GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are keen to emphasise the importance of this special report on the common fisheries policy, because it highlights the special situation of the Mediterranean fisheries. I should also like to congratulate the rapporteur for the excellent quality of his work. The Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea. It forms an ecosystem, an entity in its own right, rich in its environment and in its culture. The problems involving the Mediterranean must be solved in the context of multilateral relations and the MEDA programmes, for which I am the rapporteur and which are true instruments of the European Union, set up by the 1995 Barcelona Convention, making it possible to take action from the point of view of sustainable development. MEDA must also take into account the economic, technical and environmental problems relating to fisheries. I should like to emphasise several points which are raised in Mr Lisi’s report and which I believe to be of major importance. First of all, in order to gain a knowledge of the region, it is essential to carry out a survey of the environment, the treatment of waste water, the development of coastal belts and the development of fisheries resources. In order to do this, considerable investment will have to be agreed on rapidly, to enable scientific research programmes to be implemented concerning the state of fish stocks and the prospects for development as a function of pressure from fishing. Secondly, fishing techniques must be studied in order to decide which ones are most suitable, taking into account, in particular, the size of the fish, which are often smaller in the Mediterranean than elsewhere, and smaller fish do not necessarily mean juveniles. Thirdly, we must protect and promote small-scale fishing, by which I mean non-industrial fishing, which is often coastal fishing and which is an important source of jobs besides treating fisheries resources with greater care than industrial fishing does. Fourthly, fishing is an occupation with many motivated and competent people in responsible positions, people who are highly experienced and who are concerned with preserving the ethics of fishing, and who do not hesitate to share their extremely interesting local experiences so that lessons may be learned from them. Regional fisheries committees, which serve as centres of consultation, and which take into account the needs of the profession, should be encouraged. Finally, as regards the Mediterranean Sea itself and the coastal lagoons, as well as the wetlands around them, we must seek to ensure greater respect for the environment so that fishing can continue to develop, particularly in the lagoons, such as the Etang de Thau, whose Category A status it is absolutely essential to preserve. Only in this way is it possible to allow the continuation of extensive fishing, constantly taking into account health criteria which correspond to an environment of excellent quality, thereby avoiding any deterioration which would certainly occur if we encouraged only activities taking place out of the water, in particular the cleaning of shellfish.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, one of the objectives highlighted by the recent Tampere, Feira and Nice Summits, by resolutions of this Parliament and by the Euro-Mediterranean Forum, which we held in Brussels only last week, is the combating of the organised networks that traffic in immigrants. This is a despicable traffic, which causes so much harm and even tragedy amongst the immigrants themselves and great concern within the European Union, a concern sometimes greater than that seen in some of these immigrants’ countries of origin, although it is a hard thing to say. We must therefore receive the two French initiatives with satisfaction. But the report by Mr Ceyhun suffers from a lack of legal rigour, which if not corrected will make it impossible to vote in favour – and believe me I am sorry – particularly on the point I am about to mention. I am personally acquainted with the magnificent work that some NGOs are doing in this field; the humanitarian care many of them are giving surpasses their own means. But from that to generalising that if an association performs the criminal action of providing organised aid for the entry, residence or movement of illegal immigrants it should be exempt from liability, is going too far. This is because profit or financial benefit, as for example happens in Spanish criminal law, is an aggravating circumstance but it is not the essential component in characterising the crime of trafficking in human beings. This does not mean that there are not aspects of the report that can be accepted and which I applaud, such as the compensation for the regions that most suffer from migratory pressure or prosecution of employers who use and abuse these workers illegally. Finally, in any case, I believe that in this battle against illegal immigration the cooperation of the countries of origin is absolutely necessary, since without it any attempt to combat these criminal networks is doomed to failure. The European Union alone cannot control this migration phenomenon if it cannot count on the essential collaboration of the countries from which the migration originates.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I wish to express my sincere thanks to my colleague, Fernando Fernández Martín, for the pithy though balanced report he has drafted. I would also ask Commissioner Nielson to convey my thanks to those involved in drafting the Commission communication. The text is clearly written and big-hearted in its tone. The practice of tying aid may in theory even turn development aid completely on its head, with the donor benefiting and the country intended as the recipient becoming poorer than ever. Although this extreme paradox, which is well-known in economic theories, is not necessarily very easily possible in reality, it is nevertheless a reminder of the sort of reduced effectiveness and perversions of aid which still occur and are furthermore permitted in real life. Estimates by the World Bank and the OECD of savings made through increased effectiveness are of the order of 25%. Our rapporteur estimates that the net benefit of untying could be the equivalent of as much as USD 5 billion in terms of cash. As we know how even small sums of money can work wonders in development cooperation, an increase of several billion euros of that sort is staggering. The European Union’s willingness to take the initiative in this matter is significant as the EU and the Member States are responsible together for half the world’s development aid. Reduced effectiveness in development cooperation is therefore by no means a trivial matter when measured in real terms. It is important to implement the conclusions arrived at in Barcelona swiftly. It should be self-evident that simple market economy principles dictate that the EU Member States should untie donor aid. The key competition principles agreed in the EU will work to the advantage of the developing countries in this. Then local sourcing and sourcing from other developing countries will also be possible, as we have already seen, resulting in a multiplier effect on the effectiveness of aid. In addition to the benefit in terms of welfare achieved in the developing countries, the liberalisation of procurement will also be important within the EU, because the practice of tying aid which still goes on in many Member States also distorts competition among the Member States themselves and is against the rules on competition in the EC Treaty.

