GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
I congratulate my Labour colleague, Simon Murphy, on his recommendation to approve the agreement reached with the Council on tackling late payments in commercial transactions. This demonstrates yet again Labour's commitment to create an environment for entrepreneurs and businesses to flourish across Europe. Late payment often suffocates many credible businesses, particularly small and medium-sized companies. Consequently, many are tragically forced into receivership, through no fault of their own. This measure, however, will help allow small businesses to fight back. Creditors will be entitled to charge a statutory interest rate of 7% on their debts, encouraging debtors to pay early. Furthermore, if debts are not repaid, creditors will also be able to claim compensation form debtors for recovery costs. By introducing greater certainty in business transactions across Europe, small companies will gain confidence in trading, not just across Britain, but right across the European Single Market. Membership of the Single Market the largest trading bloc in the world, is crucial for jobs in the North West. Nearly 40% of small and medium sized enterprises in the region have trading links with other EU Member States. As a part of the EU Single Market, they have access to over 370m potential customers – over 6 times more than in Britain alone. In a few years' time, following the enlargement of the European Union, they will have access to a potential 500m customers – as big as the American and Japanese markets put together. The Labour Government is determined to make the Single Market work for British business. By giving UK businesses the confidence to reach into these markets, this measure will contribute to this aim and will increase trade, growth and employment across both the North West and all of Britain. - Maaten Report (A5-0160/2000)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, first of all I would like to congratulate my colleague Mr Lisi for the excellent work that he carried out on this subject, which is so sensitive. As Member for Toulouse, I can tell you, how much, two years after the event, the tragedy of the explosion at the AZF factory remains extraordinarily present in the town, in the minds and often even in the flesh of the victims of the disaster. Together with the mayor of Toulouse, Mr Douste-Blazy, we had to act quickly and provide local solutions in light of this tragedy. If we do not want this tragedy to happen again in the future then more needs to be done and legislation is needed. This is what our institution did in taking up this issue as of 3 October 2001. In this regard, I particularly welcome the fact that the constructive collaboration between the Commission, the Council and Parliament enabled a consensus to emerge from the second reading on the issue of ammonium nitrates and that, from then on, in potentially hazardous factories, the thresholds for authorised nitrates were raised to a level so that they would perhaps have been able to avoid the Toulouse explosion. In several areas, the work carried out at third reading and in conciliation provides for new steps forward with new precautionary measures, and in our legislative action we did of course bear in mind security of employees working in potentially hazardous factories. Training measures designed for these people are therefore necessary and even essential. As Mr Lisi said, however, they should not be limited to workers in potentially hazardous factories; they should be extended to sub-contracted employees. Extending training for their benefit does not seem to me in any way a pernickety measure thought up by bureaucrats, but on the contrary, a protective measure. I welcome the outcome that was achieved in the Conciliation Committee on this point. It is also our duty to respond to the legitimate concern of the people to be better informed on these issues. The industrialists concerned must, on their own initiative, move towards greater transparency of their actions. To a certain extent, the European Parliament wanted to contribute to informing the public more by producing a map showing risk areas. This is a step forward, but still people need to be informed, on the ground, of the existence and accessibility of these security documents. Mr President, of course I am aware, as are the people of Toulouse, of the fact that this report does not give absolute protection against industrial accidents. Absolute protection cannot exist, by definition, but I am also completely sure that this House, in taking up this issue quickly and in providing greater protection rules, will have proven how much Europe can respond when it has to, to the immediate concerns of our citizens and this is why I would like to thank you.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I would like to welcome the Taoiseach, Minister Roach and Ambassador Anderson this morning. I welcome the wide-ranging speech that the Taoiseach made to the House, which covered many key issues with which this House is concerned. I wish you and the Irish Government well with the very onerous agenda which it falls to you to push forward. I have no doubt that you will carry out your responsibilities with efficiency. The most important issue, as you, Taoiseach, and every other speaker emphasised, is the draft Constitution. We all wish the IGC could have concluded in December. That it did not reflects badly on those who blocked the conclusion, and I include not only Poland and Spain in that criticism. The most important objective is to ensure that there is momentum on this issue. Europe needs this constitution, which would make the Union more democratic, more socially engaged and more comprehensible to its citizens and