GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Commissioner, you know that as the rapporteur on this issue, this is of great interest to me. As regards your current statement, which is hopefully more comprehensive and detailed on paper than what we have just heard, I have two main problems: firstly, how do you verify that the funds provided by the European Union for the information campaign are actually being used efficiently and constructively, and in accordance with the guidelines and recommendations and the basic political message, in the Member States? I ask this question because I have the feeling that we have become more of a channel for EU funding and are relinquishing our leading role in the information campaign under the guise of subsidiarity. And secondly: what do you intend to do to persuade the Ministers responsible, especially the ECOFIN Council, and include them in this much-needed action programme in the information campaign on a mandatory basis, not just in an advisory capacity?

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, earlier this year we expressed our disappointment at the lack of support from the United States for the reinforcement of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. In the wake of the events of 11 September and the anthrax attacks on the United States, the issue of bio-terror has suddenly become very topical. Biological weapons are threatening to become part of the asymmetrical warfare which typifies the fight against terrorism. The Convention is, of course, directed at states, but the effective implementation also makes it more difficult for terrorists to obtain these weapons. These weapons have been banned for a very long time, but are unfortunately still available. That is why we call for binding international rules in order to monitor compliance with the Convention better. Fortunately, the Americans are back at the negotiating table. They have a problem which they are unable to solve on their own. However, the proposals they have tabled contain too many loopholes. The tighter and more transparent the controls, the better, and that must also be the EU’s focus of attention at the forthcoming review conference later this month. The Convention must become an instrument in the search of manufacturers of biological weapons, but also for tracking down existing supplies. Russia used to implement extensive programmes. How were they wound up, and what happened with the expertise gathered? It is rumoured that scientists who worked on these programmes have offered their services elsewhere. The anthrax attacks in the US compel us yet again to consider how we can stop the arms programmes in Iraq. For this purpose, the UN must launch new initiatives. Naturally, the Convention does not offer adequate protection against bio-terror, against the so-called non-governmental players. This also requires more and better cooperation with the police and intelligence services, as well as better criminal investigation methods. We need to offer our citizens better protection against possible attacks and the effects thereof. Many countries take measures in order to protect themselves against anthrax or smallpox better. The costs involved in those initiatives are enormous. Poor countries do not have those funds and could for that reason become the principal victim of a possible smallpox epidemic as a result of bio-terror. I would call on the EU and the EU Member States not only to consider the possible protection of its own citizens, but also to examine whether developing countries can be helped by setting up programmes to protect the people in the event of possible terrorist attacks involving biological weapons.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, the agreement with Mexico is in fact a milestone in our relations with the countries of Latin America. It has a larger area of application than any previous agreement between the European Union and a third country. I have always been very critical towards, but, at the same time, very solidly behind this agreement with Mexico. For us, it is not only a matter of keeping the interests of the European Union in mind – which is very much the case with many in this House – but also the interests of Mexico and its people, who mostly live in poverty. The agreement will therefore only be a milestone if it improves the living conditions of the overwhelming majority of Mexicans. Of crucial importance will also be how democracy and human rights are implemented. The Fox administration will have to be measured in terms of that and not just in terms of its economic success. Special heed should be paid to the services sector and direct investments, since Mexico must not be regarded as an extended workbench. Rather, investments must contribute to enhancing regional development. They must be in line with clear social and ecological standards, which must not only be scrutinised but also adhered to. It also behoves us here in the European Parliament and the Mexican government to ensure that the greatest possible benefits are reaped for the people of Mexico. But how the Joint Council performs its tasks in connection with the further development of the agreement and how Mexico’s Parliament and the European Union will be integrated are also important for us. And as there is nothing that could not be improved, I hope Mexico and the European Union, as equal partners at the same eye level, will resolve the discrepancies and remove the errors which doubtless still exist in the contract. I say this as Vice-President of the Delegation for Relations with Central America and Mexico. I stand by this agreement and if these objectives, about which Mrs Lucas has said a great deal, are fulfilled, nothing should stand in the way of success. Then this agreement would really be a milestone in the history of the contracts concluded between the European Union and a Latin American country.