GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
chairman of the Committee on Citizens' Freedom and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. – We will hear statements by the Commission and Council presidency tomorrow on the interception of communications. It is a sensitive subject. It is one where the powers of the Union are strictly circumscribed and the major political groups have not wished to take a position until they have heard the Council and the Commission. So we are asking that the vote be postponed to the April part-session and that the deadline for putting down motions under Rule 37 of our Rules be re-opened to allow the committee eventually to table a motion on this issue. The item is on the agenda of our next committee meeting.

Political group: ELDR
I merely wish to ask whether the written explanations of vote should not be taken first. As I understand it, one must be present in the chamber even when submitting a written explanation of vote. Or have these rules been changed again? My delegation has remained as we wish to submit a written explanation. We would like this to be registered and then we would like to be able to leave. It would therefore be easier if we took the written explanations first. I would like some clarification: Does one need to remain in the chamber if one wishes to submit a written explanation and have it approved, or not?

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, we are essentially satisfied with the agreement reached in conciliation. All the main demands advanced by Parliament at the two previous readings have been incorporated by the Council. The obligation to carry out an environmental impact study at an extremely early stage of town and country planning means that environmental issues can actually be integrated fully into land management plans and programmes at the very start of the drafting process. The Union has finally understood that we must no longer restrict ourselves to dealing with the damage caused by short-sighted planning only after it has been done. In this connection, extending the scope of the directive to a whole raft of plans and programmes co-financed by the Union represents a great step forwards. In practice, these represent all the programmes carried out, particularly in the less favoured regions. Without going into detail, Article 3 of the text that has been approved clearly confirms the principle that all plans and programmes with possible significant effects on the environment are subject to an environmental assessment. Thanks to the climate of cooperation established within the committee, to which the rapporteur contributed decisively, other important results have also been achieved, such as a more precise definition of what is meant by ‘public consultation’ and a more specific hierarchical structuring of the various processes, in such a way as to avoid any risk of unnecessary overload for local administrations. Overall, this is an extremely useful legislative instrument which will obviate the temptation – always present in the Member States, as demonstrated again by the recent statements by future ministers of the Italian government currently being formed – to accelerate the launch of massive infrastructure projects, skipping, at least partly, the processes laid down by Community legislation.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, with Laeken we may have found an antidote to some of the poisons present in the Treaty of Nice. The convening of a constituent Convention – constituent because this Convention will give rise to the Constitution for the new Europe – means restoring a political soul to Europe, in other words thinking about what is to be the future home of us all. Parliament must therefore welcome the success of the Summit and make sure that the Convention’s work reaches its appropriate conclusion in an Intergovernmental Conference, which will have to draw up the new Constitutional Treaty, to bring about the European federation. Genuine, practical federalism, which also respects the regional level, as the Council has rightly said, which respects minority languages and all peoples, great and small, will burst into the history of this new century as part of the process of European integration, and anyone representing the people of the Valle d’Aosta can only rejoice at that. We have set a positive process in motion and the enemies of the European Union are already aware of this; we must therefore step up our efforts. IN THE CHAIR: MR DAVID MARTINVice-President

