GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, it is difficult to summarise the areas covered by such a large and complex directive. The Treaty of Amsterdam reiterates the priority criteria for prevention, for the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle and for sustainable development through an environmental impact assessment. Clearly, the importance of recognising the economic value of ecological factors in setting prices and making operators accountable through the adoption of incentives for non-polluting systems, seems unquestionable in the light of events that characterise the relationship between economic development and the protection of our environmental heritage, particularly our water resources. This situation is loudly echoed in many sectors of the economy, and especially in the agricultural sector. The concept of good agricultural practice has been introduced in amongst the complexity of the current relationships between agriculture, environment and water resources, and between positive and negative effects, and amongst the wide range of local realities and production systems and so on. This concept indicates which agricultural production method to use in order to satisfy the Community expectation of an environmental protection of water resources that surpasses basic standards, along with the subsequent costs and reductions in income. The obligation to develop and consolidate a strategy for integration derives from this notion, with the aim of keeping the management of water resources at the heart of the sustainable economic production model in the light of current conditions. We must not, with this in mind, pursue a strategy of separating the objective of preventing a deterioration in the state of surface water and groundwater from the objectives of protecting, improving and restoring their quality, as this would create a superfluous hierarchy of priorities detrimental to the overall functioning of interventions and specific measures that target a combined approach and the use of the best available techniques. As regards eliminating the pollution generated by dangerous substances in the aquatic environment, an optimum approach should provide a regulation at both national and Community levels, which enables clearer identification of the various classes of bodies of water polluted as a result of human production activities. Finally, we need to set up a system which prepares an objective list of potentially dangerous substances, using the increased information available on their chemical, physical and biological properties, in such a way as to create an integrated model for intervention at a range of strategic levels in order to protect our water heritage, which is fundamental to us all.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, I of course share the sentiments expressed by Mr Bourlanges. However, we have to look into the question asked by Mr van Hulten, because, when it was raised by Mrs Morgan earlier on this week when Mr Provan was in the chair, he said he would examine whether it was possible to see what was going to happen. Therefore, maybe you could respond to Mr van Hulten’s question and possibly discuss this matter with the Bureau, that will meet to clarify the situation.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I wholeheartedly support the sterling efforts of my Labour colleague, Neil Kinnock, in clearing up the mess the European Commission got itself into. Just as the Commission could not operate with the technology of the 1950s, nor can it continue to operate with a management culture dating from the 1950s. Root-and-branch reform of its management and financial control systems are desperately needed. The aim must be to create an efficient, accountable and transparent Commission which will regain the confidence and trust of European citizens. Commissioner Kinnock has made a flying start. When it comes to sorting out obstinate, old-fashioned organisations set in their ways, his record is second to none. His proposals for a code of conduct for all Commission officials, the removal of national flags from key positions and the modernisation of industrial relations are brave, radical and a prime of example of good old-fashioned British common sense. Indeed, he is injecting a distinctly British breath of fresh air, efficiency and accountability into the organisation. It was, of course, the European Parliament and, above all, the Socialist Group, under the leadership of my former colleague Pauline Green, which forced the Commission to open up and admit it needed to change its ways. And we cannot lower our guard just yet. Commissioner Kinnock faces, and will continue to face, considerable opposition to his reforms. While everyone claims to support root-and-branch reform in public, there are some Eurocrats who will stop at nothing to defend vested interests in private. Nor will Europhobic Tories miss any opportunity to try and score political points, even at the expense of desperately needed reforms. Labour MEPs, however, will continue to give Commissioner Kinnock and his reform programme our full backing. Reform must not be derailed by the selfish agendas of a minority of Eurocrats and Eurosceptics.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I first want to say how grateful I am to President Pat Cox for inviting President Lech Walesa to yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony at the flagpoles in my home town of Gdansk. Mr Walesa symbolises the changes leading to political freedom in Europe. The current enlargement of the European Union means that 450 million citizens now find themselves in an area of incomparably greater freedom, security, stability, and progress. The Union’s offer of the opportunity of membership to the former Communist countries induced the latter to accomplish the huge task of reform in order to meet higher standards such as the Copenhagen standards. This demonstrates that the clear offer of such an opportunity can influence the entire domestic and foreign policy of a country seeking to join the Community. It therefore constitutes one of the most effective instruments at the Union’s disposal, and can result in increasing the range of freedoms available to its citizens and their security. There is, however, a risk that following the current enlargement, the European Union may concentrate solely or mainly on strengthening the integration process instead of exerting an effective influence on its neighbours. This should not happen. The new Member States, including Poland, could be very helpful in this regard. I therefore wish to emphasise the urgency of introducing a bold policy with regard to areas to the south and east of the European Union. This includes Turkey. Despite the many current political, cultural, and economic concerns, we should keep membership open to all those willing to fulfil the criteria for joining the European Union. Finally, I would like to highlight that the policy of increasing freedom and security we are discussing here today and about which Commissioner Vitorino spoke, is provided for by the provisions of the draft Constitutional Treaty. I have in mind Article 58, concerning the European Union and its immediate vicinity, as well as the provisions on the crucial pillars respecting freedom and security. I would therefore like to state that in my opinion, this draft should be implemented as quickly as possible.