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I could not fail to endorse Mr von Wogau’s last sentence. On the whole, however, I do not believe that his report is as balanced as he presented it here. First of all, on behalf of my committee I must criticise the lack of opportunity we were given to cooperate on this report, to engage in proper parliamentary discussion and to draft an opinion. Public acceptance of the euro and of European economic policy, Mr von Wogau, will not simply depend on the coining of a new term such as ‘home market’ or the like. It will take a bit more than that to convince people. This point is emphasised in the opinion which the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted by a large majority. Let me cite some examples of the interaction and evidence of reliability that are needed. Of course we need stability, but, as you well know, we also need more extensive investments in education and science. We call for an increase in the activity rate, especially with regard to women, yet we do not provide sufficient childcare facilities throughout the Union. We have naturally looked long and hard at demographic trends in all 15 Member States and now in the applicant countries too, yet our health services and our care services for the elderly still leave much to be desired. Growth alone, as our committee noted very clearly, cannot guarantee the quality of jobs. All of these improvements are necessary to ensure that our economic and monetary policies win the approval of the general public and of the working people of Europe. I am pleased to see that some Member States – and I believe this is underestimated by the Commission and its Economic Policy Committee – are working to improve and intensify the participation of employees in economic life, as demonstrated by the legislative bills that have been introduced in France and Germany, for example. It is also interesting that a number of Member States have already responded to the proposals that Parliament and the Commission have been making for some time – they are not being tabled for the first time today – such as the long-overdue opportunity for older employees to upgrade their qualifications rather than being more or less squeezed out of the labour market with the aid of statutory provisions as in past years. Lastly, let me point out that our committee was scathingly critical of the Council’s dilatory implementation of the Lisbon strategy. The economic policy of the Union must clearly be consistent with the principles of its employment policy and the social agenda. I wish to thank my fellow committee members for the flexible and constructive manner in which they dealt with the drafting of an opinion in such unusual circumstances.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, as a member of the Group of the and also as an MEP for the Basque Nationalist Party, I must firstly categorically condemn the cowardly attack which took the lives of a Basque police officer, Jorge Díez Elorza, and the Basque MP and former vice-president, Fernando Buesa. Secondly, we send our deepest condolences to their families, their colleagues, the Basque parliament and the Basque police force. We also want to express our solidarity and heartfelt sympathy. Thirdly, we denounce the extreme nature of an attack which, by being perpetrated against an elected representative of the people, not only violated human dignity and human rights but also showed absolute contempt for the will of these people. Fourthly, we express our repulsion at the fact that this dual assassination was intended to directly destroy the political process aimed at achieving peace in the Basque Country. Fifthly, we again call on the Spanish and French leaders and politicians to show the same tolerance as in the United Kingdom and Ireland in order to resolve the current Basque conflict with something more than police measures which, on their own, cannot bring about the peace which we all desire. Sixthly and finally, we reaffirm that ETA’s terrorism and violence must end. ETA must stop hijacking the will of the Basque people who must be allowed to decide on their future freely and without violent coercion. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President-in-Office of the Council, how many of these female agricultural workers will become part of the European Union at the next enlargement? What number were you working with in your forecasts? I would also like to ask you if, during the Danish Presidency, any actions or campaigns will be implemented to correct the current salary discrimination.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I would like to table an oral amendment to paragraph 5, the last sentence of which reads: 'considers in consequence that signing such an agreement is incompatible with membership of the European Union'. I would very much like the word 'signing' to be replaced by the word 'ratification'. That makes it much clearer and also means that the States that have signed still have a chance to refrain from ratification. That is why I would prefer the word 'ratification' instead of 'signing'. (After rejecting Amendment No 11, the House gave its assent to table the oral amendment) (Parliament adopted the resolution) *** Motion for a joint resolution(1) on Mercosur (Parliament adopted the resolution) *** Report (A5-0296/2002) by Mr Brok, on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights and Common Security and Defence Policy, on the progress achieved in the implementation of the common foreign and security policy [2002/2010 (INI)] - Relating to paragraph 5:

Political group: PSE
