discontent and disorder. Young men and women are lured by the warlords to join their unruly gangs. These innocent and desperate people, who were ordinary civilians before, probably farmers, are easily persuaded to train and be armed to support the greed and power struggle of the warlords. The Lusaka and Arusha peace accords have failed to end the violence and internal conflict. Repatriation of refugees is not satisfactory as the people are simply afraid to return to villages devastated, overrun and terrorised by the terrorists or the warlords. How can we allow these displaced millions, these desperate refugees, to live in their camps as beggars for life. How can we extinguish the fires of conflict and civil war in these developing countries? Containers full of medicines, tents, food, blankets and other such things bring temporary relief, but this is not enough. We must be more active and rethink our strategy. We must first of all give the poor a stake in their rural economies so that they may own their own land and have an opportunity to build their lives. Secondly, we must give them the appropriate technology – third world technology – which they can then use to start local enterprises to break this cycle of dependency on us. We must rethink our strategy and reassess the quality of people that we have in place as our ambassadors and representatives, their experience, and see how we can perhaps use local experts with international reputation and competence to advise us, to act on our behalf, to use the limited resources that we have to its best effectiveness. We must embark on this with great urgency. I have great confidence in Commissioner Patten to lead this, and Commissioner Nielson, and I hope that they will get together and make sure that the EU's next decade is much better than the last 40 years, a period in which, I consider, much time and resources were wasted.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I am surprised that such experienced Members of Parliament should confuse a complaint to the Commission with a petition to the European Parliament. Such an important public communications infrastructure project as the ‘autovía de Occidente’ motorway deserves all the support of all the Asturian political representatives. Therefore, certain Asturian Mayors, very concerned about some complaints made to the Commission by certain Asturian local organisations, came here to find out how the executive Commission was dealing with those complaints. They were received by Commissioner de Palacio and by certain officials, who informed them that that complaint presented to the European Commission had just that week been filed away and that the case had been completely closed. Of course, it is not the duty of the Commission to resolve the final outcome of the petitions to the European Parliament, but of the MEPs. But let us not confuse complaints with petitions. Commissioner de Palacio, I would like to ask you whether you have any news on whether in the corresponding services of the Commission there is any other complaint presented on the issue of the ‘autovía de Occidente’.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs Fontaine, I am particularly addressing you personally. As you know, I am not one of those Members who usually contributes terribly much in this House to making your time here a happy one, but today I should like to thank you explicitly because I believe that you have done two things. Firstly, you have given Mr McMillan-Scott the right answer. I congratulate you on this. (Applause) Secondly, you had the case checked in the Rules of Procedure. You quoted the relevant passage in the Rules of Procedure, thus dispelling any doubts, and you then noted the conclusion of the vote by stating, 'rejected'. In so doing you have done exactly what a conscientious president must do. I should like to thank you for this. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I think that this afternoon’s debates suggest a very important responsibility to us. Egypt is a densely populated and important country in the Arab world and we want to conclude an association agreement with Egypt. Yet Article 2 of that association agreement expressly includes a clause requiring the observance of human rights and democratic principles. We ought to develop tools that can be used to promote the implementation of this Article in practice. After all, there is an atmosphere of all or nothing prevailing here and that is not of course the right way to promote a good dialogue. Let us not forget that Charles Dickens too was imprisoned for homosexuality in nineteenth-century England. Evolution is possible therefore. But here we clearly have a case of three kinds of human rights violations. First of all, I would like to associate myself with the protest against the human rights violations in respect of homosexuals, because the free consent of adults in their sexual relations with one another cannot be prosecuted in any civilised country and is even permitted by the Egyptians by law. Why should these drastic charges be brought over and over again? Making intimidation attempts with the use of private information by way of telephone, Internet, etc.? A second series of violations concerns those in respect of the Coptic church, one of the oldest cultural communities and a minority in Egypt. And thirdly I would like to underline that we have all been witness to the serious violations of human rights during the marches for peace in Iraq. We were amazed at the violent way in which the police opposed them. I therefore ask the European Commission to consider carefully how use can be made of that Article 2 on the signing of the association agreement not only to denounce the practices condemned here, but also to bring about their cessation.

Political group: Verts-ALE