kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the ambitious goals of the two thousand and six and two thousand and ten eu road map and many of the meps were here at the time when we were talking to the commission about the older road map where we called for economic independence reconciliation of private life and professional life equal representation eradication of violence elimination of stereotypes and the promotion of gender equality in external policies need to be further pursued.
i think it is time that the european union made development aid to these countries conditional on eliminating some of these appalling practices.
but colleagues i have to say that i am a little bit frustrated because if we claim that we want action that we want to achieve something in the next four years that this is an issue of the highest priority that half the population is being discriminated against and half the potential remains unused then how come we are having this debate in the last evening slot?
why do we accept that this is not the highest priority?
so we have four years left together to really make a difference for women and men. how we as a parliament and ms reding as commissioner are judged at the end of those four years will depend on the action that we take and on the support that we can muster in society. no one will be impressed by mere words.
i do not want to have to say in four years' time look this is a piece of paper from ms reding and here is a huge stack of parliament resolutions'.
i want to be able to say yes we have secured two weeks' paternity leave for all european fathers.
yes we have adapted our equality laws to include all terrains to include transgender people.
yes we have a system in place that ensures gender parity for the next european commission.
' i want to say yes the gender pay gap is closing with more women with decent jobs and decent pay.
and yes the gender care gap is closing with more men who take their share of unpaid care'.
i hope that all groups in this parliament are united to deliver two strong reports tomorrow the figueiredo and the romeva i rueda reports and i hope that ms reding will have the courage to turn these reports into action even when there is not an easy majority in council beforehand.
we cannot do this alone.
we need to involve those to whom this is important.
i am not too happy with how the women's charter up to now has been drafted with no involvement of parliament or of civil society but i will accept that this is the way that the european commission has made an opening statement to lay down its commitment to gender equality.
it is more important what happens next.
in answer to our questions i would very much like to hear from ms reding how she will draft an ambitious strategy for our coming four years.
sometimes by positive discrimination such as quotas sometimes by direct legislation on gender equality.
i support references strengthening cooperation between member states in addressing wage discrimination for equal jobs and action protecting women and men against all forms of violence including human trafficking and female genital mutilation but we also need to see strong steps towards empowerment of women through increasing confidence in their abilities through education
i look to the day that we will work not only for greater equality in the workplace but to empower women to make a free choice and to feel strong enough to achieve their goals.
we all agree on the principle of equality and i would say it is our basic right but why include issues which muddy the water?
the gender parity provision in the regulation is pushed as far as the treaties enable.
the quality and efficiency of the eu court system should be our highest priority.
it is a legal innovation that is bound to be only the beginning of a development towards more gender parity in the eu institutions.
but for those who question this i want to underline that this reform is not just about the number of judges and the dispute that that has arisen about that.
the court and the member states are committing themselves to gender parity and it is our task to hold them accountable.
this is a step;
madam president we are in the second reading of this issue and since two thousand and eleven the council could not and according to my estimation never will modify its request for twenty eight new judges.
this is about ensuring the operating conditions of the eu court system and the task and role of the general court is crucial for the judicial protection of the citizens. the court of justice of the european union is the court that constantly fosters the rule of law transparency and fundamental rights.
i have been involved in the legal affairs committee in trying to work with colleagues including the rapporteur on trying to reach a proper solution to the problem that was presented to us.
when our citizens from right across the european union are demanding genuine reforms that reflect actual service to them we have chosen to come forward once again with a compromise solution that actually adds to the burdens of those citizens but does nothing about providing a solution to the problem that was presented to us. we are
madam president in over twenty years of elected public office service this must be amongst the most gerrymandered of political processes i have witnessed to date.
i do not make these comments lightly.
but yet again though there is a genuine case for reform we have made a choice to actually surrender that genuine opportunity and sacrifice it on the altar of political expediency to arrive at a solution which is actually a non solution.
about to spend eur twenty million a year extra where there was absolutely no need for us to add even one single euro cent to the burden for european taxpayers. we are failing each of our citizens by pushing this through and that is why i have taken the step
just consider a selection of his comments it shows a deep contempt for taxpayers' money';
there has not even been a cost benefit analysis or any impact assessment'.
he ends by calling for rejection of the proposal.
