GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, it is an historic tragedy that the country which has refused to adopt truly effective controls on the use of biological and toxic weapons was the first to fall victim to these brutal attacks. Of course, this does not prevent us from expressing our deep sympathy with the American people and especially the families affected. However, I believe that this sign of isolationism and unilateralism, which is still very strong in America, must be viewed by the European Union, and in particular by the Council, as an opportunity to lobby the US very hard, not only on this issue but also on the International Criminal Court, for effective international agreements and monitoring arrangements in the wake of these dreadful attacks. It is grotesque that in recent days, Congress has debated a bill which vehemently opposes the establishment of the International Criminal Court – a Court which would deal with crimes like these, especially if they were supported and perpetrated by states. The second important point – and I would like to address the Commission in particular here – is how we, in Europe, are equipped, as far as is humanly possible, to defend ourselves against such attacks or to reduce their impact to a minimum. As has already been mentioned, the USA has an agency in Atlanta, a disease control centre. Does the Commission think this should be considered in Europe as well? Of course, I know that when there is a problem, there is a tendency to call for a new EU agency to be set up, which raises further problems of control and supervision. However, in light of recent developments, I think that there are various arguments in favour of this type of agency. In general terms, I think that the Commission must do more regarding security against this type of terrorist attack, whether it involves biological or nuclear weapons. This is not a task which we can simply leave to the Member States. Certain safety standards in these areas must be set out at European level in response to this type of terrorism. I also believe that the Commission, together with the Council, must consider how we should deal with the installations, factories and laboratories which handle these hazardous products, especially genetically modified products, without encroaching unnecessarily on the privacy of employees while achieving a minimum of transparency, protection and prevention. Those who work in this kind of installation must therefore be prepared to accept a certain measure of control. Finally, I should like to ask the Commission once again what it intends to do to create this protection, not only in general terms but also as regards practical measures, in the coming years.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Mr Medina and Mr Marinho have methodically highlighted the shortcomings in current Community legislation on timeshares and shown that, if it is to be effective, unilateral regulations are no good. A large majority in the Committee on Legal Affairs agreed with this approach, which is why we should adopt it unanimously. The new legislative proposal to come out of the report should: first, provide an integrated response to the problems which consumers have faced in the past, secondly, abolish the practice of circumventing the guarantees set out in Community legislation and, thirdly, protect all the parties involved. This means that all new contractual forms for the enjoyment of immovable property on a timeshare basis should be included in the scope of the directive, without any reference to fixed time limits as regards either the minimum duration of a contract or the annual period of use. In addition, we need rules: one, that guarantee that agents will honour their contractual obligations in the long term, even if they go bankrupt or are insolvent, and restrict the number of agencies licensed, two, governing the right of the consumer and the obligation of the undertaking to allow the consumer to purchase his timeshare on the basis of a specific price and, three, on the system for exchanging timeshares. Problems have arisen in practice, as has the question of international jurisdiction and applicable law, which is why jurisdiction clauses referring to offshore jurisdictions or simply to jurisdictions other than in the place in which the property is situated should be banned, as should clauses referring to the law of a third country. As we have already said in connection with the need to avoid unilateral regulations, the question of the property owner's interests still needs to be resolved. In addition, this system needs to be treated as a way of developing tourism and providing jobs. Finally, given past experience, we need to look at the possibility of a new information campaign at European level promoting reliable timeshare companies.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, for some unknown reason I have not been able to speak amongst the draftspeople of the opinions of the different committees, but I am now going to give the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development believes that the non-introduction of co-decision is one of the main issues left undealt with at Nice. Therefore, agriculture is still receiving discriminatory treatment in comparison with fields connected to it such as public health, consumer protection or the internal market. We believe that the Nice Summit has left the public with the image of States which are excessively concerned about the distribution of internal power within the institutions and has led to serious doubts over the Council’s capacity and political will to reach the necessary agreements required by agricultural policy. These reforms must respond to the increasing demands of the European citizens, to the challenges of enlargement and to our commitments within the World Trade Organisation. Furthermore, we believe that following Nice the complex process of decision-making is becoming even more complicated, if that is possible, and this may paralyse the coming reforms of the CAP. We do not want this situation to endanger the guarantee of the European farm model which – we must not forget – is a fundamental element of the European social model. For all these reasons, we ask that the next Intergovernmental Conference consider the modification of the agricultural chapters of the Treaties in order to introduce co-decision. We sincerely believe that the new agricultural policy, based on the principles of multi-functionality and sustainability, requires and demands co-decision in order to achieve greater democratic legitimacy, greater transparency and also – of course – greater coherence in the agricultural policy which European society is demanding.