GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Commissioner, the proposed directive on end-of-life vehicles before us today aims firstly to guarantee a high level of environmental protection in the Union, but also to safeguard the proper operation of the internal market in this sector. Let me briefly say that historic and vintage vehicles must, of course, be exempt from the scope of this directive. Cars are also part of our cultural heritage. I think we would all agree on that. Having said that, one of the stumbling blocks concerns Article 12, i.e. the date on which the directive will come into force. Parliament’s proposed solution of 18 months following the directive’s entry into force, for new vehicles, is not terribly realistic. The European car population amounts to several tens of millions of cars which will have to be recovered even though they were not designed for recycling. The common position was more feasible since it envisaged 2006 for vehicles already on the road. This would, furthermore, make it possible to allow firms time to make funds available to meet these additional expenses. Like my group, I shall therefore support this aspect the common position which, I feel, offers a balanced compromise between constraints upon firms and essential advances in environmental protection.

Political group: ELDR
Thank you, Mr Prodi, for your presentation and your documentation. Congratulations on using the Internet for the general public – a very good idea. I will start with trade. We agree with you that we need a rules-based trading system. It is essential. Seattle failed because the United States, in particular, appeared unable to grasp the legitimacy of policies such as environmental protection, the preservation of rural communities through the common agricultural policy, animal welfare, health concerns and social rights. It displayed incredible insensitivity to the legitimate concerns of the developing world and, frankly, the developing world has little so far to thank the WTO for. We expect the European Union to continue negotiations, maintaining our strong positions on all these issues and using our links with countries in the developing world to ensure that the next round is a fair round. Please, can we have detailed proposals in the next three months about how this will happen. Innovation and knowledge – very appropriate for a new century. How much innovation has taken place in the Commission, or indeed in the Parliament may I say? We had a White Paper on innovation some years ago – what has happened since? One thing I would like to say very strongly is that we are very concerned in follow-up, not simply in excellent communications, which we welcome, but in follow-up, follow-up, follow-up!!!! We have under way the Fifth Research Framework Programme – what has happened to what was learned in the Fourth? What is the dissemination for the new ideas, the new products, the new comparisons of socio-economic systems? Follow-up again, please. We welcome incidentally the formation of a European research area which you and Commissioner Busquin have put forward. This is an excellent way in which to begin the century. I welcome the forthcoming communication on enterprise, but I hope that past work will also be looked at before we go ahead with more. I will now use a tremendous cliché truism – 'our greatest resource in the European Union is our people'. Is it not shameful that large Member States like my own and Germany cannot supply the number of people skilled in information technology? Is it not disgraceful that they are having to attract people from countries where those skills are needed? It is a disgrace and I hope that you will take it up when you look at legislation. A further shocking waste of resources, Commissioner, is that women in technical, scientific and information technology fields are squandering their skills. I hope there will be a follow-up to the Science White Paper.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, the grand total for next year’s budget compared to Member States’ GNP is a record low. Our group is worried about the low level of payment appropriations. It is feared they do not correspond to the commitments made earlier and that there will be new RALs as a result, which is to say, unpaid appropriations will pile up. It is feared that, on account of a new rule, a ‘sunset clause’, Member States will lose the payments they are due. The problem has been mainly only theoretical while the Commission has not forwarded appropriations in the budget for payment and while Member States have been able to get back billions of euros of unused own resources, or contributions. If next year payment appropriations do not meet payment needs, the sunset clause will cause a new kind of problem. Our group would like to focus on the interinstitutional agreement the previous Parliament made on our behalf. New needs have come into being, especially under headings 3 and 4, which cannot be covered by the current maximum amounts. Nobody could have predicted in May 1999 that there would be a need for reconstruction in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan in a situation in which the EU seems to have committed itself to the economic alleviation of the consequences of a US policy of aggression. The share of responsibility would seem to be one where the USA does the attacking and the EU pays for the clean-up operation and reconstruction in the aftermath of war. A new Iraq war might increase the pressure on next year’s foreign aid programme, so there are no margins under that heading