GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, in the framework of preparing the priorities for foreign affairs, defence and security matters, the rapporteur, Mr van Hecke has had broad support from the members of our committee, in particular when he reinstated a portion of the Commission’s proposal and further encouraged NGO activity. Our rapporteur placed the emphasis on the role of the European Union as promoter of human rights in the world. The Group of the recommends that all the lines concerning countries benefiting from an association and stability agreement on the Balkans be transferred from the category of ‘external actions’ to that of ‘pre-accession aid’. In addition, we request that realistic appropriations for the Israel-Palestine line be provided, instead of the practice being continued of a posteriori transfers. We fully support Amendment No 445 which proposes EUR 47 million for conflict prevention activities – and, in my view, prevention is always less expensive than cure – and Amendment No 118, which proposes EUR 2.5 million by way of additional appropriations for information programmes in third countries. An amendment by Mr Elles proposes establishing a line of EUR 500 million for the reconstruction of Iraq. There are two reasons why this amendment is unacceptable to the Group. While remaining open to the creation of a new budgetary line, we cannot envisage providing funds in the absence of any mandate from the United Nations for the reconstruction of Iraq and in the absence of reliable estimates from the Commission. In our view, it is important that the UN have exclusive control over the reconstruction fund. Finally, I should like to invite the Commission to inform Parliament regarding the use of the funds in Latin America and to tell us if the considerable increase proposed by a series of amendments is realistic.

Political group: PSE
We Moderates have today voted against the resolution concerning the mid-term review of the common agricultural olicy. We have done so because we believe that it is of the greatest importance that expenditure on the common agricultural policy should not increase in the manner proposed in the resolution and that the current interinstitutional agreement should be respected. Nor are we able to support a resolution recommending customs duties in the agricultural sphere. The ways in which the resolution is worded impair the Commission’s proposals. We regret that we are unable to support this resolution because, by broadly supporting the Commission’s proposals, it recommends commendable changes to the common agricultural policy. The Commission’s prime objective is to create a competitive agricultural sector that is of benefit to consumers, taxpayers and the agricultural sector as such.

Political group: PPE-DE
President, Commissioner, colleagues, can I add my congratulations to the Commission and to my two colleagues, the rapporteurs, on the speed and thoroughness of their reports. I want to comment on both reports in a very few, but I hope, significant respects. On Mr Paasilinna’s report, I want to comment, and perhaps ask the Commission to comment on the whole question of the balance between regulation and liberalisation. Mr Caudron touched on this in his remarks to the effect that the benefits of liberalisation have been felt disproportionately in the business community and those who make long distance and national calls while domestic consumers have benefited much less, particularly those who make very few calls, or people who live on their own. I want to ask the Commissioner about the speed of regulation and the purpose of regulation. It was good to see the Commission taking very urgent action, for example, in respect of leased line and the charges for leased lines where the existing legislation had not been properly implemented. The differences in attitude, ethos, resources and the degree of independence among the national regulators are still a cause for concern. On the report on spectrum, others have mentioned the question of to what extent it matters that different systems for deciding on third generation mobile licences have been sorted out. It is significant and I would like the Commission to comment on this in respect of third generation mobiles, and digital television, which are the two areas where the European Union has a lead. I also want to ask the Commissioner whether he thinks the application of the subsidiarity principle in respect of the allocation of licences might do something to narrow that lead. If he thinks so, if he thinks the differences in methods are going to distort competition, is he able to tell this House what steps he will take to monitor and address that question?

