GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Madam President, while enlargement was being discussed at the Nice Summit, the French Government was practising a kind of contraction, stopping 1200 young Italians at Ventimiglia as they were on their way to take part in a union demonstration. That was an infringement of the freedom of movement as laid down in the Schengen Agreement, and I would be grateful if you would seek an explanation from the French Government. I think a very unusual interpretation of the Schengen Agreement was applied in that case, actually, and, no doubt, if it had been a group of bankers or a train carrying meat-and-bone meal, the French Government would have been far more tolerant.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, at this moment in time, I find it difficult to criticise the attitude which the Commission or Member States have adopted since the initial foot-and-mouth outbreak in the United Kingdom. I think they have all been alert and that that all possible precautionary measures were taken. Nevertheless, I wonder whether that was enough. I paid a visit to the United States not so long ago. Each time I enter that country, I am always struck by the fact that I have to state whether I have been on a farm over the previous three weeks and whether I am bringing foodstuffs with me. All this to check whether any contagious diseases are being imported into the United States. This does not happen in Europe. Would this not be the right time to ask ourselves whether this is not a necessary course of action here too? With all those jumbo jets arriving at our airports every day, the risk of infection from wherever in the world is enormous. The debate whether or not to vaccinate is once again upon us. Could the Commission spell out the economic implications of vaccinating and what benefits non-vaccination brings? It is true that we have had no problems for the past nine years, but I think that the public must be convinced of the need for this policy. We must know how much it will cost. This Parliament has increased the budget line for “SOS countryside” over the past six years. Last year, the Commission refused to implement this budget line. It pays for a telephone line which can be used by any farmer across the European Union. Why does the Commission not implement this budget line and why is there an inclination to shelve it again this year? This is about a clear-cut wish from Parliament and I think that it is extremely well-timed.

Political group: ELDR
We Swedish Social Democrats chose to vote against the report on the prevention and reduction of risks associated with drug dependence, and this in view of the fact that Parliament voted through a number of amendments directly or indirectly entailing social acceptance of drug dependence. Right from the beginning, our attitude towards the recommendation has been that it focuses to an unduly high degree upon harm reduction. Our point of departure is that the most important measure for reducing the risks associated with drug dependence is that of preventing dependence itself. The fact that, in its vote, Parliament chose to support the wordings from the committee on the importance of preventive activity and the drugs-free rehabilitation of drug abusers is encouraging, but is insufficient to merit approval on our part.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I refer mainly to Mr Marinos’ report, which I certainly welcome for it has succeeded in taking into account all the major economic issues that are relevant to modern, well-equipped companies. Capital transfers, migrations flows, the labour market and pension systems have been analysed with synthetic proposals for solutions. The central panel of the European economic horizon is still, however, the Stability and Growth Pact, which has emerged victorious from the economic storm of recent months. After September 11, there were really very few of us who believed that the parameters established by the Pact could be respected. Now, however, the sceptics – or many of them, at least – acknowledge their mistake and have changed their views. The States which have erred in any way, particularly Germany and Portugal, have set themselves with a will to removing the uncertainties and realigning any parameters which were likely to require attention. With great skill, the rapporteur covers all the economic issues and major summits, from Lisbon to Barcelona, focusing on the major challenges represented by the ever-increasing number of elderly people and by economic refugees and their families, who represent an uncertain variable for the host State because of their tendency to work illegally. I know paragraph 20 of the report contains a reference to the labour market, but the issue calls for greater, more thorough analysis. The profit-sharing system and the profit-related pay system, which benefits 20% of the workforce in employment in the United Kingdom, are models which must be further explored and applied to good effect. The efforts to find the best, most productive labour processes must be matched by endeavours to improve the quality of jobs. Jobs must be developed to incorporate more creativity, to provide a better response to social requirements and to promote human dignity. An increase in professional skill is necessary for reorganisation of the production system to take place but professional skill will also be enhanced as a result of the process. The level of culture will increase and the creative abilities of employees will be enhanced. We have a constitutional and moral responsibility to provide jobs for all our citizens.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the Group of the can only lend its firm support to this resolution which, as the Members who have direct experience of this tragic situation have said, shows our institution's concern for a region which may well be far away but whose human tragedies cut us to the very heart. As previous speakers have pointed out, a great deal has already been achieved and more will be achieved in the future, and it is our hope that the outcome of the forthcoming talks will be positive. For my part, I join with Mr Dupuis in calling upon the Commission and the European Union as a whole to make diplomatic advances towards the countries which are most affected by this crisis. All that remains is for me to state that we too will follow future developments in the situation closely. Burma