a quick finalisation of this reform is considered very important by the commission. the situation within the general court remains a source of concern.
this reform will allow the court to reduce its backlog of pending cases and to speed up the treatment of cases.
however judicial review is only effective if it is also timely.
the commission also welcomes the solution found to promote gender balance within the court which is an objective fully shared by the commission.
we cannot continue to run behind the facts whether it is radicalisation in the uk in belgium or in france or the rest of the eu.
we have to look at prevention and it is clear that eu action has important added value when it comes to curbing radicalisation and given that this is an issue that does not stop at national borders think about social media giving a platform to those manipulating individuals in such a way that they radicalise in total isolation
it is an issue that member states are not able to address effectively by themselves but where the eu can.
if he was taught any history at all in school it will have been presented to him as a hateful chronicle of racism and exploitation.
we have to project a sense of shared purpose of common patriotism that can embrace all our citizens.
there is no worse idea than islamic state and no better
is it any wonder that a minority of people in those communities begin to cast around for a stronger bolder more self assertive identity?
what are his life experiences?
they are told that the whole concept of national identity is both pass and dangerous.
consider the experience of a boy of say moroccan origin growing up in molenbeek.
what do people see when growing up in europe? they see the idea of the nation state derided and traduced;
the way to defeat a bad idea is with a better idea.
he sees the two linguistic communities in belgium identifying within themselves rather than at federal level.
his every interaction with the state will have taught him to despise it.
i believe that fundamentally what education should be about is teaching children and giving them the skills to think for themselves not telling them what to think.
respect and promote eu values and principles.
mr president the one thousand nine hundred and ninety six education act in the united kingdom requires that schools teach from a politically neutral perspective. i have a concern specifically on this report where an amendment was passed after paragraph twenty five i believe which states that it is member states' duty to guarantee that their education systems
indeed we do need stronger borders better information systems more controlled access to the terrorist data and more efficient information exchange in order to protect civilian lives.
just as important however is for us to come to terms with the fact that these killings were perpetrated by european citizens.
mr president i have just voted against a report on the prevention of radicalisation and terrorism in europe a report that has actually been symptomatic of why the eu is not capable of stopping this kind of thing.
trying to understand reasons and always missing the point always because people are not actually on the ground floor seeing this and then deliberately shying away from the fact that obviously mass immigration has something to do with it because you are bringing in large numbers of people and you do not know who they are.
you can raise your tax up to a certain point and then the money begins to flee to friendlier jurisdictions.
it is a reality that is becoming more and more true as modern technology facilitates capital movement globally.
the only way in which we can tackle the loss of revenue as a result of tax avoidance is by making our own tax regime more attractive which brings me to the fundamental argument against tax harmonisation.
the more you centralise the more you make it a uniform rate the more you take away that constraint and allow governments to help themselves to more and more without any oversight.
hands up anybody in this chamber who thinks that harmonised taxes will be harmonised downwards?
you either take the federalist approach and recognise that for everything that the european union tries to do as a whole it requires then to harmonise taxation it requires then greater powers greater centralisation and you embrace that.
the other honest position is to say that actually that is not what the united kingdom requires;
that we are better as an independent self governing nation as the world's fifth largest economy;
that we want to be good neighbours with europe we want to trade with europe but we do not want european government.
we need clear and efficient rules in the field of health and safety at work and rigorous application regardless of the size of employers.
this does not preclude however taking into account the specific situation and needs of micro and small enterprises and the provision of special assistance to them in the implantation of health and safety legislation.
i think that is terrifying to most british people watching today's performance.
i know we have a lot of stuff to get through.
i am concerned also that the left and the liberals are covering their mistakes with open door immigration by trying to have a radical rapid authoritarian legislation brought in which i do not think is in the interests of either catching these criminals or indeed of liberty in europe.
so what we did as there was no consensus was to enhance the exit screening in these countries in africa.
in fact until now there has been only one case of a secondary infection that is to say of a person who has never set foot in africa and still got the disease and because it was isolated i am referring to the case in spain and thank god she is on the way to recovery it was an isolated one and did not spread. so i do not want the words of the commission to
nigeria is a clear success story to be studied as it has managed to contain the virus after its first known case.
such work requires relatively strong institutions efficient cooperation between them and the resources to make that happen.
