GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Madam President, the Commission communication is well written but sufficiently vague to allow any interpretation whatsoever. On one hand, there are the words and, on the other, their real political meaning. We Socialists applaud the Commission for wanting to fight against social exclusion and poverty. Yet how can the gulf between political rhetoric and reality be filled? What is meant by the Commission’s declared objective of ‘economic reform’ in the labour market? Does this mean more flexibility, insecurity and fixed-term contracts? Everyone knows that quality of life and full and better employment depend on sustainable economic growth. The Union is currently restricted to a policy of stability which is certainly necessary but insufficient. We Socialists desperately want a European pact for growth and employment. The ingredients of this policy are well known. They are the stimulation of public and private investment, increased investment in research, education and training and the promotion of the spirit of enterprise. In this respect, the e-Europe initiative is to be welcomed. In the world of new technologies, the main danger remains that access to information will be easier the richer you are. The gulfs which are opening up everywhere are the main problem for our era. On one hand we have the exuberance of the financial markets and the explosion of wealth and, on the other, more widespread exclusion. We are asking workers to be flexible, innovative and ever more productive, yet the fruits of this productivity increasingly benefit the shareholders alone. The European Central Bank is keeping very quiet about the staggering rates of return on financial assets, yet it never misses an opportunity to remind us that any wage increase should remain below the rate of increase in productivity. How do we explain to workers who fall victim to the rationalisations of the worldwide Monopoly game that they must be prepared to change career several times in their working lives when the captains of industry, having lost the gamble of a take-over, leave with compensation of EUR 30 million? For years we have been told over and over that the economy must be liberalised. The sectors which have been liberalised are experiencing an avalanche of mergers and acquisitions, leading inevitably to monopoly situations. All these stock market battles are based solely on forecast increases in profit of 15%, 20% or 25% which are unrealistic in the long term. The unfettered rise in prices of financial assets and property means that the risks are on the increase. The main danger awaiting us in the medium term is not inflation but deflation caused by the collapse of the speculative bubbles on the international financial markets. To conclude, the next five years will be crucial. We need new rules to regulate globalisation and we need investment in the real economy and in people. We need the Member States and the Commission to ensure the social dimension of the market economy in a visible manner. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Madam Minister, I agree with you that the death sentence imposed on the Kurdish leader Mr Öçalan constitutes a significant challenge for the international community, since it violates minimum requirements in terms of justice as well as respect for human rights. Our group condemned both the violation of human rights on the part of Belgrade and the war by NATO against Yugoslavia, as an illegal, unjust and immoral war. For this reason, despite the violation of human rights and the ethnic cleansing against the Kurds by the Turkish regime, our group does not request that the European Union nor NATO bomb Turkey. We are prudent and we are sensible. On the contrary, we believe that the two problems that you have mentioned – the death sentence and respect for the human rights of the Kurdish ethnic minority – require a peaceful, political solution. The death sentence against Mr Öçalan must be lifted. In addition, the European Union must demand that the Turkish government maintains a dialogue with the Kurds, a dialogue which resolves the Kurdish claims for autonomy within Turkey, as well as respect for democratic rights. In the same way that there are Autonomous Communities in Spain, Länder in Germany or Communities in Belgium, etc., there should also be a similar solution in Turkey for the Kurds, so that they may enjoy, in the same way that you have indicated in Finland, the ability to speak their own language, a free press reflecting their problems and a regional Parliament. To this end, we believe that the European Union and the European Parliament should react speedily and thoroughly, so that Turkey may embark on a democratic path and participate in this greater Europe which stretches from Portugal to Russia.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, as I pointed out during the debate, and Mr Wynn, the Chairman of our committee, has also done so at the beginning of the votes, I ask that this report be returned to the Committee on Budgets, since the negotiations between the Council, the Commission and Parliament have progressed considerably, but the Council is not in a position to give its agreement at the moment. We would still be within the time limits at the part-session of 2 and 3 May, and the Committee on Budgets, meanwhile, could confirm its agreement at its meetings of 24 and 25 April. The likelihood of an agreement is all but confirmed, but it must be corroborated by the Council this afternoon.