Political group: PPE-DE
One year after the war against Afghanistan, although the Taliban regime is over, the country is still under the control of the warlords, with a new regime that nobody has elected. The situation for women is no better than before, children have just as little access to education as in the past, not to mention the tremendous poverty of most of the inhabitants of this country, which is still aggravated by the death and destruction sown by Western planes. The United States, with the support of European Member States, has spent vast sums on flooding the country with bombs. There is no question, however, of the world powers spending even a fraction of these sums on improving the life of the people. The various resolutions themselves reflect a rose-tinted view of the disastrous situation in Afghanistan. As always, however, we are content to welcome, request and invite. We did not join in with this ineffective whimpering, when, a year ago, most of the Members making these noises today supported the brutal policy of the world powers.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I just want to make a brief comment on the Santini report, which, along with the substantive amendments from the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, the Members belonging to the Group of the have voted for, even though it is clear to us that there are elements in this report about which the Council will have serious misgivings, some of them originating from the German Government. We will return to these controversial points, which primarily concern the obligations to support family members, in the course of further discussions, especially when the Council comes to set down its Common Position. The reason why I am giving this explanation of vote is that we may well find ourselves having to define our position anew at Second Reading stage.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, it is now clear that everyone's hope that the foot-and-mouth disease crisis will be temporary and short-lived has not been realised. In the Republic of Ireland we have been fortunate so far in that the outbreak has been confined to one area close to the border with Northern Ireland. And while the disease has appeared in only four Member States, we cannot yet be sure that it will not spread further. In the light of this, we must make certain that the restrictions domestically imposed do not impact disproportionately to the detriment of other key industries and public life generally. The option, therefore, of vaccination has to be kept open in the interests of the wider community. I said this last month. I hope that this month, given the weight of opinion expressed here today, this will now be listened to. The current Draconian restrictions on people's movements cannot continue. We cannot reasonably expect the farming community to have the balanced view of this issue that the wider community needs. It is for politicians to make these balanced choices. I am thinking, in particular, of the tourist industry in Ireland, which is worth EUR 4 billion. The Irish Hotels Federation is already reporting actual losses of EUR 55 million in the last month, with obvious knock-on consequences for employment. It must also be made clear that the illegal movement of sheep by unscrupulous operators will not be tolerated. Such movements in border areas between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland must be stamped out and licenses withdrawn from those found to be involved in such practices. To conclude, I want to support the call by my colleagues for a European taskforce, not only to monitor the existing situation, but whose remit would also be to monitor and approve a European-wide eradication programme.