for initiating new actions. In the opinion of our group the ceilings in the interinstitutional agreement should be re-estimated. Let us please make this stupid Stability and Growth Pact more flexible. The budget has a special flexible instrument, but it would appear that the Council misuses it for payments that can be predicted instead. The failure of the Moroccan fishing agreement was not an unforeseeable piece of expenditure for which the flexible instrument was really needed. The breaking-up of the Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets should have been totally financed next year in some way other than partially by means of the flexible instrument. Our group thinks a positive step has been taken in commencing serious discussions about reducing the transportation of live animals for slaughter and calling into question the treatment of animals in the primate research centre at Rijswijk in Holland. We are, however, critical of the fact that the ball has been set rolling for the EU budget to be used to finance the common foreign and security policy. This time round we will be financing civil crisis management: next time it will perhaps be war. It has not become clear to me during the debate on the budget how it is intended to organise the auditing of funds that are the Council’s responsibility nor how nor to whom discharge is to be granted in respect of the use of these funds. Perhaps the Commissioner knows.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I would like to congratulate Mrs Stihler on her report and thank her for her hard work on this highly controversial issue. As we have heard once again, the ICES has stated that cod stocks are in such a dire state of collapse that it is recommending the complete closure of the cod fishery in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the West of Scotland. It claims that years of stringent conservation measures have failed to rebuild stocks and that only the total shutdown of these fishing grounds will enable any meaningful recovery. Of course, we know from bitter experience, that when the scientists once again call for the complete closure of the cod fishery, they also mean the virtual closure of the haddock, whiting, plaice and prawn fisheries, where cod is caught as a by-catch. Let me say this now to Commissioner Fischler and say it very clearly, because if there are any more cuts at the December Council meeting this year, it will spell the end of the UK white fish fleet. And I do not mean any more drastic cuts like last year, I mean any more cuts at all. The two previous massive decommissioning rounds have reduced the British white fish fleet by around 40%. The harbour workers and ancillary staff who rely on the white fish fleet for a living are now teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Any further cuts will be fatal. It would mean that, even if cod stocks ever do recover, there will be no UK fishermen there to catch them. I do not intend to attack the scientists. There is nothing to be gained from shooting the messenger, but this most recent ICES report once again highlights the vital importance of listening to the advice of the fishermen as well as to the boffins. Last year scientists told us that haddock stocks were dwindling. The fishermen said this was rubbish. Now the scientists agree that there are an estimated 400 000 tonnes of haddock spawning stock biomass in the North Sea. So who is right? Could I in addition say that it appears the scientists are not listening to each other when arriving at their grand conclusions. According to new scientific research from the respected Sir Alistair Hardy Foundation in Plymouth, which has been monitoring the North Sea for the last 70 years, stocks of cold water plankton, on which cod larvae feed, have been driven hundreds of miles to the north by an unprecedented rise in water temperatures. This perhaps explains why there is a great abundance of cod being caught around the Faeroes, Iceland and Norway, but none left in the North Sea. So for heaven's sake, let us start listening to the fishermen as well as the scientists. The fishermen have a vested commercial interest in seeing cod stocks recover. That is the only way we are going to get a decent living for our fishermen in the future.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to start by congratulating Mrs Karamanou on her work on what is in fact a very delicate and important matter. I think that we need to turn our attention to two – of many – basic issues. The first concerns structures and procedures in Albania and is even more important following recent events and incidents during the municipal elections, incidents directed mainly at the Greek minority living in Albania. What happened is proof positive that the European Union’s aim must be to establish structures which will ensure that democratic rules are respected and that the rights of minorities in Albania are recognised and respected. The second issue is the really huge and complex issue of migration. It is a very important issue which is being shaped by historical, social, political and economic factors. Because the problem is complex, we need to respond to it with a complex policy, a policy which brooks no simplifications, a policy which will result in a new legal framework, because a legal framework is a constituent element of a state, but a legal framework which is dynamic and solves problems rather than confining itself to simple repressive action, even where they are the effects of application of the law. I think that the time is now right to adopt and impose these measures. We have reached a stage where the conditions are in place and we all accept that if we do so we will be providing a huge service.