GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office, first let me say how much I welcome this debate on Iraq. It is a sign that we Europeans wish to shoulder responsibility for the post-war situation in Iraq and look forwards. That is why I think it is a good thing that we have avoided a resolution on the post-war situation in Iraq, because that would have meant us getting embroiled in a debate about guilt and expiation within the European Union, about our inconsistent positions towards the United States and the different roles we envisage for the United Nations. No one would benefit from that, least of all the Iraqis themselves. I would like to say at this point, however, that we do support a central role for the United Nations, for one simple reason: if you are administering a foreign country, you need to have legitimacy under international law. Iraq's chief administrator should therefore have a UN mandate. We must ensure that the money from the Oil-for-Food Programme is used for the benefit of the people of Iraq. All the economic and financial sanctions imposed against Iraq in 1990 should be lifted immediately. Now that Saddam Hussein's regime has been toppled, there can be no further reason to maintain those sanctions. I regard the debate about exactly what is meant by a central United Nations role in the reconstruction of Iraq as being a somewhat artificial one. In a country where civil order has broken down, and where the basic structures of a functioning administration still need to be set up, where the regime has left behind an appalling legacy of hardship and violence and the most basic things are lacking, it is essential to focus on humanitarian assistance and its coordination. This is an area where the European Union has a greater part to play, and I support the ECHO programme already under way. It is in any case time that we avoided giving the impression that the United States alone is acting while the 15 Member States of the European Union are still talking, so that once the dust has settled after the Iraq war the European Union should primarily set itself the task of sorting out its relations with the United States. We will soon be welcoming Mr Kwasniewski, the President of Poland, who represents a state that acted alongside the USA in Iraq, but who will nevertheless be telling us that he is interested in a common foreign and security policy. Before we start casting doubt on these countries' European ideals – and those of Member States of the EU – it would be better if we considered viewing all those countries that were the United States' allies in military action as potential bridges between ourselves and Washington. Just as with the ‘Quartet’ in the Middle East, it is only credible for the EU to act in partnership with the US, not in opposition to it.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I have here – and for relevant reasons – an oral amendment, with the new number 15 a. There is a problem in this connection, namely that the title of the agreement, which we wish to support in Parliament, is rather long. The amendment itself is short, and I only have the English text. In spite of that, I would ask the House, if possible, to facilitate a vote on it. I shall read out this amendment: 'Welcomes the conclusion of the amendment to the implementing agreement between the Department of Energy of the USA and the European Commission for non-nuclear energy scientific and technological cooperation relating to cooperation in the area of fuel cells on 16 June 2003, which should improve the chances of finding a long-term solution to the world's energy and transport problems' I would ask the House to accept that we can now vote on this amendment.

Political group: PSE
We feel that it is a priority and a matter of urgency to pursue the battle against the destruction of the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect and the ensuing global warming. This battle can be fought either by using more alternative, renewable energy sources, which reduce fossil fuel consumption, or by adopting measures to reduce emissions from polluting industries and their effects. That requires investment in researching and implementing new technologies, which could help us to comply with the targets set in the Kyoto Protocol. We reiterate our opposition to the creation of ‘pollution allowance trading’, however. Such a trade would turn allowances into a commodity and allow more developed countries to buy ‘pollution quotas’ from less developed countries, enshrining the status of the former as ‘privileged polluters’ and stunting the development of the latter. Recent United Nations figures, moreover, suggest a tendency towards a rise in emissions from industrialised countries. By accepting the gas emission allowance trading perceived by some as a tool for achieving the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, this report shares that point of view. We feel that this is not the right approach.