GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I too want to thank the rapporteurs with regard to the rail package. They have done excellent work with respect to this important matter. The rapporteurs have addressed the issue thoroughly, listened to various experts and committee members, negotiated, and sought viable compromises, keeping all the while to the main goal, which is to improve the competitiveness, safety and compatibility of the railways. The proposal for a Railway Agency lends further support to this whole objective. Now it is important for the Council not to put the brakes on the implementation of the reforms. We have dawdled far too long in the development of the railways. It is high time a competitive alternative with regard to railway transport were established. Arguments for implementing the rail package have been put forward many times now. Developing the railways means we can ease congestion on the roads and encourage environmentally friendly transport. A workable railway system and moderately priced and competitive services are important both for congested areas and also the export industry in more remote regions. The opening up of competition in freight and passenger transport will encourage the development of rail transport. For this a viable package must be created, with a clear timetable too for opening up competition in the field of passenger traffic. We must be able to make progress in the areas of technical compatibility and safety standards as well as other regulations, so that trains run throughout Europe speedily and safely, offering a competitive alternative for the transport of both freight and passengers. Mr Sterckx’s aim for a high level of safety in rail transport will certainly have the support of everyone. The role of the Member States in their adoption of national rules will also be important. They should not slow down the long-term process of development, and Member States should obtain the approval of the Commission for new national rules. For safety’s sake it is also important for trains to be equipped with a black box and that the data compiled by the equipment and the way that data is processed are standardised. The main task of the Railway Agency will be to promote best practice and facilitate cooperation between the players in the railway sector. The various players in the railway sector must be involved in the work of the Agency but not every Member State can be represented on the Administrative Board. The work of the Agency must nevertheless take account of the different conditions to be found in the Member States.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, I have adopted the approved resolution from the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport. That is the starting point and it should be mentioned here. So this means that I have to point out that the text should read: to clarify. (Parliament adopted the resolution) President. – That concludes the vote. ***

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, although we recognise the need to move forward in consolidating the partnership between the European Union and the United Nations, we must keep in mind a series of general principles that should guide our policy towards the UN and point out the inadequacies that we currently see in establishing it. The first thing identified and criticised in the report is the unjustifiable gap that exists between the substantial financial contribution from the European Union and its Member States to UN actions and the meagre political influence that the European Union has in terms of defining and implementing those actions. The contributions from the Member States of the European Union represent 47% of the UN budget and more than 40% of its spending on peace-keeping operations but, with the addition of direct contributions from the Union, our contributions exceed 50% of the resources for the various UN funds and programmes focused on development and humanitarian and food aid. However, the status of the Union in comparison with that of the United Nations is insignificant. It has a very small amount of political influence and the visibility of our action is minimal. All in all, here too we are continuing in the unacceptable role of paying but not playing. The Commission Communication gives us a sense of a change towards more ambitious strategies and objectives that are more in keeping with what the European Union should represent on the international stage, and Parliament agrees, perhaps in even stronger terms, with the direction advocated by the Commission. We are thus reaffirming our conviction of the need for a multi-polar international order, governed by the rule of law, so that the United Nations, with greater powers, greater credibility and also greater resources, will simply be essential. With this report we are also expressing the urgent need to establish the legal personality of the European Union so that it can cooperate effectively with the United Nations and its various agencies. Finally, the Resolution establishes objectives, such as fulfilling the commitments made in the Millennium Declaration in this field, in which the European Union must be a coherent and powerful influence in order to promote the role of the UN as an agent of peace and a guarantee of solidarity, international social cohesion, justice and progress for humanity.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Mr Karas deserves our admiration. My Spanish colleague Mr García-Margallo y Marfil talked in terms of Mr Karas’s winning a bullfight, and that makes me angry with him, as I do not like bullfights. Moreover, he was the first and only MEP to talk about the greying of the population. If he had told me that I am an old lady – perhaps on the model of the one whose visit proves so dangerous in Dürrenmatt’s famous play – I would not have minded one bit. What I am not at all keen on is being called grey. What do old people want? Security, independence and autonomy. It is just that all this is very difficult to achieve in the framework of occupational retirement provision that is only offered on a time-limited basis. Even a one-off payment – however generous it might be – does not provide security. Lifelong payments do most justice to the wishes and also to the needs of old people, corresponding to what we understand to mean by social security. It is to Mr Karas’s credit that he has clarified this very important idea and embedded it in the report, and I should like to thank him for his efforts. Throughout Europe, we are in the process of discussing and solving the problems of a society in which people at long last ought to be living longer. With a whole package of measures for older employees, the freshly elected Austrian Federal Government has devised a range of options for giving older people the opportunity of being able to work longer. I say ‘of being able to’, please note. A reduction in incidental labour costs for those aged over 58, a push for higher qualifications and the promotion of part-time work for older people are just a few of these measures. Mrs Lulling will certainly agree with me when I say that this society and this Parliament need us. Anyone who, like myself, has six grandchildren can no longer just relinquish this society of ours to other people. We ourselves have to take care of it. We oldies are not of course in the end fighting for ourselves, since we obviously already have an income. Rather, we are fighting for the young men and women whom we wish to see have much longer lives. A child born today may live until the age of a hundred, and we wish him or her an extremely long and, as far as possible, secure life.