Mr President, the report under discussion contains accurate information and an objective assessment. Greece is being judged, just as the first countries in EMU were judged, and this judgement accords Greece the position which it deserves, the position which it could have taken up back then, when it could have become a member of EMU along with everyone else, but which it failed to take up because of the weakness of its government. In all events, this moment is an historic moment for Greece and, may I say, for Europe too. I hope that we shall see other such historic moments when other countries join and, even more so, when we proceed, as we must, with the policy to complete unification. The euro restored politics to Europe and it is incumbent upon us to pave the way so that politics in Europe can be institutionalised and globalisation, which is progressing blindly, without any historical or political plan, can be politicised at a later date, through a unified Europe, For Greece and the other members of EMU, the problem of sustainability is crucial. The problem of whether or not they will be able to act together on economic policy, as if they had already achieved political unification, is a political problem par excellence. It is a problem of development choices and changes and, of course, it is a problem of public finance management. Greece has a tax reform problem. A large part of the economy pays no taxes and the basic taxes which exist in other Member States do not exist in Greece. The average Greek taxpayer pays more than other Europeans but total tax revenues in Greece are much lower as a percentage of GDP. This structural change is pending, while our government is confining itself mainly to privatisation. Other important structural changes are also pending, such as the need to strengthen regional authorities and their financial independence, reorganise cooperatives in all sectors from the bottom up and liberalise and strengthen the social economy and the third sector. These are the areas which need to be strengthened immediately if sustainability is to have a future.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, it would be a grave misconception to look at the imminent attack on the Iraqi state as a new state of affairs. We all know that the attacks on Iraq are already underway on a massive scale in the no-fly zones in the country. I do not know under which international agreements they have been allowed to continue, but such attacks have only intensified and worsened the situation in the country. However we view, as a Parliament, the proposed attack on Saddam Hussein, we cannot look at it in isolation. The attack would be seen, along with the incursions against Palestine, as an attack on the Arab world itself. It would, along with the threat to oil supplies, globalise an already-escalating conflict. We condemn Saddam Hussein unreservedly for his regime which oppresses minorities and offends democracy in Iraq. A more sensible and productive international approach, however, would be to defend and ensure self-determination for all minorities in Iraq, especially the five million Kurds in the north of the country comprising one quarter of the Iraqi population. Human rights and freedom in Iraq would be better served were we to take that course of action, uniting minorities and the international community behind a common front to topple Saddam and all other world dictators.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I congratulate Mr Brok on his comprehensive report, and I agree with him that we have made enormous progress in terms of foreign and security policy. Almost every time I open a newspaper, I see the names Patten and Solana in connection with some new trouble spot in the world. He is right to say that we have responded to the current crisis with a coherence and unity that we would not have thought possible only four or five years ago. He is right to say that the coalition against terror would not have been possible without the progress we have made within the EU to bring about that unity and coherence. Clearly a lot still needs to be done, and we have to take advantage of the current crisis to perhaps change the emphasis in our work. We spend something like 60% of what the Americans spend on defence, but we spend 400% of what the Americans spend on what might be called ‘soft intervention’ – humanitarian aid and assistance. We need to try to change that emphasis. The Americans need to learn from this crisis that security is not just a matter of power projection. You can have all the weapons in the world, but you will be unable to defend yourself against a few people armed with box cutters. We need to have a multinational approach to the global problems. For our part we have to realise that we must have greater military capability in order to back up our actions. That is why the capability process currently under way is so important. We must put some teeth into our common foreign and security policy. That is why I am disappointed with the news that Italy is likely to pull out of the project for A400M aircraft. We need strategic lift. It is often ironic that the countries that most engage in rhetoric about European cooperation are those that often fail to produce the action. One final observation is that at the moment we are seeing a warming of relations with Iran and Syria. I should like to remind colleagues that there are a number of Israeli soldiers and civilians held hostage by forces sympathetic to, or controlled by, Iran and Syria. These people are missing in action and I would hope the Commission and the Council would use this opportunity to get those hostages restored to their families.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, on behalf of myself and several other MEPs, while I fully respect the solemn nature of today’s formal sitting, I wish to make a point of order under Rule 19 out of concern for human rights given that the Colombian President’s visit today is restricted to his parliamentary address until a formal dinner with heads of political groups. Bearing in mind that the Colombian Government’s own public defender reports one massacre for every day this year and that the Commission of Colombian Jurists attribute 78% to paramilitaries with the knowledge of the official Colombian forces, will you, as President of this Parliament, in your private talks ensure that you discuss issues of human rights. Will you in particular ask when the law passed in June this year requiring crimes against humanity committed by the Colombian military to be transferred to the jurisdiction of civil courts will actually be implemented. Will you ask why instances of forced disappearance, extrajudicial execution and sexual abuse have been excluded from that law. Will you find an appropriate way to report back to Parliament on the responses given. I ask this in the spirit of successive resolutions on human rights in Colombia passed by this European Parliament and in support of brave human rights defenders working under the threat of violence and of death.