would enable us to play a more positive role on the world stage. But be warned, Parliament will not accept any old outcome. The constitution produced by the Convention must remain largely intact. The values, the objectives and the rights of citizens must not be diluted. Nor must the budgetary powers of this Parliament be diluted in any way. Another key issue is the Lisbon process. Europe must advance with social progress hand in hand with economic progress. There is no time to go into detail on that issue, but it will be an example of a serious commitment by the Irish Government if it were to drop its opposition to the Temporary Agency Workers Directive, which will help to develop a flexible and adaptable workforce if we address this issue in the correct way. It affects millions of workers right across the European Union. Finally, I urge you to take up the issue of debt cancellation for developing countries. Servicing debt costs the poorest countries more than they receive in development aid. A human development approach to debt sustainability with highly indebted countries would mean that the first call on poor countries' government resources would be expenditures needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals. For the poorest countries, this will require 100% cancellation of their debts. I know the Irish Government is committed to that issue as a government adopting the Irish approach, but I would ask you to put that onto the agenda for the other Member States in Europe and seek to ensure progress is made on it during your six months in office. There are many other issues I would like to raise, including the Guantanamo prisoners and the appalling suffering of the Palestinian people, but time does not permit me to do so.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, quality assurance in food production poses major challenges to all those involved in the production chain. One of the tasks is to utilise those resources which safeguard transparency and traceability for all market participants, and, of course, for consumers. Seed production is a broad-based business; marketing is regulated in the various countries by official supervisory authorities, and the factors such as varietal purity and certification of origin are confirmed. This report is intended to close the gaps. To this end, financial support in the sum of EUR 1 million is available, but as I have already said, this is a broad-based business. The provision of EUR 1 million illustrates, to my mind, how long it will take to be able to carry out comparative tests in this area. Labelling has always been required for the genetically modified varieties, and it is a matter for the countries themselves to deal with the thresholds. The problem of multiplication of sowing seed on individual farms, which is addressed here, will and should be regulated flexibly through special replicate licences, a solution which I can only endorse. Here, there have been – and continue to be – substantial gaps. The EU should deal comprehensively with the entire complex issue of GMOs within the framework of the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Action Plan, also as regards seed. I wish to call, at this point, for competition law and competitive freedom of choice to be maintained, not restricted, in agricultural production. This report does not do so, but I would like to highlight this issue once again.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, this week we awarded the annual Sakharov Prize to three very worthy recipients who fight for peace and tolerance in an environment which is anything but peaceful and tolerant. The awarding of the Sakharov Prize is not only a grand ceremony but also an important demonstration, with echoes around the world. Hopefully, it also gives further courage to brave people coping with oppression and slavery. The prize is an expression of the basic values characterising EU foreign policy: respect for democracy and human rights throughout the world. Those who were awarded the prize last year live under difficult circumstances, but they live in peace. That is not so in the cases of two former recipients of the prize: Aung San Suu Kyi, who received the prize in 1990, and Leyla Zana, who received it in 1995. These two courageous women, both parliamentarians, have been kept locked up by their respective governments year after year, despite international pressure. Aung San Suu Kyi has been kept in solitary confinement and under house arrest for an unimaginably long time. It is eleven years since she was elected as her people’s legitimate leader. We have seen some softening of attitudes on the part of the Burmese regime. A small number of political prisoners have been released recently. That is not enough, however. Together with the other political prisoners in the country, Aung San Suu Kyi must be released immediately. Leyla Zana is held prisoner by a country that is applying for membership of the EU. I hope that Turkey will be able to play its part in this House one day. However, radical and genuine improvements are required in terms of human rights before we can even begin negotiating about membership. Leyla Zana and all the other political prisoners in Turkey must also be released. In this House, there is firm cross-party resolve to keep on reminding the world, including Burma and Turkey, of the fate of these two women and of the struggle for human rights, democracy and freedom of expression that they represent. I hope that the Commission can also talk about what it intends to do to ensure that next year is a year in which we help secure the release of these two women.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, have you received any news from the Turkish Government regarding Leila Zana?

