kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
and i ask you commission and council whether you are aware of the fact that existing eu law is already undermined by the way we accept us regulation imposed on european citizens?
this is also true for transatlantic relations with the us.
of course we have to respect the decisions of our american partners and especially the congress but this does not look like a sign of trust and cooperation. when it comes to the protection of borders and efficient security measures the eu side has shown time and again that it is willing to make things work sometimes with big difficulties in respect to our own values and citizens.
it gets even more problematic when we recognise that the usd fourteen fee has to be paid with one of the four major credit cards whose companies are all based inside the us.
but this is very counter productive because essentially what we are talking about is introducing a new visa.
i agree with the commission in this field that this is regrettable and inconsistent with the united states' commitment to ease transatlantic travel. what this has done in fact is to introduce new barriers at a time when we were actually dismantling barriers with the united states senate introducing the charge in an attempt to reverse the declining number of visitors to its country.
however i believe that it will actually put people off travelling there.
mr president i agree with all of the comments in relation to the negative impact of this particular measure.
the majority of this money is to be used to fund the promotion of the united states as a holiday destination.
the essential purpose of the legislation is basically to enhance the exchequer and to enhance the attractiveness of the united states as a tourist destination.
a final assessment of the present esta will be issued once the final rule on esta is published in the usa federal register taking into account any possible changes.
the commission has requested that this issue of concern be discussed with all member states at the upcoming justice and home affairs council on seven and eight october.
here i would like to remind you that significant progress has been achieved in the visa reciprocity mechanism over the last two years.
furthermore saving and verifying these data in the united states might be okay if this was limited to the specific purpose of controlling travel but the department of homeland security is authorised to give these data on demand to other american authorities to foreign authorities and even to businesses that deal with transportation.
i believe it is completely unacceptable that to pay the cost you can only use credit or debit cards of companies which are registered in the united states of america.
the commission and the council have to find appropriate answers now.
i believe that the upcoming eu us summit should address this issue.
they do not need to promote tourism in the way they are suggesting. now beyond those points there are several serious issues political issues which we believe need to be addressed as well.
from the point of view of data protection privacy this is simply unacceptable as well.
no doubt the treaty is in urgent need of reform but to vote in favour will be to accept the treaty in principle which i cannot and will not do.
britain should withdraw without delay from the european union repudiate the treaty and restore her status as an independent sovereign democratic nation.
i want my country to leave the european union and not to be bound by any eu treaty reformed or otherwise.
i do not want the european union treaty to apply in the united kingdom in any way shape or form.
for the time being all that we can hope for is the success of the peace plan and a transitional government.
we must be extremely cautious in our unqualified endorsements of all the opposition forces in particular the extremist jihadi ones.
un envoy lakdar brahimi recently said that russia appears as determined as the us to end this conflict but we need to see moscow offering action not simply words.
any resolution that allowed him to remain in office would however be totally unacceptable to the west.
he has dropped bombs which is a war crime on his own civilians and been directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of an estimated sixty zero people.
this is why in spite of all the difficulties and the doubts on the shortcomings we must remain determined to keep the course by supporting mr brahimi's efforts assisting the opposition and relentlessly calling for the syrian leadership to face up to reality in the country and at last put an end to all violence.
the eu is also funding activities such as the regional protection programme aimed at building up the resilience of displaced syrian people as well as enhancing the capacity of communities which host them in neighbouring countries. more of course is certainly needed and improved channels of delivery will have to be devised
we do hope that within the international community we are nearing a compromise on how to best assist syria's future.
we are working with our partners to improve channels of our delivery planning and gap analysis. the eu will also participate in the donor conference initiated by the un secretary general ban ki moon and hosted by the kuwaiti emir on thirty january.
i know that some of you are of the opinion that today more direct military assistance to the opposition should be envisaged.
the eu commends and continues to support the mission of mr brahimi.
they range from the increasing flow of hundreds of thousands of refugees into the syrian neighbourhood countries during an extraordinarily harsh winter and continuing massive internal displacement of millions of syrians to possible chemical incident scenarios and the consolidation of the opposition.
the eu is also preparing preventive measures in case of a potential chemical weapon incident.
although financial assistance is only part of the solution it does help in easing some of these challenges. since the last debate here in the european parliament the eu has almost doubled all types of assistance in and outside syria.