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, in addition to those issues already mentioned here, we are expecting – and someone has already referred to this – the Helsinki Summit to promote protection of the environment and to at last place environmental protection at the heart of Union action. We must now take a definite step forward on this issue, as we know how difficult it has been to put a stop to negative developments with regard to the environment, and we are expecting determination and concrete results from you in the areas of business, industry and agriculture. As regards the economy in general, the current struggle to harmonise indirect taxation is certainly an illustrative example of how we will not make any headway in this area if we insist on unanimity. I have followed Mrs Halonen’s battle with the City of London bankers, and I believe that there will be no end to this struggle until we can decide the issue of taxation by means of a qualified majority. This will therefore be an important task for the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference. Otherwise we will be leaving questions of taxation for the markets to decide, and that is something we surely do not want. The subject that will surely live on after the Helsinki Summit is, however, concrete decisions on a common security arrangement. I would like to thank the President-in-Office of the Council specifically as you very laudably raised the point that civil and military crisis management complement one another and they should be examined and decided on together. The European Union does indeed have such an advantage, compared, for example, with NATO. The European Union is, after all, a civil organisation, and if it now develops a military crisis management capacity, we can also trust it to consider the wisdom that says it is always better to prevent crises rather than try to calm things down through the use of force. We can resort to that when all else has failed. You mentioned that for civil crisis management we need the police: I would like to add that other ordinary professional groups, such as psychologists and social workers, as well as plumbers and builders, can be needed in non-military crisis management. Our group was most satisfied when it heard recently that High Representative Xavier Solana had started to look into a parliamentary initiative for the establishment of civil crisis management troops. Madam President-in-Office of the Council, you mentioned a Millennium Declaration: it seems the Council has also been bitten by the millennium bug. You have spoken in favour of transparency, but this is surely one of the most closely guarded state secrets there is. So perhaps you could give us a tiny hint about what kind of tracks we will be leaving at the millennium celebrations.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, the Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, said in this debate this morning that citizenship is perhaps less fashionable than the technocratic way of doing things, and in this he might be right. However, I would like to say that the Committee on Petitions may even be the very committee in this Chamber that is able to find solutions to the gaping chasm that exists between the people and the decision-makers. In my opinion these annual discussions are always among the highlights of the year and it is most agreeable to be able to participate in them. Mr Bösch’s report on the annual report on the Ombudsman’s activities reiterates this call by Parliament for making the Charter of Fundamental Rights a binding component of the Treaties. This deserves our enthusiastic support as this may just be one way – as Mr Bösch and the Committee state – to reinforce and broaden the scope of the right of petition instrument. Some day it might evolve into a real citizens’ initiative, found in the legislation of some Member States. With regard to the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour, the subject of Mr Perry’s report, Parliament takes the view that what is needed is a law that is binding on all the institutions making it obligatory that administration should actually serve the people. It is quite clear that the Commission should now be promoting this swiftly and determinedly. Mr Duff has already referred to Teresa Almeida Garrett’s report on the Statute of the European Ombudsman, and I have to say his arguments convince me that it should be possible that members of the institutions can also if necessary be heard by the Ombudsman when it is a matter of administrative error. In my opinion, Members of Parliament have nothing to fear from this as the Ombudsman’s competence is administrative and not political. I hope Mr Duff’s amendment will be widely supported. Applause

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I wanted to indicate that I am in favour of sending this text back to the committee. *** Report (A5-0208/2004) by Mrs Sbarbati, on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 337/75 establishing a European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Parliament adopted the legislative resolution) *** Motion for a resolution (B5-0156/2004) by the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs on the protection provided for personal data of airline passengers Before the vote:

Political group: PSE
Madam President, after the serious business may I end on a lighter note, with some good news for the region I represent, the north-west of England. The English papers yesterday and today seem to be dominated by one issue, the memorable historic match when England beat Germany by five goals to one. The reason it is such good news for us – and I offer commiserations to my German colleagues – is that the main architects of that victory came from the major clubs in the north west – although we did have a Swedish manager. I hope this shows people that the north-west region of England is a centre of excellence, not just for football but for many other things as well and I invite you all to go whenever you can. (Laughter)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I wish to begin by thanking the two rapporteurs for their very sound reports, on which I would also congratulate them. There is every reason to welcome the Commission’s programme of action for the mainstreaming of gender equality in Community development cooperation. At the same time, I have to state that it is remarkable and quite frustrating that it took six years from the Council’s making its decision to the Commission’s presenting its programme of action. It is now important for the prioritised areas in the programme of action also to be coordinated with the objectives of the Community framework strategy on gender equality, in which development is of course a recurring theme. Economic equality, equality on issues of employment and political representation, equal social benefits and the promotion of human rights relating specifically to women are important aspects of these objectives. In reality, the objectives concern the dignity of both women and men and, in actual fact, the very value of human life. If these objectives are to be achieved in the developing countries too, there must be an undertaking to include issues of equality in all future programmes and documents concerning the country strategies, as well as in strategies for reducing poverty. It is also important that compliance with the equality aspects be required for funding from all budget headings within the field of development policy and not only from the HIV and AIDS budget heading, commendable though it is in itself, of course, that equality is required in the latter area. As soon as possible, the Commission must also table a proposal on the work programme and specify the funding for, and rules governing, its implementation so that it can be implemented quickly. We know, as a result of countless studies, that democracy and development can only take place if women in the developing countries are fully involved. I therefore also support the proposal in paragraph 26 to the effect that, in a meeting with the joint parliamentary ACP-EU Assembly, the important issue be addressed of ensuring that the Cotonou Agreement is also complied with in this area. My group will support the report.