Political group: PPE-DE
Agriculture in the European Union is increasingly dependent on pesticides (327 000 tonnes in 1999). Although we understand the importance of these substances in controlling pests, the fact is that alternatives do exist, particularly in organic farming. Although it is believed that there can be no profitable agriculture without the intensive use of pesticides, this is only true if the environmental cost of all products is included in their final price. Pesticides, however, entail enormous costs to the environment, such as the contamination of groundwater and the loss of biodiversity and costs to human health, such as endocrine disruption, infertility and cancer. It is worth recalling that, according to the WHO, every year pesticides cause disease in 3 million people and the deaths of 220 000 throughout the world. I therefore welcome this Communication by the European Commission and the report by Mrs Van Brempt, intended to ensure that European legislation on the use of pesticides is revised. In this future legislation it is crucial that targets are defined, as well as timetables and means to ensure compliance with the objective of achieving a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides in the EU by 2010.

Political group: PPE-DE
The report on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation once again conceals the EU's arrogance towards the Mediterranean countries. 'Civilized' Europe is prepared to teach democracy and the free market to its 'uncivilised' neighbours. It is becoming the appraiser of everything, especially when it comes to human rights, at a time when a huge network of dictatorship, repression and police states is unfolding in the EU itself. It is disseminating its own version of terrorism, it is imposing special clauses in association agreements, while it has not a single word to say about Israeli state terrorism. It is taking advantage of its economic supremacy not to assist in the development of the countries of north Africa and the Middle East, but to impose its terms on trade and on their internal affairs. The report goes as far as to call on partner countries to implement policies for convergence with the euro, while pressing for the development of the private sector. Despite pronouncements to the contrary, Euro-Mediterranean relations were and remain unequally priced. They were and are a vehicle for intervention in the internal affairs of Mediterranean countries, in the aim of supporting the economic, military and political interests of the ΕU. This policy will be stepped up given that, following enlargement, the ΕU's attention is turning towards the Mediterranean. In voting against the report, the Communist Party of Greece is expressing its support for the peoples and their fight, which is the only road to progress.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I think it is terribly sad that when we are about to take such important votes some people are trying to obstruct this. I have heard that some Parliamentary staff worked until 4 a.m. so that we could vote on the Dimitrakopoulos/Leinen report. I would like to sincerely thank those staff on behalf of my Group, and, I hope, on behalf of all of us. They work very conscientiously and we should be just as conscientious when it comes to voting! (Loud applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, firstly, I wish to pick up on a couple of points in the joint resolution, which my group will not be supporting, points which seem to be missing from the speeches we have heard this morning: for example, the welcome given to the International Criminal Court while regretting the position of the United States in seeking to protect its own citizens from it. As we have heard today, justice should be universal and not dependent on nationality. The European Parliament has also taken the view in the resolution that the Union should be taking a strong, leading role at the Johannesburg Summit, as it did on the Kyoto Protocol. However, to do that it needs a commitment to sustainability in all aspects of its work, and that includes integration of social and environmental factors into its economic and trade policies. We have to remember that without a healthy environment we have no sound foundation for our economies. So we trust that will be remembered, as promised by Commission President Prodi, in the better governance arrangements and we are looking forward to the policy proofing and the impact on the social and environmental dimensions he mentioned today. To be credible at that sustainability summit, we also need to demonstrate that we understand the importance of development and its link to certain aspects of immigration policy. I was pleased to hear the Spanish minister referring to issues about deep poverty. That is in marked contrast to what we have been hearing from the Spanish Prime Minister over the last few weeks. The European Union wants a mobile, flexible workforce. It is a priority in our employment policy, so why do we insist on making legal immigration for all skilled sectors virtually impossible? What we have been hearing over the last few weeks and today sounds to us simply like moving the walls of fortress Europe and looking for stronger building materials, including using the idea of economic clout – such as development aid – in our attempts to have other countries police their borders more effectively to stop people leaving. The countries of eastern and central Europe are joining the Union to escape that sort of policy. We are also concerned at some of the proposed reforms to the Council's inner workings – the Development Council, for example, is to be absorbed into a wider grouping. But we welcome the reassurance we have heard today that the reforms will not touch matters for the IGC and the Convention, because it is essential that the Council does not become the legislature and executive and break the current balance between the institutions. We welcome the commitment to greater transparency and trust that this will not just be for the Council but for the public as well. IN THE CHAIR: MR DAVID MARTINVice-President

