GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, I have to say that the answer by the President-in-Office of the Council shows signs of there being considerable elasticity of interpretation but, as we say in Denmark, it requires a very firm character to sell elastic by the metre. It can be stretched in all directions, and I do not think that the President-in-Office is tackling the fundamental issue of whether we have an American strategy that urges other countries to enter into bilateral agreements whereby such countries undertake not to hand over American citizens. This is in line with the fact that the United States has persistently and continually refused to ratify the International Criminal Court Treaty. It strikes me as self-evident that the Council has a credibility problem when, on the one hand, it states that it fully supports the setting up of the International Criminal Court and regards its establishment as a building block of international legal cooperation and, on the other hand, turns a blind eye to, and accepts, America’s blackmailing of third countries. The President-in-Office said that a solution had been found to the blackmailing of Romania. The only practical questions I want to put are the following: what is the gist of this solution, and is it a solution that the Council finds acceptable? If the answer to the latter question is yes, there is still a credibility problem.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, when it comes to harmonisation measures, we have a choice between promoting the interests of the tobacco industry or standing up for public health. We would have no hesitation in choosing the latter. In other words, we would make it our business to reduce the maximum yields of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide, then we would go for decisive and striking warnings, and ban misleading wording. We would also opt for efficient measures to deal with certain technical issues. Despite this clear course of action, we must also be conscious of the fact that we are the Parliament of a Union that sets great store by the principles of the constitutional State, which means that we must recognise the limitations of our authority, i.e. we must know what the limits are to the authority we derive from Article 95, the legal basis we are invoking for the new tobacco directive. Assuming I have read the judgment that annuls the advertising directive correctly, we must verify whether there is a European market for tobacco products. Then we must verify whether there are obstacles to the internal market, or whether they could arise, realistically speaking. Thirdly, we must check whether the stipulations we approve will really help to improve the functioning of the internal market and whether they are commensurate with the goal to be achieved. Fourthly, we must see whether the choices we face in terms of content will contribute to a high standard of public health protection, because that is another of our duties pursuant to Article 95. Overall, I do not see any problem with this directive. So I am extremely content with the answer I received in advance from the Commissioner, to a question which has also been raised in our group, as to how we should deal with the proposal to immediately incorporate an export ban on products we do not want to use ourselves, into this directive. If this can be settled in a legally conclusive manner by adding a reference to the legal basis of Article 133 of the Treaty then I feel we should all support this solution, and I would also hope that by so doing, we will not encounter annulment rights at a later stage. In any case, the fact is that if it should transpire now, or further down the line, that we are not going to be able to secure the export ban, then we must do everything in our power to see that this is done subsequently. Because for ethical reasons, nobody in Europe can accept that products we do not consider good enough for ourselves, and that we do not want to allow Europeans to use, can, without further ado, be exported to Africa, for example. There must be no question of something like that happening. So the ban must be imposed at some point. Let us hope we can do it now. Mr President, to finish I just have this to say. Mrs Martens was the spokesperson for the Group. There are serious reasons as to why she will arrive a little later here today. She is hoping she will still be in time to round off the list of speakers from the Group. If not, I have also spoken on her behalf.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the British Labour Members voted against the Cunha report. Our objective is a fundamental reform involving withdrawal of financial support for tobacco production. The proposal to extend the present financial provision is unacceptable. So too was the amendment in the report which would reduce the Commission proposals for higher premia for the Community Tobacco Fund. However, the economic and social importance of tobacco in certain regions must be taken into account. The Commission must bring forward measures to develop alternative sources of income with a greater degree of urgency than it is currently showing. Recognising this as the priority we voted for Amendment No 21.

Political group: PSE
The Moderate delegation to the European Parliament considers it incredibly important that a parliamentary report be written each year on the ways in which the EU Member States are complying with human rights. Human rights are the most important foundation stone of European cooperation. It is self-evident that we should make just as tough demands upon our own countries as upon the candidate countries and other non-EU countries. It is, however, unfortunate that the report does not simply focus upon fundamental rights but also expresses certain political aspirations. Irrespective of whether or not one shares these political visions, this method is in danger of devaluing the importance of fundamental rights. That is why we cannot vote for the report in its entirety. We are also voting against item 43, because it is wrongly worded. Naturally, the principle that it should not be possible to convict someone twice for the same crime is fundamental. That does not, however, mean that imprisonment and deportation should be excluded as punishments for serious crimes. We are also opposed to the EU’s interfering in issues concerning forms of family relationship, because we believe that, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, family policy is a matter for the individual nations.

