kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
madam president the recent arrests and killings of peaceful demonstrators and human rights defenders in the democratic republic of congo are of great concern.
in a country where human rights democracy and the rule of law are extremely under threat our support for strengthening civil society is crucial.
in the democratic republic of congo tens of thousands of children are working in mines for multinationals and militias are using them as soldiers.
human rights activists must be able to carry out their work for democracy equality social justice and the rule of law without fear.
we stand with the congolese people in their fight for democracy and peace.
but it is my strongly held view that from an environmental and public health perspective and now an economic perspective fracking should not be part of our energy mix in the eu.
apart from anything else we have just concluded a climate deal in paris which seeks to limit co two emissions into the atmosphere.
finally i want to say that i fully recognise and support that the energy mix for any member state is primarily a matter for that member state.
secondly this report clearly references the need to use best available technology and this clearly means that undergrounding should be part of the mix.
it is important that we have demand led targets rather than generating capacity targets as this could mean that we would have over building of infrastructure in certain regions.
indeed it mentions the need for local acceptance which is crucial to ensure that we can meet our interconnector targets.
firstly the report says that the ambitious energy targets should be agreed by the regions.
finally the process of conducting transparent assessments when leading to the list of projects of common interest is crucially important and should be carried out on a costneutral basis at arm's length from the promoters.
mr president i would like to take this opportunity to highlight an issue connected with infrastructure in scotland in particular the current closure of scotland's most important strategic asset the forth road bridge.
obviously this key piece of strategic infrastructure is the responsibility of the nationalist government in edinburgh but due to the economic impact this is having on scottish businesses commuters and other residents i would like to call on the commission for any action and assistance it may bring to scotland at this critical time.
that is why i support the call to the commission to focus its efforts to improve access to microfinance for potentially excluded persons and that includes the unemployed young people those who have low skills people with disabilities and crucially migrants and refugees.
the proposed energy union offers key opportunities for us in the northeast firstly because we have the manufacturing knowhow needed to deliver from oil and gas industries to renewables and secondly because we understand the north sea.
but funding new low carbon technologies such as carbon capture storage is crucial if we want to meet our climate and energy commitments particularly those taken in paris last week projects like the teesside collective.
george osborne's slashing of national renewables in ccs funding represents shorttermism incarnate. energy union is the opposite.
so my group will vote against this proposal because we do not think that opening the gates of europe to anyone that can get to the frontier is the right method of helping them.
mr president earlier you said that you wanted us to help the most needy and my group would agree with you but the most needy are not those who have the wealth the health and the ability to walk from syria to the borders of europe.
the most needy are those in the refugee camps of turkey and lebanon.
we also think it is wrong as a matter of principle that the european union orders or in your words forces member states to accept people into their countries against their will.
clearly voting for this resolution today for this legislation today sends a message that actually europe is prepared to accept limitless numbers of people.
opening up the door to countless millions encouraging an exodus of biblical proportions and directly contributing towards the profits of the traffickers hence leading to more people drowning in the mediterranean does not make sense.
that actually is politically and physically impossible.
it is a person or persons who as a result of their race religion political beliefs or orientation are directly in fear of persecution. if we were as member states to apply that and to help genuine refugees we would take the support of our public with us.
mr president the unhcr says there are currently fifty nine million displaced people in the world.
the role of the presidency is really one of facilitation and that is the way it should be judged in future. in fairness to the spanish they did a good job in moving from pre lisbon to post lisbon. especially in the financial area there are now measures in place to rein in rogue banks and weak governments.
regarding the spanish presidency i think that the dynamic is all wrong in terms of judging it.
it is hard not to avoid the impression that the main objective of the presidency during the eurozone crisis has been to hide away but with a budget deficit of over eleven perhaps they felt good reason to avoid international scrutiny.
turning to the economy the spanish presidency has been virtually invisible.
mr president this presidency took office at a critical time with much at stake.
it proposed a transatlantic summit which it could not deliver while simultaneously pursuing a policy on cuba which has destabilised the atlantic relationship and contributes nothing to liberating the imprisoned people of that important island. it had sought a summit of the mediterranean union but this was cancelled.
in the ongoing work of the council and the preparations for the european council it could have had a vital role to play in driving forward a modern and progressive european reform agenda and in facing the crises in the economy and public debt and in the eurozone the european union was owed a positive force for action.