Political group: Verts-ALE
Commissioner, thank you very much for your very helpful and detailed reply. I would just like to ask a supplementary question. Just today there have been major reports in the German press according to which the accession countries are planning to circumvent the euro criteria by introducing the euro unilaterally, as it were. On the strength of what you have said, this seems somewhat unlikely to me, but I would nevertheless like to ask you if this is a concern and whether the Commission is dealing with this issue in the accession countries.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I would like to take up the matter of the statute for assistants, which we have always considered to be a priority, and inform you that – as the Italian delegation of the group – in response to the invitation from the group leader, Mr Barón Crespo, we have forwarded the contracts that we drew up with the assistants to the Quaestors. I think that we need to make a tangible gesture in order to get a solution to this problem underway. I would therefore like to call on the Presidency of Parliament to consider that it might be appropriate for the Presidency itself to invite the Members to do likewise.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, as Mr Pirker pointed out I had the honour to lead the European Parliament's delegation to the ASEP II meeting in the Philippines last week. This event, which was efficiently and successfully organised under the auspices of the Philippine Senate, concluded, as a number of colleagues have said, by issuing an agreed communiqué and statements which dealt with human rights, with special reference to women and children, terrorism and the environment. But at least as importantly, it provided some parliamentary input into the ASEM process, which culminates later in the year with the Copenhagen meeting. In an increasingly interdependent world, where modern economics propelled by science, technology and improved transport systems breaks down the significance of national boundaries and with them the practical relevance of ringfenced national jurisdiction, the democratic political process must not get left behind. The evolution of governmental, ministerial and Heads of Government meetings that take decisions, which either de facto or de jure legislate or commit their component participants to legislate, should have a proper parliamentary angle and aspect. In my view this is at least as important as many of the conclusions reached by parliamentarians' meetings such as ASEP II. They are the first step towards finding collective parliamentary institutions to work with collective governmental and administrative developments such as ASEM. I very much hope that the decisions reached by ASEP II in Manila, and the decision of this Parliament in voting for the Maaten report, will endorse the call for another meeting of ASEP to be held to complement the proposed 2004 ASEM meeting in Hanoi. I also hope that this parliamentarians' meeting will be held in Europe, although not necessarily here in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the location of the first ASEP meeting in 1996. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, after considering this issue of the directive on copyright and harmonisation which primarily involves a list of exceptions, I feel that we have quite simply agreed to maintain a confused situation in order to give ourselves time to give some thought to this matter. This confusion is due to the fact this directive represents three different interest; i.e. authors and creative artists, consumers, who are also users, and producers and market makers. Producers and market makers are trying to fit in between the other two and I feel that the directive is also in this uneasy position with its list of exceptions, to which the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market has just added another, extremely problematic, exception regarding broadcasting. I believe that we are favouring the opinion of consumers. However, what are we trying to make them buy? I put to you the question: just what shall we buy in the near future, if we fail to protect and defend creativity? That is the question we should ask ourselves. As it happens, outside my parliamentary career, I have written books and I use public libraries and research centres. In both cases, we need to have some protection, some security rather than insecurity, in order to be able to produce works. If I look at this from the consumer’s point of view, I am surprised that Parliament, the defender of Market Europe, defends production in this market in such an ultimately very poor fashion, because, given this list of exceptions, people will refuse to pay for goods which they will want for nothing. You must admit that it is surprising. The conditions in which these goods are produced are not being questioned either; yet, to produce goods, we need creative artists and authors. I have no idea what you will sell or buy when you no longer have any creative artists or authors but, in any case, Market Europe will not fare very well. That is what will happen to the markets. Now, if we take a close look at the details of the directive, it becomes apparent that if we say, for example, that archives come into being immediately, or after an hour, this means that everything broadcast on television is archive material. Anyone with an interest in history is slightly surprised to hear archives being defined in this way. If archives are just that and if private copying is widespread, what can we do to ensure that culture, and indeed cultural diversity, is not just heritage, museums, not just a list that we will find in places that are the stuff of archives and museums, but that it is a living creative field? To do that, we must – like it or not – assist artistic creation. To assist artistic creation, we must support copyright rather than criticise and attack it. That is what my group will try to defend by its vote tomorrow.