Political group: PPE-DE
I voted for the joint resolution although there has not yet been ratification of the Nice Treaty in Ireland. Until or unless another referendum is passed, this remains the legal position.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner Patten wonders why Africa’s fateful history keeps repeating itself – with good reason. Millions of people are again threatened with starvation. This is not just caused by extreme drought. The blame lies mainly with the unusually irresponsible leaders who prioritise the fight for a dry piece of land over the suffering of their own people. Surely it is absolutely appalling that the governments of poverty-stricken countries such as Ethiopia and Eritrea buy arms on a massive scale instead of building up sufficient food reserves. The blinkered Ethiopian government, in particular, contributes through its obstinacy to the suffering of its own people. How else can you explain the fact that Ethiopia rejected the offer to use the ports of Massawa and Assab? As a result, aid is now unable to reach a large part of its own population. The Organisation of African Unity and the European Union must exert maximum pressure on the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to settle their dispute in Algiers, and aid workers must gain safe access to the population without delay. An Ethiopian Minister has said that the international community does not spring into action until the skeletons appear on television. He failed to mention that these macabre images are not only due to a lack of rain but mainly to a lack of proper leadership. I am pleased that Commissioner Patten has addressed the criticism to the effect that European aid is inadequate. Despite this, I would like to ask him what lessons he has learnt from how Europe responded this time round. It is difficult not to despair in the face of the misery in the Horn of Africa. We should nonetheless not lose hope. Nature can only destroy where people fail. After all, war and mismanagement are down to people. Africa’s fateful history does not have to repeat itself, provided that people’s lives take priority over the feuds among its shameless leaders.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, Commissioner Patten is right when he says that the situation, while still very complex and difficult, has developed over recent days towards a more articulate context, in which the process has matured noticeably and public opinion has moved on, especially United States public opinion. President Bush has said that the vote for a resolution in Congress does not mean that military action is imminent or inevitable, and British Foreign Minister Straw, at the Security Council negotiations, has said that 'we prefer one resolution but we have never ruled out, and nor do we rule out, there being two'. Also important is the statement by Mr Blix and Mr El Baradei, who lead the United Nations inspection teams, pointing out that the provisions accepted by the Iraqis last week in Vienna are, in their judgment, sufficient for them to work effectively on the inspection tasks. I believe that in this critical situation, the fundamental issues have been raised recently by an American citizen who is no ordinary American citizen: he won the recent presidential elections in terms of votes; I am referring to Mr Al Gore, who has pointed out something obvious: that the essential and urgent issue at the moment is the fight against terrorism and in particular against those who carried out the attacks of 11 September. In this regard, Gore criticised President Bush for having squandered – to quote literally – the extraordinary response of sympathy, good will and solidarity which followed the attacks of 11 September which – he said – has been replaced by an atmosphere of fear and reticence towards the United States administration. I believe that in this situation, which is developing in a relatively favourable manner, energetic and mature criteria must be applied in carrying out the war against terror, and this essentially requires that Europe apply two priorities: rapid convergence within the United Nations and its Security Council and, secondly, making every effort so that the future task of the inspectors may end in success.

