GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, it is a pleasure to welcome the two outstanding reports put forward by Mr Morillon, and I turn first to the report which he has prepared on Customs Union to say how much we welcome that report in which we must remind Turkey that she too has to play her part. The European Union has made major efforts over a number of years to ensure this Customs Union is successful, and Turkey herself must now ensure that she fulfils the role that she is called upon to play. I also support what is perhaps the more contentious report. It is a welcome report on economic and social development in Turkey and was supported in the Committee for Foreign Affairs this week. Here the joint forum has to be of major importance, and again both sides must fulfil their role. We are, of course, confident that we will do so. We remain confident that Turkey will also. In this period of time before Helsinki, it is vital that we look too at the rule of law, human rights, respect for minorities, protection and recognition of their cultural identity and support for measures seeking to abolish capital punishment, one of the amendments that came before our committee to the Morillon report this week. We have, of course, the unhappy fact of one death penalty upheld in Turkey at this very moment. But I believe there is good news that we can focus on even in that tragic situation where the possibility of a citizen losing his life at the hands of the State is upheld by the Court of Appeal. May I remind my colleagues here today that Turkey has not used the death penalty in practice since 1984. There has been an effective moratorium in place since then with the result that 53 people who were defined as subject to what we would call cruel and inhuman punishment, have had their cases put on one side. At the moment the Minister for the European Council and Human Rights, is reported in today's issue of Milliyet, the daily paper, as being firmly against capital punishment. There is a new law coming to the Turkish Parliament in the year 2000, put forward by academics, in which for the first time ever the proposed criminal justice bill does not contain the death penalty. Let us hope and believe that in this year 2000, Turkey's commitment to our millennium year globally will be the abolition of the death penalty once and for all through the democratic parliamentary process.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, I am pleased we are now one step closer to achieving noise restriction in Europe. I should like to single out four points of significance. First of all, it is valuable to establish one basis for applying a system of noise charges which will prompt airlines to use quieter aircraft. In our view, the proceeds should be ploughed back into infrastructural changes to restrict noise nuisance. The introduction of one system would give the currently ambiguous system a dose of clarity. Secondly, it is not compulsory to introduce this system at all airports, which is useful, since some airports may have natural noise barriers that could be exploited economically. Thirdly, certification in accordance with the ICAO standard should be introduced. It is important, to my mind, not to start using other standards, but it is certainly worth investigating whether this could be developed in future and it is useful to translate the actual noise pollution as experienced by the public into a noise classification. Working with noise classifications is very complex as it is. As Mr Blokland has already pointed out, there are always external effects intruding. In future, I would like to see this further investigated, and this should then also be possible to implement and measure, but not now. My final point concerns the ratio, in respect of which we, as the Group, adopt a different position. In our view, the ratio of 1 in 20 on top of the other systems and on top of the landing rights already has sufficient impact on pricing and on the challenge on the part of airlines and industries to implement the tariffs. A good balance has been struck, in our view. Let us therefore introduce it.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the debate on conflict prevention and crisis management policy and on the problems in the area of southern Yugoslavia in general is like testing theory and practice all at once. Of course, when nations are turned into guinea pigs on the basis of the “stick and carrot rather than policy” approach, something is seriously wrong. Let us at least try out a new starting point, the sole aim of which is conflict prevention. It will be a long time before those guilty of tragic mistakes in south-eastern Europe in the past are able to unravel, decode and understand the political and social DNA of the Balkans. Now that the European Union has taken substantial initiatives and general conditions in the area may be said to have improved, no new aggravation and no more armed reckonings should be allowed. Peace, cooperation, the rule of law and inviolable borders must form the backbone to our policy, along with constant efforts to improve the democratic institutions and standard of living in all these hard-hit regions. The European Union must assist and strengthen the healthy forces in the area and must keep its distance from those trying to turn the underworld and organised crime into political agencies. We still have not calculated the huge cost – either to the region or to Europe as a whole – of the mistaken action which at last appears to have come to an end. Peace and stability in the region would appear to be the primary sine qua non for a political resolution to the extended crisis and it will take a great deal of time and effort before stable, viable, constitutional institutions result. For the European Union, what a splendid victory. At last it can emerge wearing a olive wreath, Athena’s olive wreath of wisdom and peace, rather than the spear and shield of Mars, the ancient god of war. I should just like to say to Mr Dupuis that, before saying what he did in the House about relations between the FYROM and Greece, he would have done well to talk to the FYROM government. Then he would have discovered that the European country with which it maintains the best relations is Greece. This is a fact of life and it makes an excellent contribution to stability in the region.

