GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, I have just two points, which are however important because they are questions of principle. Firstly, in future we should decide on Monday whether a matter is important enough to require debate or not. On Monday, we scheduled this matter for Thursday afternoon, so why are we cancelling it now? If it is important, it makes no difference whether it is discussed in the morning or in the afternoon. Secondly – and this is a crucial point which I last brought up during another debate on a Thursday afternoon – you have, or your predecessor has, just taken a vote which is not permissible. According to our Rules of Procedure, only the President of Parliament can decide whether to cancel a debate. It is his decision alone, and there are extremely important reasons for this. We voted to establish the agenda on Monday and I have to clarify whether or not this decision to change it is the President’s. (Applause) According to the Rules of Procedure, this decision is his alone, but in this case he has not taken on that responsibility. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
I have a great interest in this question, both as the Member representing the region of Stoke-on-Trent in the United Kingdom and also as the deputy chairman of the European Parliament ceramics industry forum, which has had a dialogue with both Commissioner Lamy and Commissioner Bolkestein. I should like to ask Mr Lamy if he would comment on the issue of marks of origin, and confirm that the proposals being considered by Commissioner Byrne to require ceramic articles coming into contact with food to bear traceability marks showing the factory that they are made in – to trace any problems with toxic materials that may be in the articles concerned – would not in any way contravene existing WTO obligations. As he may be aware, Commissioner Byrne's services are actively considering this proposal at the moment and are having discussions with the European industry about that type of marking. There have been disturbing cases where articles from China have been found to contain levels of toxic materials that are significantly above the limits laid down in the European Union to safeguard human health. The industry would be very grateful for his confirmation that the proposals would not contravene any existing trade legislation.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, it is universally recognised that rules must be observed. It is also universally recognised that our partners must also be made to observe the same rules. Everyone understands that there is concern about this today, but I would not like our demand to be regarded as selectively applicable. Nor would I like our oral question to be perceived as an indictment. Our demand is not selectively applicable and the Commission should therefore regard this as a suggestion to look into the use of Community funds in regions around Israel. And because the Commission’s investigation is not, and must not be perceived as, an indictment, I should like to mention two points which are central to the balance of our approach. Firstly, anyone familiar with the region knows that the future of the Palestinian economy is intimately linked to the economic cooperation agreement with Israel. The Oslo protocol envisages an integrated customs authority to encompass both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Anything liable to separate the two economies would have a serious effect on cooperation between Israel and Palestine, including joint ventures, Palestinian sub-contractors and exporters. Secondly, nowhere in the agreements between Israel and the European Union are the frontiers of the State of Israel defined. The negotiations in progress between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are specifically concerned with defining these frontiers. Any attempt on the part of the European Union to impose its own idea of the territorial limits of the State of Israel would be, at the very least, lacking in tact and detrimental to these talks and to the idea of the role which we feel Europe should have in this region.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, following the adoption of the amendment tabled by Mr Lisi from the Group of the European People’s Party, who was elected from the Forza Italia lists, I have greater satisfaction in giving my explanation of vote, having voted for this measure. Therapeutical communities are certainly extremely important. As for my reasons for signing this as the pensioners’ representative, I have to say that, unfortunately, we rarely find pensioners who are drug-addicts, because young people die prematurely from this terrible scourge. I would like to emphasise that this measure is very positive, but we must be the first to set young people an example, because only examples that lead them back to the family unit and to the sound principles of yesteryear will overcome the scourge of this century.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, without for one moment minimising the problems with BSE, I want to point out that, in the prevailing climate of panic, we must not forget all the other problems and risks, and also opportunities, which exist in our food industry. Let me give an example. If ruminant fat is guaranteed free from proteins, it is also free from dioxins, cinolons etc. At present, distrust of the European food industry, of agriculture and of our countryside and farmers is spreading like wildfire. This is very dangerous not only for employment in Europe and for the countryside, but also for our environment and our cultural heritage. But just think if we could seize this opportunity. A wise old man once said that chaos is a neighbour of God. Let us use the present chaos creatively, for today we have our electorate’s support for opening up and transforming the entire food sector.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, the Christian Social Union supported the Katiforis report in the final vote. I should, however, just like to point out that we voted against item 4. We agree with the objective of the report per se, which is to reduce budgetary deficits or even, if possible, to achieve a surplus. This is contradicted by item 4, which approves of new debts, even within the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact. In the final analysis, our message should be that this 3% should not be used up – which might well be the case – and that our objective is still to achieve a surplus. Parliament should do everything it can, especially on the eve of the introduction of the euro, to ensure that the euro remains stable and this should be the message that it sends out.