Political group: PPE-DE
Our vote reflects our position on a deeply controversial report, which has not been accepted by any sector of port services. As we know, the Commission proposal seeks to open up major areas concerned with port safety to competition and does not guarantee workers’ rights. Although the report itself contains some positive references, it retains negative aspects that give some backing to the Commission’s position. For countries like Portugal, this proposal could have highly detrimental effects on a sector that has already been affected by other, equally detrimental measures, and we have therefore voted against it.

Political group: GUE-NGL
The Danish Social Democrats have today voted against the proposal for a common market arrangement for bananas. We do not believe that banana producers should be given more assistance. The existing arrangement is inadequate and should be changed so as to conform to the WTO provisions. We believe that the incentive for sustainable production of bananas – what are known as fair trade bananas – should be increased. For us it is crucial that the assistance given to fair trade bananas be maintained and that the incentive for cultivating bananas in a sustainable manner be strengthened further. Fair trade is not just about trade; it is also about the prohibition of enforced labour, prohibition of child labour and equal pay for men and women. We naturally support these elements, since they are cornerstones of Social Democrat policy.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, on a point of order. I have already written to you on a number of occasions concerning how points of order are raised in the House. I wonder on what point of order Mr Davies was speaking. Why did he not mention the fact that one of his own Liberal colleagues also has a consultancy that is under investigation by the BBC? Is this House going to let its agenda be determined by scurrilous reports on a programme which bases its news items on lies, or is it going to get down to serious work and address the challenges facing Europe?

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Committee on Employment supports the general rapporteur’s initiative to give employment policy priority once again this year and, more importantly, to give small and medium-sized enterprises support in the field of information and communications technologies. However, the social aspects must, of course, not be forgotten in the process, which is why our Committee is calling for an own initiative, mainly to ensure that everyone has an equal stake in the new technologies. So far, only some 30% of women have access to the Internet and high earners have three times more access to the Internet than low earners. This is not on. There is another important point in this budget. It concerns civil dialogue. We are calling for sustainable financing for civil dialogue and for the non-governmental organisations involved in it, in order to support their important role as the voice of the disadvantaged.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I must point out that those who voted against this have not understood a thing ... (Laughter) ... because all they have succeeded in doing is preventing the words ‘in this context’ from being inserted, as we are going to vote on all the other parts.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, a society that calls itself civilised, such as European society, which prides itself on its defence of human rights, cannot remain impassive when faced with the situation of many millions of children worldwide who are denied the rights we claim we want to defend; children condemned to death by AIDS or malnutrition, or through a lack of medical care, or who are destined to live in absolutely wretched conditions. It is true that the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Action Plan approved at the 1990 World Summit attempt to guarantee that children are able to exercise their fundamental rights, but unfortunately, there has been no improvement at all in the situation, and children continue to be the main victims of poverty and underdevelopment, amongst other things. The statistics speak for themselves, and we should not forget that behind each of these figures hides the face of a child, whose eyes are pleading for our help. For this reason, the special session of the UN General Assembly on Children, which is about to take place, should result in a firm commitment to transform the obligations arising from the Convention on the Rights of the Child into real action, establishing control mechanisms to supervise the extent to which these obligations are complied with, especially with regard to the fight against abuse, exploitation and violence to which children are subjected and to guarantee children the right to education. But also, and above all, the Assembly should lead to a commitment to adopt more coherent and more generous development cooperation policies and policies to combat poverty, in order to guarantee every child’s fundamental right to decent living conditions. And, since the family is the fundamental unit of society and bears the main responsibility for protecting and raising children and the monitoring of their development, it is crucial that we also promote family assistance policies that contribute to the creation of the human environment that is essential to a child’s development and to his or her being able, in the future, to become a useful member of the community to which he or she belongs. Parliament must give a clear mandate to the European Union in this direction. Therefore, on behalf of the Group, I would ask this House to support the joint resolution we are debating and the amendments we have tabled and which were already part of the text that this Parliament approved in July 2001 for this very sitting of the United Nations, which should have taken place in September; because, with this vote, we will make the cause of children our own, the cause of the European Parliament and the cause of the European Union.