GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, in the North Sea, along the Flemish coast, people are hard at work clearing the wreck of the Tricolor. There have been almost sixty accidents this year, something that is almost inexplicable. Last month we were shocked to hear of no fewer than three serious collisions on the River Schelde to Antwerp. This is no longer a coincidence. It is clear that one of the main ways to prevent shipping accidents is to have a well-trained crew. All steps aimed at improving the quality of crews therefore deserve the support of this Parliament. My group was extremely satisfied with the speed with which the Commission launched the proposal to create a standard system for the competencies of seafarers. My group has also urged that an aspect of equal opportunities in terms of career development on board be included in this proposal. The Commission’s proposal must ensure that non-European personnel do not become second-class personnel. Much has been said about the quality and the social standing of crews and the impact that these factors have on the safety of shipping. We hope that an assessment report after the adoption of the amendments in the directive in question will clarify the relationship between crew training and the nature and number of shipping accidents. This could be the first step on the long road towards a truly European flag.

Political group: Verts-ALE
There is a great difference between the reality within Afghanistan and the way it is regarded by outsiders. It is a collection of isolated valleys, with different languages and cultures, that have little more in common than their Muslim religion, the oppression of women, and the fact that they were herded together into a single state in the 19th century in order to form a neutral buffer zone between the British and Russian spheres of influence. Although Tajiks, Uzbeks and Baluchis also live in neighbouring countries, the issue of whether their languages should be prohibited within Afghanistan is being discussed as part of the establishment of the Afghan constitution. The outside world is imposing a supreme president and a central army on the country with the task of achieving unity, whereas, in practice, the President and the army do not have any power outside the capital. This kind of illusion of unity will induce the outside world to retain a permanent military presence in the struggle against peoples who have no desire for such unity. The only possibility of a lasting peace seems to lie in a Swiss-style constitution consisting of cantons with a high degree of autonomy and different languages. I welcome the indication the proposed text gives that the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy is starting to understand something of this and is advocating decentralisation, a stronger parliament and an independent judicial system. I can only support the proposal in the absence of the amendments by the Group of the European People’s Party which seek to move away from these.

Political group: GUE-NGL
British Conservatives are in the forefront of those seeking to improve human rights in many parts of the world. While there is much in the Malmström resolution that we can support, unfortunately there are significant elements that have been included which we find unacceptable. For example, we do not share the enthusiasm for an EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. We are sceptical about demands for substantial increases in expenditure and bureaucratic activity and in the role of EC-funded NGOs. We are concerned that it is minority differences that are stimulated, with little emphasis on integration. We are concerned at the extension of the concept of human rights to include, for example, domestic violence, which is properly a matter to be handled under other legal instruments. We are opposed to the introduction of sweeping new categories of eligibility for asylum, which would be open to abuse. Many of us do not support the abolition of capital punishment in principle. And we are suspicious about proposals to impose further codes of conduct on business. While we value the role of the EU in supporting human rights, we believe that human rights regulation and legislation, as in so many areas dealing with the relationship between the citizen and the state, is a matter for national governments, and we do not welcome an extension of EU intervention in this area. It is for these reasons that British Conservatives have voted against the Malmström resolution. – Haarder report (A5-0050/2000)

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, first of all, like all of the other speakers, I want to congratulate Mrs Jöns on her undertaking, on her work and on her excellent report. Breast cancer, Mr President, is the most common cancer in the European Union. The report by Mrs Jöns highlights some very important information and several approaches the Member States would do well to consider. Both the Public Health Programme 2000-2008 and the Sixth Framework Programme for Research are very appropriate arenas for proceeding with this task of reducing the effects of breast cancer. Research and gene therapy will also help us. We must also congratulate and thank the national and international cancer networks for their work, without which it would probably be impossible to make any headway. However, we must agree on certain things, such as the age at which early detection programmes should begin. Perhaps we are starting quite late in the day and we need to harmonise this therapy. It is also important to harmonise the collection of data and to align the situation on the ground and the treatments used. The disparities as regards the effect of breast cancer among the countries of the European Union and between these countries and the candidate countries are enormous. It is vital that we work together to harmonise this situation. Probably the most important aspects are health education, prevention, early detection, self-examination and, of course, mammography screening. Rapid treatment is essential; there are many women who have few resources at hand in this respect, to teach them how to examine themselves and at what stage in their lives they need to seek treatment. I therefore believe that it is vital for Mrs Jöns’ work to follow this same path, because each and every one of us will benefit from it.