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I have put the question as to whether this is a priority to a student from Peru. He replied as follows: When I read that technological development and the information society need to be promoted, I have to suppress a smile. First of all, because this will only benefit a minority and an ever richer elite. Also, it is, in fact, absurd to talk about technological development and the information society in countries where even the most basic education infrastructure is not in place, especially outside the capitals. But nevertheless, he states it is a necessity if the countries want to be able to compete. In other words: the bottom-up and bottom-down strategy which Mrs Dybkjær proposes to pursue seems sensible to me. Please let us not forget, however, that people who have not had any schooling, even with the most wonderful infrastructure at their fingertips, will always be hopelessly behind.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I shall restrict my comments to the initiative concerning basic salaries and allowances applicable to Europol staff. I was responsible for this as rapporteur for the Committee on Budgets. This might appear to be a minor issue, almost a routine matter. As currently presented, however, it lacks the necessary rigour. Parliament already ruled on the appropriateness of including the Europol budget in the Community budget when called to do so in the past. Europol has indeed broadened the scope of its competence in recent years. This process has not, however, been accompanied by a change in its legal framework. Parliament has therefore been unable to exercise its function of democratic control. The decision on salary adjustment must be included in the scope of the budget. It so happens that this area, which does of course include the financial Rules, operates without Parliament having to rule on such matters. This is the background against which we have been consulted on the adjustment of salaries and allowances, pursuant to Article 44 of the present Convention. As Mr Deprez has already pointed out, the decision does not give the reason why the salary adjustment was set at 5.2%. The salary adjustment for Community officials in the Netherlands for the same period was 4.3%. This figure was based on statistics supplied by the OECD for all Community institutions. True, Article 44 of the Convention does not link adjustment to a procedure similar to that applied to other officials. Nonetheless I believe such lack of justification is not in line with the principles of sound financial management applicable to the Community budget. This initiative has therefore been rejected because of the lack of justification provided in the procedure adopted. The salary level of Europol officials is not at issue. Mr President, we trust Europol will be strengthened and that it will fulfil its duties efficiently so that the citizens feel protected. This is all perfectly compatible however with the democratic control the House always insists on when the legal status of this instrument for police cooperation is debated.

Political group: PPE-DE
I have supported the rapporteur, Mr Liese, from the Group of the European People’s Party in his ambition to introduce stricter ethical guidelines for the EU’s funding and monitoring of research. In the same spirit, I have voted in favour of Amendments 37 to 44, which were signed by myself and many other MEPs and which have been rejected. In the final vote, I voted against the report as a whole. It was, however, adopted by 298 votes in favour, 214 votes against and 21 abstentions. Research into embryonic stem cells is incompatible with the Irish Constitution and banned by law in Germany, Austria and Portugal. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity and in view of the big differences in the Member States’ legislation on research involving the use of human embryos, it should be up to each Member State to decide for itself whether it is to fund such research using national funds. It is therefore unfair to those states that ban research into embryonic stem cells to compel their citizens to contribute to the EU’s common research budget for an activity that is illegal in their countries. Such coercion is also contrary to the spirit of European cooperation. My hope is therefore that the Council will reject the European Parliament’s majority view. We believe that priority should be given to the ethically and legislatively uncontroversial research using adult stem cells.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the twisted war mentality that the US administration has developed is extremely serious and warrants the increasing opposition of world public opinion. As emphasised by the representatives of many countries at the world parliamentary forum in Porto Alegre, we must call on our leaders to firmly oppose the war and reject the concept of preventive war contained in the new strategic doctrine of the Bush administration. The institutions of the European Union, and the governments of the Member States and candidate countries must reject all and any participation in the war against Iraq, including the use of military bases and other facilities on their territory, and reject any participation of soldiers or the provision of military and financial resources, without this implying any support for the Iraqi regime. We must also ensure that the embargo on Iraq is ended, an embargo that has caused so much harm to the population, particularly to children. What is particularly important are all actions demonstrating solidarity with the Iraqi people, such as visits to Iraq by delegations of Members of the European Parliament and the public demonstrations against the war and to defend peace planned for 15 February. We must reject this unjust war, which is clearly a statement of the United States’ hegemony, essentially dictated by oil interests and American and British military and industrial complexes. Opposition to the war in Iraq is equally crucial in order to put an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and to the aggression by Ariel Sharon’s government and to attempt to achieve, by means of dialogue, a fair and lasting peace. Our citizens want peace, so let us all work to make this possible, repeatedly expressing our protests, indignation and rejection with regard to the imminence of a new war against Iraq.