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, twenty years ago, when the SAARC was established, the South Asian countries and the European Union laid the foundations of an ambitious partnership of development and freedom of expression. The recent arrests of politicians in Pakistan are, unfortunately, a cruel statement of failure. These mass arrests of more than a thousand people are a good illustration of the determination of the regime of General Musharraf to quell the democratic aspirations of the Pakistani people and to prevent political parties from carrying out their legitimate activities. In 1999, a few months after the coup, in my capacity as Vice-Chairman of the South East Asia delegation, I met the ambassador of Pakistan, at his request, who ensured me that the military junta which had just snatched power from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would quickly prepare the ground for a democratic Pakistan. We are now, however, witnessing the intolerable radicalisation of this regime and the words ‘democracy’, ‘human rights’ and ‘political pluralism’ are being written in letters of blood in Pakistan. The inspiration born of democratisation – that we had longed to see – quickly gave way to intolerance and arbitrary arrests. The European Parliament cannot remain silent when faced with a situation which holds sway in a country with which the European Union has cooperated for so long. We owe it to ourselves to make it clear to General Musharraf that respect for human rights and democracy is what makes a policy of cooperation meaningful. We owe it to ourselves to ask him to organise free, pluralist and transparent elections as soon as possible, which the Supreme Court of Pakistan has also called for.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, it is with the utmost care that I take the floor once again on the painful issue of the Middle East. It may seem derisory or even distressing at first sight for Parliament to issue another resolution on this subject, this time to protect stones, however loaded with history they may be, while human lives continue to be sacrificed every day in the infernal spiral of violence and fear, blood and vengeance that has been unleashed in this land that is so dear to so many of us. Although the Group is nevertheless taking part in this debate today, it does so aware and with the conviction that the action announced by the Israeli authorities to safeguard access to the Kiriat Arba settlement can only have disastrous consequences for the development of the continuing conflict, without genuinely guaranteeing the security of its, the settlement’s, inhabitants. My experience of the previous conflicts that I was involved in, both in Algeria, nearly fifty years ago, and more recently in the Balkans, taught me that no wall, even it is surrounded by mines and watched over by the most sophisticated methods, is insurmountable. However, like our colleague Mr Souladakis, even more recently, I have not forgotten the horrified reaction from the public worldwide following the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas, which triggered the unanimous condemnation of the Taliban regime. This is why, while not wishing to be the judge, and even less the prosecutor, of a situation in which the European Union, as Mr Souladakis rightly said, has not yet succeeded in establishing a role, we can only draw the attention of the Israeli authorities to the significance of the consequences of any decision leading to the destruction, or even partial destruction, of the ancient city of Hebron.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, firstly, I too would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mrs Frahm, because I believe she has produced a really good piece of work. Furthermore, her report expresses this Parliament’s pleasure. For us, the establishment of this Fund is good news. Since 1997, we have been trying to carry out coherent work in this respect, and we have had some successes. However, in order to be fully successful, we need a legal basis to ensure the continuity of the work on improving the reception, the integration, or, where they wish it, the satisfactory return of the asylum seekers and refugees present in the European Union. Those are three different areas of work. We have to safeguard all three, and I agree that we must maintain a reserve fund in order to deal with the arrival of displaced persons without endangering the development of better infrastructures and practices within the Union. With regard to the distribution of resources, we have to take account of the need to show