we must also mention the extension of the sanctions regime official recognition of the syrian coalition of revolutionary and opposition forces as legitimate representatives of the syrian people or support to the third committee as well unhrc
political efforts continue and there is no need to recall all of the daily diplomacy that operates in brussels as well as in european and world capitals.
the political process that the eu and the international community have been supporting with true resolve has unfortunately not moved far enough as yet.
from our side the eu's official statements remain unambiguous there is no future for assad in the political future of syria.
conversely and there are also no signs that the assad regime has moved in its own intransigence we all witnessed the defiance of president assad in his unacceptable speech as recognised by many of our supporters and joint special representative brahimi.
the eu has incessantly worked with all partners on the bilateral multilateral and interinstitutional levels to address the whole array of pressing issues.
i am sure that all of us here would agree that the political solution to the heart wrenching and almost two year long conflict in syria is not yet in sight.
from our side we can count the most recent statement of the high representative on assad's speech the european council and fac conclusions of december that covered very broad areas of our approach to the syrian tragedy.
at the moment the focus is more on the trans border element of this threat on which we cooperate closely with syria's neighbours such as jordan and turkey.
it includes ongoing support to the multilateral institutions such as the un and ingos and civil society organisations alongside just being rolled out support of local syrian ngos and civilian structures together with structured support for the opposition.
and we will keep on examining if further sanctions can be adopted in order to put pressure on the regime.
while on one side we work towards a political solution on the other we do not lose sight of the human dimension of the syrian tragedy that has unfolded in the past two years.
at the same time the eu has managed to reinforce actions addressing the challenges faced at present by the syrian population.
two five million internally displaced syrians and five hundred zero refugees; numbers which unfortunately are rising as we speak.
his perseverance in reaching a workable solution over the last months has earned him much deserved respect.
as you know the eu co chairs the un humanitarian forum and chairs the donor coordination work within the friends of syria working group on economic recovery.
but we all agree that such a tragedy cannot go on without more action and initiatives.
our efforts also try to prepare for the day after and the transition which will include financial assistance to support political transition institutional and economic recovery as well as support to the population and post conflict accountability.
but such an option is still very divisive and runs the risk of hardening the conflict.
given harsher weather conditions descending on refugees and internally displaced syrians.
we have seen in the last weeks a very significant deterioration in conditions in syria because of the combined impact of three factors.
january. we the eu have been a strong voice for this meeting to take place because the needs require funding of a magnitude that is not yet there with the exception
the health system of syria is
time and again pursuing including with the opposition our fight for respect for international humanitarian law so that people at least do not die because of ignorance of the existence of this law.
the education system in syria is
our relentless advocacy led to eight international ngos seven of which are european now operating inside syria and also to over ninety civil society organisations mostly community organisations to be allowed
be there. but we need everybody to step up to the plate because unfortunately the political solution that is the only way forward is not yet in sight and i fear that means terrible suffering for millions of syrian people and a terrible risk of a spillover impact for the whole neighbourhood.
better. it is the political solution that we all have to raise our voices to urge
we have been in the libya crisis and i can tell you that syria is not
i recall talking to a young girl from syria now a refugee in jordan who has not been to school for two years and i am thinking of the lives that have been shattered not only the people who died but those whose future is being buried by this conflict.
because of our engagement we have moved access to affected syrian populations quite dramatically forward. in the beginning assad would allow only the icrc inside syria.
in these conditions we are doing all we can to get help to people and i want to particularly address the comments that have been made by ms flautre on how exactly european assistance works in syria. from the
so yes we are facing a grave humanitarian crisis and it is absolutely paramount that we work hard. for the only way for this crisis to end is unfortunately not in the hands of humanitarians it is in the hands of politicians.
but more important is the eu's impact in the world under her leadership.
the high representative is in kosovo today a country that reminds us of how long the damage of conflict can last.
in the civil war in former yugoslavia too it took europe too long to act.
and history seems to repeat itself and it embarrasses us. for two years now the situation in syria has been dragging on without decisive action by the international community including the eu.
it is a disgrace in light of the tens of thousands of people that have been killed.
on top of the man made disaster which has also caused millions to leave the country or left them internally displaced winter has come and a humanitarian crisis can turn into a weapon of war in the hands of assad if we do not intervene.
recently brahimi for the un burns for the united states and bogdanov for russia came together to discuss the situation in syria once more.
