GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Coelho, ladies and gentlemen, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities regrets the fact that the Commission did not include the dimension of equal opportunities in its Third Report on Citizenship of the Union and fails in particular to develop gender-sensitive and gender-specific guidelines and indicators and use sex-specific data at all levels. On the other hand, the Committee welcomes some of the actions that have been adopted but which must be implemented. First, the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Based on the principles of human dignity and equality of women and men, the Charter will serve as a framework defending the fundamental rights of women and men in the Union. Also the Daphne Programme, created to defend the citizens’ rights of children, adolescents and women, must be further developed as an instrument to strengthen European citizenship. The action plan for mobility and the Commission proposal to adopt a directive combining the various legislative instruments on the freedom of movement and residence of the citizens of the Union in a single text is of particular importance to women and the problems they face in the framework of European integration. We therefore ask the Commission, in its next report, to provide an adequate analysis based on comparable statistics, which enables a gender impact assessment to be made in areas linked to the electoral process, such as the percentage of women voters, of women who stand as candidates and, of course, of women who are elected. Lastly, let us remember that strengthening citizenship of the Union will only be achieved through total equality between men and women in all sectors of economic and political life.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, this debate is not about how the European Union will integrate into Turkey; it is about how Turkey will integrate into the European Union. I agree with that entirely and I think that the report by the honourable Member shows how this can be achieved. I should therefore like to turn to the Commissioner and the President-in-Office and ask them, given their level of support for the Morillon report – as they themselves have said –, why they were so lacking in inspiration and loath to include in the accession partnership which they formulated issues such as the Kurds, the Cyprus question and peaceful, non-threatening coexistence with Turkey's neighbouring countries, issues which have been left out of the basic debate with Turkey. As far as the Armenian genocide is concerned I fully agree that it should not be a precondition to Turkey's accession. However, the debate here is about what we have to say and what we remember. Turkey will become an essentially democratic country once it learns to live with its past, just as democratic Germany has learned to live with its past – we asked the same of it.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, let me begin by expressing my personal appreciation of the quality of Mr Swoboda’s work as rapporteur. Today we are expressing a positive opinion on the opening of negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Macedonia. We do so in the awareness that this decision, the very first relating to that area, is actually set in the context of an entirely new phase of our relations with the Balkans. This new phase, or rather policy, identifies the prospect of integrating the region into Europe as the only option for settling its conflicts peacefully. Our agreement to the negotiations, as set out in the rapporteur’s explanatory statement, is born of the conviction that it is right for Union policy to combine both a regional dimension and a more precise assessment of efforts made and results achieved by individual countries in moving towards the acquis communautaire. This is the dual objective which I believe should be pursued. On the one hand, we must maintain programmes on, for example, infrastructure, preparations – still premature – for free trade, and encouragement of economic and commercial cooperation between the countries in the area, and on the other, it is now appropriate to create a model of closer integration with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as an example of the policy. And there are several reasons why our opinion can only be positive. As we were able to ascertain during our missions to Skopje, there has been considerable progress in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as regards the economy, movement towards democracy and – an area which is difficult and contentious enough in the Balkans – multi-ethnic coexistence. On the other hand, the price Macedonia has been paying for the war in neighbouring Kosovo is very high, both in terms of logistic availability of NATO forces and in terms of reduced exports to Northern Europe. I conclude, Mr President, by affirming that this progress is indeed difficult, fragile, and uncertain and it calls for constant vigilance on our part during the various stages of close and precise inspection that have long been advocated.

