GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Commissioner, I represent a country whose history revolves around fishing and the sea, and which still has a total of around 50 000 jobs in the fisheries sector as a whole. The first criticism I have of the Commission proposal is that it does not take account of the diverse make-up of the European Union's fishing fleet: some countries’ fleets consist mainly of large vessels used for industrial fishing and other countries which have predominantly small vessels. In Portugal, 90% of the present fishing fleet consists of vessels less than 12 metres long used for small-scale coastal fishing. As around 40% of these vessels are over 25 years old, the overwhelming majority of our fishermen will be unable to modernise and make their activity viable unless they receive support from the Community. My second major criticism is about a fundamental issue that affects all these proposals, and which relates to the way in which the various countries have complied with the objectives laid down in the multiannual guidance programmes, the MAGPs. There are some countries that have complied with these objectives, and there are others, as with Portugal, which have even exceeded those objectives by 30%, whilst there are others still that have not only failed to comply with their objectives but have even increased the capacity of their fleet. Furthermore, I would like to remind you that since Portugal joined the European Union in 1986, the Portuguese fleet has been reduced by 45% and total catches cut by 50%. Given these figures, I do not think it is fair to ask us to make further sacrifices when there are countries that have increased their fleets. So because the Commission's proposals do not take account of this recent history, they not only involve robbing Peter to pay Paul, but worse still they reward those who have flouted the rules in the past. To conclude, Commissioner, I would like to say that it is a mistake to try to rush a reform, because that is always a recipe for disaster. The issue of the sustainability of resources is very serious, but it should not be used as an excuse for doing things hastily and giving insufficient weight to human and social aspects, and above all imposing an unfair balance. Nothing has been said about fishmeal, the ultra-peripheral regions or illegal fishing. And I hope that the reactions to the Commission's proposals will mean that aspects that have not been examined will now be reconsidered, leading to a more balanced reform covering all aspects of the problem. That is why we need to wait a little longer.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as the date of accession approaches ever nearer, all the more often am I – as probably are also my fellow MEPs – asked whether we were not too hasty, and whether this accession, this enlargement, is not perhaps premature. Of course, the date is premature if you believe that every problem has to be sorted out before accession to the European Union, but then probably none of us would be able to belong to it. I think the date is the right one, though, if you believe that now, and from now on, is the right time to join with these countries in a common union in order to resolve these difficulties. Whatever justified criticism may have been levelled at them, the fact is that these countries have, over recent years, worked very hard at their own modernisation and at the evolution of their societies. All the same, I do believe that there are certain problems to which we have to pay particular attention: corruption has already been mentioned, as has crime. One problem that I would like to stress here is the social problem, and social issues. I do believe that what matters is not just price stability, zero deficits, and tax cuts, but that what matters most of all is that growth is achieved and new jobs created – more stable ones, too – and the need for social stability in these countries to be supported and encouraged. Recent weeks and months have shown us the problems that there are in this area – with the Roma and Sinti in Slovakia, for example. You can trace something of a logical progression linking these disturbances with cuts in taxes, cuts in expenditure, and cuts in social spending. I do not want to say that this single problem is the only example, and the same is true, of course, in other countries. Bearing in mind that the total number of Roma and Sinti in Europe adds up to some 6 or 8 million, I believe that fact very much justifies the widespread desire – which I share – for a Commissioner whose area of competence would include the integration of Europe’s minorities, especially of the Roma and Sinti. In any case, I would ask the Commission, both before and after 1 May, to give a great deal of attention to issues of social integration, especially that of the Roma and Sinti. I know that Commissioner Verheugen is very well aware of how important this issue is, and I believe that the whole Commission, in the coming weeks, months and indeed years, should address it together.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, this is my customary Christmas present to the Presidency, to the officials who assist the Presidency, to the interpreters, to all those who work in this Chamber and devote so much time during the year to listening to Mr Fatuzzo’s explanations of vote. It is now a custom that, at Christmas, Mr Fatuzzo delivers no explanations of vote during the last voting time of the year, precisely as a Christmas present to you all.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is very difficult to talk about such sensitive issues when there is so little time available but I would like to confirm that, contrary to what many speakers have said, we have increased protection following 11 September and drawn up a raft of measures which include those we are debating this evening. However, last year, we instituted Eurojust and we have already delivered one major opinion, as has been mentioned, to the effect that Eurojust should harmonise judicial cooperation within Europe. Today, we are taking a large step forward. We are taking a quantum leap towards laying the foundations for the institution of a European public prosecutor in the future, and I therefore feel that the area of justice in which all this is taking place is gaining in significance, and it is not an area of repression, Mr Vitorino, but an area of freedom. I am sure you have drawn inspiration from these principles. I believe that this is an issue of primary importance on which we are about to deliver an opinion and which we feel will certainly open up a whole world of cooperation and solidarity in this area. There are clearly specific problems and they clearly concern the arrest warrant, which merits close reflection. Only Mr Di Lello could be so superficial and irresponsible as to cast such hasty aspersions on the Italian government. I do not feel this is fair. The legal institutions have their own procedures, and we are fine-tuning this European procedural law, this European area, but it is clear that we must proceed with great caution and not draw up a list of offences, for we would never finish adding to it, and any list of offences will clearly never be comprehensive. We must realise that transnational crimes do exist, that the crime of international terrorism does exist, Madam President, and that it is a sensitive, significant and tragic issue in today’s society. All we have to do, and it must be our priority, to combat it is, of course, to coordinate the activities. Italian procedural law, for example, has its own peculiarities, and we hope that there will be reasoned, active unanimity within the Council.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, I should like to thank you and my esteemed fellow MEP, Mr Harbour, for their reports to this House. It is, however, slightly ironical that the best information about what happened at the summit has appeared on the radical party’s web sites. The EU’s own web sites have contained extremely little information about this summit. What kind of information society do we live in? It is good that a summit should have been held because international cooperation is required where Internet security is concerned. We believe we achieved something to combat spam when we adopted the directive on privacy protection in electronic communications, but we have got nowhere. As I say, international cooperation is needed. It was good that the final document contained regulations on free competition, values, methods and the neutrality of technology, which showed that success is being achieved in Europe in creating an information society. As is usual in the case of international conferences, the action plan and the final document contain many sound pledges concerning how this is to be developed and how we can help the developing countries. An interminable number of international summits have now taken place at which we have given pledges concerning, for example, education for all and the fast track initiative within the World Bank to help children and, above all, girls to benefit from an education. In spite of this, nothing is happening. Regarding the fast track initiative within the World Bank, the developed countries have not even been able to comply with their modest pledge of slightly more than USD 300 million. After no more than a year and a half, we are over USD 100 million in arrears. When will the developing countries stop believing in what is said in these international forums? Before this summit, the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party stated that we cannot see Tunisia being a host country for the follow-up conference as long as it violates freedom of expression. In that respect, we are disappointed in the outcome.