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, on behalf of the Group of the , I should like to agree with the comments made by my fellow MEPs. I believe that we have a reasonable common position. Land reform is one of the most important issues throughout southern Africa, so it is therefore not surprising to see that it is again being exploited by Mugabe to his advantage, just prior to the elections, exactly as he has done in previous elections. After all, this issue is so important for so many black and poor people. The elections are therefore necessary. The rule of law is necessary. You need to have faith in the people and in the law for the system to function properly. I support what other speakers have said about the SADAC countries who will no doubt be looking upon this situation with great concern and who are undoubtedly working behind the scenes to maintain a democratic climate. It is also true that they are continually pressing for the withdrawal of troops from the Congo. Could the Commission and the Council help us, as the European Parliament, to remain involved as observers at these elections, because if things go wrong in Zimbabwe, there will be more trouble in the region. After South Africa and the democratic government there and the sound developments that have taken place in the region, we very much need to see the positive side. Let us express our complete confidence in the Zimbabwean people and wish them successful elections for 1 June.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I too want to congratulate Mr Schwaiger on an excellent report. A lot of people are now criticising the World Trade Organisation for looking too one-sidedly at trade, for seeing trade as an end in itself and for failing to see the complex connections between trade, human rights and environmental considerations. I agree with parts of these criticisms but I do not draw the conclusion that we do not need a new trade round. On the contrary, I believe that the status quo is not something we can profit by. Instead, we have everything to gain from a new round because there is so much greater understanding today of these complex connections and of the fact that development questions and environmental questions have to be discussed in the one context. I would remind you of the World Trade Organisation’s latest report which deals very perceptively with just such environmental questions. Allow me to consider two special aspects of what we are discussing. The Commission rightly says that the present round is to be a development round. In a situation in which the level of aid is declining, I find it difficult to see, however, how this is going to be the case if we do not see a radical change. There are some who see a contradiction between aid and trade. They say that trade should help the poorest countries to get out of the situation they are in. I think that the question has been put in the wrong way. We need both: aid as well as trade. We must therefore link these questions to our aid work. Increased trade can, of course, have a positive effect on the environment, for example through the transfer of technology adapted to environmental requirements. The opposite may, however, also apply, mainly because our economic framework is not good at taking due account of environmental consequences. That is why it is so important that the trade regulations should take increased account of these factors. The question, when we now read this report and make every kind of demand upon the World Trade Organisation, is simply that of whether the World Trade Organisation can settle all conceivable disputes in the future. I believe – and this is an important conclusion – that, parallel to our making the World Trade Organisation “greener”, we must also strengthen the international conventions on the environment. The fact is that they are far too weak at present.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, my good friend and colleague Mr Deprez has overlooked the fact that today is not a particularly good day for Belgium either. My group’s position is in line with the conclusions of the Cerdeira and Sousa Pinto reports, insofar as we believe private security companies must be regulated at Community level. Given the size and activity of the sector across the Union, its activity should be regulated, as is recognised by Mrs Cerdeira Morterero in her report. I do however admit the validity of the arguments put forward in favour of reconsidering the initiative given the need to adjust it to its legal basis. With regard to setting up a European Institute of Police Studies, this ought surely to come within the scope of the European Police Academy, precisely because we should avoid creating a multiplicity of rival bodies. Both these initiatives do nonetheless demonstrate the Spanish Presidency’s emphasis on and commitment to achieving maximum efficiency from bodies established to guarantee the safety of the citizens of Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, European public opinion is becoming increasingly concerned not only about the rise in delinquency, but also about the increasing tendency to resort to street violence. All too often, mass events such as football matches or public demonstrations turn into pitched battles resulting in the destruction of street furniture and sometimes in personal injury. The demonstration may start out as legitimate and peaceful like those organised by anti-globalisation movements, but then things go wrong. The average citizen will not venture into certain areas of our big cities after dusk. The citizens are clearly concerned about the present lack of security and unhappy with the situation. This is why private security companies are flourishing and need to be regulated at European level. More thought should also be given to the relationship between public and private security. It does seem as if those who can pay for their security can be sure of it, and those who are not in a position to do so are at greater risk. In other words, those who have the money can buy the security the state is unable to guarantee. I do therefore believe that the issue should be dealt with in greater depth. Furthermore, street violence, cyber crime and child pornography are all new offences and involve a significant psychological element. This may possibly result from the dynamism and hyper development of a society with a great capacity for the transmission of information and communication, in which values such as safety, justice and urban peace have been sidelined in favour of misconstrued notions of modernism and progress. Coordinated police action is required if we are to rise to the challenges posed by these developments at European level, together with the swift implementation of initiatives designed to overcome them, such as the one before us today.