Political group: PSE
I voted in favour of the Frassoni report on ‘Better Law-Making’. While awaiting the entry into force of the European Constitution, which will bring unquestionable advances when it comes to the transparency of Community procedures and respect for the distribution of competences and for the principle of subsidiarity, I believe it is necessary to improve legislative practice in the framework of the treaties currently in force. From this point of view, the interinstitutional agreement between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament is good news, for it offers greater clarity and coherence while respecting the powers, procedures and general principles of our positive law. Too often, the documents adopted by our Assembly are still difficult to access by the uninitiated. We can do better. The interinstitutional agreement opens the way to realising an ambition of the kind already referred to in the White Paper on Governance. It now remains to give practical expression to that ambition.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on Monday, the Commission granted non-European wine producers – in South Africa, Australia and the USA – authorisation to use three denominations of Port wine: Tawny, Ruby and Vintage. This decision by the Commission has provoked a furious reaction in the Port wine defined region, the oldest wine region in Europe, and will have a devastating impact on the legitimate interests of Port wine producers. This is a disgraceful decision, one to which we object in the strongest possible terms. This is not just a matter of economics; it is both highly sensitive and a cultural issue. The EU must support Port wine, its authenticity and the trademarks that it has acquired.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, a number of people have already raised issues relating to breaches of human rights and I also wish to raise a question of a serious breach of human rights. A human right that every single person in this House would support is the right of little children to go to school unhindered and unterrorised. As we speak in this House, four – five – and six-year-old children in a small area of Belfast in Northern Ireland are being terrorised by so-called protests. I will not bore you with the arguments for and against these kinds of protests or the arguments of one side or the other – but these are political arguments between adults. This should not involve little children going to school. Madam President, I would appeal to you to write to all the parties in Northern Ireland, and the Irish and the British governments, to urge them to use every power and every means of persuasion at their disposal to stop these kinds of protests. Let these little children go to school unhindered. It seems to me that there is a view that terrorism only consists of bombs, guns and bullets. But how will four-year-old children, going to school for the first day in their life remember that first day when they are surrounded by police who are armed because they need to protect them and who are seeking to provide them with a safe corridor to go into their classroom for their first day of school? It is an appalling situation and I would appeal to you to write to all the parties concerned. While I am on my feet, may I also make the point that there has been an historic breakthrough in Northern Ireland. As we all know, agreements to change things are not enough, there also has to be a change of heart. There has been a new agreement on policing in Northern Ireland which is fundamental to the peace agreement. The SDLP – the party led by John Hume who is in this Parliament – has given its support for the first time in the history of Northern Ireland to the police service there and they should be congratulated for that. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Whilst the British Conservative Delegation is in favour of prosecuting those who smuggle human beings, this measure is not an effective way of dealing with such criminals. By allowing illegal immigrants to stay in a Member State, although ostensibly for prosecution purposes, the directive would leave the asylum system open to abuse. If this legislation were to be implemented, the problems would be exacerbated. Instead, we need to tackle these matters as individual states and take tougher measures to discourage traffickers and bogus asylum seekers.

