GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
In her minority opinion, Mrs Ilka Schröder exclaims: ‘Tear down the barricades at the frontiers! Support refugees! Support total freedom of movement for all!’, calling, in essence, for borders to be opened to all. I do not agree with this, Mr President, and I have to say that, while I was thinking about this report last night, I dreamt of Mrs Schröder: her father would leave the house after drawing his salary and, meeting many poor people who certainly needed his help, would give to one, then to another and then to a third, all the salary he had earned through a month’s work. However, when he got home, his family had absolutely nothing to eat and nothing to live on for a whole week. Then, still in my dream, Mrs Schröder – like Mrs Roth-Behrendt in another famous dream of mine – said to me: ‘Vote against my recommendations; in other words, vote for this report. It is certainly right to think of others, but the others include ourselves!’

Political group: PPE-DE
I must say at the outset that I yield to no one in my condemnation of terrorism and terrorist acts, and this issue affects not just Spain but all countries in the European Union. Mr Aznar spoke recently about the need for dialogue between the Palestinians and the Israeli government in the Middle East peace process. Could the President-in-Office – in either his capacity as representative of the presidency or as representative of the Spanish government – give an example of any previous situation in world history where a policy of non-dialogue with people who are carrying out terrorist attacks in a country such as Spain has ever resolved the situation. There are many people in this Parliament and in Europe who believe that at some stage it will be essential for Spain – however regrettable, however much it dislikes the idea – to enter into a dialogue. If that is not the case, could he give me an example of some situation where non-dialogue has worked?

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I find the Baltas report essentially very well-balanced and logical. The situation has calmed down considerably in recent times, which is very important in that region. On his visit to Belgrade, President Mesic apologised to those who had suffered pain or damage at the hands of Croatian citizens. The Serbian President apologised in turn for the evil deeds committed by Serbian citizens against Croatians. It will be easier to achieve reconciliation now that these gestures have been made, even though only a few years have passed since their very bitter, hard-fought war. The Prime Minister, Dr Sanader, visited the Serbian minority during their Christmas holiday and then addressed the Italian minority in Italian: none of this would have been possible a few years ago. Even that characteristic bitterness towards Slovenia no longer exists. This is the context that will help to resolve the controversy surrounding arrest warrants and the return of refugees. If this, then, is the context, there is also a chance of reasoning with Croatia about its unilateral decision to declare part of its coastline an ecological and biological zone. In his report, Mr Baltas states that this unilateral decision by Croatia runs counter to the practice of dialogue and consultation, which is at the heart of efforts to manage problems which have a regional impact. Then, of course, there are Zagreb’s difficulties in implementing its economic and political reforms. We should recall that inflation between 2000 and 2002 fell from 7.4% to 2.3%, and we know what that means. Nevertheless, a scale published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, measuring the results achieved by the candidate countries joining this year and in coming years, shows that the first candidate countries joining the European Union in May get an overall score of 80%, whereas Croatia is only at 50%. It still has a long way to go. I believe there is a danger, which was mentioned a little while ago, of seeing people get disappointed. They may be disappointed because Croatia is not joining the Union straight away, but Mr Baltas reminds us that Croatia will need much perseverance and time before it can acquire the means necessary to consolidate the rule of law and democracy.

Political group: PSE
The spread of illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and epidemics in the developing world has taken on genocidal proportions. Unfortunately, the international community is still addressing this issue with one eye on the interests of the big pharmaceutical multinationals. The European Union has recently taken a number of positive initiatives within the World Trade Organisation to allow underdeveloped countries to use so-called generic drugs to treat these all-out attacks on the health of their people. The European Parliament’s resolution is an acceptable contribution in this direction. - Resolution on the WTO negotiations (agricultural trade) (B5-0102/2003)

Political group: GUE-NGL
Madam President, I did not really intend to speak. I was there when, at the Conference of Presidents, we said that there was no need for us to hold a debate at this time, as we had already discussed foot-and-mouth disease last time. Now that Mr Corbett has, however, albeit not denied Parliament the right to decide, he implied instead, as it were, that it would be inappropriate to take such a decision here, I would just like to say, on behalf of my group that in the light of recent developments, we all agree unanimously that we should have this debate. We do not want to wait until the Commission kindly grants us a debate; we call upon the Commission to come here to Parliament and discuss the issue with us. We send out the same appeal to the Council as well, and in this regard I am rather more forceful than Mr Swoboda. We should not kindly request the Council; we expect the Council to make a statement as well, so that together, in the plenary sitting of the European Parliament, we can represent the interests of our citizens and our consumers! (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
Due to the need for consistency with the position previously adopted by the European Parliament in plenary session on 11 December 2000, when the French initiative – which lacked any legal basis – proposing the adoption of a directive on mutual recognition of decisions concerning expulsion of third-country nationals, was rejected, I do not feel able to adopt any other stance on this initiative than a similar rejection. As was already the case with the Directive itself, the issue is not the proposal’s substance or its actual political content, which in fact I consider quite positive, since it seeks to introduce rules and suitable practical methods for correcting any possible financial imbalances resulting from the implementation of the Directive in question. In other words, the Member State responsible for the expulsion decision must reimburse the Member State which enforces that decision, on the basis of the real costs of the operation, up to a maximum level, which should be reasonable, comparable and balanced, and should cover transport, administration and accommodation. Nevertheless, since we have before us an initiative on the application of Directive 2001/40/EC, which was rejected due to its lack of a legal basis, we are once again unable, by the same logic, to adopt any stance other than a rejection of this initiative.

Political group: PPE-DE
Despite its serious shortcomings, the Morillon report is clearly an improvement on the Commission proposal as far as the partnership between the European Union and Turkey is concerned. There is a positive reference to the Loïzidou case and the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Similarly, there is a positive, albeit inadequate reference to the Armenian question, in that Turkey should have been clearly called on to acknowledge the genocide – the amendments have, of course, done much to correct this. Similarly, there is a positive reference to the Kurdish question and minorities – which the Commission draft accession partnership passes over in silence. However, the main drawback and shortcoming of the Morillon report is on the issue of Greek-Turkish relations. The European Parliament should make it clear to the Turkish Government that, if it wants to join the European Union, it must stop contesting the borders of Member States of the European Union and must refer any disputes to the International Court to be resolved. This is also in the interests of the Turkish people who would like to live in peace with their neighbours. Our vote in favour of the resolution should be interpreted as support for the fact that it represents an improvement on the Commission proposal and not as full agreement with it.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I wish, first of all, to congratulate our fellow Member, Mrs Karamanou, on the excellent report she has presented to us. I am not offering my congratulations as a mere formality. I am doing so in order to be fair and because I believe they are deserved. This report is not only excellent, but its explanatory statement is a study of the greatest interest to anyone concerned about equal rights for men and women and will undoubtedly serve as a seminal reference work for the future. This proves the eccentricity of the Bureau's decision to reduce the length of explanatory statements to one page. This Chamber does not produce paper by the metre. We are engaged in politics and politics must have a sound basis. Your report, Mrs Karamanou, is a fine example of the importance of the political texts drawn up in this Parliament. In my speech I shall focus on the electoral system. This is a crucial problem because it predates our own participation in politics. Women must be given the opportunity to be elected in order to prove what they are capable of. Some electoral systems make the participation of women even more difficult. These are, as we have seen, systems that use single name lists. This practice has systematically penalised women. It is not so much the electorate that is to blame, but the structures of the parties themselves, which create enormous difficulties by means which are often less than legal. Thus, although there is a move towards attempting to change this system of single name electoral lists, with procedures being created, in France for example, to set the balance right and to achieve a quota of 50% for both sexes, the Portuguese government has announced the creation of a new electoral law that will partially replace the proportional system with the single name system. This is an initiative that gives great cause for concern and we must be aware that, in this case, this will clearly discriminate against women who wish to participate actively in politics.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, we must thank Bartho Pronk and the chairman of our committee for speaking about civil dialogue and relations between the Commission and NGOs, because, in the final analysis, the report and other contributions seem to me to be purely administrative and far removed from the practical reality, and this is exactly the impression I had, Commissioner, when you answered Bartho Pronk. You told us that the Commission was active in meeting the operating costs of NGOs, but what we Members of Parliament want is to ensure that all NGOs, may be supported and funded on the basis of a number of practical projects. For, nowadays, it is the major NGOs which have the opportunity to respond to a number of invitations to tender: Médecins du monde, Médecins sans frontières, the Red Cross and so on and so forth. That is my first comment. You must be aware of the problems experienced by a good number of smaller NGOs in being able to respond to a number of invitations to tender. The work they do in terms of relations and competencies is, however, just as important as that of the major NGOs, but some of them do not have the same administrative facilities that some major NGOs have. Secondly, what we would also like to see is the needs of NGOs being satisfied before a major tragedy occurs. Let me take just one example, the protection of childhood. For four years, a number of Members of Parliament have been fighting for funding for associations working to combat child abuse. Our attempts have been ignored. It was not until the Dutroux case that we were able to obtain a budget line enabling two programmes to be run: Daphne and STOP. Today, regrettably, only one programme is left, the Daphne programme. I can tell you that, as experts on matters to do with small children, a number of NGOs would indeed love to be able to respond to specific invitations to tender. Finally, I feel it advisable to simplify the procedures and that, in this connection – I do not know if this has to be a fund –, the Commission should, at least initially, make a service available to NGOs, enabling them to obtain information on the work carried out by other parties and, possibly, establish networks on certain topics in order, ultimately, to be able to submit tenders to the Commission when offers come up. That, Commissioner, is what I wished to say. We shall make progress in the social sector because we know that we have to make progress in terms of cooperation in that sector. We need time for this. This is precisely why, given that social matters are essentially part of the remit of NGOs, we must make progress in the matter of civil dialogue.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Dear Taoiseach, there is an Irish saying to the effect that God invented whiskey in order to prevent the Irish from dominating the world. Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the Irish are serious Europeans, however. My political group saw this when we visited Dublin. You are going to tackle the EU’s real problems, quietly but with determination. After Mr Berlusconi’s clowning around and dubious jokes, it is comforting to have people at the helm of Europe who do not have swollen heads and have their feet firmly on the ground. Unfortunately, the reality of Europe is cruel. Growth has broken down in the Union. Unemployment is rising. European ambition is setting the pace, from the draft constitution to the Lisbon process. The necessary stability is set up as orthodoxy, while the United States are recovering growth through entirely unorthodox methods. One of your ministers, Dick Roche, compared the Lisbon process to some sort of Christmas tree on which the successive presidencies have hung their favourite decorations. This image perfectly illustrates the seasonal ritual that this major ambition from 2000 has become. The Irish Presidency is now proposing going back to basics. The spring summit should concentrate on the fundamental issues, growth and employment, which should become the EU’s prime ambitions. However, there is a nagging question still to be answered: where is the money, where are the budgets to give Europe the resources to fulfil its ambition? The Union’s budget is negligible. It amounts to less than 1% of the gross European product. In 2003, the Commission did not even manage to spend these meagre funds. In order to fund the Union after 2006, the Commission will propose using the entire budgetary margin that is currently possible, that is, 1.24% of the gross European product. Even though six countries have already announced that they do not intend to increase their contribution, the Europe of the 25 will need more than a minimal level of solidarity if it is to develop. It would be a good idea for the Presidency to propose new own resources, for example a European tax on carbon dioxide emissions, or a tax at source on savings products rather than the bureaucratic system envisaged in Feira. A European tax of just one single cent per litre of fuel sold in Europe would fund the trans-European networks. That would create more growth while unburdening national budgets. Policy without financial resources is just an empty gesture. Bring Europe out of its rut, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, dare to do it! (DE) Perhaps I could also say a few words about Mr Poettering’s speech. The Group of the European People’s Party wants a Commission President from within its ranks. That is all very well. In that case, however, Mr Poettering needs to name names before the election. He cannot expect the citizens of Europe to buy a pig in a poke. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I, too, would ask Mrs Izquierdo Rojo to adhere to the formalities of this House. We have to understand that the President of the Council’s function is, of course, simply to perform the Council’s duties, and that he does not bear responsibility for the individual Member States. It is for that reason that I want to ask whether it is actually known whether it was possible to liberate from Iraqi prisons political detainees who would otherwise have faced the death penalty?

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, Mrs Pack, ladies and gentlemen, I not only must, but can and may again congratulate Mrs Pack on her report and also take this opportunity to indicate my group's assent to it. She has got to the heart of the matter with her wonted precision and customary acuity. I have known Albania for many years, having gone there the first time while the revolution was still going on. I love the country and have high regard for many of the people who live there, including many of its politicians, as do any of us who are concerned with Albania, but I neither can nor will accept that the leading political forces – two people at the top in particular, but also others quite unconnected with them – are incapable of putting their quarrels, animosities, and rivalries to one side and putting the country's interests first. I therefore agree entirely with the opinion expressed by Mrs Pack in the report, that there must first be a fundamental willingness to do this. I am not so much concerned by details of the reforms that are certainly still needed in the justice system, in media policy, in security policy, and in the fight against corruption. There is much still to be done in these areas, but they will not be done unless the political forces agree on a minimum consensus. It is true that that is difficult, but we are all from countries which, particularly in the aftermath of crises – I am thinking, for example, of the post-World War II period – have managed to build bridges and work together despite civil war, or, indeed, because of it. I was the rapporteur on the Agreement with Macedonia. Much of the criticism levelled at that suggests that we voted on it far too early on. I do not know; perhaps we were wrong to campaign for the Agreement in the way we did, or perhaps we were right. With Macedonia, though, there was a quite specific issue, that of the relationship between the ethnic groups. There was even the willingness to make changes in that area – too little, too late, as so often in life, especially in politics. But in the case before us now there is not just one issue – it is the fundamental issue. That is why I share Mrs Pack's view. Unless the principal political forces in this country demonstrate the willingness to join together and put the country's destiny first, I am against us opening negotiations on an Agreement. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
We will of course be voting against this report which, in the guise of technical neutrality, seeks to organise deportations of so-called illegal immigrants. The fact that the only elected European Union institution is justifying these expulsions and helping to organise them shows that it is worth no more from a human or social point of view than the national institutions, that is not very much. On top of inhumanity comes hypocrisy, because no one can ignore the fact that industry, construction and industrial agriculture rely to a large extent on immigration, whether it be legal, illegal or seasonal. Turning so-called illegal immigrants into fair game for the police means above all handing them over with their hands and feet tied to their employers: this reduces some workers to semi-slaves, it pushes down everyone's wages and it is part of the war being waged on the poor by all the governments of Europe. I therefore protest against these expulsions and call for all those without papers to be given a proper legal status and the same civil and political rights as all workers.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I am very pleased to be here with you speaking Slovene and, with the voting card of a Member of the European Parliament, to be enjoying a time when history is smiling on us. It smiled when the Berlin Wall fell, when human dignity was returned to the people of the new democracies, and when we were building an independent and democratic Slovenian State. Remembering the victims of totalitarianism in Europe, I am grateful to all those who have contributed to the European democratic movement. I am particularly grateful to you, ladies and gentlemen, for all your support and solidarity. The success and stability of the European Union will depend on what we do and how we work together. I would like us to work together in the spirit of the founders of Europe. This session is not our first experience together. We already have behind us experiences that will enable us to work together in the future, namely our work in the European Convention, which has led to a good draft of the Constitutional Treaty and has deepened our sense of mutual trust. The enlargement of the European Union must also mean a deeper union. An enlarged Europe means a larger political Europe, a more transparent and effective institutional order, a greater role for the European Parliament, greater decision-making with a qualified majority, a single Foreign Minister and greater influence on the part of all its citizens, both men and women. An enlarged Europe also means increased cooperation, open under the same conditions to all members, and not just open to a club operating at different speeds without a constitutional foundation. The European project is not only a matter for professional Europeans. We will succeed if the citizens of the European Union experience it as their own. The key terms of the Convention have been the values, democracy and equality of the Member States, and not any quantitative talk about large and small. We new members do not want to be just additions, we want to be an additional value, the equal co-creators of a united Europe. Let us bring together the experiences of the older Member States and the democratic dynamic of the new ones. The plan of a truly united Europe will succeed if the European countries, or ‘Euroland’, become the foundation of a country of values, or ‘Valueland’ and if, at the same time, the Union becomes a community. The term ‘more Europe’ must mean above all an enhanced Europe in Europe itself. The European project must also be completed in a south-easterly direction. The sources of conflict there must be replaced with a vision for the future, with reconciliation, the respect of all identities, cooperation and a well thought out economic plan.

Political group: PPE-DE