Political group: PPE-DE
Equatorial Guinea is at present the scene of unacceptable violations of basic human rights. Dozens of opponents of the regime of President Teodoro Obiang have been arbitrarily arrested and brought before the courts accused of conspiracy, incitement to rebellion and attempted murder of the president. In reality, the only purpose of the trial, which began on 23 May, is to put the opposition leaders out of the running. Along with their families, the latter are being held in inhuman conditions and are the victims of brutal torture. Freedom of expression and of the press is systematically flouted, and independent journalists are subject to insidious daily pressure. A repressive and brutal policy is being conducted against everyone with an ideology opposed to that of the regime. The 68 opposition leaders have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment in the course of an unfair trial, which has made a mockery of people’s most basic rights to a defence. A number have even been in danger of receiving the death penalty. It is vital that Equatorial Guinea respect its commitments to the international community and the European Union and engage in a genuine process of democratisation including the holding of free elections and complete respect for human rights. A dialogue must be instituted between the opposition forces with a view to guaranteeing political rights, democracy and pluralism. With this in mind, the trial must be annulled and the political prisoners freed immediately. As for the press, it must be free to cover the events and to do so in safety. In order for that to happen, it is essential that the problem of Equatorial Guinea be raised as a matter of urgency within the Joint ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly and that the Council and the Commission be very firm indeed in their relations with the government of this country. In order to guarantee the rapid re-establishment of the rule of law and respect for human rights, a consultation procedure between the government of Guinea and the European Union needs to be put in place as quickly as possible, and this in accordance with Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement. As Europeans, we cannot now remain indifferent to what is happening in Equatorial Guinea and to the human rights violations there.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I understood your office had been notified of my intention to raise the matter regarding the Irish person, Gealóid Ó Loinsigh, who is on the run at the moment from right-wing paramilitaries. The reality, unfortunately, in Colombia at this stage is that many human rights workers, both EU citizens and nationals of Colombia too, are under threat from paramilitaries and indeed, in some cases, from state security forces. It has been reported that a young woman, Miss Blanca Valencia, has had to go into exile in Spain having received 50 death threats because of her work on behalf of the people of Colombia. I feel the President of Parliament should raise this as a matter of urgency with the state authorities in Colombia and should look at whatever steps we can take as a Parliament to make the strongest possible protest. We should see what actions we can take in support of our protest. It is not acceptable that the citizens of Colombia and others who go there to assist in human rights investigations are either assassinated or work under the threat of assassination.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, many developing world countries, along with many NGOs that are active around the globe, have demanded that responsibility for negotiations on agriculture should not be handed over to the WTO, a demand made also at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. There are good reasons for this. We have to see that, in the past, although agricultural trade affected the world's agricultural production only to a minimal degree, its mechanisms, and the resultant price destruction had a profound effect not only on European countries, but also on those in the developing world. Not only there, but also in Europe, its practice of dumping – in the form of export subsidies – destroyed or marginalised rural farming, bringing even greater hunger, forcing countries into a state of dependency, and causing debts to accumulate. It is abundantly clear that trade does not fill stomachs, and if anyone does get rich from it, it is seldom if ever both the parties concerned. It is therefore understandable that it is from these sources that highly sceptical questions are being asked about precisely what is to be negotiated at the WTO. If the WTO negotiations are to be successful, then these mechanisms have to be done away with. Care must be taken to give absolute priority to the right to produce basic foodstuffs, the right of countries to alleviate their own people's hunger, the right to cultivate the land and to treat the environment properly, along with the right to pass farms on to the next generation, thus maintaining rural farming, as well as the dismantling of destructive trade mechanisms, and of what we call world trade, which amounted to nothing more than export dumping. This will enable us to develop in solidarity with people in the developing world, as well as with rural farming in Europe.