Political group: ELDR
Although the joint text that has been adopted contains positive aspects that deserve our approval, it is clearly inadequate. Nevertheless, if implemented, it could contribute to ensuring greater participation by social organisations and movements and by authorities at local and regional level in formalising and evaluating national action plans for employment. It is equally important to guarantee, as stated in the text adopted, that a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the effects of the European strategy for employment is undertaken, including a study of its coherence with general economic policy and with other political matters, and a follow-up by the European Employment Observatory. The most important thing of all, however, is for changes to be made in the European Union’s political priorities and for a genuine policy of high quality employment with rights to be pursued with a view to achieving full employment, which is still far from being a reality. - Décharge 2000 (A5-0113/2002) Morgan , – I am disappointed that Parliament only just missed refusing to grant discharge to the Economic and Social Committee for the years 1996 and 1997 by 14 votes – 239 in favour of granting discharge, 225 against with 15 abstentions. The closeness of the vote should serve as a warning to the ESC and other institutions that fraud will not be tolerated. The fact it took six years to investigate and establish the facts in relation to the ESC travel expenses case is also unacceptable. Ultimately, I decided I had to vote for the report as a whole, despite the narrow defeat on 1996 and 1997 discharge, because the content of the report is unaffected by Parliament granting discharge to the ESC. The report remains critical of the value for money provided by the ESC, and it highlights the need for radical reform. This is backed up by a report to the Convention on the Future of Europe from the Social Platform's 'Green 8' on 18 April 2002. Point 10 of the report reads as follows: 'Give ECOSOC no additional role as representative of civil society. The Economic and Social Committee does not represent civil society and we oppose attributing such a role to it. (Abbreviated in accordance with Rule 137 of the Rules of Procedure) - Thorning-Schmidt report (A5-0110/2002)

