GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, I am delighted that this report has been put before the House. Especially with my being an entrepreneur, I would like to congratulate the Commission on having brought out, to excellent effect, what is lacking in Europe. What it boils down to is that there is not enough start-up capital available for people who want to set up in business, and so numerous young entrepreneurs have to give up again prematurely. Exports constitute a risk of course, and so it is particularly important for joint ventures to receive financial support in the early stages, more than at any other time. The guarantee system serves to ensure that not everyone who is willing to become an entrepreneur automatically jeopardises his livelihood in the process and faces the risk of financial ruin, at the very least, for the rest of his life. When we consider that approximately EUR 7 billion is available in risk capital in Europe, whilst in America the figure stands at EUR 12 billion, then we ought to give thought to how we can make good the difference. What steps can we take, particularly as regards agriculture? The very word BSE ought to inspire us to reflect on what kind of young enterprises we could establish in order better to guarantee food safety, carry out blood tests, develop treatments and so on. Urgent action is called for here. I would also like to stress that it is important for young entrepreneurs to be given a commitment they can rely on as speedily as possible. Deadlines should be set by which a decision must be given in the form of a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’, so as to avoid any unnecessary risk. It is also important to apply the directive on tackling default in payment, so that people actually get their hands on the money within a set period of time. There is still too much hesitancy on this score for my liking. The Commission should submit proposals on project management, develop best practice methods, introduce benchmarks, on the basis of which it will be possible to examine how much time elapses between the first application and the successful creation of jobs. It also needs to monitor payment flows, and finally, promote the entire strategy in the public arena. When it comes to PR, one idea would be to have a ‘young entrepreneur of the year’ prize, awarded to the entrepreneur who has created the most jobs in absolute terms and in percentage figures. This would demonstrate at European level, and correspondingly in the Member States, that we are going the right way about this. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, my warmest congratulations to you, Commissioner Fischler. These measures are a step in the right direction. They remain within the system, without changing the need to review the system for the next reform and take even more audacious action. But this package sends out the right signal. I have just one objection: why not divide up the bull premiums over a transitional period? Half could be used to slaughter calves, i.e. for recovery, so it would not be Herod's premium, and the other half could be channelled into grasslands, to get into extensification, to get out of mass meat production and to achieve middle-of-the-road production. I also note that the figure of 90 animals applies to every holding; holdings with more animals do not fall outside the rule, as the newspapers wrongly reported.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union is having to compete with a series of challenges generated by globalisation and the creation of a new economy based on knowledge and new technologies. The Union’s strategic goal for the forthcoming decade must be to ensure economic growth and free enterprise, without violating the social question, with guidelines based on competitiveness, sustainable development and the creation of new jobs. On the subject of this last point, as the Katiforis report stressed, there has been a slight fall in unemployment in Europe, but unemployment is still unacceptably high, particularly as regards the level of unemployment among women and young people. The situation appears worse in certain regions of Southern Europe, in particular in the South of Italy, where 21.9% of the workforce is unemployed, including 56.6% of the 14-25 age group. Consequently, in my opinion, broad guidelines for economic growth and a rise in employment should include measures to render the European market more competitive and increase job flexibility. In order to bring about sustainable growth, we need to finalise creation of the internal market and remove all the remaining barriers by liberalising those sectors which are not yet totally open to free competition, such as transport, gas, electricity and the postal services. We need to introduce the reforms which will have to be implemented by the Member States in order to alleviate the burden on firms, reduce labour costs, sustain actions supporting lifelong learning in the context of a knowledge-based economy and support research to close the gap between Europe and the United States and Japan. We need to facilitate public administration structural reform in the countries where excessive red tape is a barrier to private investment and bring the social protection and taxation systems into line with the requirements imposed by the new economic rules and with the constraints established by the Stability and Growth Pact.