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I should first explain that I am speaking on behalf of my colleague Mr Pérez Álvarez who has as yet been unable to join us at this sitting. As the rapporteur rightly reminded us, a series of unfortunate events have taken place at sea. Such disasters are bound to lead us to review certain aspects of these occupations from the point of view of health and safety at work. There are implications too for the environment and for every worker’s right to working conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity, as provided for by Article 31 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Training of seafarers is crucial to attaining the appropriate safety levels in maritime transport. It is also vital to accident prevention. This is an appropriate opportunity to remind the Commission of the need to enhance the status of nautical occupations and make them more attractive to our young people. This would help achieve a reduction in unemployment and also improve safety levels in maritime transport. Parliament has long been calling on the Commission and the Council to take action in this regard. It is certainly the case that the training required within the European Union may not be imparted or may be evaded when seafarers from third countries are recruited for European Union vessels Such individuals are engaged because of the shortage of Community professionals and may well lack the necessary training. The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs will raise four issues in its opinion. These are the retention of the option of a selective approach to the recognition of aptitude certificates, the introduction of a European certificate of conformity for these certificates, a time limit on extension of recognition and a Community procedure for withdrawal of recognition. Much good work has been done by Mr Poignant, rapporteur on the content. This has facilitated progress on some of the issues raised. They must all be retained in the spirit of the changes as ideals for the future. This is in line with the aforementioned Article 31 and also with Article 37 of the Charter. Both articles are to be enshrined in the European Constitution and will become a binding part of it.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I voted for the motion partly because one of the recitals states that competition does not prevent the States from imposing public service obligations in the general interest on the parties involved. I would like to hope that, when this recital is implemented with regard to the provision of gas for domestic use, there will be a requirement to take into account the many people who have a very low income – including pensioners who do not have enough to live on – and that provision will be made for the free supply of a certain quantity of gas or another type of energy.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in the previous legislature, the Euro was established as scriptural (non-cash) money. It has now, in the current legislature, become the currency of twelve countries of the European Union. The creation of the single currency does not, however, automatically mean that there is a single payment area, in which the same rules apply across the board. This is one of the major tasks facing the European Union in the next legislature. The Commission waited until the last possible moment for the banking system to establish self-regulation following the creation of the single currency. After the Euro’s inception in 1999, however, two markets were established for the purposes of payments – a national market and an international market. There was no internal market governed by domestic rules regulating payments in the new currency, which, although a single currency, functioned as a foreign currency, subject to commission and other foreign exchange charges. This situation was partially solved by Regulation No 2560 of December 2001 concerning electronic transfers and payments. Since then, self-regulation still does not appear to have worked; the directives have not worked either, as they must be transposed into the law of each country, and this has not been carried out at the same time or in the same manner. This is an area that requires rigorous rules to be applied simultaneously and uniformly throughout the internal market. It is therefore my opinion that only by establishing regulations can we give the citizens and companies the security that a payment system requires.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I would like to thank the rapporteur for his speedy work on this report on VAT and e-commerce. I think the comments I have heard around the floor today would almost suggest that we do not need this kind of report, but of course we do. It is tempting for us always to compare ourselves with the USA and to say that because they cannot find a satisfactory solution, we should not either. But the fact is that VAT on goods and services applies across the European Union. This is a tax which already exists. It is not a new tax and it should be applied. It should be applied to the Internet at well. Otherwise, what would happen? Well of course the issue of unfair competition has already been mentioned. Why should the retail industry be so badly affected and be made to suffer in order for another industry to grow? If indeed it can be affected that way by what the proposal suggests, and I doubt that. Furthermore, this proposal is in line, as I see it, with the principles agreed at Ecofin, which in turn are in line with the agreed principles of the OECD Conference in Ottawa. The source where the tax should apply is a matter of concern, and the discussion around the number of countries which would qualify to have companies registered in them is something which I believe will be burdensome and of course provoke the USA to a complaint in the WTO. But I do not believe that e-commerce is going to be crushed by VAT being suddenly applied like some evil giant. I think that the real problem is that EU retail industries will continue to suffer the disadvantages that they are currently suffering. It is amusing to hear some of the comments being made around this Chamber today but it is quite clearly also amusing to remember that the kind of cashless society that perhaps the likes of Trotters Independent Trading Company in the UK were involved in is the kind of society that is being advocated by some over on the other side of the House. Are we going to end up with that kind of cashless society, with cowboy e-commerce outfits being able to do what they want? I do not think so. That is not how we are meant to organise society, and that is why I think this proposal is an excellent one.