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as part of this joint debate on economic and social cohesion, we are analysing the Mastorakis report on the Commission’s second progress report on European cohesion policy. I would like to express my support for the ideas expressed by the rapporteur, and take this opportunity to thank him for the remarkable quality of his work. Regional policy and cohesion policy have played and continue to play a vital role in the development of Member States such as Portugal and their full integration into the European Union. I am delighted that some European regions, including some regions of Portugal, have left the Cohesion Fund through their own efforts. That is without a doubt the best example of the success of this Community policy. It should not be forgotten, however, that although major differences already exist between some European regions in terms of their levels of development, these disparities will become even more marked after enlargement. In order to realise the full potential of its cohesion policy, thus reducing inequality in regional development, the European Union must maintain its support of current Member States at a constant level. At the same time, it must also develop the regions containing the future Member States in a balanced way. Faced with this double challenge, the European Union’s duty is to make sufficient funds available to meet the new demands of this situation. For that reason, the current threshold of 0.45% of Community gross domestic product must never fall victim to budget cuts of any kind. For that reason, and because the cohesion policy has proved to be a success in Portugal, I oppose the renationalisation of this development tool. I welcome the Commission’s establishment of a transitional scheme for regions suffering from the ‘statistical’ effects of enlargement, losing their eligibility as a result of Objective 1 being opened up to less-developed regions. Finally, I have nothing but praise for the creation of a new Objective 2, on the basis of regional competitiveness in accordance with the guidelines laid down at the Lisbon Summit.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I recommend that urgent procedure be applied to this document because it would also make it easier for China to take part in the forthcoming meeting in Doha. (Parliament agreed to urgent procedure) *** Proposal for a Council decision establishing the Community position within the Ministerial Conference set up by the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation on the accession of the separate customs territory of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu) to the World Trade Organisation [COM(2001) 518 – C5-0488/01 – 2001/0216(CNS)]

Political group: Verts-ALE
I am very grateful to Commissioner Vitorino for his very encouraging reply and I hope to see that list of specific items which he has said we will have before long. However, I would like to ask the Commissioner whether the Commission has realised that there will have to be complementarity between the INTERREG and MEDA programmes so that the associated country – in this case Morocco – may have the financial means necessary for cooperation. I would ask the Commissioner to deal with this issue, so that it may be possible to promote complementarity between the INTERREG programme and the MEDA programme, because otherwise, Morocco will not have the financial means intended for cooperation. This is done with the CCEE countries and it will be necessary to do the same with this new form of cross-border cooperation.

Political group: PSE
For a century, the generation and distribution of electricity was largely kept out of the hands of commerce. It is not a product that you are free to choose whether or not to buy. Every household needs electricity and no one can run the risk of its non-availability. Distribution takes place along lines under the public highway. The public services too, such as hospitals, schools and trams, use a lot of electricity. You cannot leave all this to a company whose primary interest is to make a profit; it is best left to local or regional government monopolies, on condition that they are subject to democratic control by a chosen parliamentary body that watches over environmental and consumer interests. In the Netherlands we now have wide experience of the transfer of the electricity supply to the private sector. Environmentally friendly investments for the small-scale generation of electricity have been neglected or ruled out in favour of the importation of nuclear power. Now all that counts is which electricity can be produced or purchased cheapest. Payment for green power, which consumers are allowed to buy from a different producer from their traditional regional supplier, usually leads to chaos. I support Mr Turmes, our rapporteur, in his attempt to counteract false information about green power or misuse of money for termination of nuclear energy, but that is insufficient. – Rapkay report (A5-0135/2003)

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, cattle in England was fed with the ground carcasses of animals and foreign prions caused BSE. In France sludge has been mixed with animal feed, which has also contained human waste, because of its urea content. In Belgium, fats have been mixed with animal feed, and the fats, when heated, have produced dioxins. The EU and Mr Fischler, the Commissioner responsible for agriculture, are very much to blame for many problems, but the real guilty parties in these matters are the national governments. The basic problem is animal feed. It is the most important stage in the food chain. The solution to this problem is not to establish an army of EU officials to oversee the work of farms. The solution is a national one. The national authorities must dare to monitor farms and their production. Perhaps that way the illegal use of hormones will also be discovered. In any case, this issue will best be resolved by adopting the practice of food labels that indicate the origin of the produce.

Political group: GUE-NGL
By way of clarification, does the Commission consider it conceivable that the European Union will allow Cuba to accede to the Cotonou Agreement as long as the political detainees now sentenced remain in detention?

Political group: ELDR
The recent wreck of the oil tanker, Erika, and the chemical tanker, the Ievoli Sun, have revealed the importance of the role played by classification societies in maritime transport. And we have a legitimate reason to question the reliability and the effectiveness of the inspections they carry out. First of all, recognition of classification societies is devolved to Member States without any prior control or harmonisation at European level. What is more, the training of the inspectors of these societies differs from country to country. Furthermore, no guarantee is given as to the independence of classification societies vis-à-vis the flag administration and/or the client. The rapporteur’s proposals aimed at harmonisation on a European scale can only be positive. The European Union must set aside the resources to make it possible for a recognised and competent authority to enforce standards on classification societies. Additional financial and human resources will be necessary. Classification societies will have to be monitored and, where necessary, punished by having their authorisation suspended. In the event of an accident, the financial liability of recognised organisations must be acknowledged and harmonised. In addition, the amount of the mentioned compensation must be revised upwards to take better account of the material, economic, but also social and environmental damage inflicted. I will support this report and the Commission’s amendments, but I call on the Members of Parliament to support the amendments tabled by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy, in particular those aimed at harmonising the rules applicable to classification societies and the status of inspectors.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, this directive has been under discussion since 1997. It is high time that we reached an agreement. Since I more or less share the views of my colleague, Mr Sjöstedt and the representative of the , Mr de Roo, I am not going to use the two minutes allotted to me, and I will highlight just two issues. Firstly, and this is perhaps the basic point of the proposal, the idea, which goes hand in hand with recycling and the use of waste, that we should use materials which will subsequently cause less pollution. Another point is that waste should not be incinerated or crushed, not only in the case of lead, cadmium and mercury, but also in the case of waste which contains PVC. Parliament is currently discussing this issue in another context. The other question is who should bear the cost. I agree with previous speakers who have said that the polluter should pay, and this proposal expresses that idea very well. Producers must pay – although we all know that the consumer will ultimately suffer the consequences of this – and they must take responsibility for the costs before 2006, as some of the amendments propose. We are more in agreement with the amendment proposed at first reading. It is also important to set percentages and a date for vehicles to be composed of recyclable materials. I believe that this proposal relies on very long deadlines. Lastly, Mr President, I believe we should favour the creation of small and medium-sized businesses which, if subject to rigorous approval and duly authorised, can promote the creation of jobs in this very important area, preventing the emergence of monopolies by large companies.

Political group: GUE-NGL