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, in relation to the enlargement reports – not just Mr Brok’s report, but also those on the individual applicant states – it is interesting to see that Mr Brok has recognised the rejection of the Nice Treaty in Ireland. He has confirmed what we have said all along, that basically the Nice Treaty is not necessary for enlargement. Enlargement can go ahead without the Nice Treaty. It is deplorable that our own government is trying to force people to change their minds. In relation to the accession reports on the individual states, I have grave concern about the emphasis on the common foreign and security aspect, the fact that countries are being coerced into joining Nato. The report on Malta, for example, deplores the fact that Malta is divided on the issue of membership. I believe it is up to the Maltese themselves to decide on whether or not they want to join. If there is a clear division, then there should be a free choice. In Malta, Ireland is being used as an example of how you can be a Member of the European Union and a wonderful economic success and still remain neutral. All of this is false. We have to stop dangling artificial carrots in front of the applicant states and be honest. Ireland is no longer neutral. It is cooperating in common foreign and security and defence policy. Ireland’s economic success is not solely down to the EU, as many economic experts will tell you.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, Commissioner, this is one of the rare occasions when politics must swallow its pride and take into account geographical requirements. Chairman Hatzidakis is right: we must have the courage to say ‘no’ to those pressure groups which sometimes attempt to prevent the Commission and the institutions from tackling areas affecting them which Europe has never clearly addressed. I therefore feel this proposal for a directive is appropriate in order to regulate and improve access to the port market and services. The calls for safety, the protection of workers, quality of service and, of course, respect for the environment, are appropriate and vital. I would like to make two points on this subject: we, like the Commission, believe that it is right and proper to include in the scope of this directive terminal cargo handling services, in particular, that is those services which represent over 90% of the volume of business of ports. In addition, we feel that, if an exception is to be laid down to the application of this directive on grounds of safety or environmental protection, it would thus make no sense to limit it just to pilots and exclude the other technical-nautical services. Lastly, we do not feel that this directive is the most appropriate instrument to address the issue of the public financing system. There are too many discrepancies between the systems of the 15 countries of the European Union and some extremely grey areas continue to remain. Consider – and we must be quite honest about this – how, in some of the major ports of northern Europe, there is proof of commitment to State financing in the fact that representatives of public authorities sit on the managing bodies of the individual ports. This must be made clear in the name of the transparency rightly advocated by Mr Jarzembowski.

Political group: PSE
The Group supports the report by Mr Poos on the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU. It regrets nevertheless that its amendment on the issue of the settlers has not been adopted by the House. It is absolutely impossible to solve the issue of the settlers who arrived in Northern Cyprus from Turkey a long time ago simply by sending them back, as the report suggests. It is unfortunate that the EU takes a one-sided position on such an acute and difficult question. Proximity talks are not proceeding as we would have hoped. We are convinced that initiatives at all levels are required if to break the deadlock which have been reached in negotiations. We hope that the perspective of early membership of the EU and the easing of contacts by means of 'bottom-up' communal projects that the EU promised to promote and finance can give a positive impetus to the solution of the 'Cyprus question'.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I wish to express my support for the positions put forward by our fellow Member, Jorge Moreira da Silva, who led our delegation at the Hague Conference on Climate Change and who demonstrated enormous commitment to achieving the compromise that we reached, fortunately, on this resolution. I wish to make four brief points. First of all, I must strongly condemn the unfortunate unilateral decision rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, which warrants our criticism, announced by President Bush. Secondly, although this is a serious development, it comes as no surprise; the Union should have forearmed itself a long time ago with alternative strategies. Thirdly, we must not waver or hesitate over the need to implement the Kyoto Protocol, with or without the United States. My fourth and final point is that the European Union must now redouble its efforts and demonstrate effective leadership, both within the European Union, by fighting against the increase in emissions that we are seeing today in most of our fifteen Member States and beyond the Union, by ensuring that Kyoto is ratified by as many countries as possible so that it can enter into force before 2002.