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I would firstly like to acknowledge the work carried out in this House by our fellow Member and fellow-countryman José María Gil-Robles, and his contribution as President of this House during the previous stage, which has made it possible for us to open up the stage we are opening up today: the stage of enlargement and political deepening. I would like to express my gratitude to him, particularly because he was the author, together with Mr Tsatsos, of the report by means of which this House supported the draft European Constitution produced by the Convention in which I had the honour of participating. That draft European Constitution is intended to enable the Union genuinely to confront not just enlargement, but also the great future challenges that we currently face. To intervene in globalisation in order to enhance it democratically and socially, to contribute to creating a new international order which is fair, democratic and respectful of international law, and, naturally, one which responds to the demands of the citizens. We need a stronger, more democratic and more efficient Union which guarantees the consolidation and development of the European social model. A secular Europe which respects the values which have defined the co-existence of our citizens, respect for human rights and the multi-party system. In other words, the rule of law which is today in place throughout this great Europe. Mr President, despite what Mr Rumsfeld suggested, we do not have a new Europe and an old Europe, there is a greater Europe, one which is sitting here today in this Parliament, the Europe of the citizens, the Europe which has broken down its borders, the Europe which has reunified the continent. We must ensure that the European Constitution becomes a reality, and in this regard we must demand once again that the Convention’s draft be approved as soon as possible, during the Irish Presidency at least. As a Spaniard, I am pleased to see that the arrival of a new government in my country is going to make it possible to break the deadlock in the Intergovernmental Conference and the approval of that Constitution, so that all the Community bodies function properly, also ... (The President cut off the speaker)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, as I am sure the entire House is aware, yet another heartbreaking tragedy has taken place in recent days off the coast of Sicily, where 14 immigrants from third countries drowned after being hurled into the sea from the boat transporting them. A few days ago, the shipwreck of another boat off the coast of Sicily claimed the lives of 36 third-country nationals. There have been hundreds of victims in recent months already, and they represent a small, silent, tragic holocaust. The Italian Minister for Internal Affairs, Mr Pisanu, is calling for help from the Union, disregarding the fact – we would venture to point out – that the humanitarian contribution of civilisation and solidarity made by the Berlusconi government to the tragedy consists of a law closing the borders and introducing digital fingerprinting. We too call upon Europe to make a contribution, but not towards further barricading the coastlines. I feel that Europe’s role could be to define specific measures and actions to help alleviate the desperation and poverty of the countries from which thousands of North Africans continue to flee every day.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, if it is a trait of the high-born to be grateful, I would like to begin by saying to Mr Bullmann that I, being of the extreme centre, am extremely happy to have reached an agreement, a compromise, with him. Secondly, as a generic request from both the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, I would now ask the Council to involve the European Parliament in both the definition and the monitoring of the strategies established in Barcelona. As Pablo Neruda said, the work we have to do is like the old wine of my country; it is not produced by one man but by many, and not from one plant but from many. My third point: the areas of agreement that have been expressed here. I agree with the President-in-Office of the Council that it is absolutely essential to maintain intact and unharmed the dogmas of price stability and budgetary austerity, both for the large countries and for the small ones. We in this Parliament well know how monetary delights and budgetary frugality end: like days of wine and roses. They lead to nothing more than a headache the next morning. With regard to structural reforms which increase competition, those benches have shown a certain reticence, certain reservations. In the field of the liberalisation of strategic sectors such as transport, electricity, gas, telecommunications or financial services we must not move backwards, even in order to gain momentum. Fourthly, I also agree with other speakers that we must attach importance to strategic development factors: lifelong education and support for small businesses. I would say a final word to Mrs Jackson. The National Hydrological Plan is not, as the amendment says, an example of unsustainable development. It is a fine example of sustainable development, because it is a question of taking water from where there is a surplus of it to those places where some days we pray for rain and on others we are moving around in boats following a storm. As she has pointed out very correctly, it is a parliamentary decision by a legitimate parliament following a broad discussion and with the almost unanimous support of the National Water Council, in which all the Autonomous Communities, including the Socialist ones, are represented. Somebody has been selling false currency in this Parliament. I would ask you to bring them to account and that this false currency be exchanged for a good one, for a genuine one, like the one we now have in the European Union.