Political group: PSE
Could I thank Commissioner Patten for coming here at short notice to respond to our wish to debate this very critical issue and as others have said, the television pictures that we have seen of the stricken Limpopo valley in Mozambique are absolutely heartbreaking. Children have lost parents, families are bereft, hopeless, helpless and they have lost absolutely everything. But of course, as others have said, this whole thing was predicted and predictable and the slow and very inadequate, woefully slow and woefully inadequate response is something that should dictate now that we actually do invest seriously in disaster preparedness. There is a case as the Commissioner mentioned for the implementation of a rapid response facility and rapid response force in situations like this to deal with crises such as we have there because we simply did not have the strategies or the logistical preparations in place. This morning there were seven helicopters and of course those helicopters are only working in the Gaza region. The Save river has huge flooding problems as well but no one has even been there yet. 85% of the work is within an hour of Maputo so we really have no idea what the extent of the problem is. Also I would like to say Commissioner that European citizens want to know exactly what ECHO is doing. Most of us here would not wish to boast about EUR 3 million. We need far more and I hope that the Commissioner will come back with those promises and also with an initiative to coordinate some of the efforts there. Clearly also we need to see a massive airlift. As you say tons of food, water purification equipment, tents, blankets. Are we really prepared for the next relief and rehabilitation stage which you mention because that again will demand massive resources. Are we ready to pay for those resources? Mozambique is, of course, one of the poorest countries in the world, but one of Africa’s great success stories with its work on economic growth, on poverty reduction, on democracy in spite, of course, of massive debt pressures. Mozambique is a wonderful example but now likely to suffer enormous hardship as a result of what they have endured. How badly the disaster sets Mozambique back is what we should be looking at now and that depends on the sheer quality and quantity of international relief for that stricken country.

Political group: PSE
I would like to make a brief comment to the President-in-Office of the Council, whom I wish all the luck in the world. We need the Council to act more quickly. As a result of 1 January and the Prestige disaster, the Spanish State has applied certain more restrictive rules for single-hull ships. This has led to queues of single-hull ships entering Gibraltar in order to evade inspections. The United Kingdom must not remain on the sidelines, and there must be no free ports, which to some extent are pirate ports, which receive ships in a manner which is contrary to the actions of the European Union. For this reason, I would ask you to act more quickly and I would ask that nobody in the European Union should remain on the sidelines when these rules are so very necessary.

Political group: Verts-ALE
I support the draft European Constitution because, for all its faults, it is a useful instrument for enhancing effectiveness and democracy in the EU. Absent from the text, however, are certain measures which are fundamental to unifying the peoples of Europe. Those peoples are the foundations of the Community edifice. Amongst other things, this text does not recognise the specific needs of regions with legislative competence, or the right of those regions to participate in the decision-making process on issues which concern them. Neither does it allow them to bring proceedings before the Court of Justice, nor does it lay down a language system which includes all the official languages of each Member State. The Gil-Robles–Tsatsos report, however, makes no mention of any of the above questions. In doing so, it not only fails to send a message to the Intergovernmental Conference, but also demonstrates a complete lack of awareness of the aspirations of peoples such as the Catalans, who feel like part of Europe, who are Europe, and who demand the right to participate legitimately and democratically in the process of European integration. Although I would have preferred to vote against, therefore, I abstained from the vote, so that no one would think I opposed the draft Constitution.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we are not debating today whether gene technology has a right to exist in this world. Neither are we discussing whether it is right for there to be genetically modified food in the USA, Mexico, Canada or Europe. There already is. Had we not wanted this, we would have had to take action around twenty years ago and conclude a worldwide agreement. We did not do so. This means that we now have to ensure that we put a legal framework in place. What should the legal framework contain? It needs to state that there is research and that a product shall be completely safe and harmless according to current scientific knowledge. What we expect of any food colouring and any emulsifier in yoghurt is also what we expect of genetically modified food and seed, no more and no less. We have repeatedly said that it will take a package of measures to assemble a reasonable body of legislation in the European Union. The first part was Mr Bowe's report on the release directive several years ago. It was always, however, clear to us that this was not enough, that something more was needed in addition to the release of food, seed or plants. What is actually needed is for the processed plants to be labelled so that the people of the European Union have freedom of choice, which incidentally they also have in respect of any other foodstuff, for example with the fat content of milk or with other foods. They should be able to exercise their right to choose. No one has countered what has been said here by saying that genetically modified food is the work of the devil and no one is scaremongering. We simply say always that products have to be safe according to current scientific knowledge. We are trying to ensure that this is the case. And we are trying to ensure that food is comprehensively labelled. We have heard that a threshold is arbitrary and we know that this is the case. Whether it is 0.5% or 0.9% I really do not care. I would like us to have comprehensive legislation as quickly as possible and the reports by Mrs Scheele and Mr Trakatellis are valuable and necessary contributions to achieving this. Then we will also have the security in the European Union of being able to say to the Americans and all of the others: yes, you can produce and export to the European Union, but on our conditions and in accordance with our legislation! We owe this to the people of the European Union; that is our job as their elected representatives. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, the draft resolution we are about to approve by codecision takes account of a profound change in the VAT system for travel agents. The urgent need to approve this legislation results from profound changes in the travel industry over the last 30 years, and the innumerable exemptions and derogations currently applicable in a sector where profit margins are very slender. The principal changes relate to the possibility of companies deducting VAT when they deal with conferences or incentive tourism and on-line bookings, areas where European travel agents must be protected from competitors from outside the Community. I only hope that the unanimity achieved in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs can also be obtained in the Council. (Parliament adopted the text) *** Report (A5-0212/2003) by Joseph Daul, on behalf of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive amending Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products (COM(2003) 158 – C5-0157/2003 – 2003/0060(COD)) (Parliament adopted the text) *** Report (A5-0260/2003) by Theodorus J.J. Bouwman, on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation amending Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community to adapt the list of survey characteristics (COM(2003) 109 – C5-0105/2003 – 2003/0047(COD)) (Parliament adopted the text) *** Report (A5-0262/2003) by Piia-Noora Kauppi, on behalf of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs: 1.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, quite apart from whatever the Conference of Presidents may have determined, I would nonetheless like to insist that we should actually stick to the Rules of Procedure. You said that the authors come first. The authors are the two appointed by the committees. Then it says there that these reports are to be replaced by amendments from this or that person. That is the normal procedure with amendments. Both the authors are sitting here. Perhaps a mistake has been made! Perhaps the bureau, and in particular its officials, are flexible enough to concede such a mistake, so that we can try something really completely new and not let our lack of flexibility show how incapable we are of policy-making.