it has so much to offer and in this house we have many distinguished spanish representatives.
in foreign policy it seems their only consistent objective has been to try to undermine the high representative by criticising her for example for not attending meetings and yet to be frank given the presidency record in arranging summits i can quite understand her reluctance in putting their meetings into her diary.
instead sadly too often this presidency has appeared more interested in sound bites than substance.
making the banks' stress tests public is clearly a significant step but let us not pretend that it amounts to a complete strategy for recovery.
as the first rotating presidency which would also chair the european council and the general affairs council it could have given shape to a new kind of presidency developing constructive relationships with the president and the high representative.
with a large deficit and a timid reform plan for their own economy at home they were in no position to offer europe leadership or to set an example and so the historic opportunity from being the first presidency following the lisbon treaty has been lost.
it is true that this affects many thousands of spanish citizens and ordinary people who have chosen to make spain their home. it is easy to shout from the sidelines in order to capture headlines but if we are serious about resolving this problem we need constructive engagement.
that is what we in the british labour delegation want to do. i am pleased that my colleague michael cashman and i recently had a meeting with our spanish colleagues in the european parliament in the hope of setting up a commission in spain to examine those cases in which people have purchased property in good faith and used the legal system appropriately. this would be a great
we hope it will have your full support and we look forward to working with you on this in the future.
i would like to commend the work of the spanish civil servants who worked with me as rapporteur on that dossier. they were extremely professional and really have delivered a very good piece of legislation with the european parliament. this week we are also going to vote on illegal logging and industrial emissions.
it is a solid record of achievement.
we have had discussions with you and your government and officials on this issue and i hope that you will listen to this as i know you will because we know you care about citizens;
thank you for your work on the environment and health and we look forward to working with you in the future.
mr president the policies implemented by the eu institutions during the spanish presidency were disastrous for the working class people of europe. we saw an abject capitulation to the sharks in the financial markets whereby predatory banks and hedge fund pirates were allowed to exercise more control over economic policy
than supposedly solid governments.
president barroso and the eu commission acted as the enforcer for these sharks in the markets demanding cuts across the board in public spending and in services and you too seor zapatero acted as an enforcer for the speculators in the markets.
we now have a social nightmare of mass unemployment and a tax on living standards across europe.
i salute the workers of spain for fighting these cuts with strong strike action.
clearly the capitalist system only contains more and more disasters as it goes into deeper crisis.
we have to sweep it away and replace it with a socialist and democratic society that can really transform the lives of our people in europe.
mr president could you explain to a simple soul like me why if we have fourteen candidates for fourteen positions who have already been ranked by the votes that were cast for them in the second ballot last night we have to have another ballot instead of dealing with the important business that we should be dealing with rather than making ourselves laughing stocks by having this vote again?
since then a lot has been done to boost the competitiveness of local enterprises and to reduce the accessibility gap'.
close consultation with stakeholders and on the basis of an appropriate impact assessment.
if one reads the notes to the vote it is suggested i have signed the request for split votes with madam zborsk and others.
furthermore i congratulate you president and everybody else for wearing the red ribbon to remember those who have died of an aids or hiv related illness and those who are currently living with or affected by it.
furthermore can i ask the commission if it will now unfreeze the funds of the global fund to fight aids so that we can continue this important work?
together. on ukraine we will be holding a joint international investment conference on the rehabilitation and modernisation of ukraine's gas transit system at the end
event. concerning the bilateral relationships eu russia or eu ukraine i think it is clear that the energy supply and transit aspects of the new agreements currently being negotiated have taken on a new importance and will
of march. i think this is a highly timely
this easier. that is at least
russian border? an excellent
all of you here. we need your help and
you have retreated to national positions and said no we member states we want the final say not the commission.
yes we have spoken and we speak with one voice but this voice is not strong enough. because when we consider the plight of the millions of citizens in europe suffering in this severe winter we cannot be calm here.
two thousand and thirteen right across europe there are still many large infrastructure projects that are needed to boost economic growth.
i would urge them to fund it at least as far west as swansea because of its importance to the west wales economy. but if they are refusing to do that they should work with others including the welsh government to ensure that the project goes ahead.
the uk government proposes to fund that electrification only as far as cardiff.