so far the number of cases beyond west africa has been limited and it is extremely important for strict eu wide measures to be adopted to ensure that this remains the case. the introduction of screening processes at eu airports and border control points is a vital step and the eu must therefore do more to encourage all member states to follow the leading examples set by france and the united kingdom in this regard.
as a british doctor i am proud that the british royal navy is en route to the region as we speak taking medical equipment personnel and helicopters by way of assistance.
with this in mind it is interesting to note that there are currently one hundred and eight nurses from sierra leone working in the british national health service and it is at times like this that we see the difficulties that countries suffering from so called medical brain drain can face.
with just under two hundred doctors and around two zero nurses in sierra leone and liberia combined the two countries that is the support from the medical contingent within that mission will be a great asset.
in the longer term it is key that the eu also continues to financially support the pharma industry to work for an effective vaccine for ebola.
these are all things that sadly west africa is largely lacking and it is an area where the eu can be of assistance.
protecting our own shores alone however is insufficient and more must be done to support efforts including exit screening in west africa itself.
this success was largely thanks to the efficient process of contact tracing that was implemented a process which made it possible for over eight hundred known contacts of the patient to be identified traced and tested.
we provide independent scientific assessment and guidance to the member states through the european centre for disease prevention and control.
i am not proud to say that is the case but it is the reality and perhaps it may lead to a cure and indeed more effective action.
it is hard to argue against it but we need to be careful of resources.
amongst the measures that they are talking about one that i hope will resonate in this chamber is to give guarantees to healthcare workers who volunteer and put themselves at risk so that they will go there and tackle this disease;
in terms of the budget that we are using to tackle this disease it has to come from the existing pot and clearly there is already a reduction in the common agricultural policy budget predicted for next year of eur four hundred and forty eight million.
because you can treat the disease and you can prevent it from spreading.
on medevac we keep hearing good news from the commission but healthcare professionals tell me that it is not happening on the ground.
do we know which countries have pledged which doctors and healthcare professionals?
we cannot continue on this path. we have to talk with russia only after they stop what they are doing in syria.
all his arsenal is set ready propaganda spy games regional and civil conflicts. so we are facing the twenty first century cold war different from the previous one undeclared more hybrid and less ideological.
i strongly believe that additional sanctions must be imposed this time to target specifically those russian tycoons and oligarchs true enablers of putin who fund operations worth billions such as propaganda campaigns or sending mercenaries to syria
it formed his mindset it made his kgb career.
the cold war was the environment that putin was raised in.
and ukraine.
colleagues to deter russian aggression our response must be based on sanctions and unity of our action.
more to work for the full implementation of the minsk agreements.
our approach to russia needs to be multi layered and must take account of russian national interests.
through your neo colonialist desire for european union expansion as well as the militarisation of your capabilities you have put yourselves on an unnecessary collision course with russia that can only end in.
whatever the provocations i believe the high representative's first duty is to ensure the security of european union citizens. that she is manifestly unable to do so simply reinforces my country's wise decision to brexit and accordingly secure control of our own foreign and defence policy.
the continuous war against ukraine and attacks in cyberspace have once again reaffirmed the need to deter further aggressive actions by russia.
madam president the european parliament has repeatedly called for a realistic and responsible strategy for the eu's relations with russia that must be based on the principle of credible deterrence. the recent use of chemical weapons on european soil and in syria
we also have to target further those individuals who are responsible for the breaches of international law and also those billionaires from putin's inner circle who participate finance or manage the regime's dirty interventions abroad.
yes i absolutely agree but what we have to remember is that this place is not europe this place is a european union which is actually crumbling before us with the populace.
across europe you've got poland hungary italy;
madam president president putin's re election is not just remiss for democracy in russia given the lack of space for credible opposition but also for the global rules based order.
yet the eu's response so far has been marked by weakness through divisions and thanks to populist governments rejoicing in these grave breaches of sovereignty and international law as demonstrated by the failure to adopt sanctions yesterday.
commissioner i would like you to pass on our thanks to the high representative and to the council for standing with the british citizens following the salisbury attacks in my colleague clare moody's constituency.
the use of a nerve agent in a european country could not go unanswered and the united european response was both a justified response and a preventative action. but the use of a nerve agent is not the only difficulty that we are facing emanating from the current russian regime.