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, this Parliament is today debating a subject related to an issue that is of concern to everyone. At this very moment, the second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing is taking place in Madrid. I therefore congratulate Mr Fatuzzo on having drafted this report, which highlights just how crucial it is that we come up with a solution to the problem of the future sustainability of pensions systems. The European Union is facing an enormous challenge in the forthcoming decades as a result of the increased ageing of the population, which is related to the falling birth rate and to greater life expectancy. The ageing of the population and the reduction in the number of people of working age requires innovative and effective policies to be drafted and implemented. It is crucial that the Member States of the European Union undertake a speedy reform of their pension schemes, which will require changes in the organisation of labour, the creation of more and better jobs, specifically for older people, and a redrafting of demographic, birth and immigration policies. If it takes too long to implement these reforms, as the rapporteur states, the European social model and the growth and economic stability of the European Union will suffer serious consequences. In this field, one of the most important measures is the promotion of policies that foster the idea of active ageing; in other words, every citizen must have the option to retire or to remain in the labour market on a full or part-time basis. Incentives must therefore be provided for later retirement, lifelong learning must be promoted and health systems must be improved. Legislation regulating social security systems falls within the sole competence of the Member States, as we all know, which explains the considerable differences between these systems. The importance of this issue and its economic and social effects, however, require a global approach and global strategies. The European Union must, therefore, play a leading role in supporting national strategies, by means of an open method of coordination, setting common objectives and working methods, and by promoting the exchange of experiences and of good practices in addition to undertaking an ongoing and coherent evaluation of the progress that has been made. Another aspect that should be emphasised is the considerable proportion of elderly people in the Member States who are victims of poverty and social exclusion. Pension schemes must contribute to eliminating such problems and to maintaining standards of living that are worthy of the third age. Lastly, I feel obliged to state that current pension schemes are particularly unfavourable to women, and the Member States must, therefore, give priority to gender equality and European legislation that effectively guarantees the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of gender in pension schemes must be promoted.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, I should first like to congratulate the rapporteur. In his request to speak he referred to an important field, that is the institutional field and everything concerned with it. What I should like to do is to refer to the opportunities that this system offers us. The paper deals with combating the counterfeiting of travel documents. It is a system for registration and comparison and thus an instrument that also helps to combat illegal entry and illegal immigration or the committing of criminal acts under a false identity. That means that in order to be able to combat this phenomenon, which is partly a phenomenon of organised crime, we need new and very effective instruments. One instrument is the system discussed here to combat the counterfeiting of travel documents. After all, it should also help us to combat the crime of smuggling, which is on the increase. If the figures are correct, then we have in the meantime learned that almost the same criminal earnings are obtained from smuggling as from drug crime and with considerably less risk than with drug-related crime. I have been given access to figures that show that of the 400,000 to 500,000 illegal immigrants who come to the European Union every year, at least 200,000 are brought into the European Union by smugglers. These counterfeit documents are very often used in smuggling cases. In other areas too, where there is asylum abuse, there is counterfeiting of documents that are passed on from one person to another. Unfortunately this has become part of a system. In this regard, the system that Mr Newton Dunn described should be welcomed and supported. I should, however, like to mention one point with which we are not happy. That is the fact that in parallel we have developed the FADO system that allows us to compare original documents and counterfeit documents pictorially. In reality, we therefore have two systems that should be amalgamated in one system. Because rather than coming across counterfeit documents it is of course better if we have previously compared original and counterfeit documents via the FADO system. That means that the aim should not be to run two parallel systems side by side, but to unite both of them in one system in the interests of efficiency. Overall this action to combat counterfeit documents by comparing information that is not person-related is to be welcomed. But we should try to be more efficient so that two systems do not run in parallel but are associated with each other so that something is achieved: so that with the Schengen information system and the EURODAC information system together we can contribute to a safer Europe.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, on a point of order, could I assure you that I am very calm, but I am not any less angry for that. I thank the Minister for his consideration in undertaking to reply to the questions I presume this means he will reply in the normal way and within the normal period. I should like to point out to him that unfortunately I am not the master of whether I get the opportunity to put a question to him, or any other minister in this House, during the course of the debates – it is the group which decides who takes the floor. If I had had the opportunity yesterday to put these questions, I would have done so. The reason I am raising the matter here, by way of question, is because the content of my question was not dealt with in your statement yesterday.