Political group: PSE
The Lagendijk report supports the general direction of the Thessaloniki Joint Declaration of June 2003, to the effect that, ‘the preparation of the countries of South-East Europe for their future integration into the European structures is a major priority of the European Union.’ The Stabilisation and Association Process is considered to be a decisive stage in this respect. I, myself, do not have a ‘closed’ idea of European integration. We are steeped in hypocrisy here: should Bosnia-Herzegovina ‘take responsibility for its own development and rely less on the international community’? We are waiting to see the results of the adverse social and institutional effects of an interminable protectorate that is producing what independent Bosnian researchers term a ‘dependency syndrome’. In addition, how can we talk about ‘neutrality’ while the EU’s economic, political and military actions have encouraged first Montenegro and then Kosovo to strive for independence, only to urge them subsequently to abandon the idea? The first challenge is to do away with protectorates. This requires a critical assessment from the European Parliament, taking account of the opinions of the societies in question, of the choices and responsibilities of the EU and NATO. That is not the approach followed in this report, and for that reason I abstained.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, in general terms this House shares the concern expressed in Mrs Morgantini’s question. Commissioner Vitorino has clarified the Commission’s position and, in my opinion, has responded adequately to the concerns raised here. However, I feel that we should not leave the matter there. Starting from this previous statement, the lines of agreement could be extended on the basis of the privileged information which Mrs Morgantini and myself were able to obtain when we accompanied the President of this House on a tour of the area. Firstly, despite the current difficulties which we saw for ourselves in situ, we must repeat our support for the direct dialogue between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority which is producing a fair, stable and definitive peace agreement. Secondly, it is in the interests of both parties to ensure the economic development of the region and to take decisive action to reduce the serious imbalances in the distribution of wealth in the area. Thirdly and finally, perhaps the Commission could bear in mind the usefulness of participating in the work of a tripartite working group, naturally involving the European Union, to guarantee compliance with trade agreements and to ensure progress in the assistance offered by the European Union to all the parties concerned.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I very much welcome the Danish presidency and I very much welcome the fact that in its programme it states that the European Union has a special responsibility for peace and stability in a world which is ever more closely linked. We are living today through the biggest revolution in the history of the world, with technological telecommunications and transport revolution, as a result of which the world is a much smaller place. In that case, therefore, we should be in a much stronger position to shape that world, but in particular to ensure, as we are in the new century and the new millennium, that we will make it the first century in which we will no longer have conflict or war in our world and that the European Union will use its influence to bring that about. Given that the European Union is the best example in the history of the world of conflict resolution, that strengthens our position to bring it about. The first half of the last century was the worst in the history of the world with two world wars. Yet those same peoples, the peoples represented in this House, all came together and ended their conflict forever and created the European Union. The principles at the heart of European Union should be sent to areas of conflict anywhere in the world. I know from my own experience that the three principles at the heart of European Union are the same three principles at the heart of the agreement in Northern Ireland. Number one: respect for difference – that is what all conflict is about. Difference should be respected. Number two: institutions which respect difference; and Number three: working together in the common interest and by so doing breaking down the barriers of the past. I welcome the fact that Commissioner Patten and his department are working in this area. But in today's world I would like to see the European Union set up a full department concerned with peace and conflict resolution in the European Commission, with its own Commissioner. Then we can play our role in the smaller world of today to end the terrible conflicts that take place in different parts of the world and to bring a message of peace and lasting stability to those areas.