we also know that we are facing statesponsored cyber attacks such as the notpetya malware and we have to face up to the orwellian disinformation that is being used to try to undermine both our eu democracies and our eastern partner countries.
yes we should do all we can to encourage peopletopeople contact our problem is with the russian regime not the russian people but we must be honest about the reality of the intentions and the actions of putin and respond accordingly.
i wonder if you think that might be something that is going to be an advantage to the european union as well as other places that we can bounce europe and the united states with some sensible views?
while many of us commend the clear line that western governments have taken against russia it is important to keep up the political and diplomatic pressure.
in order to make the kremlin change its unacceptable behaviour we must look at ways of challenging the corrupt system that underpins the regime. there are tools.
these include the possibility of strengthening sanctions and asset freezes for russian officials that feed the regime with money. europe could also ensure that oil and gas prices stay low by increasing financial support for fracking and climate friendly energy.
also the modalities of our so called selective engagement' with russia are not so clear.
allow me to give one example just a few days ago the investigative journalist maxim borodin died in very suspicious and unclear circumstances.
madam president i think there is nothing more important for european security than to understand the nature of the russia of today.
all these are signs of a regime that is afraid and needs to use covert operations needs to use criminal activities.
i think our response must be we know what you're doing we know who is doing it and we will punish criminal activities.
we will sanction the policies that are undermining democracy and we will highlight when you are acting against us.
we are strong and you are weak'.
you are trying to punish eu states for electing governments.
do we abide by our commitment to provide financial resources to support the efforts of our turkish partners?
the process of visa liberalisation should be accelerated thus improving trade relations and providing for economic growth and employment both in the eu and turkey.
together with turkey we are in a complex geopolitical situation we are pressed by the same challenges and we have a set of common interests.
i am only glad that we in the uk are getting out of the eu while we can because this policy is madness.
it is an offence against both human rights and democracy.
ms mogherini the removal of elected mayors from the kurdish hdp party is more than a matter of concern. it is quite simply a different sort of coup and it repeats the actions taken in the actual coup of.
finally a coup is the ultimate attack on democracy and christian democrats must drop their opposition to opening negotiating chapters twenty three and twenty four on democracy.
mr president we should all agree with the strong words of the high representative against the failed coup in turkey but we must insist that our support for elected governments is not interpreted as legitimising every action of this government just as our support for due process for alleged coup plotters from the glenists should not be interpreted as political support from europe for their movement.
turkish democracy does have the chance to come out of this situation strengthened by embracing media plurality which played a crucial role that night in informing the people;
the government said that the temporary state of emergency would not influence people's daily lives but so far more than one hundred zero people have been directly affected either by losing their jobs or by ending up in a prison cell.
and as a last point by proving that the rule of law is the guiding principle in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
by working together with all political forces on much needed constitutional reform;
it is understandable that in the aftermath of the coup a number of measures had to be taken but the current situation also leaves us very concerned. it is difficult to understand what the link is between respected journalists like asli erdogan and the coup plotters. it is difficult to understand what the link is between thousands of teachers and the coup plotters and it is also difficult to understand how appointing trustees to municipalities and dismissing directly elected mayors is related to the events of fifteen july. turkey can be proud that its citizens massively went out on the streets to defend their democracy that night. it can also be proud that all political forces joined hands in rejecting any illegal overthrow of the democratic institutions.
syria. i have mentioned the glimpse of hope that is hopefully opening
it was once again at the core of our meetings in ankara both with the government and with opposition parties.
first of all we agreed that there is no military solution to the war. this is not a minor
so at this very difficult and delicate juncture we also have made it clear that turkey must recommit strongly to those principles and values that are at the core of the democracy that the turkish people protected and defended on the night of fifteen july the rule of law
it. the unity of the country the inclusion of all parts of syrian society the protection of all minorities in an inclusive and non sectarian
it was well before midnight and let me share something with you on a personal note i personally tweeted.
our dialogue our common work in many fields can support turkey at a very difficult moment and ensure that the choice of the turkish people in favour of democracy and the rule of law is fully honoured. we both need to reaffirm our partnership and as partners we need to be open frank constructive
we believe that all violence and terrorist attacks have to end and arms should be laid