Political group: Verts-ALE
The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy has drawn up a fine resolution on sustainable development. Everyone is in favour, yet when it comes to specific initiatives, the support base dwindles very quickly. The Aznar government currently wants an annual European subsidy of EUR 1 billion for its Plan Hidrológico Nacional, a ludicrous plan, which flies in the face of sustainable development, to transport water across one thousand kilometres instead of saving water and desalinating sea water. The Commission is tempted to give this 1 billion. This is unacceptable. That is why I urge all fellow MEPs to support Amendment No 10, including the reference to Spain. Allow me to conclude my speech with the following words in Spanish: El plano estupido del Gobierno Aznar no pasará.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, this legislation has often been referred to as the lawnmowers directive. The fact that MEPs are spending their time discussing lawnmowers will no doubt confirm the impression which too many of our constituents have about the value of our work. If so, they should think again. The blue smoke from generators, lawnmowers, pumps and so on tells its own story. The cumulative effect contributes significantly to air pollution. So, in contrast to the last debate where I argued strongly that we should emphasise the principle of subsidiarity, this is a matter which is clearly trans-boundary and for both environmental and single market reasons should be dealt with by this Parliament. On the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy we all get used to industry representatives coming up to us and saying ‘don't do that, the time-scale is too short, the technology is not available’. So it has been a pleasure while this directive was passing through Parliament to be lobbied by one company – Honda, to which Mr Goodwill referred – which believes that the standards being proposed by the Commission do not go far enough. I realise it has its own reasons for this position. It has made the investment. It can meet the standards and it wants a competitive advantage over those who have not done the same. But is that not what we want overall? Is it not a good thing for manufacturers to be competing on the basis of setting the highest possible environmental standards? I am sorry the committee has not accepted some of the amendments I tabled at an earlier stage. I am sorry also that too many companies in my own country have failed to look to the future and want to continue producing dirty, polluting equipment instead of investing in the future and setting the highest standards so that they can compete properly across the world. Here in Europe we should be aiming to set these higher standards subject to the available technology. I agree with what Mr Goodwill said about chainsaws and the difficulty of reaching those standards insofar as that piece of equipment is concerned. But I also want to resist, as Mr Lange said, the Commission's proposals for averaging and banking. So far as I am concerned it allows manufacturers to continue to produce engines which do not meet the highest air quality standards and perhaps to even put new ones on the market. After all, we are not saying that the changes have to be made now. A transition period is built into the proposal to give time for re-equipment. Amendment No 18 suggests that some financial support and incentives might be given to manufacturers. I look forward to hearing the sound of my neighbour mowing her grass – and indeed my grass too, I hope – knowing that the air will be free from pollution and that the birds will not cough and splutter in the trees around my home.

Political group: ELDR
As today's debate has amply illustrated, the machinery for producing undemocratic, repressive legislation has gone into overdrive in the European Union. The objective of the Spanish Government's initiatives (voted without debate under the new Rules of Procedure) is to strengthen and accelerate the decisions on collecting and exchanging information which have already been taken and to stifle the Member States with strict supervision to ensure they transpose the European terrorism law and the European arrest warrant into their legislation quickly and faithfully. Their fear appears to be that, with pressure from democratic grass-roots movements already voicing their opinion in numerous countries, the Member States may not fall into line with this dire legislation. As part of improved coordination, Member States are obliged, contrary to all notions of national sovereignty, to collate a minimum number of facts on so-called terrorist-related crimes and pass them on to Europol and Eurojust. Just what is meant by coordination and uniform police and judicial cooperation is perfectly clear from the confidential Europol document leaked recently which, under the telling title ‘European Best Practices on Handling Information Sources’, sanctions the use of grasses and sting operations by agents acting for the police who will go unpunished even if they help commit the crime! That is why the MEPs of the Communist Party of Greece voted against the texts in question.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, I would first of all like to thank both rapporteurs. Long before the IGC was launched, the Dutch social democratic delegation had already taken an active interest in the IGC. We have held large public debates in the Netherlands and have done a great deal of groundwork. After all, the IGC should prepare the Union for enlargement, and this enlargement will require the current Member States to make sacrifices. These sacrifices, however, are small, given the historic opportunity of unifying the East and the West in a secure Europe characterised by peace. In addition, it should, of course, bring Europe closer to its citizens, because the distance between Brussels and our citizens is still far too great. The IGC should therefore make up the democratic shortfall. For this purpose, it is essential to extend majority decision-making to all legislation, except for constitutional matters, and have codecision power for Parliament, as well as the well-known double formula in the Council decision-making process. Simply reducing a democratic deficit is not sufficient to improve contact with the citizen. This is why we have specifically committed ourselves to a better and institutionalised social dialogue with non-governmental organisations, since they look after many of the citizens’ interests. This is provided for in Amendment No 162. Another subject which is close to our hearts is that of making closer cooperation more flexible. It is clear that the de facto veto, currently inherent in this procedure, must go. Once enlargement has taken place, closer cooperation could do a great service to a Union containing a still greater diversity of Member States within its borders. In our opinion, the report does not go far enough regarding another point, namely that relating to individual responsibility which must be granted by Commissioners. We firmly believe that it must be possible for Parliament to issue a strong warning to a Commissioner who loses the confidence of Parliament. In our opinion, such a procedure does more justice to a democratic balance between the institutions than the Prodi procedure, but unfortunately, the majority of MEPs considered this step a bridge too far. Madam President, with regard to our Euro-Commissioner, we would ideally like to have one Commissioner per country. We would accept a rota system for all states at a pinch, because we support the compromise made by the group. We think that, ultimately, our compromise has struck a sound balance between small and large Member States. We hope that this will receive support from this Parliament.