Political group: PSE
Commissioner, thank you for your very balanced reply to my question. I am pleased with the action taken by the Commission and by the European Union in Angola, and I note that the Commission is stepping up the action it is taking to assist development in and provide humanitarian aid to Angola. I totally agree that the best solution for Angola is to take advantage of this country's enormous potential. Angola has been generously endowed with resources by nature, but unfortunately it has also been the victim of acts of madness by mankind for decade upon decade. It is now possible to use these rich and immense natural resources to benefit the people of this country, which, although it covers an enormous geographical area, has a population of just 13 or 14 million people. So we are faced with a difficult paradox: a land rich in resources with a population living on the verge of misery, hunger and death. Thank you very much, Commissioner, I think that the Commission should continue along the lines you have just informed us about.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, I think that everyone here is relieved to see these two directives finally adopted after so much work. Over and above the collective relief that we feel, however, some of my fellow Members and I would like to continue to ask questions about the Investment Services Directive. This is a system, the impact of which few of us have assessed. We are legislating for tomorrow, with the aim of avoiding financial difficulties and imbalances, and in the hope that the system that we implement will provide the best means of ensuring the financing of our economies as a whole, and not just of the financial sphere. I ask myself the question: do we finally have a compromise that will allow for the solid and transparent harmonisation of our financial markets? Have we really given ourselves the means to avoid the shocks and scandals that we hope to avoid on the European stock markets in order to allow our economy to safeguard everyone’s interests? We are opening up the monopoly of the regulated markets and we can hope that this new competition will provide access to cheaper products and will lead to more liquid markets and, therefore, to the best use being made of resources. The original compromise, the only one to work – which consisted of opening everything to the market whilst guaranteeing the smooth functioning of the market through greater transparency – was not fully observed and that was the aim of the discussion has taken place to date. We have known for a long time that the markets need the best possible financial information in order to function, so that there is optimum price formation and so that actors have access to the same indicators, if we want decisions to be rational. From this point of view, I regret the fact that our Parliament has not been able, in conjunction with the Council, of going further in defining the size of the market and that we allowed, on this issue too, a key point in negotiation and which provided balance in the text to be left to our experts and for the next stage of the regulatory process.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, integrated coastal zone management is a necessity, but unfortunately many still do not know what it is. Be it the Irish Cliffs of Moher, the Algarve in Portugal or the Watt mud flats on the German coast, Europe’s coasts have tremendous economic, ecological, social and cultural importance. Coasts are not conurbation areas, but nevertheless around one third of the EU population live in coastal regions today. This presents dangers for the fragile ecosystems that coasts represent. However, the socio-economic problems have grown too, because coastal regions are far removed from the heartbeat of the conurbations and are neglected by politics. I need mention only the coastal regions’ lack of infrastructure links. So we must do something for the coasts in Europe. In view of the growing problems, we urgently need to find a system of planning and management that includes everyone connected with the coasts. We must create an integrated management to ensure sustainable development and preserve the coasts as habitat. In Germany we have a saying: too many cooks spoil the broth. I hear the voices of critics raising their fingers in warning and quoting this proverb. But I say to them, the proverb may apply to broth but not to our coasts. The problem areas differ a great deal, and a wide variety of sectors are affected, but the links between them are obvious. Tourists come to my coast, for example, for the crabs. The artificial deepening of rivers or the discharge of harmful substances threatens the stock of crabs. No crabs, no tourists, no money! And there are no alternative job opportunities, certainly not in the fisheries sector. We are faced with wide-ranging problems that cannot be solved, at least not adequately, by the Member States alone. What we need is a joining of forces on the coast, and clearly that will not happen without friction. But it will benefit our environment in the long term. We will not get very far or make much progress in Europe if we all keep ploughing our own furrow.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I thank the minister for his extremely interesting speech and for his support for the setting up of a Council of Ministers within a defence formation. What puzzles me is what exactly is the status of the draft agreement brokered between Britain, the US and Turkey, between the European Union and the non-European Union NATO European members? Despite the fact that the draft agreement remains fairly secretive, I read it with great care. It seems to me that it represents faithfully the conclusions of the Nice European Council, that the security interests not only of the European Union but also of Turkey should be guaranteed by the operation of the rapid reaction force. The draft agreement allows for the Council to decide to invite Turkey to play a part where NATO facilities are not required. That does not seem to me to represent a threat to the autonomy of the European Union. I should be most grateful for a clear explanation of precisely what the problem is inside the Council.