Political group: PSE
Mr President, new cultures, including the culture of Slovenia – the country for which I am the rapporteur – will add value to and, at the same time, bring new security for both themselves and the European family as a whole. This, then, is the time of half-full glasses, of optimism, of benefits. Of course, the time of difficulties, of half-empty glasses, will come when the governments have to attempt to win the acceptance of their people. The European Socialists have always fought for enlargement. The countries bordering on the Mediterranean, such as Italy, which are the gateway to Central Europe, have played a major role in the process. We are in favour of opening the doors wide to those who want to become part of the European family. Clearly, the right to become part of the club is not automatically granted: membership is won through very hard work, as the negotiators of the candidate countries are aware. I imagine that they might even, on occasion, have been disconcerted by the tough nature of the negotiations. Slovenia is the wealthiest of the candidate countries, and it has a European institutional tradition too. The main problem in the phase of preparation for accession was speeding up the administrative aspect of court cases and resolving the problems left over from the previous regime. The situation was therefore similar to that of a number of other candidate countries but less complex. At the time when much criticism was being expressed a number of years ago, it was always difficult to find any major sins or shortcomings in Slovenia which were not explained by the nature of daily life or by the number of people passing through the country. However, all the candidate countries, including Slovenia, will find it difficult to meet their commitments when they actually join Europe. In any case, the reports of the international organisations on Slovenia talk of a functioning market economy and respect for the Copenhagen criteria setting the level to be achieved. A paragraph has been included in the report which mentions combating fraud and corruption and combating drug trafficking. These are phenomena which are certainly present, but to a much lesser degree than in other countries. Mentioning them may make the text unbalanced: the best solution would be just to delete the paragraph. Moreover, out of the 102 countries in which the level of corruption has been recorded, Slovenia ranks only twenty-seventh and, what is more, organised a conference on corruption in 2002. It therefore cannot be said that nothing is being done in this area. Lastly, on a technical note, the term ‘denationalisation’ which I used in the original text has been translated in some language versions as ‘privatisation’, which has a different meaning.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I too appreciate greatly that the Greek Presidency has taken an enlightened approach to facilitating legal migration and integration, not just fighting illegal immigration. In an important presidency conference on the theme in Athens and in securing agreement on the family-reunion and long-term-residents directives you have gone some way to rebalance the EU agenda which has been much too focused until now on control and rejection. The EU's role in offering refugees protection has been under assault from some governments, notably the UK. I am glad that Thessaloniki rejected the preposterous suggestion that all EU asylum seekers should be driven back towards the Third World or EU fringe countries. The prospect of vast detention camps, raising the spectre of concentration camps, was rightly a step too far for some Member States. We need to get order in our asylum systems with a common EU system that does not shift responsibility but shares it. This would end the damaging rotation whereby first one country then another sees its numbers peak. We can only have a true partnership on migration with third countries if we offer their people adequate alternative opportunities, especially in agriculture. The CAP with its export subsidies and import protection is a gross barrier to trade justice. You have made some reform progress but not enough. My colleague Mr Watson rightly deplored the manner and content of the EU-US legal cooperation and extradition agreements. I agree with him. However, I welcome that the summit issued a clarion call of strong support for the International Criminal Court. The EU must stand up to the outrageous US bullying to undermine the court. Finally, the accession signing ceremony took place at the foot of the Acropolis where the new Parthenon museum is also located. I represent London where the British Museum is located, but I take a rather softer line than its director on the so-called Elgin Marbles and I hope some arrangement for transfer, even if only a loan, can be reached before next year's Olympics. (Applause)

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I was part of the mission which my party sent to Galicia immediately after the accident and I remember how shocked we were by the sight of the beaches and by the despair of the residents of the area. I therefore wish, from this position and in the time available to me, to express my surprise at the blunt statement by the representative of the Spanish Government of the time that, in the event of a similar accident to the Prestige, they would again decide to remove the ship from the shore. I would also emphasise the findings in the report on the treatment of the master of the Prestige and the fact that this sort of treatment was also seen later, in Pakistan, with the crew of the Tasman Spirit, a matter on which Parliament passed a resolution. These seamen have already been released and returned home. Pakistan is ahead on this count of a Member State of the European Union! I further wish to denounce a distortion, no my mistake, a clearly deliberate misrepresentation in the translation into Greek – and only Greek – of the discussion with Captain Mangouras referred to in the report. The translator, by adding a phrase which does not exist in Mr Sterckx's text, presents the master as maintaining exactly the opposite of what he actually maintained and agreeing with the action taken by the Spanish authorities. I would remind you that the matter of the shipwreck of the Prestige and the setting up and operation of the MARE committee were given broad coverage in the Greek media, which of course obtain their information from Greek texts. It would therefore appear that the translator wanted to exonerate the Spanish Government and its Greek supporters, come what may. I call on every person in a position of responsibility to examine my accusation, which concerns the last paragraph of the text entitled 'exchange of views with the master' in the explanatory report, and to crush the translation mafia in the European Parliament. To close, I wish to express my faith in what I would call absolute cooperation with the ΙΜΟ.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I would firstly welcome the policy of good neighbourly relations proposed by the European Commission and the report which will be discussed this afternoon, as a basic instrument for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. I would also welcome the initiative to turn the Euro-Mediterranean Forum into a parliamentary assembly. Please allow me, Mr President, to refer specifically to the relations which should be established or improved with a State of the southern Mediterranean. I am referring to Libya, where I recently had the opportunity to chair a delegation from my parliamentary group. The United Nations Security Council's sanctions on Libya were lifted in September and work is ongoing on resolving the issues relating to the compensation for the UTA aircraft and the attack on the La Belle discotheque in Berlin in 1989. Libya is present as an observer in the Barcelona Mediterranean process and has not been integrated into it. As the Prime Minister, Mohamed Ghanem, said, Libya is taking the route of progressive privatisation of its economy and putting an end to state control. It is also prepared to increase its fight against illegal immigration, which is taking place throughout the length of its 2 000-km Mediterranean coast. In any event, it will be difficult for the fight against illegal immigration to be carried out if there is no effective cooperation with the States of the European Union and in this regard, we believe that the European Union must reconsider its relations with Libya. This cannot naturally take place without demanding, furthermore, respect for human rights, the abolition of the death penalty and also the abolition of amputations, which are practices which still exist in that country, at least in a legal sense.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, Mr Stefanis, two Dutch hospital workers who had been working in China voluntarily went into quarantine on their return to the Netherlands. Their sense of responsibility should be an example to the authorities, not only those in the Netherlands, but also to their European counterparts. The measures against SARS are inadequate. Unfortunately no other conclusion is possible at the moment. SARS is a disease whose risks and dangers are still largely unknown. The mortality rate was initially estimated at 4%, now there are estimates of 19%. Infection was originally thought only to occur through the air. Now it seems that the virus can enter the human body in various other ways. We must take the greatest of care in dealing with SARS. Firstly, and it has been said many times before, there must be joint action. Confidence in the government is important. We cannot have one country maintaining that there really is nothing the matter and another making quarantine compulsory, that does not create confidence. We must also have joint travel advice because there certainly is something the matter. Secondly, the measures must, of course, be convincing. The disease has proved more serious and more infectious than was thought. It is a good thing to trace people who may be carriers, but our first concern is, of course, to prevent infection occurring in the European Union. Italy is quite right to make quarantine compulsory for people coming from areas of risk. Everyone who says that draconian measures do not offer definitive protection are right as well of course, but this does not make it the false security that is being suggested. These measures do help to reduce the number of carriers. You prevent panic by taking adequate measures and not by acting as if there is nothing amiss. Mr President, the European Union and the Member States must now take responsibility. Cases of SARS have also been discovered in Greece and Finland. We cannot allow quarantine to be an individual decision of responsible people. Let the sense of responsibility of some hospital workers act as an example. Finally, Mr Stefanis, you have heard in this debate that there is a very great consensus for a stricter and clearer approach. What are you going to do as a result of this debate?