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, we want a democratic Europe, a peaceful Europe, a Europe of different nations. We are a Europe in the making. We want to be a strong Parliament and that is why we also want a strong Commission. The hearings have shown that some of your Commissioners are strong and others are weaker. Parliament does not have as much confidence in their readiness to reform things and does not have as much faith in the way in which they will treat Parliament. But all in all, our wish for you is that you will be the strong Commission we need, although it is possible that not all members of our group will vote for you. You were right to regard the word “responsibility” as a key word, not just in the Wise Men’s first report, but also in terms of solving future problems – collective responsibility, but also the individual responsibility held by the members of your Commission, and to my mind, the responsibility held by your officials. I am thinking of the fate of Mr Van Buitenen here, and of the fact that his case should be brought to a conclusion in an honourable manner. Commissioner, our institutions are not equal to the challenges you have outlined as regards the enlargement of Europe for we must bring about the enlargement of Europe and make it more democratic at the same time, which is difficult. You spoke of reorganising subsidiarity and that is a statement that finds favour with us as it holds promise for the future. The parliaments of the Member States, as well as our own, must become involved. But we want to go further. We want you to consider that if the right of nations to self-determination is to be taken seriously, then that will also mean the constitutional parliaments of federal states, regions and of cultural communities being taken seriously and being given a place in the subsidiarity-based Europe of the future, for the right of nations to self-determination is a sacred principle for all the nations of the world and that does not always mean for the states alone, for those concepts do not always coincide. I also want to remind you that we inhabit a world that has become very small. I found your speech to be rather heavily eurocentric. For when we look down our own streets we find that the poor of Africa are there as well. To a large extent, the world is one of poverty and AIDS, and one in which the Europe that you outlined as being an island of prosperity and peace is, as we know from experience, one which remains a distant dream for many people. Indeed, we have not yet been able to realise this distant dream within our own Europe. I have in mind the peace processes that are dragging on in Northern Ireland and the Basque country. Commissioner, you can inspire confidence but at the end of the day, you have to earn it too. I hope that this Commission will achieve this.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, on behalf of the Committee on Fisheries, because yesterday we debated this subject in committee, and especially also on behalf of all the rapporteurs of the reports we are to discuss today, and if the Commissioner, with whom I have spoken, has no objection, and it seems he has not, I should like to ask you if we might first hear the statement from the Commissioner himself and then we the rapporteurs could speak in the order laid down. That is what I should like to ask you, Mr President.

Political group: PPE-DE
I should like to thank Mr Nisticò and Commissioner Byrne for the sterling work they have done on this matter. The outcome of the conciliation will mean our now having obtained high minimum levels of safety and quality where blood and blood components used for transfusion are concerned. Requirements are being set in terms of staff qualifications, the operation of blood banks, the testing of donated blood and also efficient supervision and monitoring. The most controversial issue has of course been that of whether blood should be given without the donors’ actually being remunerated. I believe it is well documented that voluntary and unremunerated donation provides the best blood quality, especially if there is a permanent body of donors. The different rules in the Member States have meant, however, that we have not been able to decide that unremunerated donation should apply in all the Member States from day one. I am nonetheless very pleased that the directive now refers to the European Council’s proper definition of unremunerated blood donation. I am also very pleased that the Member States are now to make arrangements for encouraging voluntary, unremunerated blood donation and that, every three years, they are to submit reports to the Commission concerning the arrangements they have made. Finally, I think it is important that the individual Member State be entitled to maintain or introduce the requirement for voluntary and unremunerated blood donation, a requirement that also includes a ban on the import of blood and blood components not donated in accordance with these principles of non-remuneration. I definitely think that the directive we have now arrived at will make an important contribution to the safety and the quality of blood donation in Europe.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I would like to ask the Commission to adopt a position on the request made in the legislative resolution for the appropriate measures to be taken in order for there to be a modification of the Community Customs Code, as mentioned by Mr Beysen and as I have also expressed.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioners, I am very happy that the assessment made of the European employment strategy allows us to improve the instruments, because this is one of our citizens’ great demands. I would like to ask a question, Mr President. The Commissioner has spoken about setting objectives in an area in which those objectives should be of a national nature. My question is whether, in fact, with regard to the employment rates which have always been referred to, on a regional level and a European level for 2010 and 2005, the Member States will be bound by specific figures, whether each State will be obliged to move on from literature to mathematics, whether we will really have a European employment strategy at State level which does not consist solely of ideas, but which also involves a demand for results, from the European Parliament and from public opinion.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I would very much like to make a brief statement about the next amendment. My concern is with torture. It is quite extraordinary that there is no amendment whereby this House can condemn torture in the strongest terms. (The President cut off the speaker)