Political group: PSE
Commissioner, a moment ago, you listed a number of projects which will be followed up, for example the high-speed link from Paris-Vienna-Budapest eastwards, and making the Danube navigable. I wonder whether the latter actually falls within the scope of such a thing as establishing trans-European networks. I can understand why its repair would come under its scope, in a manner of speaking, for there is already a link there at the moment. That was my first question. Secondly, it has become increasingly clear to me that with regard to links within the candidate countries, requests are mainly made for north-south links, and not only for east-west links from Europe and beyond. My question is therefore whether there are currently any plans to set up more north-south links in the present candidate countries?

Political group: Verts-ALE
Madam President, I refer to the speech by Mr Manuel Medina Ortega during the last part-session, and would ask you to consider the following request. Since Mr Medina Ortega's speech concerning the application for the removal of the immunity of Mr Berlusconi and Mr Dell'Utri, a number of reports have appeared in the press, and rumours are rife in this House. As the Group of the , we believe that it would be helpful if you, Madam President, put an end to these rumours by granting the request which I wish to put to you – although I realise that you are under no obligation to do so – namely to permit me to address three brief and very precise questions on this issue to you. The Members of this House trust that your answers will clarify the matter. Madam President, I believe that this would serve the interests of the House itself and also the performance of your office. I would therefore be most grateful if you would perhaps grant my request – and, I repeat, you are not obliged to do so – in view of the political sensitivity of this matter.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, I feel that this evening's debate is not only almost a birthday present – it really is one, of a sort. When we started discussing this in 1999 – the business between Austria and Germany is sufficiently well known – I had just been elected to Parliament, and today, three hours before my birthday, we are going a bit further. So I am very grateful that this debate is being held today of all days. I also thank Lord Inglewood, who, in one sentence, conceded that we are right. He said that he respects the decisions of other Member States and I thank him for that. England and continental Europe differ in many respects, and it is these very differences that matter in our united Europe. This debate also made evident and re-emphasised our respect for each other. For that I especially thank Lord Inglewood. My most especial thanks are due, of course, to Mr Rothley, and to all those who worked with him on this report. The Commission, which has repeatedly argued that this EU of ours is above all an economic and monetary union, has changed a very great deal in the last twenty years. A very great deal of interest in cultural aspects has been noticeable in the individual debates, albeit not enough in my view, but we have travelled a long way anyway. Together with Parliament, the Commission made a wise decision in early 2000, and if, by that wise decision, the Commission said ‘A’, then it is for the Commission to take the next step and say ‘B’. Now, in a world that has gone digital, we have different demands from twenty years ago. It is not only on behalf of my group, but also of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport that I can express overall support for Mr Rothley's proposal. Our current solutions to the fixing of book prices are not meant to represent an attempt at harmonising the European Union, but to give written expression to our mutual respect, and we have to get to grips with the digital requirements with which a new world presents us. Many thanks for listening. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, regarding Mrs Lynne's comments yesterday about health and safety in this building, I presume she was talking about the drains because there is a dreadful smell of drains on the fifth floor in the Tower. This needs to be looked into because it is clearly an indication that something is seriously wrong. I do not want to drag up the issue of this building endlessly, but this is a serious problem.

Political group: Verts-ALE