Political group: PPE-DE
At the G8 Summit held in July 2000 in Okinawa, the rich industrialised G8 countries pledged substantial funds to fight communicable diseases and help the sick in poor countries. In September last year the Commission held a conference on the subject in Brussels but no action followed. Four million of the poorest people died in one year. In July 2001 another meeting took place in Genoa and Mr Prodi announced to the world's media a donation of EUR 120 million. My report, unanimously approved on 4 October this year has been sitting on the shelf collecting dust. The Council adopted a proposal for a legal basis for the fund to be implemented but so far not one euro has been given, and a further 2 million people have died. When terrorist bombs cause death the victims attract money very fast but the 3-4 million people who die from diseases are not in our minds. Why does it take the Commission so long to present a plan for implementation when they know that every day 10 000 people are dying? We promise with pride but we fail to deliver. Do these people not matter to us? The Commissioners have gone. There is no interest. Look at the audience in this Chamber, hardly anyone is here. That shows what priority the European Union gives to such an important project. This is not FYROM or Macedonia. This is AIDS affecting the poorest people in the world and it is about time that the EU contribution is not just EUR 20 per person dying, not just 1% of what is required, but that it is EUR 6 billion per annum.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, from the Barcelona process until today, the whole of the Mediterranean basin has been convulsed by a series of problems, which are not only unresolved, but which in some cases are getting worse in an alarming manner. From the Middle East conflict to the insoluble situation in the Sahara, from the total lack of control of immigration, with the almost daily tragedies on the coasts of Andalusia and the Canary Islands, to which we can add human trafficking, drug trafficking and fanatical terrorism, which is not only being endured by some of our neighbouring countries, but which is using all its resources to also transfer itself to our European territory, these are some of the serious issues which we should be concerned about, very concerned about, at the Naples conference. We have common problems and also mutual responsibilities and each party must take on those responsibilities. Immigration, for example, can only be resolved if, as called for in the Euro-Mediterranean Forum in Bari in June 2002, the countries of origin and receiving countries take on joint responsibility for controlling migratory flows and combating the organised mafias which promote illegal immigration. Border control is the task of both sides, not of just one. Development cooperation? Whatever is needed and more. But the political and administrative structures of the Mediterranean third countries must behave transparently, and must respect human rights in order to promote easy and productive parliamentary and political dialogue such as that which must take place in the new assembly we are discussing today, so that this cooperation is effective, something which is unfortunately not the case in some of those countries, and I will not mention them by name, Mr President.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, as the representative of the European Liberal Democrats, I would like to thank the Commission sincerely for its White Paper, with its ambitious objectives. It is necessary to move forward swiftly and with flexibility in these matters. This is in the interests of consumers, but also, at the same time, the food chain in Europe. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy has now come to adopt a reasonable policy, as there is now the desire to create a scientific, authoritative body from the Food Safety Agency, which would have responsibility for risk assessment and keeping the public informed. It is important that risk management itself will continue to be the responsibility of the Member States and the Commission and thus the object of political supervision also. For us to be able to restore consumer confidence in the safety of food and maintain it, the Food Safety Agency must start its work with adequate public resources. Self-sufficiency and the independence of the unit will serve the interests of European consumers best. For that reason it would be best if the agency did not function under the auspices of the Commission but independently and as a body that is physically separate from the Commission. The agency must be located somewhere well-connected in terms of transport and information technology, and the area in question should have a good reputation in the area of food safety. Support from the surrounding scientific community will also be an important factor when choosing a location. For that reason, I support Amendment Nos 14 and 19, which express a desire for principled guidance in deciding a future location.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, firstly I should like to thank Mr Aparicio Sánchez for the excellent report and also confirm that he has the full support of my group. Of course, the issues mentioned by Mr Ferber were discussed; we simply reached a different conclusion. Firstly, Mr Ferber, I should like to say quite clearly that this is about transport policy. Of course this is about transport policy. You used the adjective ' ' here and that is precisely the underlying problem. Thank God the cat is now out of the bag and we know what this is all about. What is happening here is that whenever a sensible policy is pursued, for example in the interests of the environment, it is simply labelled , and the whole thing is thus discredited. I believe that this is unacceptable. This is about drafting transport policy. Policy-making means taking decisions about the way in which the market can and should work, but of course under certain basic conditions. This is what has