Political group: ELDR
draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. – Mr President, I wish to join with others in congratulating Louise McVay for a tremendous achievement in bringing this issue this far, and my thanks for excellent cooperation to our rapporteur, Mrs Aaltonen. Indeed, I pay credit to Louise's local constituency MEPs, Mrs Read and Mr Whitehead, who have followed this through the parliamentary process. This debate, resolution and report is a historic landmark for 400 000 people with multiple sclerosis in Europe. It will lead to concrete action. Just as resolutions of this Parliament on the rights of people with autism and on the recognition of sign language for deaf people have meant real achievements, I believe that will be true from today onwards for people with multiple sclerosis. I am very pleased that the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has produced an opinion to contribute its authorship to this report, because within seven years, 50% of people with multiple sclerosis lose their jobs, even though they want to work and are capable of working. This is not just about access to appropriate health care, it is the fact that getting access to that health care could make a huge difference to people's working, social and personal lives. I would like to thank the Multiple Sclerosis Society of the United Kingdom. Sarah Philips, its chair, is also with us in the public gallery. Because of their campaigning, a new scheme was introduced in 2002, which means that 3 000 more people with multiple sclerosis now benefit from the latest and most effective treatments in the United Kingdom, my own Member State. It is truly an achievement of disabled people working and campaigning together, and one that we, in common with our colleagues in the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform, want to see spread throughout Europe. We talk about people suffering from MS. I understand why we use that language. But we do not want disabled people to be seen as victims, we want them to be seen as achievers like Louise McVay, whose achievements we celebrate in this European Year of Disabled People.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to thank the rapporteur and everyone involved in this report. I should also like to thank the Commissioner, who held a plethora of individual talks for the purpose of hearing our views and arguing his own. That alone illustrates how sensitive this issue is. We have before us a regulation which contains a derogation from competition law. We believe that this derogation cannot be maintained in the long term. Anyone who takes the view that freedom of establishment is one of the four freedoms and that competition is a fundamental factor in strengthening the internal market must say yes to both and to the basic idea behind Commissioner Monti's proposal. And we shall do so. But the point is, how can we bring the interested parties around to the idea of freedom of establishment and more competition? The interested parties are the manufacturers, consumers and, in between them, the small and medium-sized businesses represented by dealers, workshops and sales. We believe that it therefore comes down to the how and when of the changeover. What Parliament has proposed are longer transitional periods, greater legal certainty and measures to maintain confidence, a yes to competition and protection for investments and new regulations for terminating agreements, even going as far as compensation if good faith is abused, together with a longer period and stronger form of notice. Commissioner, we have said it all, the transitional period until 2005 and a facility for review were the core elements of the debate in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. What we now ask is that you accept that we support your basic line but that you meet us half way on implementation on the basis of Parliament's resolution.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, this is the first time in fourteen years that I have acted as rapporteur for a budgetary procedure. I shall be brief. I simply want to express my agreement with the words of previous rapporteurs and remind you of a political rule: prudence will never make us traitors, and therefore I very much appreciate the solidarity and resolution of the Committee on Budgets, which has allowed us to safeguard the interests of this Parliament as an institution.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, when democratic procedures were restored in Nigeria and the country's constitution was adopted in 1999, how could we have imagined the events which took place two or three years later? The ethnic, religious and political infighting which has cost thousands of people their lives, and the restoration of Islamic or Sharia law in the 12 states of the country in which there is a Muslim majority. World public opinion was shocked recently by the sentences of death by stoning passed on women accused of adultery while, under this extremely fair law, the men of course get off scot-free. The international outcry and the action taken by the European Parliament, civil society and the media may have saved their lives at the eleventh hour, but the issue of violations of women's rights and blatant discrimination on the basis of sex remains. And the case of Amina Lawal, sentenced by the Islamic court in Bakori, is still pending. But the Islamic courts and the interpretation of Sharia law apart, there are other examples of the unequal, unfair and inhumane treatment of women, such as sexual mutilation – around 60% of women in Nigeria are estimated to have suffered this gruesome practice – or the recognised right of men to mistreat women with impunity or the organised trafficking in and sexual exploitation of women. We need to send a very strong message on all these points to the federal government of Nigeria from this House today, calling on it to ensure that the country's courts operate in accordance with international law on human rights and the Charter of Human Rights, which has even been included in Nigeria's constitution. Above all, we must make clear not just to the Nigerian government, but anywhere else where Sharia law applies, that the best defence against intolerance is to strengthen the secular aspects of the state and legitimate democratic order. We also need to send out a message that no religious or other tradition or practice can take precedence over respect for fundamental human rights and the rule of law. At the same time, we call on the European Commission, in the run up to the elections in Nigeria in 2003, to provide any technical assistance Nigeria may need in order to strengthen its legal and democratic structures and for lawyers and the police to be educated within the framework of the Cotonou agreement and the resolutions passed by the Joint ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Political group: PSE