GwendalTsang/DEFT09-parquet huggingface dataset:
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Maystadt, President of the European Investment Bank. My colleague, Olle Schmidt, the rapporteur, has already expressed the opinion of the Committee on Economic Affairs on the annual report of the EIB and has presented proposals which, according to our committee, would improve its operation and also meet the need to provide it with greater resources to fulfil its commitments. I would like to draw your attention to a very specific and topical point. In Laeken it was agreed that the EIB would carry out a study to create a financial instrument or institution which would guarantee that, in terms of the cooperation between the European Union and the third countries of the Mediterranean, the level of use of resources responds to the effectiveness and possibilities for development cooperation that the situation demands. We know that in the Mediterranean, in the medium term, very serious conflicts may arise with the European Union itself, and that in order to ensure our own peace and stability in the future it is necessary to strengthen this cooperation and ensure better application of resources which, according to the experience of the first MEDA programme, has only been 30%. Therefore, this initiative agreed at Laeken, of presenting a proposal or alternatives to increase the level of application, seems to us absolutely essential and urgent. Also, if this could be consolidated at the next meeting of the Special Council of Barcelona, we believe that it would be even more appropriate, because the whole issue of development cooperation with the Mediterranean was born in 1995 in Barcelona, under the Spanish Presidency. The current Presidency of the Council has also considered the issue of cooperation with the Mediterranean to be an urgent priority and we decisively support this initiative.

Political group: ELDR
Madam President, today is not a day for delivering eulogies, nor is it a day when we should be saying that the law – European law – has been broken. The procedures are clearly described in the Maastricht Treaty, and they are echoed in the Stability Pact. Each has its part to play – the Commission just as much as the Council of Finance Ministers. The fact that they do not absolutely have to agree in their assessments has something to do with the way in which everyone stresses the need for the Pact to be adhered to and our need for rules, without it being clear how effective a pact of this kind can be when it deals only with sanctions for when things are going badly and makes no provision for the Commission to have a role when things are going well. The Pact is defective not only in that the Commission has no role when things are going well, but also in that it highlights only the difficulties that the Member States face in times of recession. Are not, though, the effects of a three-year period of stagnation, which has shaken and battered Europe’s major national economies in particular, ultimately every bit as bad as a recession? Today, I believe, we also have to emphasise that the Pact has, indeed, demonstrated its effectiveness and so we can set about reforming it without qualms. Any reform must involve the Commission abolishing its rigid procedures for cyclical adjustment and allowing itself to be judged using the methods chosen by the International Monetary Fund. If it did, perhaps our debates would be quite different, as we also have to bear in mind that the figures at issue between the Council of Finance Ministers and the Commission in the cases of France and Germany, even with the error rates in our statistics, relate only to a gap of 0.2%. What we really need now, I believe, is an in-depth debate on the reform of the Stability Pact; above all else, I believe that we have to combine a genuine definition not only of monetary stability but also of financial soundness, with growth and with social stability. That, rather than austerity alone, is the challenge that Europe faces.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I wanted, all the same, to respond to our fellow Member who took the liberty of addressing Parliament on an issue which is only an issue for French internal policy. I would like to stress that it is not acceptable for Members of the European Parliament to interfere in a country’s internal politics. It is good to draw attention to this rule, especially at a time when Europe in general, and Parliament in particular, is criticised for meddling in everything. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, we evidently need major disasters to illustrate how much a too fragmented Europe is still failing in its ability to shoulder responsibility. The coalition against terrorism will not function properly if the central player, the United States, is surrounded by only fifteen satellites. Unfortunately, the European Union has in certain ways still not outgrown the satellite stage. That particularly applies to the second and third pillars, which are precisely pertinent when we consider international terrorism. Wherever matters are regulated well at community level (the first pillar), things are much better. In other words: Europe is good at paying, but not good at making decisions. That was evident in Bosnia and is now again evident in the fight against international terrorism. The Union is often not very visible, and I am also delighted that Mr Verhofstadt has explained how seriously he has taken the irregularities that have taken place on this score in Ghent. That is why we are happy to encourage the Council to give Europe a clear profile in terms of foreign and security policy as soon as possible. Moreover, the willingness to make the necessary Community changes in terms of justice and internal affairs is also leaving something to be desired. I am pleased to hear from the President-in-Office of the Council that there is wide agreement among the Heads of Government about the fact that measures must be taken. Reprehensible, however, are the improper objections which are being lodged by some Ministers for Justice, for example, the Minister in the Netherlands, about Europe’s interference in major issues at national political level, such as, in respect of, the policy of tolerance with regard to drugs, the policy on euthanasia and such like. That is not at issue at all. Mr Vitorino, too, has made it abundantly clear that he is closely monitoring subsidiarity on this score. If the aim of the Ministers is to protect their own official or ministerial scope, then the public will not be served by that. I would therefore like to warmly congratulate the Council with its statement that our policy to the outside world, also in the framework of globalisation, must be ensconced in ethical, social and ecological standards and must take account of Third World interests.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we have an excellent framework directive on water, stipulating that water management should be conducted in terms of individual river basins. This sound ecological principle is enshrined in European law. The Spanish government tried in vain to block this framework directive on water because of its National Hydrological Plan. This megalomaniac and wrong-headed plan of the Aznar government aims to pipe water from the River Ebro over 900 kilometres down the coast to Southern Spain. The cost will be in excess of EUR 18 billion between now and 2008. The Aznar government wants Europe to give an annual subsidy of EUR 1 billion. This injudicious plan contravenes both the spirit and the letter of the framework directive on water. It contravenes the habitat directive on 82 counts and the birds directive on 108 counts. Of course the Aznar government will label this plan a national economic priority, but it will also have to prove to the European Commission that there are no alternatives. However, there are alternatives! Desalination of brackish and salt water will be 50% cheaper for Central and Southern Spain than the Aznar plan, and apart from that is much more flexible, small-scale, and demand-oriented. Another method would be to introduce cost-covering prices for water and to irrigate plants individually rather than submerging the fields and allowing between 90% and 95% of the precious water to evaporate. Israel provides a good example of this. This is why the European Commission should reject the Aznar plan and stop the flow of EU funds into it. This Aznar plan is 200 times worse than the plan for an industrial estate between Aachen and Heerlen. On the German-Dutch border the European Commission has rightly cut off the flow of EU funds because of the threat to the hamster population. Surely it cannot be that the European Commission as the Guardian of the Treaties is operating a double standard? Is the Commission aware that the Aznar government asked 83 Spanish scientists to carry out studies into this injudicious water plan and that that same government is now refusing to publish results it deems unfavourable? Does the Commission approve of 60 villages in Spain being wiped off the map? Does the European Commission find it acceptable that a landslide could dislocate the operation of the Itoiz dam and threaten the Ascó nuclear power station?

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I believe the change made by Mrs Maes is a very judicious one. The term “political autonomy” had thrown me. What does it mean? But as Mrs Maes now points out that it should read a certain level of cultural autonomy, I can go along with that. My recommendation with regard to this amendment was negative at first, but I would now like to change this into a positive one. (Parliament gave its assent to considering the oral amendment ) (Parliament adopted the resolution) *** Report (A5-0248/2000) by Mr Queiró, on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy, on the European Parliament resolution on Hungary's membership application to the European Union and the state of negotiations (COM(1999) 505 – C5-0028/2000 – 1997/2175(COS)) - Before the start of the vote President. – Mr Queiró wishes to table an oral amendment, in his capacity as rapporteur.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I am sorry but the fact is that technology is not always up to scratch here. I wanted to inform you, as regards Amendment No 8(2), that I propose to replace the words ‘all steps’ contained in the original text with the words ‘steps’. This would enable us to hold a joint vote. (The President established that there were no objections to the oral amendment) Before the vote on paragraph 11:

Political group: PSE
We voted in favour of this text as it was following the modifications proposed by the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy. And we voted against all the amendments that could endanger or restrict the giving of blood on a voluntary and non profit-making basis. We only regret that the report does not envisage a formal obligation for companies to grant their employees the necessary time in order to give blood and to remove the bureaucratic authorisation procedures that discourage those with good intentions. We are opposed to the whole economic system that is driven by profit. Profit made directly or indirectly from trade in human organs, cells or tissues, is one of the most despicable manifestations of this system, an expression of the fact that society has not come out of barbarism.

Political group: GUE-NGL
I would firstly like to ask you to communicate my comments to the President of Parliament and secondly I spoke about the second reply, which is new, and which is for this sitting. It is not the previous one, it is a new one, they have rejected a modified question for the second time. In any event, I would ask you to communicate my comments to the President of Parliament in their entirety so that he may act accordingly, because I do not wish to create any disorder here. I defend the Members’ legitimate right to deal with the problems affecting them and, in any event, affecting humanity.

Political group: Verts-ALE
Mr President, I regret that this House has been unable to adopt a clear position on Iraq. I would therefore like to state my position for the record. I consider this war to be illegal, immoral and politically counterproductive. I also believe that we must use the current crisis in foreign and security policy to unite Europe in foreign and security policy, not against the USA but as a self-assured partner; sadly we are still not that today, and it is our own fault.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, we have just heard from the lips of Mr Gorostiaga a defence of murder as a method for resolving political conflicts. I believe this is entirely unacceptable. I would add something else: a colleague of Mr Gorostiaga, the Mayor of Andoain, has refused to condemn this murder before all his citizens. I do not therefore accept this kind of argument. And I would say that, at this time, in the Spanish Basque Country the problem is not that there is a political conflict, but that there is a group who believe that murder is a legitimate method. And, since we are in the European Union, I draw your attention to the fact that in the Spanish Basque Country, which is the most autonomous of the European Union’s autonomous regions, municipal elections are planned in which many citizens cannot participate since they are in danger of being murdered, like Joseba Pagazaurtundua. (Applause)

Political group: PSE
In every industry which is not tied to one location, some employers try to get people from other states to do the work for low wages. This could mean that the financial administration is contracted out to India, that supermarkets have clothes made in the Philippines or that lorries are driven in western Europe using Bulgarian or Lithuanian drivers. Free competition provides companies that pursue the lowest possible costs and the highest possible profits with major advantages. They take away other companies’ market shares, even if this is at the expense of employment, the environment or animal welfare. As long as the authorities do not act against this, the worst companies retain the best chances of survival. In freight transport, this means that freight companies will use Eastern European drivers outside of their own Member State, and thereby avoid paying tax. Both the remuneration and the working conditions are unacceptable. We have had to wait for too long for the introduction of a driver’s attestation showing the driving licence number and social security number of the person concerned. I accept the fact that this will first apply to lorry drivers from outside the EU, but from 2004 their areas of origin might well form part of the EU. An effective control system will require the attestation then also to be introduced for lorry drivers who are based in the EU. - Zappalà report (A5-0378/2001)

Political group: GUE-NGL
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, honourable Members, it is a fact that Greece is taking over the helm of the European Union at a crucial turning point for the European Union, both at home and abroad. We are on the brink of the biggest enlargement in the history of the Union, an enlargement which puts an end to a division which has lasted fifty years. We are about to draft a European constitution and strengthen our institutions, in order to guarantee the continuing cohesion of Europe, even after the ten new countries have joined, and ensure that it continues to operate as a political union so that it can achieve its objective, which is greater and greater unification of the nations of Europe. The Convention has called for more Europe on numerous occasions and the Greek Presidency will put the finishing touches to this structure in Thessaloniki in June. Europe is also in the middle of a very serious downturn in the economy. The global economy is in recession, but that is nothing new. The economic depression in Europe has lasted at least ten years. Europe has resisted an inspired strategy, the Lisbon strategy. And now this strategy is also in danger of being washed away by the recession. I think that Greece, a country whose economy has recovered thanks to a programme of reform carried out on its own initiative, and a country which has achieved rates of growth putting it at the forefront of the European Union and has used this process to bring about a positive revolution in the agricultural sector, and a country which now has a first-world rather than a third-world economy, thanks also, of course, to the common agricultural policy, is now well prepared to breathe new life into the Lisbon process, which it badly needs if it is to survive. In addition, Greece, as a country on the borders of Europe, has always linked trade between east and west and it can do the same now; it understands better than anyone else that the economies of eastern Europe have the potential to become a driving force behind the economy of the Fifteen. These creative prospects cannot be reversed. We are not going to cancel enlargement and we are not going to stop drafting a European constitution. Their beneficial results, however, may be delayed if we have to deal with war with Iraq. I agree with my honourable friend Mr Poettering that nuclear weapons cannot be left in irresponsible hands. But nor can they be left in responsible hands, Mr Poettering. There are no hands responsible enough for these terrifying, apocalyptic weapons we have armed ourselves with. We do not know what is going to happen in Iraq. But we do know that the President-in-Office of the Council is the only European leader who has had the unfortunate privilege of dealing with the danger of his country’s becoming involved in a catastrophic war. He managed to avert that war. I trust the experience he gained will help him do as much for the war which is threatening the entire planet as we speak.

Political group: PSE
Mr President, I voted for the Maaten report approximating the provisions on the sale of tobacco products. It is a well-known fact that diseases caused by smoking tobacco reduce the number of pensioners because they reduce life-expectancy. I can therefore only support this directive which, although intended to regulate the internal market, also limits or seeks to limit the harm caused by cigarette smoke to the people of the European Union. I would also add that I support that part of the proposal which calls for harmful tobacco products not to be sold outside the European Union. It is true that in doing this we would be reducing our production for export, but it is also true that the European Union would be acquiring the reputation of selling healthy products, and that can only be a good thing.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, on behalf of my group and on behalf of Jean Lambert, I want to warmly congratulate the rapporteur on her report. We fully support Mrs Oomen-Ruijten's approach, including the way she handled the legal basis. I think it important that agreements reached by way of European coordination now also apply to third-country nationals. Speaking quite honestly, it is a scandal that such was not already the case, in view of the fact that these people do indeed pay taxes and social security contributions, but then find themselves falling between two stools when working across frontiers. Parliament has already expressed its desire that the Tampere conclusions should be transposed into real action in a similar way as regards the rights of third-country nationals. The regulation that we are now discussing has to do with cross-border working, but the others, a naturally far larger category, also have to have their social rights secured in the same way as those of workers originating from the European Union. My group hopes that the struggle that must still be engaged in will lead to the necessary consensus being reached in this House.

Political group: Verts-ALE
First, I should like to thank the Commissioner for her response. I would like to make a special reference to the people of Ireland. Remembering that funding of any kind of abortion is unconstitutional and illegal in Ireland and that so-called safe abortion is included within this development aid programme, yet also remembering that Ireland has the lowest level of maternal mortality in the world – two in every 100 000 births – what is the response of the Commission to the majority of Irish citizens who are deeply concerned at this unconstitutional use of Irish tax-payers' money?

Political group: PPE-DE
The Republic of Austria’s initiative, motivated by a need to respond to ‘a dramatic increase in asylum applicants’ in that country, ‘contrary to the European trend’, fits into the logic of building ‘Fortress Europe’. The initiative aimed to produce a list of third countries which qualify as safe for the purpose of taking the responsibility for examining an application for asylum, on the assumption that the country responsible for studying an application was the country where the applicant entered the Union. Of the countries on the proposed list, Switzerland is the only non-EU Member State and non-Schengen country. It can therefore be deduced that Austria’s immediate targets were the EU candidate countries with which it shares a border. As the rapporteur points out, however, there is a fundamental principle at stake here, namely that the Geneva Convention allows any applicant for asylum to have his or her case individually examined. Even if a list of ‘safe third states’ could be established, therefore, an application for asylum could not be automatically rejected because of the provisions of the Geneva Convention. Besides, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, a regulation would not be the right instrument to use in relation to such a vital aspect of the sovereignty of the Member States.

Political group: GUE-NGL
I think Dante will turn over in his grave at hearing himself compared to Mr Fatuzzo, but thank you in any case, Mr President. I have to say that I voted for the Gröner report on a new impetus for European youth, page 8 of which tells us that Mr Gröner is of the opinion that political parties should do their bit to involve young people too, in particular encouraging them to stand for political appointments at local, national and European level. I agree with this, Mr President, but there is one problem: how am I going to get young people to stand for the Pensioners’ Party? That is the first question which springs to mind. The answer, Mr President, is that the Pensioners’ Party has a section called ‘Young people for pensioners’, and it has a great many young members on its books and in the assemblies where it has been elected. Thank you for allowing me to make this point, which I could not omit to do on this occasion.

Political group: PPE-DE
Mr President, only a strengthened Europe can cope with enlargement. Only a strengthened Europe is immune to political opportunists who exploit dissatisfaction. That is why sweeping reforms are necessary and, hence, a widened IGC agenda. The Finnish Presidency only listened to minimalist governments and, unfortunately, turned a deaf ear to this Parliament. Portugal should not take a leaf out its predecessor’s book. It is of the utmost importance that the European Parliament and the Commission join forces for this IGC. In many ways, they share the same interests and the same insights. An essential component of this joint effort should, in any case, be this Parliament’s right of assent to the forthcoming changes to the Treaty. Of all priorities, this one is the most pressing. What is the Commission’s verdict on this? It also means that our Parliament President and the two representatives should be able to take part on an equal political footing and, therefore, not only within the working party, but also at the same political level as the Commission. There is no reason whatsoever why representatives directly elected by citizens should be involved in talks at a lower level than the Commission. Not only do we owe the sweeping reforms to the new Member States, but we owe them to ourselves. If we allow Europe to be watered down as a result of enlargement, we will drown in our own political quagmire.

Political group: ELDR