Political group: PSE
The dioxin story is very familiar to those of us in the United Kingdom who have lived through BSE. Many of the ingredients are exactly the same – disagreeable and even disgusting practices in the preparation of some animal foodstuffs in a world of intensive agriculture and panic and deceit in some of the Member States concerned when the source of contamination is first discovered. We must remember this was discovered in January 1999 and the Commission was only able to take action after a period of months and a good deal of obfuscation. What we have now seen is the same set of arguments that perhaps they were trying to avoid: a consumer panic and protection of a market – a market which is actually now much more imperilled by the way in which the crisis has unfolded. I think there are dangers of overreaction and some Members have referred to that. What I would say is that we must learn lessons from this crisis. Firstly, a vigorous and properly funded inspectorate must be established to take a preventative role in this matter. We are now talking about significant changes in the law, long lists of further regulations of substances which may be banned. I certainly do not know, because I do not have the technical expertise, whether the range of recovered vegetable oils which are now seen to be a source of risk should be subject to an outright ban, or whether it should simply be limited to some section of kitchen waste which should never have been in any form of animal foodstuff in the first instance. What I do know is that the inspectorate which we have fought for – we had to fight to get an effective budget for it, to set up the veterinary office in Brussels and to make sure that we had the principle of general inspections throughout the Community – that inspectorate finds itself threatened and bullied. We have had examples in my country and in Belgium of people being physically threatened, of being blackmailed and in some instances even murdered! Now when that is the situation, how can we say that the proposal, welcome as it is, to look at a Europe-wide Food and Drugs Agency and all these grand gestures can work when no individual inspector can penetrate into the world of crime and fraud which characterises sections of this industry. So, in my opinion, we have to put our own House in order in this matter. We have to be able to say, as the motion of the Socialist Group does, that the rule of law must apply, that we are a Community of law, and unless we have a universal application, which never happened in the wake of BSE, of the regulations, the situation cannot improve. Simply to bring forward new lists to imperil the producers and not to safeguard the consumer in the actions involved is the wrong way forward.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I wish to thank Commissioner Lamy for his answer. I shall convey this to the NGO Intermon-Oxfam in the terms in which the Commissioner has expressed it to Parliament.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this evening's debate is about something that was the Council's sole request, namely the question of how to introduce transparency and the statistical dimension into the agricultural alcohol sector. I am extraordinarily grateful to our rapporteur, Mrs Ayuso González, who has made exemplary use of the limited room for manoeuvre available to Parliament. We would, Commissioner, have liked to reject the Commission proposal as a whole, as it took no account whatever of the Council's request. Close cooperation with all concerned parties has enabled the rapporteur to lay before us a genuine compromise on which all of them were able to agree. Thirty years of discussions have now got us to the point where we can give this sector a regulation that provides for the required statistical surveys, and does so primarily within the framework of a simple Council regulation. Secondly, this regulation does not, in essence, call for any statements on aid legislation. Thirdly, it includes industrially produced alcohol, agricultural alcohol's direct competitor. As a matter of urgency, I appeal to the Commission to stop resisting this compromise approach. In the event of a qualified majority in Council, it has previously been the practice for the Commission not to insist on a unanimous vote unless there are legal difficulties, but, in this instance, there is no sound reason to insist on unanimity. The Commission's instruments are perfectly adequate for the purpose of monitoring this sector, in which no distortions of competition occur. Not one of the candidate countries wants to adopt or copy the German model which is the subject of this dispute. If the Commission holds fast to its legal position, then I appeal in equally urgent terms to the Spanish President of the Council. When it comes to the interests of German distillers and the interests of our cultural landscape, I appeal to Mrs Künast, the German Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, to vote on 27 June in such a way as to achieve unanimity in this matter. Throughout long negotiations, Parliament has done everything in its power, and now we are counting on your support.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I should just like to thank the President-in-Office for the care and attention, as a politician, that he has shown in listening to the debate and the concerns that have been raised.