Political group: PSE
With regard to Mr Ortuondo’s question, there are two aspects which I would like to mention. The first is the invoking of the constitutional foundations of a State, which are constantly being called into question by Mr Ortuondo’s party, demonstrating its irresponsible and destabilising attitude. The second is the curious analogy we have heard about other States of the Union, Belgium for example, when it is well known, except amongst those displaying ignorance or bad faith, that the territorial organisation of the Belgian State obeys a very complex and unique system, involving the interlinking of cultural and linguistic communities with political communities, and a system of compatibilities between federal responsibilities and regional responsibilities which is completely different to the situation of the Autonomous Communities in Spain. In this context, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, I would like to know whether you agree with the view that this rich diversity in the territorial organisation of the States making up the Union is something which stimulates, enriches and strengthens European democracy, which prevents homogenising reductionism – despite what Mr Ortuondo seems to think – and that, of course, it must be fully respected by the Community institutions.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, in its communication on the progress made in accession negotiations, the Commission confirms that Cyprus will be part of the first wave of accession, as decided at the Copenhagen Summit. I would like to thank the Commission, and in particular Commissioner Verheugen, for this proposal which responds fully to the expectations of the European Parliament and which should surprise nobody. Throughout the negotiation process, we have seen complete agreement between the Commission and the European Parliament over the fundamental elements of the Cypriot dossier. It also appears now that accession negotiations with the Republic of Cyprus have been a powerful catalyst in the United Nations’ efforts to solve the political problem of the island in accordance with the rules of international law. Although nothing has been achieved as yet, and despite the threats of annexing and crisis from Ankara, the recent communication from the Secretary-General of the United Nations is still based on the idea that a political framework solution can be found by the end of the year. Parliament, in its latest resolutions, clearly listed the conditions with which such an arrangement would have to comply for Cyprus to be able to fully meet its obligations as a Member of the EU. The Cypriot federal state must possess a central government as well as a parliament to control it, which is able to take all decisions within the framework of the Treaty, as well as participating in these policies. It would also have to guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the island’s territory. The awakening of civil society and the surveys carried out in northern Cyprus confirm that the majority of the Turkish Cypriot population is also in favour of a pro-European policy. I therefore hope that vigorous political will will make it possible to overcome the remaining obstacles and that the forces of the Union will triumph over the forces of division. In the absence of this policy, or if it were hindered by external interference, the Copenhagen European Council would have to take its decisions in accordance with the Helsinki conclusions.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner Vitorino, I should like to make a few observations. Our group has already talked about the consequences of recent events for nuclear power plants and mentioned, inter alia, a package of measures which is already being discussed in the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism. We endorse the quest for common security regulations, such as those formulated in document 30 of the E.C.A.C. What we are mainly concerned with here, in addition to issues of supervision, is adopting a special approach to vulnerable areas. We, of course, are of the opinion that such a debate must in any case be genuine, certainly when it comes to protecting privacy. I should like to bring one aspect to your attention, for we are concerned here with an extension of the threat to include not only additional targets but also additional modes of transport. I would like to draw your attention to the use of other means of transport – something which we have already noted – such as tankers containing chemicals, and ask the Commissioner for his thoughts on the matter. In shipping too, it is relatively simple to force a ship in a port such as Rotterdam to take a different course and to direct it towards very explosive installations. In other words, not only aviation but also other means of transport should be discussed.