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, the highly predictable military victory of the US and UK forces in Iraq has generated among some people a sort of ad hoc opportunism: let us forget all about past quarrels and let us build a democratic Iraq under the expert leadership of the US. This vision, although legally tenable, is unlikely to get European foreign policy off to a good start again. We will not pick up the pieces and re-establish European unity as a future project by drawing a veil over the causes of the unilateral military operation and the manner in which it was planned and decided. We must first expose the falsehood, which I would call the falsehood of the century, the claim that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction that could threaten global security. Not a single prohibited weapon has been found. It becomes clearer every day that the people of the world as well as the United Nations have been fooled by those who have wanted for a long time to find a pretext for war at all costs. We must also condemn a second falsehood, which claims that the United Nations has failed and that, as a result, the reconstruction of Iraq and its oil – which some call the spoils of war – should be a matter for the victors. The United Nations has not failed. It has been brutally swept aside by those who did not succeed in achieving the qualified majority required by the Security Council. Although international law has been violated, there is now a chance to reestablish it. As far as the European Union is concerned, this means reestablishing the United Nations’ responsibility for crisis management in full. I therefore call on the Council and the Commission to reject the United States’ requests and to remain firm in their desire to entrust the UN, and the UN alone, with a central role in post-war Iraq.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, I too am a Basque and I am also a woman and a Socialist. I am one of the 92% of Basque people who voted in the Basque Country in favour of the Statute of Autonomy and in favour of democracy. Madam President, there is a democracy in the Basque Country. There are elections which are free and democratic. There is a Statute of Autonomy for which the vast majority of Basques voted. The Basque people and the Basque institutions have risen to the occasion. Yet, in the Basque Country, there is a terrorist organisation which wants to control our lives, which has returned to blackmail and to which the Basques and all those in favour of democracy have said ‘no’. This is basically all I wanted to say. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Madam President, since it has now been established for two years in succession that a majority of Parliament does not want Friday to be included on the calendar of part-sessions for Strasbourg, I would ask you next year to submit a calendar on which Fridays are not included. I think that that would be consistent with the democracy we practise in this Chamber.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I am in complete agreement with my fellow members and would even add that the UN Committee against Torture has found that torture is rife in Cameroon and that this has been confirmed in the testimony of a former Cameroon minister who considers that the prison system is inhumane in Cameroon and that physical and mental torture are an everyday occurrence. All this leads me to believe that the government of Cameroon, and it is perhaps this which worries me most today, no longer has any control over the special forces which it has set up, the special forces which appear to be responsible, among other things, for the disappearance of 9 young people who allegedly stole a cylinder of gas in the Douala sports district. In order to prove good faith on the part of the government – my colleague said earlier that there were plenty of reasons for hope in Cameroon – I think that we have to go along with the UN proposal to set up a committee, as a matter of urgency, to look into all the extortion, torture, disappearances and extrajudicial executions identified over recent months. I think that, today, Parliament cannot make do with adopting texts which are not respected and verified on the ground, especially as Cameroon has signed the Cotonou Convention of 23 June 2000 requiring that the parties undertake to promote and protect fundamental freedoms and all human rights. We must call on Cameroon to respect this convention and find ways of excluding this country and any other country which violates the conventions which it has signed. No difficulty, be it economic, social or demographic should or could justify torture.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, you have heard a great many criticisms which I endorse but which there is no reason for me to repeat. I want to dwell on something correct which you said when, speaking of the statute of the European Central Bank, you pointed out that it was inferior to the statute of the Federal Reserve Bank, because it does not contain the objective of supporting economic activity as well as the objective of price stability. It is important that you are the first Prime Minister and President of the European Council to point out the shortcomings in the statute of the European Central Bank from such an official tribune and I thank you for that. I trust that the Italian Presidency's proposal that the Council should have the facility to amend the statute of the European Central Bank by a qualified majority will be accepted and I hope that the statute of the European Central Bank will soon be amended along the lines you indicated, so that the European Central Bank can finally start to encourage investments, especially public-sector investments, instead of trying to strangle them at every step, as if they were illegitimate children.

Political group: PSE