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, we are satisfied, on the whole, with Mr Whitehead’s report and with the fact that the Council has generally taken on board our amendments. The clarification of the detailed rules for financing consumer protection organisations was essential. The definition of such bodies must be strict. The report follows this line, while at the same time guaranteeing the participation of a panel of organisations. Of course we must keep those organisations which demonstrate the necessary technical competence, but we must also ensure the independence of representative bodies. It is absolutely essential to avoid a situation in which pressure groups – whether industrial, commercial, professional or any other kind – see those bodies as a means of indirectly influencing the Union’s policy. On the other hand, we must maintain our relations with the cooperatives, which take consumers’ interests into account in their charters. Relations with consumer protection organisations have to be developed in close contact with the public. We cannot, therefore, be satisfied with giving preferential treatment to relations with Community or national organisations while merely offering support to regional bodies: the latter must enjoy proper representation within the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy, as well as corresponding financial aid. That committee will also be responsible for ensuring even greater representation of civil society. The expansion in the sphere of competence is important. The bodies in the food sector have now been joined by consumer protection organisations in the services sector and, more broadly, in the non-food sectors. Access to information is an essential guarantee of consumer protection. This is why we asked for, and obtained, public data banks that would be easily accessible. The public must be able to find out about the precise history of products, their origin, their method of production etc. This means, amongst other things, improving labelling – an effective means of guaranteeing that consumers are informed. We must go further, however. If we want to be sure that safe products are being marketed, we not only need to be informed about the risks: we also need to see about reducing those risks. That is only possible if we develop comparative evaluations with a view to sustainable and responsible production and consumption. That is the real consumer protection policy.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I would just like to say on a personal note that it was the furthest thing from my mind to suggest that the Commissioner had not received the paper and had lied, although it was stated publicly in the Czech Republic that this study had been sent to you and that you had not yet responded. This was the reason for my question and I thank you for clearing up the matter. I did not mean to suggest anything. There must be reasons why you did not receive it, but I never suggested that you had lied!

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the collective redundancies at Genk announced by Ford are not the first of their kind and no doubt they will not be the last. They simply reflect, I believe, the current business philosophy of global enterprises. Collective redundancies are almost invariably a means of compensating for the reduction of profits as a result of diminished demand, a purely managerial and, I might add, unimaginative approach which the economic order must, as a matter of policy, counteract if increased demand is to be ensured. Looking at current policy, one can see that the cutbacks that are made in all areas of society do not stoke up demand, but, on the contrary, stifle it still further. One particular demonstration of the truth that management can secure employment strategies by means other than collective redundancies is to be found in the motor industry, in the works contracts at VW or, most recently, at Opel, which reduce working time to thirty hours and thus share out the work among more people. If current reports in the media are to be believed, though, it is evident that other, politically motivated considerations are involved in what is going on in Genk. According to these reports, at any rate, Ford is concentrating collective redundancies on locations – of which Genk is one and Cologne another – in those countries that did not acquiesce in US policy in the war on Iraq. The reason why the debate in this House today is so important is that the planned redundancies are not in line with Parliament’s resolution on the social consequences of industrial conversion – not in the way they have been thought out and not in the manner in which they are being put into effect. Let the Commission re-examine how the rules have been complied with. Redundancies on this scale are anything other than a milestone on the way to fulfilling the Lisbon Agenda and result in devastating upheavals in the regions concerned. If we really want not only to become the strongest region in economic terms by 2012, but also, as was stated at Lisbon, to create full employment, then the Commission, too, has to go about things in an entirely different way.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, the Austrian Member of the European Commission, Franz Fischler, has been criticised here for taking part in an event with Jörg Haider. I should like to say that this event was excellent, that the Austrian Commissioner Fischler made a very clear statement on nationalism in Europe and that his words had a great impact in Austria, because, of course, the question of whether Mr Haider's party might form part of an Austrian Government has been the subject of much debate. I should, therefore, like to ask you not to criticise the fact that the Austrian Commissioner attended this event and instead to lend your full support to what he said. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, I think that the time bomb is the one that we have here, now, as we are talking about an unprecedented failure of negotiations, which is not your failure, Mr Fischler, but that of many people, which leaves 4 400 Community fishermen and 415 vessels unemployed. Those affected in my country feel that they have been deceived by their political leaders, who have always denied the problems in the negotiations, and the fact that there were deadlines for concluding them. This is not the case for you, Mr Fischler. How are they are going to believe in relocation to other fishing grounds if we all know that increasing the fishing effort would put resources at risk or would make the activity unprofitable? Why did the negotiations fail? Despite your efforts as Commissioner, which I recognise, a common strategy was lacking, not on your part, but on the part of the Commission, and above all, the Council. You reminded me of the responsibility of ministers, whom you said were informed at all times and had taken part in the most recent rounds of negotiations. Although the formal responsibility for negotiating lies with the Commission, the governments can and should prepare the way for agreement. You said that what the European Union was offering was not bad; the attitude of the Moroccan Government was not that of a loyal partner. We think, however, that the framework for negotiation was the association agreement with Morocco. Maybe eleven months ago it was not right to mix fisheries and agriculture, but we have to remember that Morocco is still benefiting from agricultural concessions obtained in parallel with the fishery negotiations in 1992 and 1995, and that the European Union is the main importer of Moroccan fisheries, agricultural and industrial products. You said to me at the time that no good would come of such a mix and that it was better to trust our partners. We have trusted them and we have seen that on the same day that the negotiations broke down, Morocco was signing a fishing co-operation agreement with Japan, and while it was giving us the reasons of preserving resources, it was granting licences to Community and other vessels and fleets. The sector and the public want to know what measures the Commission is going to take following the collapse of these negotiations. In your speech you talked again about another mandate. Is another mandate possible? Do you think that we would change anything with another mandate? Do you think that the negotiations have finished for good, or is it possible to restart them with a new mandate?

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Nisticò has submitted an outstanding report whose content I fully support. It is essential that this directive creates uniform standards for the safety and quality of blood and plasma in the Member States. To this end, identical procedures for testing blood and plasma must be adopted which comply with the most recent techniques. Trained personnel should ensure the highest safety standards for donors and recipients alike. A transparent system of traceability and labelling will allow blood to be traced from donor to recipient and back. This also helps to minimise the risk of infection. Voluntary, non-remunerated donation is, and should remain, a basic principle. Unlike Mr Lund, I believe that there is certainly no direct link between non-remunerated and remunerated donation and safety/quality. The key issue is the selection of donors and testing by qualified personnel. However, reimbursement for plasma donors must not be ruled out in the European Union in future. Europe can only cover 50% of its plasma needs. The shortfall is made up from plasma from the US, for which the donors have received payment. The import of plasma from paid donors must not be prohibited by the new directive. This would inevitably lead to supply shortages, which would also affect the manufacture of medicines from these products. Plasma is required to produce vital medicines such as coagulation factor 8 and coagulation factor 7 for haemophiliacs, and immunoglobulins to prevent infection in patients with congenital immune deficiency. A shortage would put many patients’ health at risk. I would ask you to bear this in mind when voting.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, I am on this occasion to express an opinion on behalf of the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party. In my previous speech, I spoke mainly on my own behalf as rapporteur. The difference is, in itself, marginal. I am all in favour of decentralisation and like to see things done on a small scale, but I want to say to my esteemed fellow MEPs that globalisation is on the way for agriculture too. It does not help to bury one’s head, ostrich-like, in the sand and say that we have not noticed anything and that we do not wish to change anything. When I listen to my fellow MEPs, I find that many of them are in actual fact behaving like the proverbial ostrich. What is odd is that, in this Assembly, people appear to be more conservative the further to the left they are. I should like to make a comment on the Commissioner’s view regarding multifunctionality and sustainability. As those of us in the Group have said, it is important and a matter of urgency that we should in the long term deregulate agricultural policy, but now it is very important, in the near future, to guarantee aid to a form of agriculture that is multifunctional and sustainable. That is something with which we agree. We are trying to change the systems so that we have something to fall back on, the world being as it is. Mr President, I wish of course to thank everyone for all the work that has been done. It is fantastic that we coped successfully with all these amendments in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. As representative of my group, I also want to say that we support the compromise in Mr Cunha’s report. We support it because it is in favour of the principle of decoupling. That is important, and even if we do not go the whole hog, we shall nonetheless make a little progress. To the President-in-Office of the Council, I wish to say that, if now we have taken a decision, I regret that we do not also have the right of co-decision. I nonetheless think that the Council and the President-in-Office of the Council must make use of the opportunity that does in actual fact exist, not completely to fall in with Parliament but to go a step further. If you do that, you will in any case serve my, and perhaps also the Commission’s, interests rather better.