they should put in place a plan b which should include bidding for connecting europe funds when they become available.
yes if full payment for the work is delayed until the project is complete is in use and has added to our stock of goods and services.
if we have infrastructure work that needs to be carried out and building workers who are unemployed the latter must be employed to carry out the former.
we must work from the principle that what is physically possible must be financially possible.
fifteen years ago or even five years ago the idea of common eu visa offices did indeed seem to be an interesting and valid response to the divergent practices of member states because in theory such common eu offices would lead to a truly common visa policy.
member states decide on their own to open or close a visa section conclude representation arrangements set up a common application centre or to cooperate with external service providers.
however this ultimate goal which i fully support might also be reached by truly common rules and their proper truly harmonised implementation.
it would be used for an intended stay in the territory of two or more member states of up to one year with the possibility of extension for an additional year.
we needed extra time as the package now contains two legislative proposals and more time was needed to ensure that the proposals are balanced and comprehensive. it is important to remember that the primary objective of the common visa policy is to prevent irregular migration and safeguard public order and security
the commission could not agree with the legal form given to that mechanism.
at the same time we have reviewed the list of criteria and we have added new ones namely economic impact and human rights considerations.
at the same time it is important that we keep our promises regarding the countries to which we have a commitment.
one such country is the republic of moldova.
nevertheless the government and the moldovan people have not reduced their efforts to promote european values.
their determination to implement tough and difficult reforms has remained high and they have made a clear choice for european integration.
mr president in my first debate in the committee on civil liberties justice and home affairs libe five years ago a noblewoman of liberal persuasion convinced herself that i did not know the difference between people travelling with or without a visa on the one hand and immigrants on the other. i think that i remarked that i did know the difference but sometimes the travellers did not. people who travel from poor countries to relatively rich ones are not always scrupulously honest about their purposes for or the intended length of their visit. in a recent debate in libe a representative of the commission warned against confusing visa facilitation and visa liberalisation and said that easing the procedure for obtaining the visa as distinct from waiving it would not allow the visa holder to overstay.
i have heard the commission accused of many things but i did not think that naivety was among them.
we propose to change this to urges the authorities to act in strict accordance with international standards' so as to be very clear that the legislation in place in egypt which is partly mubarak era and partly new is not necessarily in line with international legislation.
we want to be very sure that this message comes across.
for social policies addressed to families. nevertheless the commission has been supporting member states through political guidance in the context of the european semester.
this is why the commission supports member states in improving access to and the quality of early childhood education and care. we acknowledge that family is the first and most important place for children to grow and develop.
participating in early education is in the best interests of children and their families.
the commission has also initiated and strongly supported co regulatory efforts. the commission communication on the mid term review of the digital single market of ten may two thousand and seventeen announced a better coordination of dialogues with platforms focusing on the mechanisms and technical solutions for the removal of illegal
i call on the kimberley process to consider tough measures against zimbabwe for non compliance and i join the condemnation of the recent arrest of farai maguwu a man of conscience who dared to expose the violence perpetrated by the zimbabwean security forces at chiadzwa.
at the moment the basic medical and food needs of a large section of the zimbabwean population are met by international aid.
madam president since being elected in one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine i have done my utmost to galvanise opposition from this parliament to the massive catalogue of injustice that mugabe and his henchmen have inflicted on the people of zimbabwe. i have to say this is one area where this house speaks with one voice. today we are discussing the systematic abuse of workers in the diamond fields of zimbabwe by government security forces.
it is time for a dramatic change and the eu and the countries of southern africa should be bringing more pressure to bear to bring about good governance in zimbabwe.
zimbabwe is a full member of the kimberley process the informal body that governs the global trade in rough diamonds and which so far has taken little action to stop such abuses.
the zimbabwean government must immediately release mr maguwu and for that matter all other political prisoners and we should recall that the right to free speech was one of the main commitments made by all parties in last year's global political agreement.
the zimbabwean government should use the substantial revenue that diamond mining is likely to generate to create a diamond trust fund to kick start the economy and to provide the health education and social funding currently provided by international donors. regrettably zimbabwe still has a long way to go before we can say that its people live in freedom and democracy and under a respected rule of law.
mr president in the thirty years since mugabe took power zimbabwe has changed from the breadbasket to the begging bowl of southern africa.