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I welcome the fact that the Cairo EU-African summit took place, but I must stress my disappointment that no one from this democratically elected Parliament had the opportunity to address the summit, nor did NGOs have any input. At the very least, the two Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly could have made statements and this would have given an EU-African balance. Members of this Parliament, through the Committee on Development and Cooperation and the ACP-EU Joint Assembly, have laid the foundation for many of the policies in the developing countries: the Martens report in 1997 pointing to the benefits of the Lomé Agreement; the Rocard report in 1998 strengthening the objectives for the future; my own report in 1999 on regional cooperation and integration which is top of the Cairo plan of action agenda; lastly, Mrs Kinnock's excellent report in 2000 on the future ACP-EU partnership agreement that sets the scene for the next 20 years. The final Cairo plan of action is an excellent document if we can now turn words and good intentions into concrete actions. I know debt relief was at the top of the African agenda and everything must be done to alleviate poverty, but we must have some evidence that funds saved go towards better health care, better education and an improved standard of living for people and not into arms and war materials. For these ideas to come to fruition, African countries themselves have to make the effort towards good governance. We have already seen some good election results. Let us hope that we can see the same happening in Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast and Togo in the forthcoming elections. The top priority of regional cooperation and integration should have strong political benefits as well as trade ones. With only 6% of African trade being carried out in Africa there is huge potential for an increase in trade if tariff barriers and trade barriers are removed. Many of these countries will need both time and financial help to compete in the world market, but these countries must understand there is no other option in this new era of globalisation. This is all unattainable without peace and peace-building; conflict prevention, management and resolution must be top of the African agenda. The OAU must be given international support to continue its work and the peace initiatives must come from the African countries themselves. Where peace is achieved, help must be given for demobilisation and reintegration, and the use of child soldiers below the age of 18 must be banned. Ethnic cleansing has been the horror of the last 25 years, and religious wars destroy the very fabric of a country. Peace can bring prosperity. The main thrust of our aim therefore must be better education leading to better health care. Through AIDS and malaria, Africa is losing the very generation it needs to build its future. This summit was a start but much has to be done to turn words into reality, and we, Members of this House, must be part of that new world.

Political group: PPE-DE
Madam President, the terrible pictures from New York exactly three weeks ago today have entered our souls to stay. The speedy declarations of solidarity by Europe and the NATO allies have not been forgotten. Now that the USA has demonstrated that it is not engaging in cowboy politics, but is giving very serious consideration to every step in the fight against the terrorists, we must not leave it to later to convey our thanks and appreciation across the Atlantic. But what is being done in comparison? Take us in Germany as an example: we find fault with the USA and make so bold as to set up rules of conduct. We are already distancing ourselves from the USA, and an objectionable anti-Americanism occasionally puts in an appearance. As a German European, I am ashamed of this, bearing in mind also that around 100 Germans were murdered in New York on 11 September. I can understand why the USA, despite the announcement today that this is an issue for the Alliance as a whole, does not want, if possible, to involve its 19 NATO partners in the military counter-attack against the terrorists and their accomplices, with the exception of Great Britain. You cannot fight and win a campaign with doubters – and I say that as an officer in the Parachute Reservists. This is evidence of Europe's incapacity, all the more so as the wrecked twin towers in New York have their counterparts all over the EU. Afghanistan may well be a target for the USA's counter-attack. The inhabitants of this country battered over decades are leaving their homeland in droves, eking out an existence in refugee camps in Pakistan. These people deserve the complete solidarity of the EU and of our Parliament. Aid from the EU should be unbureaucratic and be given swiftly, bearing in mind that winter is very hard over there. If we do not help now, it is to be feared that the many young refugees there will be easy prey for one fundamentalist or another. The European Parliament should consider the advisability of sending a delegation of members of this Parliament's Committee on Development and Cooperation to Pakistan as soon as possible. Impressions gained directly from experience are always better than voluminous reports.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, I should like to ask the Commissioner three questions. How soon does he think the 350 000 ceiling on beef taken into intervention will be passed and how far does he expect it to go? Is it not better to incinerate animals over 30 months old rather than start putting too much of this old beef into intervention? Finally, I do not understand the 90-animal limit because surely extensification, greening the agricultural policy is the way forward. I can take the Commissioner to many farms in the UK where there are over 90 cattle being raised on an extensive-type regime and to smaller farms where cattle are intensively produced. So surely it is the extensification payment that should be altered, not this 90-animal ceiling.

Political group: PPE-DE