Political group: PPE-DE
Not even the prospect of a slowdown in the European and world economies, which has been confirmed by the spring macroeconomic forecast, is making the Commission change its recommendations for the broad economic guidelines for 2001. The remedy that it is proposing has remained unchanged over the years: a reduction in public spending, wage moderation and an acceleration of the structural reform process laid down in the Lisbon Strategy, specifically in terms of liberalising the labour market and making it more flexible. The Commission is not interested in anything apart from price stability and fulfilling the criteria of the Stability Pact. Even for Portugal, whose prospects indicate greater difficulties in reaching the European growth level and higher unemployment, especially amongst women and young people, a country in which workers are being punished by higher inflation and the concomitant loss of buying power, despite still having the lowest wages in the European Union, the remedy is the same: wage moderation, making it easier for employers to make redundancies, and working towards the objectives of the Stability Pact, with a greater reduction in public spending in the 2002 budget. The von Wogau report endorses the approach outlined by the Commission and highlights the unique proposal to call the “European internal market” the “euro zone” instead. The rapporteur endorses the blind quest for price stability at the expense of economic growth. He disregards the importance of public investment and calls for the “the potential for (public) spending cuts” to be “fully exploited”. He regrets the fact that the Stockholm summit did not make progress on liberalising the gas and electricity sectors and “stresses that liberalisation in the outstanding sectors is essential”. He “stresses the need to continue reform of labour markets” and expresses the need to reform pensions and health systems. Issues of employment are completely ignored. We therefore had no choice but to vote against this report.

Political group: GUE-NGL
The British Conservative Members decided to abstain in our vote on this report. This should not be construed at all that we are not opposed to discrimination. We are opposed to discrimination, we do believe in equality of treatment between men and women. We do not accept, however, that the imposition of legal quotas is the way to achieve equality of treatment. Quite the reverse. We think quotas of themselves institutionalise discrimination. We believe that women the world over and especially here in Europe are making a valuable and positive contribution to the democratic process. We are convinced that role will develop fully and effectively without ‘progressive’ or ‘artificial means’. On the issue of making contraceptives more widely available we voted against the amendment because we believe these are issues of personal morality and conscience and not an issue where the European Union should be making a political stand. For these reasons we voted against certain amendments and abstained on the final vote.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, two brief supplementary questions. First: did the Council contact President Maskhadov, who was democratically elected under the supervision of the OSCE, and other forces of democracy in Chechnya in a bid to find a peaceful solution? Secondly: has the Council obtained information from the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, who is well represented locally?

Political group: PPE-DE