Political group: PSE
We voted against the report on the broad economic policy guidelines of the Member States and the Community in 2001, since these guidelines are entirely geared to the interests and wishes of major employers and are not in the interests of workers. Even with the amendments, such as those which express environmental concerns or the amendment which proposes introducing a Tobin-style tax on the movement of capital, the text still glorifies the pro-employer, anti-worker policies conducted in the Member States and is approving of the way that the economy is currently run. We abstained on the last amendment so that our votes will not be confused with those from the most staunch supporters of the capitalist system, who have voted against the report because they do not even accept capital being taxed by the tiny amount represented by the Tobin tax. To claim, however, that movement of speculative capital will be controlled by this tax or that it will reduce the volatility of the financial markets is all just a smokescreen. The huge number of redundancies in some of the largest companies in the European Union proves that it is not just speculative use by large investors that harms the working classes and society – it is capital full stop as well as the economic system, which is driven by profit and the capitalist thirst for making money. What the workers need are measures to protect them from employers’ greed, not symbolic gestures, which actually justify the capitalist management of the economy.

Political group: GUE-NGL
This report offers very limited options for effectively reducing emissions of pollutants and for protecting the environment and public health, since the limits that are proposed, which are extremely modest, are a clear compromise in favour of economic interests. The proposals retreat from the values recommended by the World Health Organisation and, consequently, from the need to protect the environment and public health, which the report is supposed to be upholding. The amendments that have been tabled are not likely to add a great deal to the proposal for a Council common position, since the only benefit they offer is to establish time limits within which the objectives must be achieved. Nevertheless, both in terms of emission values and of exceptions, this does not represent any major difference to the document that was tabled previously.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, we have in Europe fought for Zimbabwe’s independence for many years, where freedom and democracy are said to prevail, despite the colour of people’s skin. This democracy was to lead to an independent judicial system and separation of political and judicial powers. Twenty years after Zimbabwe’s independence, we can only establish that the Mugabe government has not achieved a great deal. The economy is in decline and, as for human rights, it is questionable whether the present situation is so much better than twenty years ago. But what is most surprising, is the fact that the rest of Africa, especially South Africa, is looking on in silence. My group is of the opinion that the European Commission must come down as hard on this regime as it did on any other regimes in southern Africa which rode roughshod over people’s rights. If not, this problem might well contaminate the rest of Africa, which could have disastrous consequences.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, today is a great day for road haulage contractors. As all the speakers have said, this is a step towards making their job less stressful and more humane, and this is thanks to Mr Hughes. However, why is it that we do not use the Hughes procedure for the Hughes report? That said, let us get to the point. Hudson Bay, 40 years ago, it is cold and foggy. The Andrea Doria is approaching New York. Sadly, the helmsman and the officer of the watch, maybe a little sleepy because they have been working too long at a stretch, cause the Andrea Doria to sink, tragically. It may be that, if they had had shorter working hours, this would not have happened. We do not want our lorries and motor vehicles to go the same way as the Andrea Doria. We have remembered a great Italian, Andrea Doria, a Genoan, born in Genoa like me. Let us now remember another great Italian, Galileo Galilei. Why? Because we are going to put the satellite system Galileo into orbit, and it will have to be able to track, monitor and observe the time European road haulage contractors spend on the road.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, conflicts connected with religion seem to be a significant cause of human rights violations in the world. Does the Council consider it necessary that the EU should appoint a special human rights representative who would ensure that human rights can be reconciled with other EU policies?

Political group: PPE-DE