Political group: ELDR
Madam President, I too would like to express my appreciation of the Swedish presidency, of the way it has developed the institutional plan for the Union and, above all, of its contribution to the preparations for enlargement. I feel that, for the first time, many Europeans are aware that there will be representatives from 25 European countries in this House in just three years time. However, we are also aware of the problems arising not just from the pause brought about by the Irish referendum but also from the increasing difficulty of involving the European citizens in planning the future Europe. My opinion is simple: we must give fresh impetus to the cooperation between Parliament and the Commission. The Commission must – and here I am expressing, once again, my total confidence in President Prodi and the Commissioners – demonstrate that it can handle its responsibilities and is capable of working towards a shared vision. Parliament must take greater pride in being the representative of a democratic institution which will soon include half a billion people, at precisely a time when such a large proportion of the public is critical of globalisation. We are the primary example of a supranational power which is still growing, and this, Madam President, must be stressed: this is Europe's contribution to the future of world government. I would also like to express my appreciation of the determination with which the Swedish presidency has upheld Europe's position on the environment and emphasised the key points of the Kyoto agreements, not just in terms of rules but also in terms of triggering off a new debate within the scientific community on research, technological innovation and industrial competition, placing Europe's position in the context – as Commissioner Wallström said – of the European strategy for sustainable development. Finally – albeit a day early – I would like to express my best wishes to the Belgian presidency and say that I have every confidence in the presidency of a founding country of Europe. The Belgian presidency will enable us to contribute to that process which will give us a Europe of 25 countries in just three years, but will also bring us a more democratic Europe which is tangibly closer to the principle of subsidiarity, Madam President. Many Europeans, including those who voted against the motion in the Irish referendum, are calling for us to reduce the excessive amount of regulations. Basically, they are demanding that Europe deal more effectively with its strategic priorities and stop wasting so much time on matters of minor importance.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, Commissioner, I would first like to thank Mrs Rodríguez Ramos and Mr Fiori for the enormous amount of work they have put into both these reports. I do not have much to add when it comes to Mrs Rodríguez Ramos’ report, but I have a few comments on Mr Fiori’s. I think it is important that we think about whether we should retain agricultural policy or develop it. We have to realise that improved communications, both physical and electronic, are making us increasingly dependent on the world around us. This makes it impossible for us in the EU to isolate ourselves and conduct a completely separate agricultural policy. We have to take into account what is going on in the world around us. The negotiations of the World Trade Organisation are becoming increasingly important and are setting the standard for what we do. This is emphasised by the fact that the countries of central Eastern Europe will soon be included in the EU. An enlarged EU will in fact be the largest player on the global food market. Therefore, we must also take on the role of the most important player when it comes to pushing development forward. Now that the US has increased its agricultural subsidies, the EU must seek to be the driving force behind further opening up the global market, involving the developing countries in that market and thus making it work better. This would also create an opportunity for the developing countries to demonstrate, through their growth, that they are a purchasing force on the global market due to their having an enormous need for food. Mr President, I believe it is important that we think this through both ahead of the interim report and ahead of a new agricultural policy after 2006. Being aware that a functioning global market is much more important for the farmers of Europe may be a much greater guarantee of their obtaining a reasonable income than an increasingly fragile political support system which we no longer particularly agree that we wish to develop.

Political group: ELDR