the main point is that the results of the talks were none as has been the result with most talks including russia over syria.
what was striking was the absence of the eu.
where were we commissioner minister creighton?
let us at least take the initiative now for a un security council resolution that will ensure that aid can reach people.
this would be non controversial at least in comparison to the discussions around a political discussion and could push aid through the criminal obstructions preventing the people from accessing basics such as food and medicine.
another question is why is sweden the only eu member state not in favour of referring assad to the icc?
what is the reason for a lack of unity among our member states?
we must save the syrians who are crushed freezing and starving between a murderous regime and increasingly radicalised armed opposition.
it will require the determination and the cooperation of all of the institutions of the european union and indeed of all of the international community to find ultimately a political solution as the commissioner has said.
this was the second meeting between mr brahimi the us and russia and it was mr brahimi's plan to keep that particular forum that particular dialogue between the three;
however we are in constant contact and communication of course with him and his team. we are constantly updated and informed as to the progress that he is making and the discussions and dialogue which he has.
we are all aware of the shortcomings of our combined efforts whether on the diplomatic or humanitarian front.
it is not a perfect process that is for sure but the situation i think cannot just be simplified as sometimes it is easy to do.
we are doing everything that we can to support them on the ground.
that commitment that determination and in practice those steps are being taken by the eu and will continue to be.
we have to provide every possible opportunity to provide support to help the opposition and to enable better protection for civilians;
and that is i think an immediate and very pressing priority.
we will be focusing on finding better ways to make our efforts more effective. there will be an opportunity to review the sanctions and the very steps that have been taken at the next foreign affairs council.
intensive regional cooperation efforts are also underway to ensure that the spill over effects from the syrian conflict is contained.
it is a compromise resolution and obviously it contains elements that many of us wish were not in it and indeed it excludes elements that many of us wish were in it. but the agreement among the six political groups was that there would be no amendments oral written or in any other form and therefore i think it is a breach of the understanding and makes a nonsense of the negotiations if we now have an amendment put forward in this way.
this has all happened on your watch madam prime minister it is not a very good result is it?
so i will.
that is the reality today and so i fully support you.
that is the first thing.
he has to deliver.
let him come now.
he has run away from the negotiating table.
we have to ask ourselves why these young people who are born and bred here decide to leave to forsake our communities and finally to turn against us.
in the meantime member states should use all the tools available to control external borders.
as regards the checks at our external borders in parallel with our package on european border and coast guards we are exploring the need to include possible modifications to the provisions of checks of european union citizens against databases for public order and internal
as in every crisis we have again heard the cry for more europe' from the usual suspects. rest assured there is excellent liaison between the security services of britain and france and germany and many other european countries.
we do not need an eu security service but rather greater resources and more professionalism in those countries where it is lacking.
one of the terrorists involved in the paris attacks spent his nights drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis and another never went to the mosque.
the name of that book islam for dummies.
it could have been in any of our cities.
we need to come together to learn the lessons to strengthen our resolve and to develop our response a response that must be measured and proportionate.
for if every time they attack us we erode our freedoms there may eventually be no freedoms to defend. the balance between security and liberty will always be hotly debated but we should debate this delicate balance without accusations without any of the insults i see flying across this chamber and without questioning political opponents' determination to fight terrorism because this whole house needs to come together to agree on clear and tangible measures to strengthen our protection such as introducing the passenger name
the answer is to build trust between the agencies of the nation states to make sure they share the intelligence that they have.
' how brave he must have been to write those words to people who had just murdered his wife to people who had shattered his life to people with a love for death who attacked a city known for its love of life.
we will not surrender to intolerance.
these are all important debates that we will have in the months ahead.
the answer is not always more europe.
we all need to come together to show them that they will not succeed.
better integration must be part of the solution for where there are young people who feel that they do not belong to the country in which they live where they are ghettoised isis daesh will see them as potential recruits.
he told the terrorists i will not give you the gift of hating you.
we will not surrender our freedoms. you can attack us you can injure us but you will never break us.
but today whether you believe in a united states of europe or whether you believe in a europe of nation states we should all unite to state a simple message we will not surrender to hatred.
many sadly were born and were radicalised in eu member states some searching for an identity or a sense of belonging others radicalised in prison; some violent individuals looking for a new cause others vulnerable and fooled into believing in a violent shortcut to paradise in a world of temptation.