Political group: Verts-ALE
EPLP members abstained on the Perry report because we do not believe the report to be a balanced view or assessment of the facts. The report also contains errors of fact.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, to begin with, I want to thank Mrs Sörensen for a very good, interesting and tremendously readable report. We are almost one hundred per cent in agreement in the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities. We would emphasise not only the cooperation from the police which has fed into this report, but also the importance of contributions at all levels of society. There are nonetheless two things we do not entirely agree with. The first concerns the role of the sex industry in this issue. We are, all of us, right across the political spectrum, completely agreed that it is poverty that is the major cause of prostitution and trafficking in women. I nonetheless believe that the sex industry, which is now moreover beginning to register some of its activities on the stock exchange, must be called into question and, in future, also held to account. The other disputed issue is – as always where this subject is concerned – the view to be taken of prostitution. Almost throughout the report, the term enforced prostitution is used. However, the use of this term implies that there is an opposite, that is to say voluntary prostitution. That is very strange, especially when we are talking about slavery and trafficking in women. The Confederal Group of the has tabled a few amendments, some of them on this subject and in connection with which we naturally hope that we shall receive support. I would again thank Mrs Sörensen and all our colleagues. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be the last time we debate this issue, even though it is so far only the second time we have done so.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, because of problems stemming from large-scale fraud in the production of wine and other types of fraud, we are more aware that EAGGF Guarantee Section appropriations are frequently used to promote the products of large-scale farming operations whose only real aim is to obtain subsidies, without even considering whether there is a market for these products. This applies when small family-run farms, such as those dedicated to producing milk, find themselves outside the subsidy arrangements and find their very survival is threatened. We therefore feel that the Commission’s proposal to amend Regulation No 723/97 and to change the legal basis of the Regulation on preventing fraud and other irregularities from Article 37 to Article 280 of the Treaty, as the rapporteur Mr Casaca proposes, is extremely timely. This will ensure that agricultural expenditure is treated like any other expenditure involving EU resources, and this will strengthen Parliament’s power of intervention.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, in the past few months, the common foreign and security policy has very obviously proved to be devoid of any content. One might think it should be possible for the EU Member States to stand shoulder to shoulder when democracy is challenged by dictatorship. One might think that the EU Member States should be able to unite in choosing between freedom and oppression but, unfortunately, a number of Member States have made it clear that, in foreign policy, they are not in the first place guided by what may be regarded as right and proper. It was very gratifying to see the majority of new Member States siding so powerfully with those values that form the basis of our European cooperation, and correspondingly sad to see long-standing Member States react to those countries’ stance with threats and blackmail. We might ask ourselves what right we have to ask countries that have experienced decades of dictatorship to abandon their democratic ideals. It will take time to heal the wounds inflicted upon European cooperation during the last few weeks and months. Even so, we must work more single-mindedly than before to build an EU that can speak with one voice and act with one agenda in the world. The voice and the agenda must, however, be ones that we can be proud of. There must be one voice that speaks for freedom, democracy and human rights, and not only on our own continent. The first thing we can do is help with the construction of a liberated Iraq, both in economic terms and through practical aid in building the Arab Middle East’s first democracy.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, as Mr Rapkay said, we can talk to each other as we are used to doing now that we are gathered ‘in the bosom of our family’. I would first of all say thank you again to Mr Monti for the great efforts he has made in this area, and I would also thank Mr Rapkay very much. We do not always agree, but I am very pleased with the report, even if there are a number of things we have to discuss regarding how we are to vote tomorrow. There are also a couple of practical matters I should like to comment on, first of all a matter on which I myself have done some work, namely the Commission’s proposal concerning the shipyards package. We had a debate on this here in Parliament last autumn. I was very much against the proposed aid to shipyards, and I therefore want to ask the Commission how this matter is progressing. I was delighted to note that, at the Council meeting of Trade and Industry Ministers at the beginning of December, it was impossible to obtain the necessary majority for adopting the Commission’s proposal. The Commission was not immediately willing to alter its proposal, which was based upon the results worked out in what is known as the TBR report, drawn up by the Commission every six months. Naturally, I am concerned that the Commission’s next TBR report will conveniently demonstrate that we need aid for more types of ship than those cited in the Commission’s original proposal. I would therefore ask Commissioner Monti to answer the following question: is there a new TBR report on the way from the Commission and, if so, can the Commissioner then inform us as to what conclusions are to be drawn by it? Tomorrow, we in Parliament will vote on a proposal we did not have time to discuss before the vote. It is most certainly a proposal that does not fall within your area, Mr Monti, for it concerns the fact that, quite extraordinarily, the airlines have been allowed to retain airport arrival and departure times which, under normal rules, they have made too little use of to be permitted to retain. We are, then, preparing special legislation which we are now rushing through and which will, of course, mean that smaller airlines that wish to enter the market with competitive prices will not be allowed to offer this service to us as consumers, who shall instead have to put up with airlines which do not deliver the goods and which – when they do deliver them – only do so at unduly high prices. That is also the reality where state aid is concerned, for it largely favours the old national companies with their monopolies. For me, that is an example of the way in which our fine words about cutting back on state aid are all too infrequently followed up by firm and practical action. I would therefore also permit myself to ask you a question, Mr Monti. How does this proposal fit in with our general desire to cut back on state aid and create a situation in which we can all compete fairly and on an equal basis?