zimbabwe should therefore be refused readmission to the kimberley process.
farai maguwu has bravely sought to expose extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses by the army which controls many of zimbabwe's diamond mines.
the eu should also seek to tighten and extend targeted sanctions against those in zimbabwe who have enriched themselves by trading in the so called blood diamonds.
we have also called on zimbabwe to reaffirm its commitment to the role of civil society in the kimberley process.
it is for these reasons that the eu has called on zimbabwe to maintain a firm commitment to the kimberley process and the joint work plan so that marangwe diamonds can at some point in due course contribute to zimbabwe's economic development.
the eu delegation is monitoring his situation very closely.
the commission finances and will continue to finance a wide range of activities in zimbabwe in collaboration with civil society organisations.
with regard to the position of the commission on trade with diamonds from zimbabwe we called for an audit of the existing diamond stockpile before advancing any discussion on the limited resumption of exports.
we believe that further engagement with zimbabwe in the framework of the kimberley process offers the best chance not only to ensure technical compliance in the marangwe mining area with the kimberley process but also to enhance governance in this critical sector of the economy and ultimately to improve the human rights situation in marangwe.
finally it is important that parliament is informed that at a meeting with zimbabwean ministers representing the government of national unity on two july baroness ashton the high representative and vice president recalled that the implementation of the global political agreement which addresses
that has been a very strong message conveyed today in this chamber all the more so if we recognise that respect for human rights is a principle that underlies the very aim of the kimberley process. turning to the tel aviv meeting itself
our concern about human rights the rule of law and democratic principles is key to achieving normalisation of relations with the eu.
while the mandate of the kimberley process is focused on preventing the trade of conflict diamonds it is clear that this process cannot operate in a vacuum and ignore human rights concerns.
the eu supported the continued implementation of the swakopmund decision and the joint work plan to bring mining cooperation in marangwe into compliance with the rules of the kimberley process including application of the so called supervised export mechanism.
it is our goal that the participants of the kimberley process and zimbabwe will intensify their efforts in order to forge consensus on this difficult issue in the spirit of dialogue and cooperation that has always presided over this process.
the commission shares the concerns of the european parliament and has insisted that mr maguwu is treated in full respect of his legal right of defence.
we will continue to seek and support ways to create and sustain an open political environment where human rights and freedoms are fully respected.
i also agree that african states have an important role to play in improving conditions there.
if i stand up and speak as an englishman they will dismiss it. as europeans they will dismiss us.
unless you do something about it collectively you will lose any moral authority in the continent and in the world.
we talk about africa being in your hands and the future of africa being in your hands.
to stand back and do nothing while people are arrested because they seek to expose human rights breaches and to defend ordinary women and men to do nothing africa is to be complicit.
ebooks and the digital revolution ought to help end this by allowing more accessible books to be shared easily and cheaply. that is why copyright law keeping pace with technology is so vital. the ratification and implementation of the marrakesh treaty will benefit visually impaired british and european citizens and people in developing countries so today i also call on the uk government to ensure that britain will be a signatory to this treaty post brexit as well and that it does so with no unreasonable commercial availability checks for charities and libraries.
this debate is a very interesting little example of the way in which international rules and regulations are presented at regional or continental level.
the only difference is that at the moment the united kingdom is represented in all of that process by one twenty eighth of the commission whereas from now on we will have an independent voice.
i think it is worth celebrating the fact that there will be a friendly independent voice alongside that of our neighbours and allies in the eu twenty seven pushing for a stable and orderly world system based on rules.
common standards for specific professions would also enhance labour mobility inside the eu and consequently improve our competitiveness.
we have chosen the goal of achieving the social pillar not because it is an easy task but because it is essential for transmitting eu values into the everyday life of every citizen in the european union.
ensuring their correct regulation is essential for the smooth running of public interest services such as health care legal aid and education.
therefore i supported this report and the positive amendments to it including those emphasising the need to improve transparency and consultation of professional workers and consumers.
in the light of the planned exit of the uk from the eu it is also important that regulations protecting standards in professional services and training for workers are maintained in my country.
this point should be properly and explicitly addressed in the negotiations around the withdrawal agreement.
the alde group does not see the need to further restrict donation rules when we have shortages of tissues and cells in over half the member states.