happened here. Secondly, this is about putting in place transitional arrangements. As Mr Sánchez has already said, the transitional rules are a difficult phase in the process, in the course of which we have also tried to keep the Swiss on board. The negotiations were long and hard. I should like to say – not because it is a Commissioner from our side, I have expressed my thanks to enough Commissioners from the other side – that Mr Kinnock conducted tough and prolonged negotiations and that a good result emerged from them. It is a good result, and you also mentioned yourself that this is not about making sure that some countries obtain assets, because if the countries cannot use these assets – as you put it – they go back to the European Commission – to Europe – and then have to be reallocated. Speaking also as an Austrian, I would say that this is surely about reducing the amount of traffic transiting France and Austria. This is of course not just traffic which originates in Austria or Germany; it is also traffic which has come, for example, from Greece and other parts of Europe. For this reason I believe that this is a good report. I should like to thank our colleague, Mr Aparicio Sánchez. I also believe that the vote on the report here should be handled in the same way as it was in the committee.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, on a point of order, I would like to raise a question that is causing grave concern to people in Ireland, particularly those on the east coast of Ireland – and indeed it should also be a matter of concern to people on the west coast of the UK. It concerns the current shipment of MOX pellets that is being returned from Japan to Sellafield and is due to enter the Irish Sea some time next week. The Irish Sea is already highly radioactive as a result of the emission of waste from Sellafield into the Irish Sea. The shipment is in two first-generation double-hulled ships, which are not completely double-hulled and are very old. This is causing concern to people in Ireland because of the risk of accident and the very real risk of terrorist attack on these ships. There has already been fairly widespread world concern expressed about these shipments. They are an environmental hazard to the high seas and to coastal states. I urge the President of this Parliament to raise this matter with the Commission and in particular with the UK Government. If this shipment proceeds it is likely that shipments will continue for some time to come. The actual pellets themselves have been refused and returned by Japan, when it discovered that the quality control standards had been falsified at Sellafield. Therefore Japan would not accept them for use in its nuclear reactors. I am gravely concerned about this. All political parties in Ireland have expressed concern about this and I urge that we take action in relation to it.

Political group: PSE
Seen from a historical perspective, achieving enlargement is an issue that lies at the very heart of the European Union. This is the sharing of a common set of values in the field of liberal democracy, respect for human rights, social protection of the weakest, the protection of minorities, a market economy and peaceful coexistence under the rule of law. Enlargement is enabling us to revive the geographical, political and cultural identity of Europe. The prospect of a Union of 25 is now a reality. This enlargement, on an unparalleled scale, corresponds to an historic duty to reunite our continent. It also requires us thoroughly to reconsider the European project, the way in which an enlarged Europe will function. It also represents an opportunity. Extending the Union to more than 100 million new citizens, from this first stage formalised in Copenhagen onwards, will encourage exchanges and economic activity and will breathe new life into the development and integration of Europe’s economy as a whole. The accession of new Member States will increase the Union’s power and influence on the international stage.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, I believe that we are all of one mind today as to how this topic should be handled and the way the media are being treated in Serbia. The situation in Yugoslavia is deteriorating by the day. In fact, it seems as if Mr Milosevic and his friends are playing a three-way game by means of which they are trying to deregulate anything which can possibly be deregulated. Tension surrounding Montenegro is mounting. At Kosovo’s border, the situation is very unsettled and the regime in Belgrade is creating a climate in which large-scale accidents are likely. The last few weeks have been marked by a series of repressive measures against the independent media. This ranged from high fines to direct intimidation. In addition, there is talk of a kind of internal isolation. It is increasingly difficult to enter the country. I experienced this myself a couple of weeks ago when I tried to attend a few conferences of opposition parties in Serbia. During that weekend, I was refused an entry visa whilst, two weeks prior to this, many international guests had been able to attend that bizarre conference staged by Milosevic. It shows that every effort is being made to keep out outside influences. There is also talk of curtailing communication by telephone, e-mail and keeping tabs on written correspondence. The government seems keen to remove the opposition from local authorities, where they have been entitled to be since the previous local elections. The new regime can only win the new local elections, expected in May, if the opposition is, in effect, eliminated. I find this a dangerous game. Consequently, we would like to see extensive protests against this media repression, but the EU should also look for ways to provide direct support to Serbia’s independent media. The latter is a vital lifeline for the opposition which will be mounting campaigns again this spring and which certainly deserves our support, also where the media is concerned.

Political group: PSE