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, there are too many resolutions which have not been acted upon, and sometimes we too, as Members of Parliament, are guilty of thinking we have resolved a problem just by producing a resolution. I, however, am a woman, and among my role models are women who, because they had the courage to speak out or the desire to laugh or love, were barbarously tortured and burned alive in the name of God by the cruelty of pious, religious Christians. Nonetheless, religious practices, cultures and traditions can be changed. I come from a country where the crime of honour continued to exist even after the war, a country which only recognised rape as a crime against the individual in the seventies, when the feminist movement was in its heyday. Today, we women are still the victims of discrimination in Europe, our sexuality is commoditised, but our right to exist has been won. However, the suffering and injustice suffered by women and people all over the world seem to scourge our bodies and rend our souls now as never before. Once again, in the name of a God who is presented as all-powerful and merciful, religions, traditions and cultures mutilate bodies, stone people to death, impose arranged marriages and mutilate the bodies of innocent children with infibulation. We must prevent the killing of Amina Lawal, a woman who has dared to love and is condemned to being stoned to death for having a child out of wedlock. We must prevent religion, when it abuses human rights, whether the victim is a man or a woman, being used as a law, even a law which is secondary to the laws of the State. The Federal Republic of Nigeria has ratified the international human rights conventions. These conventions must have more than just theoretical significance: they must be observed and enforced in practice. Nigeria has even adopted a Constitution which guarantees the right to freedom without torture or punishment. On a number of occasions, President Obasanjo has stated that he is opposed to the death penalty being applied on the basis of Sharia law, but he cannot keep up these double standards forever. It is true that the issues are complex, but now, the lives of many men and women are at stake – today, it is the life of Amina Lawal, yesterday, it was the life of Safiya Hussaini. Yet how many other women and how many men are lying in prison or are charged and hanged? The European Union – and we personally – must make a total commitment not just to preventing Amina Lawal’s death but to ensuring that the international agreements are genuinely ratified. We must therefore compel the Nigerian Government to act on its undertaking and provide all possible assistance, prevent Amina’s death and guarantee that a similar sentence is never pronounced again. I genuinely believe that it is extremely important for there not to be double standards. We must start from our basic principle, from the fact that it is essential for us too, here, to respect human rights – with regard to immigrants and many others – and so we must do everything possible to ensure that no more people die.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I have just found out that some observers are taking part in votes by raising their hands. Would you please make it clear once again, for the avoidance of doubt, that it is of course only full Members of this House who may take part in votes.

Political group: PSE