it is at times like this that our humanity must become stronger and not descend into a spiral of hatred and blame.
it could have been aimed at any of us but sadly there is method to their madness.
yet all these terrorists claim to be carrying out these acts in the name of islam and are prepared to slaughter innocent people on a friday night in paris people eating dinner watching a rock band just going about their own business.
would you agree with me that to blame the poor particularly in urban areas as has been said today and to say that somehow to live in poverty and to be disadvantaged is an excuse to go forward into this kind of radicalisation is an insult to all of the decent good working poor across europe who have high standards and are just as outraged by this as anyone else?
you speak about tackling the root causes of terrorism.
but i just want to say that it may be impossible to allow blue cards for every single speaker because we do have a formal sitting at twelve noon.
colleagues please could i just say that because of the importance of the debate i have allowed a blue card.
but at the same time we must take preventive action at home by reinstating border controls and clamping down on saudi sponsored wahhabism which is a growing clear and present danger within many of our communities.
so if we are to take steps to solve the crisis that we face we must first cut out its source which is the problems in syria through a global coalition.
you are clinging to schengen and freedom of movement of people just as neville chamberlain clung to appeasing hitler when it was obvious to all that this man could not be dealt with.
it is a snapshot of everything that has gone wrong with the failed policies of political correctness and aggressive multiculturalism.
i warned in this chamber six weeks ago to howls of derision that freedom of movement of people in europe would in the end lead to freedom of movement of jihad and unfortunately i was proved correct.
there are very often grey areas and we must be grown up enough to say that sometimes my enemy's enemy is my friend just as we did in the second world war with joseph stalin.
we must not see foreign policy through the eyes of the student common room.
but we must also look at ourselves and ask whether our policies have aided the terrorists and sadly the answer is yes.
we must come together to cut out the cancer of radical islamism which brought carnage onto the streets of paris and i believe will attempt to repeat the same evil on the streets of another european city sometime soon.
if we are to deal with the greatest threat that we and our children face in this century that of islamic fundamentalism we must resolve the situation in syria.
we need to put together a grand coalition of nations including not just the western powers but also russia china india and muslim nations as well.
we must first realise who our enemy is and who our enemy is not.
the obsession with these policies and the failure to admit that you have been wrong are placing the lives of our citizens in danger.
we must take a hard look in the mirror and ask whether our tolerance is leading to intolerance and again the answer must be yes.
this place is in denial.
i was saddened by what i saw but unfortunately i was not surprised.
in europol information sharing is almost dysfunctional as large numbers of member states do not share information on known suspects and risks. if this were different today we would perhaps have prevented a number of recent attacks.
the current proposal by the council on an eu pnr directive is in fact an extraordinarily expensive model of twenty eight silos full of completely irrelevant information on innocent travellers.
this is why we need to focus.
for going after terrorist suspects in europe.
but instead of learning from our mistakes we just go on with the same ineffective measures we have taken.
on? let us start investing in human intelligence.
then there is a near obsession with electronic mass surveillance whereas what is needed is much more investment in human intelligence in people on the ground who know what is going on in the banlieues and in molenbeek.
why do we tolerate the existence of ghettos in our cities that are no go areas for the police where the police do not even dare to get out of their cars so they cannot know what is going
they will work together under one roof on operational coordination.
fear cannot be countered only by increasing security.
we must counter it with facts and the facts are clear muslims are not the enemy.
in our battle against extremism muslims in europe and abroad are our allies.
at the same time we cannot bury our heads in the sand.
people have real fears and these must be addressed.
this means that we do need stronger eulevel security legislation like a pnr system.
unity with our friends in brussels hoping that life can return to normal as quickly as possible there because we defeat terrorists by refusing to allow them to disrupt our lives.
unity with our tunisian friends because we do not say that only european lives matter and we believe we should combat radicalisation in partnership with all countries where terrorists are recruited.
unity with refugees because they are fleeing the very same violence which we saw on the streets of paris and because all life is sacred.
we are christian states; we are jewish states;
let me be quite clear.
we did not really have a choice. equally at the same time you talk about appeasing putin.
putin is on our side. the real threat in the world today is islamic fundamentalism.
in order to establish a safer environment we have to define a balanced framework in which security and liberty can coexist as you cannot be free without being secure.