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, on a point or order, I am following on from what Mr van Hulten said concerning Wednesday, 4 December. As a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market, I am well aware of the constitutional and practical importance of moving forward with the Statute of Members – even though I would not myself have chosen this particular way of doing it. However, I note that on the agenda for that day there are major debates on fisheries – the first for ten years – looking at the fisheries industry of Europe at a critical time. Constituents all over Europe will wonder what the European Parliament is thinking and doing about that. What the newspapers will tell them is that Parliament delayed discussing it until it had talked about its own pay. This is a scandalous state of affairs. I hope that if the Conference of Presidents persists with this agenda in this form it will change the order and bring the fisheries matter – which is of utmost importance – before and ahead of the debate on the Statute of Members. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner Wallström is wrong to say that she is implementing the Århus Convention; the reality of it is that her draft directive on access to courts goes much further than does Århus. Århus merely requires open access to administrative or, alternatively, judicial review proceedings; Commissioner Wallström seeks to lay down binding provisions on access to the courts in all the Member States, with all environmental organisations to be empowered to object to administrative decisions and to appeal against them, with provision also for interim legal protection. This is to apply to the whole body of environmental law, in other words, to the whole acquis defined in the Community as having to do with the protection or improvement of the environment, including human health and the protection or rational use of natural resources. The examples listed are, among others, water protection, noise protection, soil protection, atmospheric pollution, town and country planning, and biotechnologies. Environmental organisations are thus given a general right to contest and monitor the application of the law. That amounts to nothing more and nothing less than a system change in the implementation and control of the law as it stands in most of Europe’s Member States, with private bodies, in their guise as representatives of the public, being given the right to supervise the authorities. Our legal system knows nothing of the monitoring of law by any such body separate from the courts and from the competent authorities, and with good reason. Environmental associations are, at the end of the day, interest groups like any others, lacking democratic legitimacy and not bound by law and statute. Introducing and making binding such a dramatic extension of class action will have a massive effect on the economy and cannot under any circumstances be reconciled with the Lisbon objectives. It is for that reason that the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs has limited itself to saying that Århus must be implemented, but to a minimum standard, and if Member States want to go beyond that, then that is their decision. That is where the matter should rest, and so I can only hope, Commissioner Wallström, that the Council will firmly put a stop to your initiative.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, 7000 people died in the wake of terrorist atrocities in New York and Washington and the global response was one of shock and horror, followed by a flurry of diplomatic activity and detailed planning for an adequate response. In Africa, 10 000 people die every day from AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. Why is there not a similar response? Regrettably, the harsh truth is that the developed world does not place the same value on human life in Africa. It is a terrible indictment on all of us who live in the world's richest countries that this scale of human tragedy continues to occur into the 21st century. Several years ago malaria seemed close to being eliminated, today it is the most common cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Tuberculosis is the most prevalent disease in the world, and 35 million people are infected with AIDS, with half of all new HIV infections occurring in the 15-24 year-old age group. I acknowledge that the EU Commission contributed EUR 4.2 billion for health assistance during the 1990s. However, as the rapporteur pointed out, although EUR 700 million were allocated for health in 1998, the amount for 1996-1998 was only 4% of the total EU development budget. This indicates how low down it has been on the list of our political priorities. I hope this will now change with the publication of the new policy framework by the Commission and its proposed programme of action for the years 2001-2006. Its three-prong strategy of better deployment of existing resources, increasing the affordability to people in poorer countries of key drugs, and support for more research is indeed welcome. However, the proposals need to be developed further and underpinned by a greater financial commitment, indicative of a greater political priority. The best means of achieving this is by taking on board the excellent proposals put forward by the rapporteur, Mr Khanbhai. His call for the EU to devote 10% of our development aid to tackling this problem, his emphasis on preventative action with the 15-24 year-old age group in relation to AIDS, and his proposal for a global fund for infectious diseases and the establishment of an EU research agency should be the cornerstone of any new EU policy in this area.