GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, on behalf of the CSU, I too would like to voice support for Mr Trichet. This is due firstly to his professional competence and secondly to his personal qualities, for he will continue the tradition established by Mr Duisenberg. Although my highly esteemed colleague Mrs Villiers criticised Mr Trichet on the grounds that he did not have anything new to say, that is precisely what we are looking for. We want him to stand for continuity as the head of the ECB. This applies especially to the ECB’s core tasks – low inflation, a commitment to the ECB’s independence, and the struggle to uphold the Stability Pact. In this context, I especially hope that, as a Frenchman, he will deal critically with his home country. I also hope that the two Commissioners who are our guests here in plenary today, Mr Solbes and Mr Bolkestein, will fight to uphold the Stability Pact. Sweden showed us how the wrong budgetary policy in the Member States can influence the vote. What I really do not like about this debate is the constant criticism of the ECB. The ECB is being held responsible for meeting the Lisbon objectives. The main responsibility for meeting the Lisbon objectives lies not with the ECB or indeed with the Commission. They can both contribute to the process, but the chief responsibility lies with the Member States, and a great deal of time has been lost here because Member States have not done their homework. I would ask all of you who regularly hold the ECB responsible and voice criticism of it to be equally or even more critical of the Member States’ failures. I think that would take us much further forward. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
It is uncertain whether genetic modifications in plants and animals will cause serious problems in future. Despite this, we should already take account of the possibility that life as a whole, as a result of cross-fertilisation, especially in plant life, will change as a consequence, and that diseases will emerge to which man and animal are not entirely immune. Instead of taking time to look into this properly, this Parliament decided two years ago to create scope for commercial applications. This means that some undertakings can make a profit in the short term using something which will at a later stage mainly generate costs. Now that the first line of defence against the possible risks of genetic contamination has been removed, it is all the more important for the second line of defence to remain in place. Thanks to the labelling of genetically contaminated products, consumers are given the option of not buying them. This is preferable to placing ordinary natural products in an exemption situation by prescribing that they state that they have not been modified by genetic procedures. However, it is to be feared that as usual, many consumers, mainly those on a low income, will buy the cheapest products. For them, paying attention to possible negative effects is a luxury they cannot afford. Labelling, therefore, only solves a small part of the problem.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, Sri Lanka is in a situation of cohabitation, with a President and a Prime Minister belonging to two rival political formations. For twenty years now, each political formation in power has sought to make peace with the Tamil Tigers and on each occasion the opposition has ruined the peace process. Thus, when the current Prime Minister was in opposition, he ruined the President’s plan to give greater autonomy to the Tamils in the north-east of the country, where they are in the majority. Since he has been Prime Minister, he has made significant progress in the negotiations with the LTTE, with the assistance of the Norwegian mediators, finally achieving a ceasefire that lasted several months and changed the people’s lives while allowing a limited economic upturn. For the first time since the movement came into being, the Tamil freedom fighters had just published concrete proposals for power-sharing in a region that, although run by the Tamils themselves, would continue to form part of Sri Lanka. These proposals were negotiable, but then the President took upon herself the heavy responsibility of halting this peace process, making the most of the Prime Minister’s trip to the United States and her constitutional prerogatives. She thus dissolved the parliament and recalled the Ministers for Defence, the Interior and Information in order to sack them. That was the situation up until a few days ago. Today, the parliament has resumed its activities and the President is negotiating with her Prime Minister, which is why I feel that we must seize this opportunity. A conciliation commission has even been set up between the two arms of the executive. Our group sincerely believes that the European Parliament must send a very clear sign to the political leaders in Sri Lanka to encourage them to find a solution to the political crisis, but also, and above all, a constitutional solution that will allow for a lasting agreement with the Tamils. We also express our support for the Norwegian mediation team in its efforts to get the peace process back on track.

Political group: PSE
Increased trade constitutes the developing countries’ greatest opportunity bar none for improving their economic position in the long term, together with poor people’s living conditions. Aid to the developing countries ought therefore in the first place to be aimed at developing and improving such infrastructure as makes it easier for the developing countries to engage in trade. The present report is permeated by a general scepticism about trade as a means of combating poverty and promoting economic development. What guided us in our final vote on the report was, therefore, whether all the amendments tabled by the Group of the European People’s Party , and designed to improve the report, were approved. We are not ill disposed towards a code of conduct with ethical clauses for companies that invest in, or trade with, developing countries, but we believe that such a code of conduct should be laid down within the framework of the WTO’s and the World Bank’s work and not be restricted only to companies within the EU.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, a few weeks ago, I argued here that we Europeans should adopt a firm, credible and coherent position in order to give a social dimension to the liberalisation of trade. And I am delighted at the convergence of views between the Commission, the Council and Parliament on this matter. This convergence is based on respect for the Declaration on Workers’ Fundamental Rights adopted by the International Labour Organisation in 1988. This declaration takes into account both the interests of developing countries, and that is moreover why they, including China, adopted it, as well as the interests of workers, and that is why trade unions also accepted it. We must now make this declaration truly effective, by guaranteeing respect for it, and that means in the corridors of the World Trade Organisation, too. Minister, Commissioner, I do not think that achieving meaningful cooperation between the WTO and the ILO, by whatever means, is an impossible task. All the more reason to try to succeed.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner Fischler, I am convinced that people have good reason to look forward to enlargement. It remains true, though, that they also harbour many fears, and we must take those fears seriously and allay them wherever we can. Regional policy is an important means of dispelling such fears. It can and must help to prevent or eliminate inequalities, injustices and anomalies within the EU. It must not, however, encourage or sow the seeds of new injustices. For this reason, we take a similar view to that expressed by the previous speaker, Mr Berend, in opposing any European regional policy that simply induces companies to relocate. People will not understand or support a Europe that rewards companies for shifting jobs from one region and then only providing the same number of jobs elsewhere because we are subsidising the relocation. Another point we have to bear in mind is that EU support funds must not be used to subsidise drastic tax cuts in recipient countries. Solidarity is a noble value, but it must be mutual, and some of us will quickly recognise that, by promoting tax dumping, we could well besawing off the branch on which we sit.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, the first sentence of paragraph 19 is translated incorrectly in the German version. What our rapporteur Alain Lamassoure actually says in his own language is that the Union's own competences must remain small in number. In German, it says here that the Union's own competences must remain limited. That means something different. If the Union has a competence in the area of customs policy, this competence is full and not limited. The German version should therefore state: '.. takes the view that the number of own competences of the Union must remain limited'. I would ask for this correction to be made.

Political group: PSE
Madam President, I have a point of order concerning the death penalty in the United States. I should like to ask you, if you have not already done so, to write to the President of the United States, Mr Bush, to ask that the death sentence against Tim McVeigh, the extreme right-wing terrorist bomber in Oklahoma, be commuted to life imprisonment. This is on the basis of our longstanding opposition to the death penalty in the United States but in this particular case it is reinforced by the increasing evidence that the bombing was not carried out by a crazed lone bomber but as part of a conspiracy by the extreme right-wing Aryan Republic Army. To execute him at this stage would be to frustrate the search for truth and justice and serve the interests and ideology of the very people implicated in the crime. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
We abstained from the vote on this proposal even though we are firmly convinced that a policy of exchange and cooperation between different countries in the field of education would contribute to improving the quality of education by promoting the intermixing of cultures and exchanges between the peoples living in Europe. Such a policy would only be a factor in progress, however, if it were based on an education policy within the various states which aims to earmark greater resources for public education accessible to all. At no point in the texts, though, is this priority stated, but more especially, in none of the countries of the European Union is it applied. We are concerned that a number of phrases are indicative of a restrictive and utilitarian concept of a form of cooperation whose objectives would be dictated by the constraints of the market and initiatives by firms or private bodies looking for a workforce they could train and qualify according to their requirements. Introducing the laws of the market into education, however, means keeping the best quality for a minority and allowing the quality for the majority to deteriorate. We therefore voted in favour of the amendments warning against allowing the market to play too great a part in education.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, I also wish to thank the Commission for this proposal and to congratulate Mrs Stihler on an excellent report on a very important subject. It is an area that touches upon many aspects of health and consumer policy. Thousands of women who have had problems have contacted the European Parliament and want us to express an opinion on the dangers associated with silicone breast implants. This shows that those who carry out these operations are not always reliable and that there is an extreme lack of information. The image, often presented in advertisements, of how young women should look – all slim waists and large breasts – means that there is a considerable increase in the number of breast implants carried out on very young women. The weekly magazines fuel this trend by showing ‘before and after’ pictures. It is therefore high time that, as responsible politicians, we protected patients by beginning to bring some order to this very confused area. I completely agree with Mrs Stihler that this is only a step in that direction. I believe that many more binding commitments are required on the part of those who carry out these implants. What I think is the most important part of the proposal is the ‘18 years’ old’ limit whereby non-medical implants are to be prohibited in the case of girls under 18 years of age. The proposal that surgeons and clinics must issue guarantees is also important. Unlike my colleagues, I think that registration at both national and EU levels is justified. When there is insufficient research, a register is needed. I am very satisfied with the report. We, the Group of the , fully support the report and the amendments tabled.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, the fact is, and I can only endorse what my colleagues have just said, that we are running a considerable risk of missing the goal and failing to create a multi-ethnic Kosovo, which was our goal, and of creating a ethnically pure Kosovo, i.e. a purely Albanian Kosovo just before we reach that goal. Mr Posselt, you are right in your criticism. In this very House, Mrs Pack and many others including myself have for years pointed out what could happen in Kosovo if we continue to look on and thereby contribute to Rugova being frozen out. When we were in Kosovo a short while ago – the President of this House and Mrs Pack -, we saw that where “ethnic cleansing” occurred, the situation is going fairly well. But where the ethnic groups meet, the conflicts are very acute and they have become more acute. It is unacceptable that if Serbs or Albanians need to go to hospital, they actually run a risk of being more injured once they get there than they would have been before they got to hospital. The language of the international community must be clear here. It is unacceptable that every Albanian who has a liberal, open attitude, like the former speaker of the delegation at Rambouillet, is threatened because he speaks out in favour of the Serbs, the Roma, the Sinti and other ethnic groups being accepted in his country. As was already mentioned, it also has to do with the fact that we unfortunately have Albanian politicians in Kosovo who do not conduct policy that is geared to the future structure, but are working in a one-sided way according to which side they are on. It was the speaker of the delegation in Rambouillet who made a great impression on us when he said: “Ask an Albanian politician any minor date, any minor event in history and he will tell you a lot about it. If you ask him how the social security system of the future will be extended, you will not find anyone who can give you an answer”. So it is all the more important – and I should like to stress this – that UNMIK and Bernard Kouchner make rapid progress in setting up a government. The government must of course have contact with the population. It must work together with the population. But it must also examine very carefully who it is and then it must become clear and unambiguous that it is the UN that is also at stake along with its mandate and its authority and of course the European Union as well. We must help the Albanian population to build a multi-ethnic society. That is the great task before us. The battle for freedom in Kosovo has not yet been won. There is still a lot to do! (Applause)

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I wish to take the opportunity of talking about girls’ education, for without girls’ education there is no equality for women. Our fellow MEP, Mrs Martens, also mentioned that UNICEF’s report, ‘The State of the World's Children, 2004’, published last week, really does make frightening reading. We give pledge after pledge, for example in the millennium declaration. Following the UN Special Session on Children, we undertook to reduce the difference between girls and boys where illiteracy is concerned and to giving girls good access to education. We have had the fast track initiatives within the World Bank’s Development Committee, but what is happening? Today, we know that more than 120 million children have no schooling. Fifteen per cent of all boys and 21% of all girls do not go to school. In South-East Asia and in the countries south of the Sahara, the situation is particularly painful. Under the World Bank’s fast track initiatives, the developed countries approved a USD 326 million funding plan last year, but, to date, only USD 207 million has been given by way of appropriations. This means a funding deficit of nearly USD 118 million in a year and a half. We have not fulfilled our pledges. It is we in the developed countries who have not done our part. The developing countries have put forward their plans and done what they should have done. Among the EU countries, Italy allocates only 0.3% and Germany only 2.1% of their aid budgets to development. It is really only the Netherlands that has fulfilled its pledges to the world’s children. How will matters stand after all the declarations and, in particular, following the UN Special Session on Children, at which young people themselves were present and demanded the right to education? The sums concerned are, after all, small in comparison with those entailed in many other pledges. I believe that the EU and the Commission combined should get their act together and fulfil their pledges made, for example, within the World Bank.

Political group: ELDR
Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, agricultural production of the conventional kind uses more and more chemical substances, additives, auxiliary substances, antibiotics and hormones – I could go on – and our food processing plants resemble chemical factories rather than food production facilities. In this situation, supervision at the final stage and the setting of upper limits are no longer adequate measures. What matters is that we have supervision over the process as a whole. Interestingly enough, supervision of the process as a whole is laid down in the order concerning conventional, organic farming. So, in an area where production holds no dangers, we have supervision of the process as a whole, and quite rightly too. I support that as well. In the other areas, however, we do not have such controls. This kind of final-stage supervision is a direct invitation to criminal wheelings and dealings. Meanwhile, opportunities are taken to blend substances, something which – we must suppose – has led to the systematic addition of toxic substances in the field of feedingstuffs. This must be changed. The second point I should like to address is the need to restore the close relationship between producer and consumer. There is no place for anonymity. I tell you that if I were to behave on my farm in the way that much of industry, including the food industry, does, people would not come back; or, if they did, it would be with a stick in order to teach me a lesson! Then I would have no more customers. This close relationship between producer and consumer, together with responsibility on the part of the consumer for his or her own behaviour, must be restored.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Through this report, the European Parliament is delivering its assessment of the second updates of the original stability and convergence programmes established by the Member States in 1999. Instead of encouraging a change of direction in the economic guidelines we follow, however, the downward revision of the economic growth rate and the slowdown of the world economy are calling for more of the same: to pursue and step up fiscal prudence, especially the reduction of public expenditure and wage moderation as a means of guaranteeing the objective of price stability, to which the European Union is, unacceptably, continuing to subordinate all its economic guidelines and social policies. The rapporteur adheres closely to this philosophy, following the Lisbon strategy, in particular the objective of creating, within a decade, the world’s most dynamic and competitive economy. It is, therefore, not surprising that he calls for wage moderation and links the establishment of 'suitable wage policies' to tax reductions, which is in line “with the structural changes intended to increase flexibility and competitiveness in all factor, product and labour markets” and that he considers that “structural reforms and liberalisation” can make a “decisive contribution” to the objective outlined in Lisbon. I have therefore voted against this report. It is nevertheless worth pointing out something positive, which is the rapporteur’s approach to investment, particularly the importance of public investment, which was completely ignored by the Commission, with regard to a variable that is crucial for the sustainability of economic growth and for creating employment.

Political group: GUE-NGL
Thank you, Mr Vitorino, for the information you have given me. The problem we have today is that every week approximately 100 illegal immigrants are reaching the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The operation seems to consist of getting hold of a supply ship from somewhere and than putting the immigrants onto small boats which take them to the coast. Some make it, others drown, and the process goes on and on. The Commissioner’s response is that there is no Community action, but that it is hoped that the neighbouring countries will control immigration. But the fact is that this immigration is taking place. My supplementary question is as follows: a couple of weeks ago, the Mayor of the city of Las Palmas bought 200 one-way air tickets for illegal immigrants who were there and they flew to Madrid. The Mayor of Madrid, who is from the same party, was not very happy. Does the Commissioner believe that, if this immigration continues in this way, this would be the way to proceed, i.e. that the Canarian local authorities should pay for one-way tickets for illegal immigrants, because there is no more space on the islands, or do you believe that there is another possible solution, which would not make this air link for immigrants between the Canaries and the European continent necessary?

Political group: PSE