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I would like to thank the Commissioner and the President-in-Office of the Council. At the beginning of this century, the French government sent out a beacon, a bombshell on the equality of opportunity policy front. For the first time, there must be equal representation of men and women on electoral lists. In taking this step, the Head of Government, Lionel Jospin, has also set down a marker for the European Union. It happens to be today that Finland’s newly elected President, Tarja Halonen, takes up office. And so the women in Finland have also set down a marker, for this is the first time they have had a female Head of State. Unfortunately, the same does not hold true everywhere. Sadly, less than 7% of the contenders for the next elections in Greece will be women. There, too, there is certainly a lot of catching up to be done. They did not follow the Council recommendation of 1996 on equal involvement for women and overcoming the under-representation of women. Although women form the majority of the European population, they are still largely on the sidelines. When they aspire to higher office they soon hit the glass ceiling. We should fight to break through this glass ceiling. Unlike the previous speaker, it is my belief – and my Group is united on this – that we should set quotas, and binding quotas at that, for women have worked hard. Women have an outstanding profile in the European Union; we have demonstrated team spirit and have acquired decision-making powers and social competences. Binding quotas also require reliable statistics and must not be excluded from any sector of society. We need this new social treaty, we need the fight for power, money and distribution of work, which must favour women. Looking back, I would say that the men could have given us solid support in this fight. Unfortunately, they have made little effort in this regard as well. It is my hope that we will continue to work on the Beijing Action Platform and that we will have the vision to progress from having a Women’s Day to a Women’s Millennium.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, as the Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez has pointed out, the political map of Latin America can be interpreted today by means of some diverse and highly contrasting landmarks. One of these could be the ‘tequila effect’ which has irradiated from Mexico since the last presidential elections, a genuine example of civic pride which, we trust, will have beneficial consequences to help shape the new political map of the United Mexican States. There we hope to see a separation of powers and guarantees that governments will alternate in power, and we are sure that the necessary interrelationship between economic modernisation and political modernisation will increasingly prosper. Of course Mexico is a country of light and shade, like any country in the European Union. That is why I noticed the excessively critical tone used by the rapporteur of this report in her explanatory statement regarding the social and economic situation in this Latin American republic. I believe we should be careful in our statements and I am surprised by the rapporteur’s doubts on questions of Mexican constitutional competences when dealing with trade in services. With regard to investments, I do not think the assessments made are appropriate, since the degree of internationalisation of the Mexican economy in recent years has been remarkable, to the point where Mexico is the country that has most used the Community financial instrument known as the ECIP. This is clearly reflected in the growth in investment by foreign companies and in the free trade agreements, both the one signed with the United States and Canada and the recent one with the European Union. In the latter case, Mexico has made a strategic effort to diversify its relations, which had focused so much on the United States, and this will moreover provide European goods with tariff treatment similar to that given to US goods, especially with regard to industrial products. We shall obviously be voting in favour.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, how can we preserve our resources and improve environmental health and social well-being in a balanced manner, without affecting any of the three pillars of sustainable development? The Gothenburg Summit will try to provide an answer to these questions and will demonstrate the maturity and political capacity of our governments to deal with the challenge of a new order of peace and prosperity for the twenty-first century. The first step consists of severing the link between economic growth and the intense use of resources and unwanted effects such as pollution. In this context, I believe that we should welcome the reports by Mrs Hulthén and Mr Blokland. To turn the European economy into the most competitive and dynamic economy, based on knowledge and not on the intensive use of resources, will require a better and greater use of market instruments in order to achieve greater levels of efficiency for our procedures and products, but will also require other factors to be taken into account simultaneously. If we want to eliminate forever the spectre of the loss of competitiveness or the threat of industrial conflict in Europe, we need more than ever, and urgently, to move ahead in a way which is uniform and coherent between all the Member States. It is even more important that we do so from a global point of view, by means of international agreements which resolve the legal and practical difficulties which face many of our legislative actions. We also need to establish realistic timetables which allow companies and society in general to adapt to the new market conditions and introduce the necessary reforms, thereby reducing the possibilities of unwanted effects if they are dealt with within too narrow a margin for manoeuvre. Lastly, I think it is essential, in order to successfully bring the process of change to a conclusion, to enjoy a broad social consensus which includes commitments with social operators and the gradual but firm replacement – of course – of the social values of the old order – based on the possession and accumulation of goods – with other values of a society which is ethically and civically more advanced, based on the enjoyment of the less materialistic aspects of life.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the debate on my report on the European Union’s action plans on asylum-seekers and migrants has been postponed until this evening at 6 p.m., and the vote until tomorrow at 9 a.m. I would like to see the importance of the issue reflected in the debate and vote in this House. So I would ask you to put it to the House that the debate be deferred to the next part-session in Brussels. (Parliament agreed to the request)