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, I would just like to inform the two Greek speakers that the next meeting of the South-Eastern Europe delegation – in the course of which we will also receive representatives from Albania – will also address this issue, and I am certain that with Mrs Pack in the chair, we will approach the matter objectively.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, Mrs Korhola has done a very good job. The Commission produced a good proposal, and it has been improved since the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy went through it. I hope that it will be improved still further following the vote in Parliament. Clearly, our present and future environmental problems must be solved at all levels. Some issues are European and some are national but, to be honest, the vast majority will be local. It is only democratic that our citizens should be able to exercise influence, and it goes without saying that they should be entitled to all the information they need in order to perform their civic duties in society. That is why we should like to see Amendments 6, 16 and 30 adopted by Parliament tomorrow. These amendments set a limit of two weeks, and in difficult cases of four weeks, within which authorities and companies are to answer questions. This corresponds to Parliament’s position in what is known as the Cashman report on public access to documents in the European Union. It is also important that Amendments 19 and 20 should go through, stating that authorities are responsible for helping the individual citizen or organisation to obtain information. Quite simply, they must be given help in asking the right questions in the right places, both orally and in writing, and in finding answers to these. That is a service which authorities should obviously be required to provide in a democratic country.

Political group: ELDR
Air accident rates vary from region to region, since aircraft built in Western Europe are amongst the safest in the world. Eastern European airlines have a high accident rate, as do those from Africa, Asia and South and Central America. Under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, responsibility for aviation safety is assigned to individual States. The European Civil Aviation Conference applies the SAFA procedure (Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft) as a means of monitoring aircraft and, consequently, of increasing aviation safety. I therefore support the European Commission’s proposal for a directive intended to formalise the SAFA procedure in the Community. It is seeking thereby to guarantee coordinated action, together with an exchange of information that enables the early identification of possible problems, which I believe adequately reflects concerns about guaranteeing air safety. In conclusion however, I should like to emphasise the importance of the proposal before us to restoring the safety profile of the aviation industry, in a period post 11 September 2001, in which this profile has been and is still fairly depressed and whose restoration is crucial to the sector’s survival.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I am both angry and sad. Why? Because I am not getting a straight answer from the Council or the Commission. Within this internal market, we are in favour of the free movement of goods, people and services. I have included people, for this is particularly a problem in border regions. However, the answers that I am receiving are inadequate. If I consider my own region, I notice that the labour market there can no longer function without workers from abroad. Needless to say, we must make the conditions attractive for these people to come. This means, first of all, that we must ensure that shop-floor workers who work in a Member State pay both taxes and social premiums in the same way. I would therefore like to know whether it would not be possible to draft a kind of 1408 that applies to the fiscal status of border workers. This is my first question. My second question is directed at the Council concerning what is so nicely termed ‘Council parameters’. Incidentally, I very much regret that the Commissioner is not present, for he is truly competent in this field and knows how long this issue has been outstanding. Studying these Council parameters – and, Mr Miguelez, I hold you in very high esteem – I note that what you have written in the Council parameters is diametrically opposed to what has been presented to us in recent jurisdiction by the European Court of Justice. And I wonder whether you really believe that you can get this issue, in which Parliament has also been involved since Amsterdam in terms of codecision, approved. For the aspects you mention, such as sickness benefit and child benefit, are incompatible with what has been pronounced, and the Commissioner will back this up. So, with all due respect to Mrs Lambert, for she made some valid points on third-country problems, among others, which I endorse, a change is needed here.

Political group: PPE-DE