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is four and a half years since the European single currency, the euro, first saw the light of day with an exchange rate of 1.17 to the dollar, which was, at that time, intended to adequately reflect price levels on the two sides of the Atlantic. Since then, as we know, the euro's exchange rate has followed a roller coaster course. At present, it has returned to its starting point. But, basically speaking, we Europeans should not be too concerned about the euro exchange rate, because no one can explain or even predict short-term exchange rate fluctuations between one day and six months. We should instead be focussing on economic problems, which are more important, and leave exchange rate trends to the foreign currency markets. Even if public acceptance of the euro has increased, the most recent polls carried out by opinion research organisations indicate, for example, that in many Germans’ thinking, the Deutschmark is still very much alive. That this should be so was, however, totally predictable and should by no means be seen in a negative light. The increasing public acceptance of the euro is a gradual process and can in no way diminish the impact of this key event in monetary policy in the history of the continent of Europe. As far as withdrawals from cash machines are concerned, I support the rapporteur's view that we need more smaller-denomination banknotes, that is, 5-euro and 10-euro notes. I am, however, rather more critical about the idea of setting up a working party to investigate the need for a 1-euro banknote. The most recent opinion polls confirm that in Germany at least there is widespread opposition to this idea. There, for example, 79% of the population clearly rejects this low denomination note, with only 16% in favour of introducing it. Even if opinion polls are not the be-all and end-all, this result nevertheless seems to clearly confirm that the public, at least in Germany, does not see any need for such a note. In short, the answer to the question ‘Do we need a 1 euro note alongside the 1 euro coin?’ is very definitely ‘no’. The euro denominations currently in circulation are fine.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, in my capacity as chairman of the ad hoc delegation on North Korea, I am naturally shocked by the attitude of North Korea, which, having subscribed to the sunshine policy inspired by President Kim Dae Jung and supported by the European Union, has reneged on its international commitments by withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and expelling the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. We strongly condemn these decisions by North Korea, just as we should equally strongly condemn the decision of the Pakistani Government which provides the technology for the enrichment of uranium. On the other hand, we recall that our policy has always been, and still is, aimed essentially at the promotion of peace, stability and economic development in the region. If these objectives are to be shared by North Korea, we strongly urge the parties to engage in constructive dialogue. In order to fulfil the conditions for this dialogue, I believe it is essential that North Korea state that it is prepared to entirely respect its obligations in accordance with the international treaties and that it is returning to the course it itself traced two years ago. I entirely agree with the proposals of the Council and the Commission aimed at continuing humanitarian aid and providing the technical assistance necessary for the operation of coal mines in order to provide that country with the energy it so cruelly lacks. It is also an important element in terms of the dismantling of the nuclear programme. These are all clear signs that the international community does not intend to isolate or marginalise North Korea. On the contrary, it is up to the North Koreans to understand the substance of our message.

Political group: PPE-DE
This report commits three cardinal sins. Firstly, it unreservedly accepts the limit on the clearly insufficient spending under the current financial framework. Secondly, it claims that the Commission is presenting proposals to institutionalise a policy for redistributing budgetary appropriations, recommending greater flexibility and providing for transfers between sectors and budget lines, to the detriment of budgetary discipline. Lastly, the report deliberately exaggerates its criticism of low implementation rates for the Structural Funds, a criticism which is all the more unfair because it fails to take account either of the uncertainties facing any financial framework in its initial phase of implementation or of the conditions imposed as a result of the implementation of the Stability Pact. With regard to the latter sin, two objectives are clear: to use the low implementation rate as an argument for reducing Community spending on the cohesion countries – with the same thing happening with cooperation and development policies – in the face of enlargement and whilst satisfying the interests of the well-off donor countries; and denouncing “reforms” in the regulations of the Structural Funds, taking advantage of the interim review of Agenda 2000. For these reasons, we could not vote for this report.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Of course those are points that were contained in the motion for a resolution we tabled. In that respect, they are indeed based on negotiations, but the vote will show in what direction we are heading.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, as I am sure you are aware, for you listen avidly to all my explanations of vote, I was born in Genoa, a coastal city, and I have worked as a sailor in the past. Therefore, there is nothing so important to me as this document, which seeks to help and improve Europe's sea- and inland ports, as Mr Piecyk's report outlines so well. This is why I voted for this document, in the hope that Europe will continue to concern itself with issues relating to sailors, the sea and ports. - Lehne recommendation for second reading (A5-0090/2001)

Political group: PPE-DE
The delegation of the Democratic to the European Parliament, of which I am chair, voted against the Stauner report on the 1998 discharge because it does not agree with the basic line taken. The report does not focus on the Commission’s actions during 1998, to which the discharge relates, pursuant to Article 205a and Article 206 of the Treaty and Article 89(5) of the Financial Regulation, but is lingering over alleged cases of fraud, most of which occurred in the early nineties during the terms of previous Commissions. The Prodi Commission has undertaken a vast reform, which is necessary in order to modernise the European civil service and to reorganise its structures in preparation for the many challenges which it will have to face over the next few years. We, too, are convinced that reform of the budgetary control and programme management procedures is essential, for these systems have proved to be inadequate. Indeed, it is necessary to ensure not only that past cases of fraud cannot be repeated, but also, and above all, that the level of management errors identified by the Court of Auditors in its annual report is greatly reduced. In any case, it is not by attempting without fresh proof to reopen disciplinary proceedings which have now been concluded that we will achieve a thorough, effective reform of the Commission. It should be recalled that 80% of Community funds are managed at national level, and improving the financial management of the European Union budget could not therefore be contemplated without the cooperation of the Member States. Furthermore, we fear that behind this unjustified vicious attack lies an attempt to use such incidents to undermine and sabotage not just Commission actions but the work of the European institutions in general. We cannot therefore support the perpetrators of these schemes, and, for this reason, we voted against the report. - Kuhne Report (A5-0097/2000)

Political group: PSE
Commissioner Liikanen, by the year 2003 we shall probably have 1.7 million job vacancies in the information society in Europe which cannot be filled, and I believe that this in itself makes it essential that we devote the utmost attention to the question of digital content. We shall be investing many millions of euros in the Net infrastructure; by the year 2003 it is expected that there will be more than a billion mobile phones in the world, and 85% of the European population will be using the Internet. The sums that will be invested here naturally bear no relation to the total investment in software, in digital content. So there is a huge gap that we must close as soon as possible, because we shall not only create jobs by installing transmitters, by the way we link them together and by the way we develop software; we shall also have to become prolific producers of digital content. What do we have to do to encourage such production? First of all – and my thanks are due to Mr Seppänen for this – we took the same view in the Committee on Budgets as has been expressed here and now in the chamber and by the Committee on Industry External Trade, Research and Energy, namely that we need a massive injection of new funding for digital content. The Group will endorse Mrs Gill's suggestions, for which I thank her, and we too shall vote for an increased contribution, and I hope that our agreement with the Liberals and the other groups will be honoured and that we shall make a really massive effort to ensure that these budgetary priorities actually receive the volume of additional funding that we have proposed. The second point, which seems just as crucial to me, is that we must think about small and medium-sized enterprises, about business start-ups. I believe that many young university graduates and well-qualified young people from schools, colleges and companies are well able to start up new businesses in the domain of digital content and that this domain offers us new opportunities, including opportunities for cross-border cooperation with the countries applying for EU membership, because in countries where there are already numerous experts, training standards are quite high. We should actively seek such cooperation and develop joint strategies with the applicant countries. We also face a huge problem in connection with the conversion of analogue content into digital content. We must lend unstinting support to the transfer from analogue to digital. It is imperative that we offer our assistance here as a matter of urgency; we must develop career profiles, so that the education system can produce suitably qualified people, we must press ahead with the development of 'learning entertainment', and in the field of health care, we must try to offer structures that will guarantee us good health into our old age.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, it is a matter of regret that our debate today has been marred by a small cluster of hostile amendments. These have been put forward by the TDI, et al. I find them unseemly, ill-advised, untimely and inappropriate because these are amendments which use three words – 'genocide', 'Muslim' and 'Asian' – in a way that is racist, derogatory and discriminatory and which causes impenetrable and false barriers to be erected against Turkey's accession to the Union. Muslims follow one of the three Abrahaminic faiths. Islam is the brother of Christianity and Judaism. 'Asian', in this context, is used as a racist term to be deplored and dropped. As regards genocide: Turkey is not responsible for the Armenian massacre. If we accept that, do we then place all of the Ottoman Empire's crimes against humanity at modern Turkey's door? Indeed, the UN Convention of 1948 has not been broadened to include the Armenian tragedy. Until that happens I do not think this Parliament should act differently. I welcome Turkey's careful progress towards the Union and I support the Commission and the Morillon report.

Political group: ELDR