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, if you will allow me, I would like to explain why I have abstained in the vote on the resolution regarding the Middle East. I believe that in delicate matters such as these, preference should be given to a diplomatic stance and, as far as the specific content of Paragraph 4 is concerned, it does not comply with the standards for a balanced resolution, in my view. Especially with regard to the committee of inquiry, I would like to stress the fact that it should be an internationally constituted committee of enquiry and that its competences must be clearly delineated. IN THE CHAIR: MR MARINHOVice-President President. – The next item is the vote on topical and urgent issues of major importance (Rule 50).(2)***

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, my compliments to the rapporteur for her work on protecting women during pregnancy and maternity, a particularly difficult time. This report certainly represents progress, not just for women in general but also in that it safeguards family rights and upholds fundamental values. The has always upheld the concept of the family, the basic unit of society, as the basis for European construction and the Christian values from which it stems require that it be respected. At a time when Europe has demographic problems, the institutions need to issue a firm signal to reassure working women, who have to have sufficient peace of mind and the necessary guarantees to be able to opt for motherhood. This is why it is necessary to have a sufficiently long period of rest from work before giving birth and even longer afterwards, when there is a child to breastfeed, look after and bring up. Therefore, benefits should not be cut considerably during this period and pension funds should not be affected either. I would add that, as regards the matter in question, self-employed women should also have a guaranteed right to benefits, which should be funded from contributory national sectoral funds. Finally, I would like to express my support for maintaining the prohibition on dismissal of women during this period, and also for the fact that the cost of benefits for workers on maternity leave are not borne directly by the company where the woman works but entirely by the State, in order to avoid discrimination and penalising women in the labour market.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. The proclamation of the Charter represented an important step forward for the citizens of the European Union, even if there is controversy as to what legal reality this proclamation has achieved in the meantime. In any case, the continuation of this important process demands further efforts at every level. The Charter further laid down, in addition to other important things, a triad of significance to EU citizens which is echoed in the three reports before us: petitions, the Ombudsman and good administration. For this, the three rapporteurs, Mr Bösch, Mrs Almeida Garrett and Mr Perry, to whose report I have the honour of speaking, deserve especial thanks and also congratulations. In reinforcing the triad I have referred to, they have achieved an important step forward, for there is a need for the creation of a further substructure, a network, to secure these institutions for the citizen. It will now be exciting to see how this network's ramifications will develop. The law has many instruments through which to turn rights into realities – constitutions, laws, regulations, decrees, right down to service instructions. In all these, the principle applies: the more generally a right is formulated, the higher up this hierarchy it should be set, and the more specifically, the further down it. So it is good that we have a code for good administrative conduct before us, and it is right to encourage the Commission to make a regulation for this purpose. When this regulation is put into tangible form, however, we must keep a careful eye on its precise final content. In Germany, there was at one time a regulation which stated that a soldier had to start swimming, once he reached a depth of 80 cm of water. Write this into a constitution and comedians will have a field day with it. And so it was with good reason that this was not in the German constitution, but in a service regulation. I believe it to be important that administration should be well organised. This does not only mean ensuring that the right decisions are taken but also touches on the question of how administration comes across to the citizen – at the shop counter, as it were. This is very important. Modern administration means that the citizen is not the authorities' supplicant, but one of its customers. Modern administration involves the authorities not thinking of themselves as superiors, but as providers of a service. That is what they are there for, and the citizen is entitled to expect good services. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE