GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, I too have to pour some cold water on the matter, since as I see it the Swedish presidency failed in two ways, because it did not manage to settle the dispute between two Member States over Gibraltar and thus free up the logjam in European air transport policy. The public finds it incomprehensible that although important legislative projects like the one on increased compensation arrangements for overbooking in passenger air transport was negotiated in Council, they have not been adopted. It is just as incomprehensible that important legislative initiatives like the creation of a single European sky are already blocked within the Commission. Mr President-in-Office, this would have been a good example of an area where the Council could have done something, because everyone knows that disputes like the one over Gibraltar cannot be settled at ministerial level, between transport ministers. It is a job for the top man, but in this case the top men have failed on two counts. I do hope at least that the minutes of the Göteborg Summit are factually correct. I say that because the Göteborg minutes say that the Council hopes that this dispute over Gibraltar can be settled over the next few weeks. So we are keen to see if a result will be forthcoming at least two weeks after the Swedish presidency. Commissioner, I also have a request for the Commission, an urgent appeal in fact. The Commission absolutely must adopt the legislative initiative on the creation of a single European sky before the summer break and forward it to the Council and Parliament. You know as well as we do that the many delays, the incidences of planes circling above the ground, are not just annoying for the public, because of delays in reaching their holiday destinations, and because of business appointments that cannot be kept. It is also expensive. You know just as well as we do that the ridiculous combustion of air fuel in the sky is environmentally unacceptable. That is why we need a sensible European system to bring an end to these delays. We look forward to seeing your proposal on this before the summer is out.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I hardly dared to think that I would get such a long and comprehensive answer to what was in fact a three-line question. It was really a trap for the Minister because naturally I am interested in what is happening throughout Europe, but I am particularly interested in what is happening within my own constituency, where there is considerable concern that the Irish government is in fact not fulfilling previous promises to various groups that have put considerable effort into devising programmes and projects under this heading. I refer particularly to Dun Laoghaire, Rathdown, which in many cases is recognised as being an affluent area but does, of course, have serious pockets of disadvantage, which local organisations have made a significant effort to address. I am very glad to hear that the Irish Government and presidency are as committed as the Minister has said. Minister, what are you going to do closer to home to ensure that many of these projects that are extremely well thought-out are actually going to survive?

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the events in Bali have underlined that there is a need for a multilateral approach to the fight against terrorism. We now know, of course, that terrorists can strike anywhere in the world, and it has proved true that we must work together across borders and across the Atlantic to stamp out terrorism. We acted rapidly in Europe following 11 September: we can congratulate ourselves on this. We want to live in an area of security, freedom and justice, and the fight against international terrorism is the most important challenge on the foreign and security policy scene. Anyone who has been following the European debate on relations with the USA in recent months will have started to have misgivings about the imbalance and one-sidedness it has shown. We share a strong set of values with the USA. Immediately after the terrorist attacks in September of last year, I am sure many of us saw these as an attack on ourselves and our values. The USA and Europe are united by the fundamental values and principles of democracy and freedom and justice, of human rights and the right of individuals to achieve their potential. We must stand firm on this. Despite our differences of opinion, that which unites us is much stronger than that which divides us. We must exert our influence on the USA within the framework of a multilateral approach to the fight against international terrorism, something which knows no justice.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, I would thank the rapporteur for the proposal, with which I completely agree. I am also grateful for the constructive cooperation between the Groups, in which we have reached compromises I find to be responsible, apposite and to the point. We therefore support these in our Group. Why are we concerning ourselves with this issue? To put it very briefly, it is a question of limiting man-made carbon dioxide emissions. We know that, as Asia obtains a higher standard of living, 1.4 billion Chinese and 1 billion Indians will begin to use more and more energy, and this means that, when they begin to demand ordinary basic comforts such as warm water and perhaps air conditioning, means of transport and modern industry, their consumption of energy will rise dramatically from its present figure of 10% of the EU’s average energy consumption. In Rio, we undertook to protect the climate. The present document completely fulfils this purpose. We note that, of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, 30% come from electricity generation and 35% of all energy used in the EU is obtained from electricity. In the EU, strip lights account for 53% of electricity used for lighting and, if we succeed in implementing what we have planned, we shall, by the year 2020, be preventing six million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. We shall conserve 10% of the electricity consumed by strip lighting and, converted into cash, this will be a saving of EUR 250 million per year. The present proposal will therefore have quite a significant impact on the climate and on the economy and, by implementing it as suggested, we shall be giving our industry a long time in which to make the changeover. Mr Turmes was in favour of this, and I would remind you that industry has, in any case, known since 1992 that, by approximately the year 2009, magnetic ballasts would be more or less prohibited. There is therefore nothing new in what we are doing. In the compromise we have prepared, we have been united on the issue of increasing energy efficiency. We wished to protect the climate. We wished to achieve economic advantages, and we wished to be sure that, in phasing out certain uses of energy, we did not unnecessarily burden ordinary consumers in ordinary homes with making investments on which there can be no return. At the same time, we have ensured that we in the northern part of the Union – in northern Finland, northern Sweden, northern Norway, Greenland and other places – where electronic ballasts are no use, may continue to use magnetic ballasts. This is, all in all, a splendid proposal, and I recommend that we all give it our backing and support in the form in which it was agreed in the Groups.

Political group: PPE-DE
I support the accession of the ten candidate countries today, in spite of the fact that some of them do not yet fully meet all the criteria. Careful external control will have to be exercised on all these points. This strict control must remain because we have a mutual interest in it. I have to say in this regard that it would have been better if a European referendum had been laid down at the start of the process. But it is too late for that now – you cannot move the goalposts during the game. I also very much regret that countries such as Poland – without proper European consultation – are taking part in the war in Iraq. But I regret it too in the case of the United Kingdom. I am in favour of a common European foreign policy. That is the only way to ensure that Europe does not become a permanent victim of the crisis in Iraq. We also lack a democratic and powerful government for Europe. Our bodywork is unfortunately not yet 2004-proof. That is the great challenge for the European Convention in 2004. My final important point is the reform of agricultural policy. The present policy of product subsidies is outdated. Yet I vote for enlargement today because citizens in candidate countries cannot fall victim to our negligence.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, it is terrible and disappointing for mankind that every now and again we hear these cries of pain from Africa begging for food and water, in the 21st century. Why do we still allow this to happen? Do we not have a conscience? Every day the European Union provides less funding, less aid, in global terms, to the poor countries of Africa. So how can we be surprised at this situation? How can it be that we have warehouses full of surplus food which we are obliged to destroy when it rots away pointlessly or when it does not meet the conditions for consumption which we demand? There are reasons to justify this, but none of them justifies the death of a single person from starvation. It is not true that we show solidarity. No. All we do is try to put the fire out with occasional aid, without a clear or decisive policy for prevention although we know perfectly well that famine in Africa, and in the third world in general, happens periodically. I hope that these thousands of tonnes of food aid provided do not silence the media and that they continue to report on the tragedy in Africa. I am not saying anything new. It has been said a million times and it will be said again, but today I am speaking from the heart and I feel Africa’s pain as if it were my own. When will we have a Marshall Plan for Africa? To this end, I propose that there be set up a prestigious and independent committee of international experts to assess the situation together with the international organisations and to implement a series of urgent proposals and initiatives for food and health aid, acting immediately, planning for the future and putting all our humanitarian weaponry into the hands of the non-governmental organisations.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, in the course of the last few months I have had the privilege, on a number of occasions, to declare to this Parliament that the Group of the strongly supports the accession of 10 new Member States to the EU on 1 May 2004. Over the past few weeks our group has actively supported all the preparatory work to enable the European Parliament to give its assent to the accession treaties with all of the ten future Member States. We sincerely want the official signature of the Accession Treaty to take place on 16 April in Athens. On every occasion I have emphasised the importance of this enlargement process for the further development of the EU and its contribution to the strengthening of democratic structures. It may, therefore, come as something of a surprise to people that today I have to declare that a delay in the final stages of the enlargement process cannot be completely excluded. This is not because we do not want these countries to enter, it is not because we are dissatisfied with the negotiations, and it is most certainly not because we have found some bureaucratic institutional or technical arguments to reconsider our previous commitments to the enlargement process. The European Parliament's rights of decision on the budget, including the long-term financial perspectives, are among its most fundamental rights. A limitation of those rights by a sole decision of the European Council must be regarded as a serious attempt to limit the democratic foundations and the democratic functioning of the European Union. The Council's decision to include, as part of the treaties – for the first time ever – the negotiation results in the final aspects of accession must be considered as a serious limitation of Parliament's budget rights. Our colleagues in the future Member States must be aware that this attempt to limit one of Parliament's most fundamental rights is unacceptable, particularly at the moment when the European Convention is considering a further democratisation of European institutions. We consider it as a joint objective. For those who are already Members, as well as for those who soon will become Members, Parliament's rights will be strengthened as a result of the enlargement process and not weakened. Not only do we care about Parliament having those rights, but we believe Parliament should be able to use those rights. That is why we believe that the financial framework resulting from the negotiations must be considered as a minimum amount, not a maximum amount. Our group does not want to block enlargement. We do not want to delay enlargement. We have a joint objective to make a success of this process. Strengthening, not weakening the European Parliament's rights must be part of that success. We are convinced that the future MEPs from the new Member States will support our demands. I am sure that the Council will find a solution to this unnecessary conflict, but it must fully respect Parliament's budget rights so that we can ensure that the final stage in the enlargement process will proceed without any delays.