Political group: ELDR
I was at the Campione d’Italia casino, a distinguished casino which is well-known in Europe. At a table, a little set apart, the governors of the fifteen national banks of the European Union were playing cards, and with them was Mr Trichet, candidate and now elected President of the European Central Bank. Mr Trichet was very young, whilst the fifteen governors were elderly, not only did they have white hair, but they were genuinely weary: they were pensioners. I asked myself then whether this vision that I had was not a warning sign. What is there for the national banks to do when there is a Central European Bank? What is there for the national governors to do? Would it not be good if they went and had a rest, if they retired?

Political group: PPE-DE
11 September provided an opportunity to speed up measures to apply the most anti-grass roots choices of the monopolies. It was followed by a sweeping charge against human rights and personal freedoms in the ΕU. Workers’ rights and the right to a free state education and health service were cut back even further. The standard of living of the working classes has fallen. A typical example is that over fourteen thousand people died from the heatwave in the France of ... respect for human rights. The reactionary legal arsenal is being reinforced with new provisions. Political parties, such as the Communist Party, are being prevented from operating freely and unimpeded, especially in the countries under enlargement. Violation of the freedom of expression is being accompanied by violation of the right of assembly with the ban on and the prevention of the participation of citizens and the bloody suppression of strikes and demonstrations. In the name of the fight against terrorism, electronic records on citizens under the Schengen system prevail, personal data are being channelled to the USA, mass 'repatriation' of immigrants is multiplying. Europe has appointed itself as the sheriff of the USA, especially after the signing of the agreement on cooperation in criminal matters and extraditions to the USA, where there is capital punishment and Guantanamo. This report however, will not go unanswered. The workers are opposed to this policy and are fighting to overturn it and for real respect for human rights.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, Mr Vice-President, I congratulate you on the many proposals you have made, which in my view are entirely along the right lines. I should like to address two problems. Following on from the first question, lately many Commission staff have started to shy away from decision making because of what lies ahead of them. Let me ask you this, what can you do to encourage the Commission staff to engage actively in decision making once more? Surely all the Commissioners have not only agreed on these steps but have also stated quite clearly that they will take on political responsibility for the reform measures they are proposing in their areas of work? And my second question is this: you propose to externalise, i.e. outsource, a range of areas. Do you not see something of a contradiction between externalisation on the one hand, and your justified desire to create a unified and independent Commission staffing structure, on the other? What will you do, Commissioner, to ensure that externalisation does not lead to the fragmentation of this unified civil service?

Political group: PSE
My abstention in this vote is based on the opinion that I have always expressed on the agreement reached on 19 and 20 June 2000 at the Santa Maria da Feira European Council which, in my opinion, can only lead to deadlock. The continued difficulties with Switzerland, despite the conclusion of the agreement that is being submitted to us here, and the difficult pursuit of negotiations with the other third countries, back me up in this assessment and in my vote today.

Political group: PSE