solidarity with countries which are highly committed to the question of refugees, but we also have to bear in mind – as the report says – the need for countries which have less of a tradition of accepting refugees – such as my own – to improve their infrastructures and services so that they may reach the same level as the other countries and take on – because I believe this should be the objective – higher levels of responsibility together with the other countries of the European Union. The Member States have a major role to play in this respect and must make considerable efforts. However, I would like to point out that we should also make use of our experience of managing other funds, especially the Structural Funds, in order to involve local and regional administrations and the organisations representing civil society in this management, in addition to the Member States. This would create added value, because contact with the NGOs and the local administrations could contribute to the fight against racism, to involving society and informing the citizens of the reception countries of the importance of asylum and refugees. Furthermore, using the practices already developed for the management of those funds could promote interaction between them. We must develop policies which are coherent with both funds. Lastly, I would like to add my voice to those which have called for a greater financial contribution to the European Refugee Fund.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the question I would like to ask you is this: I had occasion to speak to the mother of one of the prisoners and the wife of another. Both women had been denied permission to visit these men. The prisoners are allowed no contact with their families. I would ask you, is this not a violation of the Convention on Human Rights, in your opinion? Do you not feel that the European Union and the Council are currently applying double standards? I believe it is time to take up a clear position condemning this aspect of the policy of this United States administration.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, thank you for your response to my explanation of vote on chaining myself to the President’s bench. I remember, on one occasion, I could not release myself from the chains because I had unwisely thrown the key out of the window, but your comment makes the idea of carrying out such a peaceful form of protest and there being such a peaceful likely conclusion to it more feasible, more probable and more pleasant. As regards the Hazan report, which I voted for, I have to say that I particularly welcome the intention it expresses to combat the intolerable level of corruption which persists in all the States of our Europe, but also – and, I would say, in particular, regrettably, in the candidate countries. Genuine progress must be made when the chapters are closed with these candidate countries.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I would like to question you on the information that you gave to Parliament on 12 January. On the basis of Rule 7(4), of our Rules of Procedure, you referred the letter that you had received regarding the mandate of Mr Michel Raymond to the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market. Under the current circumstances, when the issue of a statute for Members of the European Parliament is putting this House and its privileges under the spotlight, at a time when the Committee on Budgetary Control is hunting down any hint of fraud, misappropriation or dishonesty regarding the European Union budget, I think that your decision is extremely controversial. The fact is that Mr Michel Raymond has been convicted, now that the French Supreme Court of Appeal has handed down its final judgment, of fraud relating to the European Union budget. The matter was, perfectly legitimately, referred to you by the national authorities, and I am told that you did not wish to just ‘take note’, as the Act of 1976 invites you to do, of the disqualification of Mr Michel Raymond, fearing that there would be a long drawn-out appeal before the European Court of First Instance, which has in fact been lodged by Mr Le Pen. Quite simply, in the case of Jean-Marie Le Pen, which has some aspects in common with the case that we are now addressing, the European Union Court of First Instance ruled very clearly on 10 April 2003, including an interpretation of the Act of 1976 and Rule 7(4), of our Rules of Procedure, on which you based your decision. In its Judgment of 10 April 2003, the Court states that the verification powers possessed by Parliament when it has to ‘take note’ apply ‘upstream of the disqualification’, and therefore of the vacancy of the seat. Rule 7 of the Rules of Procedure provides for the President of Parliament to refer the matter to the competent committee where ‘the competent authorities of the Member States initiate a procedure which might lead to the disqualification of a Member of the European Parliament from holding office’. I therefore think, Mr President, that it was your responsibility, according to the Act of 1976, our Rules of Procedure and the case law of the Court of First Instance, to take note of the disqualification of Mr Michel Raymond and not to refer it to the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market.

Political group: PSE