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, it is now 14 years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on 20 November 1989. Unfortunately, our economies still operate in a way that fails to take account of children’s needs. Child labour still takes place, in Portugal too, where it is estimated that over 4% of children work in various sectors, due to the precarious economic situation of many families. We welcome the important initiatives condemning such practices and protecting children’s rights, specifically the global fight against child labour. I would therefore urge everyone, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, to demonstrate greater commitment to ensuring that a child’s smile signifies hope for a fairer world, in which child labour does not exist.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I have lost count of the number of times we have discussed the problem of Balkan reconstruction in this Parliament. We have spoken about Bosnia and have endlessly discussed the same problems of decentralisation. I believe that the Balkans will not be reconstructed unless the European spirit of co-responsibility becomes the dominant spirit of politics there. I think that the European Union can offer the spirit of European construction to the reconstruction of the Balkans and that will be the determining factor. Nothing we say about Thessaloniki, Pristina or Sarajevo will have the same meaning, because today – and this is where the danger lies – in the method of reconstruction with the UN on one side, the European Union on another and the OSCE on yet another, we are creating institutions of dependence where the reconstruction of the Balkans depends on our will but the self-determination of the Balkan peoples in terms of managing themselves is not achieved. The danger is that we plan and construct on behalf of others, but do not create the conditions necessary for the peoples and countries of the Balkans to take control of their own destiny. It is for this reason that here, in this Parliament, we have already proposed, for example, a foundation for democracy which, starting with the Bosnian problems, should be extended to the whole of the Balkans. This foundation would finance all the initiatives and contribute to the reconstruction of democratic structures in the Balkans, because, at the end of the day, the capacity for self-determination depends on the society's capacity to organise itself democratically. This is where the great problem lies in those countries with authoritarian structures where democracy is not readily available. Not until democracy is readily available will the reconstruction of the Balkans be possible. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, this is the first of three documents on European Union initiatives in the field of the movement of money, insurance undertakings and banks. In particular, this first report lays down more stringent rules for the supervision of the activities of banks and insurance undertakings. As representative of the Pensioners’ Party, I support this document because it is important that those who invest and deposit their money in banks and insurance undertakings have guarantees that their money will be well spent and will yield that fruit which is so important for many citizens, including the less well-off, which category, of course, includes pensioners. I was therefore very pleased to vote for the motion.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, this part of the sitting is usually dedicated to recounting the litany of horrors perpetrated in the world: massacres, breaches of human rights, torture and the violation, in general, of the most basic principles of civilised life. Today I would like to sound a contrary note and welcome something that has happened recently in Mozambique. A journalist, Carlos Cardoso, was murdered there for having blown the whistle on a corrupt group of individuals close to power. It was thought that the legal system would not be able to bring his murderers to justice. The legal system did work, however, and his murderers were convicted, with stiff sentences. This means that Mozambique, where until recently a war devastated an entire country and threw an entire people into poverty, now has democracy and the rule of law. Consequently the Mozambican authorities and legal system must be supported and encouraged. Now, Mr President, I wish to mention something that has happened here. I am reminded of what Fernando Savater, to whom we awarded a prize, said, recalling Chateaubriand: ‘I know of no one more cowardly, more servile and more contemptible than a terrorist’, and I would add ‘or those who protect terrorists’.