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, this is refreshing – the fact that the European Union is acknowledging that there are problems but that we have solutions. Commissioner Nielson will recall that a couple of months ago I suggested that it might be the case that he could become an emperor without clothes. Is it not the case now that this proposal, taking away so much from DG Development as it does, is likely to make my prediction come true? Secondly, at the end of what Commissioner Patten was saying, I think he reiterated what he was quoted as saying in 'The Times' this morning where he said that Member States should back his plans with resources or cut aid. I have to say, Commissioners, that I find this a deeply worrying and dangerous statement and likely to be taken at its face value by Member States and not in the way that you suggest. I would very much appreciate clarification of those two questions by one or other Commissioner.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, physical, sexual or psychological violence against children, young people and women takes place in every country of the European Union. The statistics collated in the Member States reveal extremely high and in some cases terrifying levels of violence. We all agree that violence must be roundly condemned because, as well as constituting a breach of fundamental rights, it has serious consequences for society as a whole and acts as a real barrier to equality between men and women. The DAPHNE I Programme, which was set up to combat this major scourge, by implementing policies for prevention, by clamping down on aggressors and by providing victim support has been enormously successful, clearly demonstrating that it has answered a deeply-felt need. The second phase of the programme must consequently be able to help out with more projects to combat violence, whilst taking account of the realities of a Europe of 25 Member States. I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the rapporteur on her excellent work and on the various points she has raised, which warrant being pursued in the second phase of the programme. I would highlight in particular the creation of filters that prevent the dissemination of paedophile material on the Internet, the reintegration of street children, and the creation of a European database for missing persons. I also believe that this programme should receive a substantial increase in its funding so that it can accept the proposals submitted to it. We must, however, be pragmatic and realistic. The main aim is to ensure the programme’s continuity. We cannot waste time on protracted negotiations in conciliation. Funding of EUR 50 million, which the Commission has already stated it can accept, will enable the DAPHNE II Programme to enter properly into force in January 2004, in the new Member States too.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, I would like to start by saying that I am pleased with the outcome of the Special UN Conference on ‘Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace’. In my opinion, all credit for this follow-on from Beijing +5, where the implementation of the action plans was discussed, should go to the NGOs, but also to the European Parliament, which was represented by five strong women, and naturally the European Commission, which, in the form of Mrs Diamontopoulou, was 100% committed to this conference. Progress has been made, that is for sure, as has already been mentioned by previous speakers. The distribution in care, actions against trafficking in women and empowerment of women are important issues to me. I am pleased that the participating countries still subscribe to the Beijing Declaration and the action plan. It is nonetheless unfortunate that only eight countries in the world have managed to meet the essential obligations which follow on from these with regard to equality in education, paid work and a minimum representation of 30% in national parliaments. It naturally gives me pleasure to be able to say that the Netherlands is one of them, although I am not entirely satisfied with its emancipation policy, or rather, the lack of it, and that Germany, the Scandinavian countries and South Africa too belong to the eight. But back to Europe. In my opinion, it is downright alarming that it is precisely the candidate countries which have shown a decline in the number of female employees and the number of girls registered in education. This development merits particular attention from us in the European Parliament. Not only is education the best way to obtain gender equality, it is also the quickest way and the only way if we want to ensure that our children and grandchildren will not still be grappling with these issues. We should point out to the acceding countries that they need to improve this situation. The other point I wanted to raise is the opposition from the Islamic and Asian countries with regard to women’s rights, in connection with which they refer to the sharia. I find it downright disgraceful that we women cannot join forces across the world. I would ask you to give attention to this. It is not just the Islamic and Asian countries to which this applies, but also Poland, for example. Finally, I would like to ask you, as I do not have any hard facts at my disposal regarding the acceding countries, whether it would be possible to analyse the status quo in the candidate countries, ideally as soon as possible so that we can assess whether the situation there has improved. Finally, I would call for the NGOs, in particular, to be given a key role, because it is they who are promoting awareness, and this is something which needs to be done not only among women, but also among men. They need to be involved in this process. At the end of the day, we are relying on the political will of society as a whole to commit itself to a cause which is related to democracy and human rights and which transcends all cultures and religions.