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, stock exchanges have crashed, reversing the apparent miracle of the new economy and decimating workers' savings to the advantage of big business. Leaving aside for the moment the fact that it is inhumane, the threat of war with Iraq is pushing oil prices up and boosting inflationary pressures. Economic results, especially in the manufacturing sector, are disappointing to say the least. Capitalism is in a state of deep crisis; all it can do now is cling to the stability pact and anti-labour policies, chip away at workers' rights and their standard of living and pensions, cut farmers' incomes and choke the life out of small and medium-sized enterprises. The European Union budget for 2003 is yet another example of this anti-grass roots policy in practice. Instead of redistributing any income, given that it accounts for less than 1.01% of Community GDP, it throws even more money at monopolies and at imperialist plans to suppress and exploit the people. A typical example is the agricultural economy: not only does the Community budget do nothing to reverse the decline in income of poor average farmers, who are being driven from the land in droves, but the system of prices and subsidies guarantees cheap raw materials and higher profits for the tobacco and other industries which process their products. The common agricultural policy and quotas have created a huge, EUR 25 billion trade deficit in the European Union, jobs are being lost and unemployment is rising. The objectives of big business for 2003 are obvious from the relative reduction in the amounts proposed, at a time when peoples' needs are increasing, unemployment is rising, the environment is being destroyed and so-called globalisation is giving rise to new forms of exploitation and spreading poverty and hunger across the planet. The limited sums available for structural policies, the reduction in agricultural spending and the funds earmarked for the common foreign policy, defence and security typify the aggressive attitude of capital towards the people and the role which the European Union is being called on to play as the sidekick of the USA as it polices the world. We are opposed to this policy and to the methods applied by big business. We reject the modus operandi of the monopolies, we are fighting with the workers to overturn these plans and we demand a different sort of policy, a policy which will bring about economic prosperity for the workers and secure their rights.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I share Mrs Ludford's view. I will not repeat what she said. I only want to draw your attention to the fact that yesterday, I wrote a letter to Mr Gargani, the Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market, to remind him of the debate held in that committee on 6 April, in which we decided to set the Court procedure in motion. In that debate, however, another procedure was discussed, in the event that neither the Council nor the Commission would take Parliament's opinion into consideration. Last night, there was insufficient time to discuss this letter, but the chairman promised me to take note of it and deal with it effectively. To be on the safe side, I shall also e-mail it to you. If the Council goes ahead and signs all the same, then I think we should start a different procedure. I wanted to draw your attention to that.

Political group: ELDR
Madam President, because Commissioner Bolkestein has used what I have to describe as intellectually dishonest comparisons to pillory my country and has presumed to describe our taxes as far too low, I must, with some regret, put him right on some points. I do not know how good Commissioner Bolkestein was at geography in primary school, but I have to point out that Luxembourg just happens to be where it is, and when Mr Blokland travels from Holland to Strasbourg, he is not indulging in ‘gasoline tourism’ if he does so by way of Luxembourg. That is the easiest way to get here, and it just so happens that he has to fill up his tank en route. That, after all, is one of the common market’s freedoms – free movement of goods, of capital, of people, and so on – and it is one of these fundamental freedoms, the free movement of goods and services, that the Commission is now seeking to jeopardise. I would also like to point out that, every day, 100 000 people cross the border into Luxembourg every day to work, coming from Belgium, Germany and France. They are entitled to fill up their tanks there. We are creating jobs for 100 000 commuters across national borders, who would otherwise be hanging around on the street in France and in Belgium. Your arguments, Commissioner, do not hold water, and I find it regrettable that you have presumed to adduce them. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE