ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
A.

whereas Noura Hussein Hammad was forced by her family to marry Abdulrahman Hammad when she was a child of 16; whereas Noura has stated that she was first raped by her husband with the assistance of members of his family; whereas, according to her testimony, on 2 May 2017, three men held Noura Hussein down while Abdulrahman raped her; whereas Noura stabbed her husband to death in self-defence when he attempted to rape her again the following day; whereas a subsequent medical examination indicated that she had also been injured during the struggle with her husband;
M.

whereas the French National Assembly published a report in October 2016 following its bipartisan fact-finding mission to investigate the extraterritorial effects of certain US laws, including FATCA, recommending that the French Government either negotiate an amendment to its tax treaty with the US or request that US legislators amend US laws in order to allow French ‘accidental Americans’ to exit the US system and relinquish their unwanted US citizenship on a no-fees, no-filings, no-penalties basis; whereas a commission was recently set up specifically to look into the extraterritorial taxation of French ‘accidental Americans’ by the US, and resolutions were tabled in November 2017 in both the Senate and the National Assembly on this particular issue; whereas on 15 May 2018 the French Senate adopted a resolution, by unanimous vote, inviting the government to take immediate measures to ensure that the right of French ‘accidental Americans’ to a bank account is respected, that the discriminatory practices adopted by French banks in the wake of FATCA cease, and that an information campaign is launched immediately to inform French citizens living in the US about the implications of US nationality and tax laws; whereas the resolution requests furthermore that a strong diplomatic effort be made to find a solution for French ‘accidental Americans’ that would allow them to relinquish their unwanted US citizenship on a no-fees, no-filings, no-penalties basis and that the US honour its promise of reciprocity pursuant to which France agreed to sign its IGA;
31.

Deplores the fact that in many countries affected by land grabbing, effective access to justice and remedy for indigenous peoples and pastoralists is limited owing to weak governance and because their land rights are often not formally recognised under local or national legal frameworks; notes, for example, that grazing rights and common pastures are traditional land-use rights based on common law and not on vested ownership rights; urges partner countries to recognise and protect pastoralists’ and indigenous peoples’ rights, notably to customary ownership and control of their lands and natural resources as set out in the UNDRIP and ILO Convention No 169, i.e. by enabling collective registration of land use and by putting in place policies aimed at ensuring more equitable access to land; calls for the EU and its Member States to actively support partner countries in this and in applying the principle of free, prior and informed consent to large-scale land acquisitions, as set out in the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests and in compliance with international human rights law; calls for the EU, furthermore, to support partner countries in improving their land ownership legislation by recognising the universal right of women to have access to land as full owners;
10.

Welcomes the progress made in judicial reform aimed at increasing the independence, accountability, professionalism and efficiency of the country’s judicial institutions and at improving people’s trust in judicial bodies; regrets that the administration of justice continues to be slow and inefficient; notes that the re-evaluation process for all judges and prosecutors has delivered the first tangible results; welcomes the fact that a majority of priority dossiers have already been processed; calls on the Albanian authorities, however, to further advance the impartial vetting process, without compromising on quality or fairness; stresses the importance that the vetting process be implemented in line with the highest international standards and encourages Albania to continue its close cooperation with the International Monitoring Operation; takes note of the first dismissals and voluntary resignations of candidates prior to their hearings; considers in this light that the preparation of the next generation of judges and prosecutors is even more important and regrets therefore that political parties in Albania have so far not reached an agreement on the necessary amendments to the law on the status of judges and prosecutors with regard to a higher capacity of recruitment and training; encourages adequate financial and human resources to be continuously provided to the vetting institutions;
5.

Notes with interest the Council Conclusions regarding the possible launching of contacts with regional and international partners to explore the possibility of establishing a contact group; recalls, in this regard, that the role of international mediation or a contact facilitator group must be unbiased and be accepted by both sides; considers that the aim of this exploratory contact group should be to contribute to finding a democratic and political solution to the Venezuelan conflict by peaceful means, decided solely by the Venezuelan people; underlines to the VP/HR that, while exploring the possibility of launching the contact group, contacts need to be made with legitimate representatives of the Venezuelan democratic opposition in order to verify whether there is a majority in favour of such an initiative;
13.

Stresses that the Serbian Parliament still does not exercise effective oversight of the executive, and that the transparency, inclusiveness and quality of the legislative process need to be further improved; welcomes the declining use of urgent procedures to adopt legislation; stresses, however, that the still-frequent use of urgent procedures undermines parliamentary and public scrutiny; stresses that all actions that limit the ability of the Serbian Parliament to conduct an effective debate on, and scrutiny of, legislation should be avoided; stresses the importance of the work of the opposition in a democracy and underlines that its politicians should not be subject to slander and libel; expresses concern that some politicians are misusing public discourse to fuel the rise of radicalism; calls for additional measures to ensure cross-party dialogue and effective involvement of civil society; calls on the Serbian Parliament to review the practice of filibustering and whether it stifles democratic debate; welcomes the Serbian Parliament’s continued efforts to improve transparency through debates on Serbia’s negotiating positions on EU accession chapters, and through exchanges with the core negotiating team and with the National Convention on the European Union; stresses that the role of independent regulatory bodies, including the country’s Ombudsperson, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the National Audit Authority and the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, needs to be fully acknowledged and supported; calls for the Serbian Parliament to engage in the implementation of independent regulatory bodies’ findings and recommendations, notably those of the Ombudsperson; recalls that one of the pillars of the European social model is social dialogue and that regular consultation between the government and social partners is instrumental in the prevention of social tension and conflict; underlines that it is essential for social dialogue to go beyond the exchange of information and that interested parties should be consulted on important laws before they are subject to parliamentary procedure;
Q.

whereas, according to Article 2(4) of the APPI, ‘personal data’ means personal information constituting a personal information database, etc; whereas Article 2(1) of the APPI specifies that the information in such databases is systematically arranged, similarly to the concept of a filing system under Article 2(1)of the GDPR; whereas according to Article 4(1) of the GDPR, ‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person; whereas an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an online identifier, or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person; whereas in order to determine whether a natural person is identifiable, account should be taken of all the means reasonably likely to be used, such as singling out, either by the controller or by another person, to identify the natural person directly or indirectly;
7.

Points to the launch of the petitions network on 21 March 2017, attended by members from all parliamentary committees, at which the network’s guidelines were presented and its purpose and the role of its members outlined; is convinced that, if taken seriously, the petitions network is a useful tool for a better follow-up of petitions in parliamentary and legislative work; emphasises the importance of the network in raising awareness among the members about citizens’ concerns submitted to Parliament by means of a petition, and in discussing possible procedural improvements and sharing best practices; stresses that closer contact between the committees may improve efficiency in planning hearings and parliamentary studies on similar subjects; looks forward to the publication of the study by Parliament’s Policy Department C on the current functioning of the cooperation of the different committees with the Committee on Petitions; underlines the fact that enhanced cooperation with parliamentary committees on issues raised by petitioners should enable Parliament to provide a better and individualised follow-up to petitions and respond much more swiftly and efficiently to citizens’ concerns, delivering added value to the lives of EU citizens and residents, and to the activities of Parliament and Europe as a whole;
6.

Stresses the importance of providing entrepreneurs, in particular SMEs, with more information and education on credit and invoice management; recalls that effective credit management shortens the average collection period and therefore maintains an optimal cash flow, thus reducing the risk of default and increasing the potential for growth; believes that officials in public administrations should also receive training and that education and support may also make SMEs more likely to take advantage of Late Payment Directive remedies; notes that SMEs unfortunately often lack the capacity to invest in training and that there are currently no programmes at EU or national level focusing on enhancing businesses’ knowledge of credit and invoice management; believes that more EU funds should possibly be directed towards the financial education of SMEs and therefore urges Member States’ authorities to step up their efforts in providing further training for SMEs in credit management; considers, furthermore, that training and support should also include guidelines for recovery of overdue payments in cross-border transactions, and therefore calls on the Commission to continue integrating these guidelines and other useful information, such as the rights and instruments available to entrepreneurs in legal disputes with debtors, in the ‘Your Europe’ information portal and ensuring support for business through the European Enterprises Network;
14.

Points out that solidarity must be the principle upon which Union action on migration is based, and condemns those Member States that act in clear breach of that principle; calls on the Council to press on with the reform of the Dublin Regulation, which it is currently blocking, thus preventing the European Common Asylum System from working properly; stresses that Member States should go ahead with putting in place a combination of protection-related schemes, such as resettlement and humanitarian admission, which can give persons in need of international protection the option of entering the EU to seek asylum there; encourages Member States to facilitate the granting of humanitarian visas and regular mobility schemes to promote legal and safe pathways to the EU, especially for persons in need of protection, and to guarantee their access to services and their fundamental rights, regardless of their status; underlines that Member States must take responsibility for externalising EU migration policies, including cooperating with third countries in which the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported common serious human rights violations and abuses; takes the view that the Union should play a key role in global resettlement efforts; recalls that any action undertaken by a Member State when acting within the scope of EU law must respect the rights and principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights; calls on Member States to effectively ensure the individual right to asylum and to accept relocation of refugees from Member States most affected by large numbers of arrivals; also calls on Member States to respect the principle of non-refoulement and to introduce adequate procedural safeguards in their asylum and border procedures; strongly denounces the fact that some Member States do not comply with EU asylum and return legislation and violate the rights of migrants and asylum seekers, for example by failing to provide effective access to asylum procedures, failing to give clear information on legal remedies following a return decision, depriving migrants and asylum seekers of food, or practising automatic and systematic detention;
14.

Notes that the FATCA framework of the United States is being implemented within the Union through bilateral intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) negotiated between the United States and each Member State; regrets the lack of response from the Member States to solve the problems reported by the citizens affected by FATCA; emphasises the role of the Union in guaranteeing effective implementation of data protection rules in order to ensure high level of protection of EU citizens in terms of related fundamental rights; asks the Commission to work closely with the national data protection authorities in order to promote a fact-finding exercise to clarify the situation in the Member States concerning possible breaches of EU law on the protection of personal data; calls on the Commission, furthermore, in cooperation with the European Data Protection Board, to launch a country-based study in order to assess whether and to what extent IGAs concerning FATCA respect the right to privacy of EU citizens; emphasises that the Member States should prevent discrimination against consumers legally resident in the Union, regardless if they are considered or not as ‘US persons’ and, if they are of the importance of their economic and personal ties with the United States;
43.

Recalls the need to promote the European dimension of the European parliamentary elections with view to contributing to Parliament’s potential future work by exercising its right of legislative initiative under Article 225 TFUE; calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen their efforts to promote citizens’ rights among European citizens, including those related to voting rights; underlines that better and more focused information on European policies and on the impact of EU legislation on citizens’ daily lives would improve the turnout in the European elections; recalls the need to promote participation in the European elections by increasing the visibility of European political parties; reiterates that promoting participation in the European elections is a shared responsibility of citizens, Member States and the EU; emphasises the need to inform citizens about the recent reform of the electoral law and the Spitzenkandidat process; underlines the political importance and symbolism of this figure in terms of reinforcing EU citizenship;
3.

Underlines the need for the European Parliament to closely follow and monitor developments in Turkmenistan and the implementation of all parts of the PCA, once it enters into force; calls on the VP/HR, in this context, to implement and publicly commit to the human rights monitoring mechanism, allowing Parliament to be properly informed by the European External Action Service (EEAS) about the implementation of the PCA, once it enters into force, and, in particular, of its objectives and of compliance with Article 2, so that it can respond to developments on the ground in the event of documented and proven serious breaches of human rights; highlights the possibility of a mechanism to suspend the PCA should such cases occur and welcomes, in this respect, the VP/HR’s letter to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 16 December 2015, containing the following objectives: (i) ensuring that the European Parliament is properly informed about the implementation of the human rights and democratisation provisions of the PCA, including access to the relevant information on the development of the situations regarding human rights, democracy and the rule of law and that it is briefed upon request ahead of and following meetings of the Cooperation Council in a timely manner, subject to applicable confidentiality rules; (ii) closer interaction with the European Parliament and civil society in preparation for the annual Human Rights Dialogues, and debriefings; (iii) consultation with the European Parliament when preparing updates of the EU Human Rights Country Strategy for Turkmenistan;
A.

whereas Article 1 of the Commission delegated regulation proposes that Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 be amended to include a specific action related to ‘the establishment, development and operation of adequate reception and accommodation and detention facilities, and respective services, for applicants for international protection or third-country nationals who are present in a Member State and do not or no longer fulfil the conditions for entry and/or stay’;
7.

Welcomes, in this regard, the launch of the Constitutional Committee and the efforts of Geir O. Pedersen, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, which should provide a credible, balanced and inclusive basis for political process among Syrians that is free from external interference; calls for all the relevant actors from northeast Syria to be fully involved in this process; recalls that there can be no sustainable military solution to the conflict and calls on all parties thereto to comply in full with UNSC resolutions requiring the immediate cessation of hostilities, the lifting of all sieges, full and unhindered country-wide humanitarian access, and the protection of humanitarian aid workers by all parties; calls on the Member States to ask the UNSC once again to adopt a resolution which will allow the Council to act in a targeted manner, ultimately aiming at a UN-led security zone in northern Syria for the benefit of the people living there;
G.

whereas European integration has, from the start, been a response to the suffering inflicted by two world wars and by the Nazi tyranny that led to the Holocaust, and to the expansion of totalitarian and undemocratic communist regimes in central and eastern Europe, and a way to overcome deep divisions and hostility in Europe by cooperation and integration and to end war and secure democracy in Europe; whereas for the European countries that suffered under Soviet occupation and communist dictatorships, the enlargement of the EU, beginning in 2004, signifies their return to the European family to which they belong;
52.

Calls on the Member States to step up their cooperation and dialogue with third countries, with the aim of raising awareness and advocating for children’s rights to be respected everywhere in the world and for no child to be left behind; urges the EU and the Member States to work with partner countries and support the adoption and implementation of legislation, policies, budgets and programmes of action that are inclusive of all children and that include identifying all forms of discrimination and violence — including those based on age, gender and disability which are preventing individual children and groups of children from realising their rights — and taking or promoting the necessary actions to remove these barriers and ensure that the best interests of all children are given primary consideration;
10.

Stresses that the tourism services in tourism-based regions, and in particular hotels, had a scheduled provision of services with many reservations already in place for the next tourist season before the Thomas Cook Group collapsed, and therefore recognises the need for support from the Member States to deal with the negative impact that this has had on many businesses; encourages, moreover, the Member States and local and regional authorities to make use of the tools provided by the European Social Fund and other EU, national, regional and local instruments; calls on the Commission and the Member States to draw up, on a regular basis, specific calls for tender related to the tourism industry based on the priorities set out in the respective funds;
C.

whereas ACP-EU relations are of great importance, particularly at this juncture where the multilateral system is under strain and being called into question; whereas the Cotonou Agreement is a key element of our multilateral system given the number of states it unites and the content and structure of the partnership, and whereas the partnership should be afforded greater prominence and visibility in the United Nations and other global forums; whereas in 2015, the international community made major global commitments as part of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement and the Addis Ababa Agenda, and whereas ACP-EU cooperation will be essential in achieving these global objectives;
F.

whereas hours later, owing to the forced circumstances, an overwhelming majority of parliamentarians held an extraordinary meeting at the headquarters of the El Nacional newspaper, in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution and the rules of procedure of the National Assembly which allow for sessions to be held outside of the legislative premises; whereas 100 of the 167 parliamentarians, fulfilling the requirements governing the quorum condition and roll call vote of Article 221 of the Venezuelan Constitution, voted to re-elect Juan Guaidó and his Bureau as the leaders for the final year of the 2015-2020 term;
M.

whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) has stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute have been committed in Nigeria by Boko Haram and the Nigerian Security Forces (NSF), including murder and persecution; whereas in its 2019 Report on Preliminary Examinations, the ICC concludes that despite a number of steps taken by the Nigerian authorities towards ascertaining the criminal responsibility of alleged perpetrators, the investigative or prosecutorial steps undertaken to date in relation to members of Boko Haram and the NSF appear to have been limited both in scope and depth;