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, our rapporteur Mr Gahrton is without doubt one of the most knowledgeable people in Europe about the situation in the South Caucasus. There is no need to remind you that it is thanks to his initiative that the European Union now has a representative in the region. The one and a half minutes allotted to me allow me just a few very quick thoughts. There is one aspect of the region which, no doubt for diplomatic reasons, does not seem to me to be explicit enough in the report, namely the strong American presence. Will that presence have a destabilising influence, as it has in other parts of the world? As you know, in November 2003 there was a kind of revolution or coup d'état in Georgia. I happened to be there at the time as a member of this Parliament’s delegation. The events are known as the ‘rose revolution’ because there was no bloodshed. Well, I can tell you the rose revolution did not smell of roses. It smelt of oil and if it did not smell of dollars, that was because we have known since ancient times that money has no smell. There is further diplomatic silence about the dissident regions of Georgia, such as Adzharia. Finally, there is one point on which, as a supporter of Catalan independence, I want to distance myself from this report. It is the question of separatism. There will be no peace in the world, in my view, unless we respect the wishes of peoples. The right of peoples to self-determination is fundamental. The international community has a duty to allow the democratic exercise of that right in the South Caucasus as in Western Sahara. This applies to the Adzharians, the Abkhazians, the Ossetians and to the Azeris of Nagorno-Karabakh. On the subject of Nagorno-Karabakh, Mr Gahrton says that he explained to its president that the solution might be based on a principle of broad autonomy, as was the case of the Åland islands under Finnish sovereignty. The president replied that he would accept Finnish sovereignty. Why not take him at his word? Finland could be offered a kind of international mandate with the task of ensuring basic rights are respected and organising a referendum so that ultimately the peoples of the region can shape their own destiny, in complete freedom.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Am I to understand that you either will not, or are unable to, tell us what the timetable is for later this evening?

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, it is, of course, essential to develop a European research area, but this must not operate simply in areas neglected by the Member States. It must be built openly, sharing competences and resources at as early a stage as possible, in order to ensure optimum synergy. I wish to thank Mrs Plooij-Van Gorsel for her very dynamic work on this report. We must naturally consider the economic impact and job creation, as our fellow Member, Mr Desama, said. In the Group of the , we do not give priority to the pursuit of competition and competitiveness at any price, or to the commercialisation of research. Both fundamental and applied research must, above all, retain public support and a public dimension. We are opposed to the areas of biotechnology focused on genetic manipulation or patenting the living organism. On the other hand, we are in favour of research focusing on sustainable technologies, particularly in the areas of the environment and health. As the Committee of the Regions advocated in Mrs Blandin’s report, we wish to emphasise support for decentralised research, the formation of networks, collaboration with the regions. For example, the cooperation which has developed through the ecosites, in the field of ecotechnologies, according to the criteria of sustainable development, is appropriate to local development and to supporting SMBs and SMIs. Europe may be a significant driving force in this field. I should also like to stress the aid which we wish to provide for new information and communications technologies by developing virtual laboratories for data collection, analysis and diagnosis, and prevention in the area of major risks. There is here a potential which can only be realised fully at European level, in collaboration with universities, centres of excellence and the authorities. Finally, I should like to flag the interest we have in the Joint Research Centre, a subject that is well worth thinking carefully about. Its nuclear bias, which was topical when it was set up because of the involvement of Euratom, must now be reconsidered. It is not a matter of duplicating the installations or the research carried out in some European Union Member States but instead of developing, as Mrs McNally suggests, a shared system of technical and scientific references for political applications. In this respect, there is also a need for serious thinking about the STOA. In conclusion, I wish to thank our Commissioner, Mr Philippe Busquin, for undertaking, as soon as he arrived, this investigation into a European research area which we support. He did not neglect the areas of schemes on behalf of young people and the participation of women in research and, in continuing liaison with the Member States and with Parliament, he is working towards developing a knowledge-based Europe in the latest fields, without neglecting social and human aspects.

Political group: Verts-ALE