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, unfortunately, the EU learnt little from the Erika disaster, when 13 000 tonnes of oil spilled off the coast of Brittany. If the Commission's original Erika package had been implemented, single-hulled tankers like the Prestige would have been replaced by 2002. The Prestige disaster highlighted the gaps in the implementation of EU legislation and the lack of a sufficient EU response mechanism, which aggravated the environmental impact. At the time the Spanish Government was criticised for towing the stricken vessel out to sea, ignoring the advice of experts who argued that it should be taken to a sheltered bay or port where the oil could be contained. Ironically, Mr Sterckx's report points out that six months later, neither France nor Spain had designated safe havens and contingency plans to the Commission, as required by EU law. The Prestige incident should have been viewed as occurring in EU waters, with potentially devastating consequences for the shared environment and European fishing industries. Environmental disasters of this magnitude underline the need for an EU coastguard. It cannot simply be left to individual Member States to act alone. I have been campaigning for the establishment of an EU Coastguard for a number of years. As well as the problems of marine pollution, European citizens are also alarmed that our coastal waters are being exploited by organised crime for trafficking in arms, drugs, cigarettes and human beings. Furthermore, given the present geo-political climate, with the increased possible threat of terrorist attacks using the seas of Europe, we should consider how best to prevent such an attack occurring. Often EU leaders seek to make the EU more relevant to the daily lives of their citizens. Establishing an EU coastguard would be a tangible way of doing this because it addresses the real concerns of those they and we represent. That is why I welcome the rapporteur's proposal for the establishment of an EU coastguard and also the similar call made recently by the current President-in-Office of the Council, Silvio Berlusconi. This is an idea whose time has come and action should be taken upon it.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, we have, over many weeks and months, been devoting our attention to Eurostat, and you will be well aware that a substantial number of us here in this House even wanted to go as far as to state that it had no confidence in the Commission. Although I have always been opposed to a vote of no confidence in the Commission, this House does have a legitimate interest in hearing what the Commission has to say on the subject and how it assesses what went on at Eurostat. Our listening to the Commission’s statement, and our discussion of it, is a sign of fairness, openness and transparency.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, I should like to start by commending the rapporteur's work on this portfolio, it is an important matter. I share the Commissioner's concern over the need for security of supply for oil and gas in Europe, but we might have different ideas as to how we can achieve it - in particular, not by interventionism in the markets. Why is the Commissioner seeking to reinvent the wheel when there are already satisfactory arrangements in place with the IEA for a regime of maintaining oil reserves? It was established in the 1970's in response to the crisis then and it has served us in good stead ever since, so why replace it? I have even more concern about and difficulty with proposals to use reserves to intervene in the market for purposes of price-smoothing, when experience shows – and recent experience in the United States in particular shows – that it does not work. It would be a distortion of a market that has worked well for a very long time. Commissioner, you are to be commended for the many initiatives on energy that you have introduced over the last four years, not least for the Green Paper on security of supply, for which I was Parliament's rapporteur. However, the different measures you have brought forward – on liberalising gas and electricity markets, on promoting renewables, on increasing energy efficiency and on developing trans-European energy networks – make clear to me that there is no need to create a additional chapter or legal base on energy, because you have all these instruments available to you already. I think this is an unnecessary measure. With particular reference to the proposal on oil reserves, although I bow to my colleague's views about the measure on gas being in a different category, I make no apology for reintroducing the amendment to reject this proposal and in doing so I thank all those colleagues who supported me on this specific aspect. I hope you will take this in the spirit in which it is intended and reflect on different ways of achieving the objective that we share: maintaining security of supply for energy in Europe. Furthermore, should we win the vote on this amendment – and as my colleague indicated, it was very close in committee – I trust that the Council and the Commission would respect the outcome and not carry out the threat made in committee by the Commissioner's services to go for a different procedure, in effect acting behind Parliament's back in seeking to persuade the Council to do something which, so I understand, it does not want to do anyway. So I urge you to pause and think again.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy considers it an important question as to what effects this will have on technical legislation, specifically with regard to on-board-diagnostics or the various interfaces. How, too, are we to ensure actual adherence to working standards and norms? Is it envisaged that there will be some sort of third-party certification, with neutral third parties checking that the standards have actually been kept to?

Political group: PPE-DE