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, the European Year of Education through Sport will provide an excellent opportunity for promoting the social importance of sport within our society and will be a very powerful tool for promoting integration. One third of Europe's citizens pursue a physical activity on a regular basis, making sport one of the most significant social phenomena in Europe in the 20th century. Sport is an excellent way to engage people in their communities. It can contribute to education and lifelong learning, as well as promoting qualities of leadership, citizenship and teamwork. The Year of Education through Sport should concentrate on the social inclusion aspect of sport. However, for this to become a reality, we need to provide better facilities within deprived communities. What I am deeply concerned about is the lack of group leaders and volunteers to run sports projects, especially in the more depressed regions. What will be in the programme to address this? Also it is important that projects chosen should provide a firm foundation on which to build. The momentum provided during 2004 must carry on beyond 2004 – it should not stop there. It should become an established part of projects within our communities. The involvement of local and regional authorities also during the year will be crucial to its eventual success, as they are in a unique position to ensure that the widest possible access to local community action is achieved. Sport is not only a form of entertainment for the spectator. It also has a strong social dimension and it is this social dimension that should be one of the main themes during the year. All sports should be included, not just the mainstream sports – and we need to emphasise this throughout the programme. It is also important to link projects started under the European Year of Disability in 2003 with sporting projects for the disabled in 2004. No one should be excluded. I thank the rapporteur for an excellent initiative and look forward to participating in the development of the projects throughout the year.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, Commissioner, we shall of course be voting in favour of this regulation. We believe that we have come up with a more or less balanced text, compared with an initial proposal which seemed to us to contain a certain number of risks. It is clear that passengers’ rights are sacred. All too often the airlines treat them very lightly, whether it is a matter of looking after their passengers or of providing them with information. It is also clear that the practice of overbooking has in many cases revealed its limitations and proved that it is used as a commercial tool. We have even seen cases where planes did not take off because they were not full, which is absolutely inadmissible for someone who has signed a sale or purchase contract as part of the process of obtaining a ticket. I believe that the text we have come up with is balanced overall. On the one hand, it tries to ensure that the practice of overbooking does not constitute a purely commercial practice but is restricted to a flexibility practice. We are aware that overbooking will never be reduced to zero by the airlines, because that is how they manage imponderables. There are some of us here in this House who often travel by air, and many of us benefit from overbooking practices when we arrive late or when things do not go according to plan and we have trouble getting to the airport. I do not think, therefore, that we ought to make a big issue of it. Moreover, the compensation scheme must be fair and equitable, and it must not be too complicated if we are to avoid endless disputes, and above all it should not be an incentive to airlines to take risks with safety. We must not go too far: we must not end up with a situation in which airlines are determined to take off at any price, even if there is a technical incident, because it would otherwise cost them too much to provide compensation for passengers. I hope that we have achieved this sort of balance in this report. I hope so but I am not altogether sure. Nevertheless, we shall be giving it our support.

Political group: PSE
The reason why ‘the role of High Representative for the CFSP and that of the Commissioner responsible for external relations should be merged and assigned to a Commission Vice-President’ is that it will be difficult in the long term to maintain the double channels of command that apply to policy in the second pillar. It is problematic – from the points of view both of clarity and of the budget – for the EU to maintain two external relations administrations for the purpose of implementing foreign policy. That does not however mean that we in any way support supranationalism within the areas of the second pillar. We do not therefore want the CFSP to be incorporated into the first, or Community, pillar. The above position also applies to the relevant passage in paragraph 3 of the report on the progress made in implementing the Common Foreign and Security Policy (A5-332/2001 Rapporteur: Mr Brok).

Political group: PSE