Political group: GUE-NGL
draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy. – Mr President, I very much welcome this balanced and thoughtful report. It is a report which is very well worth reading. My first visit to Ukraine was back in 1991, soon after independence, to attend a health conference. More recently my visits have largely centred on nuclear issues. Last week I met a group of ten members of the Rada who were in Brussels to learn of our institutional relationships. In all the contacts that I have made over the years I have been struck by the desire for closer links with the European Union. Ukraine has not found the transition to a market economy an easy process. They have yet to bring their regulatory and financial structures closer to our own. Privatisation goes ahead slowly. But we should look upon these efforts in positive terms and with understanding. It is almost impossible to talk about Ukraine without reference to nuclear power. I believe I am the only Member of this Parliament who has visited Chernobyl, Khmelnitsky and Rivne, the three stations which have featured frequently in our debates. The latter are the two sites where reactors are now being completed to western safety standards. But we should recognise that Ukraine also has a coal industry and is pushing ahead to promote energy efficiency and renewable sources. Our financial support should encompass the whole sector. Concerning the report of the European Investment Bank, I would include support for tourism and agriculture. The latter has plummeted in recent years and both can do much to drive the economy forward. I hope that this report will be strongly supported tomorrow and that the Members of the Rada will see in its adoption an emphatic endorsement of their wish for ever-closer relations with the European Union.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present the priorities of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs for the 2002 general budget. The first point relates to the issue of statistical information, or rather the lack of it. Statistical information is highly important for the work of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. We repeatedly find ourselves in situations where the statistics made available for our work are quite simply totally inadequate. This applies to the structural indicators, for example. The committee is therefore calling for sufficient funding for the budget line on statistical information. Secondly, we are calling for adequate risk capital to be made available for small and medium-sized enterprises in particular. (Applause) Thirdly, we consider it very important to have adequate resources for the Financial Services Action Plan. The same also applies to the Commission, of course. We are reacting here to the Lamfalussy report. It is better to tackle this point than to go through the legislative procedure at a snail's pace. Fourthly, we wish to stress the need to improve the human resources of the Commission's Directorates-General. Lastly, it should be ascertained whether the Prince programme can be continued during the first six months of the year 2002 to tackle the particular difficulties of small and medium-sized businesses which have still not made sufficient preparations for the switch to the euro, partly because of their financial resources, in contrast to larger companies and banks. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Commissioner, hearing these accounts of misery related each time we meet here in Strasbourg makes me wonder what we can actually do to help. In Sierra Leone, not only are UN soldiers and British soldiers taken hostage, a complete nation has been held hostage for years We are accessories to this, if only through the diamond trade. On 5 July, the Security Council instituted an embargo on diamonds from Sierra Leone. The European Union should now pull out all the stops in order to make this embargo happen and to stop all trade in blood diamonds. I believe that, for this reason, it is not sufficient to curb the diamond trade in Sierra Leone. We should also continue to support the Government, but I also believe that support for the war tribunal is absolutely necessary. We need to put an end to the immunity from punishment whereby people can use weapons to kill their fellow-citizens.

Political group: Verts-ALE