kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
with proposals to increasingly narrow cohesion policy and focus upon results based deliverance i feel the level of corrections will increase.
public consultations on the fifth report on cohesion policy reveal an overall desire to pull away from the brussels dictated policy.
madam president west wales and the valleys should again qualify for regional funding despite average eu gva falling posing serious questions over whether cohesion policy even works. it is my understanding that a significant amount went into developing the public sector though undermined by widespread domestic cuts across the uk. some gbp twelve million in corrections was levelled against programmes in wales from two thousand and eight to two thousand and nine while a total of thirty five of funds for the same period was recouped in fines by the commission.
this money is not a freebie from brussels.
in this context strategic reporting as a new instrument increases accountability in delivering policy objectives and shows that cohesion policy should address all european regions and societal challenges in order to achieve smart sustainable and inclusive growth
cohesion policy relies upon good governance at european national regional and local level.
the strategic report two thousand and ten constitutes a strong incentive to improve the current implementation of the cohesion policy programmes. it also encourages the member states to correct delays in investing eu funds and to develop more efficient action plans to deliver the agreed results.
two thousand and seven two thousand and thirteen nevertheless progress varies significantly between countries and across themes with aggregate selection rates at about forty in the case of nine member states and below twenty in four member states.
strategic reporting is also an evaluation of the ongoing process.
however it also provides several valuable insights into the future of cohesion policy. firstly regarding implementation of the programmes the reported financial volume of the selected projects is eur.
structural funds are making a difference in places like wales and if they are to continue to do so we need to ensure that the cohesion policy is adequately funded it is well targeted the money is properly spent and the system is made simpler.
we want to make life easier and simpler not just for member states but for applicants as well.
we need to ensure that there is a balance between ensuring that the money is properly spent and making funds easily accessible particularly for smaller organisations.
in the wake of the financial crisis and the ongoing need to reduce budget deficits across europe parliament must recognise that the cohesion budget cannot continue to grow unchecked.
our focus should instead be on tackling the unacceptable levels of error in spending highlighted by the european court of auditors.
similarly macro regional entities are not the answer to increasing the effectiveness of regional spending.
they will not help meet our vision of a smaller and better targeted cohesion policy that truly helps europe's most deprived regions.
that strikes me as a positive contribution to continue pressure on the regime.
now this blind eye does go back a long way and back in two thousand and four craig murray who was the uk ambassador to uzbekistan at the time uncovered evidence of a man who had been boiled to death by the regime for a refusal to give up his faith and pledge allegiance to the regime.
so if the uk and the member states will not take the lead the eu is in a position to do so.
much as there are few signs of light we must stick close to our principles or else uzbekistan could become a breeding ground for as we have heard anti establishment and extremism and we must stick true to our principles.
moreover there are many pending human rights issues which are of concern. so i would like to inform the house that it must rest assured that the very issues highlighted in its resolution such as the torture of detainees arbitrary detention
parliament can rest assured that the commission will do it again in our next human rights dialogue set for this november with the aim of achieving concrete results and in this context.
so we very much hope that uzbekistan will take the same positive approach in other areas.
because elections are approaching the regional perception of violent radicalism is acute and a general suspicion about external interference is setting in.
so in conclusion madam president our policy of constructive engagement aims to build on what has been achieved on child labour with a view to bringing about similar advances in other areas of concern.
the commission is now pursuing this reform agenda at a very delicate juncture.
thanks to our insistence and facilitation efforts constructive cooperation has now developed between uzbekistan and the international labour organization and tangible results have already been achieved on child labour while cooperation has also started on forced labour under a decent work country programme agreed with the ilo.
replying to the honourable mr smith the commission will look into this issue which you address in paragraph eleven of the resolution.
major restrictions on the freedom of association assembly expression and religion child and forced labour are precisely those that the european union has been raising on every occasion including in high level contexts and in our annual human rights dialogue.
we insist that uzbekistan should comply with international human rights commitments but we also offer uzbekistan as some of you have said our cooperation to promote reforms to move ahead and to break away from its past authoritarian legacy.
the package adopted by the commission today is only a step to better manage migration.
i took note of members' remarks of their comments and i gladly notice that we share the ambition to work together as we have done in the past but also in the future to increase understanding and finally find common solutions.
we therefore have to build on this success and take even more initiatives in the future to open legal ways to come to europe.
this communication is the occasion for the commission to set out a list of actions to support greater operational cooperation among member states and to stress the need to find leverage in our relations with third countries so that they readmit their nationals. i really count a lot on your support to implement this package as you have done and i have to commend once
i want to express my thanks to both first vice president frans timmermans and federica mogherini for their opening remarks and for the excellent cooperation we had throughout the last month in putting together this ambitious and much needed package.
as a first step member states shall be in a position to steadily process unfounded or unlawful requests so they can devote their human and financial resources to legitimate requests filed by those who urgently require international protection.
by including these countries in the list of safe countries of origin the examination of the applications for international protection will be fast tracked.
that is why we are now proposing to relocate one hundred and twenty zero people fleeing war persecution oppression and chaos from italy greece and hungary according to a distribution scheme. this new proposal comes in addition to the measures tabled before the summer to relocate forty zero persons from italy and greece.
this is the europe we want. this is the europe we must have. so today we are putting forward four very concrete measures that in the short and medium term can help tackle all the major challenges we are confronted with.
with increasing our support to guarantee shelter for those in need of protection we have to make sure that those who do not have the right to stay in the european union are promptly returned.
today's package is our response to an unprecedented refugee crisis happening right in front of our eyes.
that is why we are putting forward today the introduction of an eu list of safe countries including the balkan countries and turkey.
again this house for being very supportive from the very beginning of our efforts to adopt a common european migration policy.
mr president during the last week the refugee finally got a name an identity and a story.
after the recent tragedies my heart fills with pride when i see citizens all across europe taking to the streets to welcome refugees into their communities.
it is our european decency that lies lifeless on the turkish beach together with aylan kurdi the three year old toddler in his red t shirt and small sneakers.
we must agree to a system of binding quotas of refugees to be accepted by every member state and my group is of course all in favour of the proposals by the commission.
he lost his life but he brought passion and compassion back to the european debate on migration and therefore we will remember him for a very long time.
it is us the eu which introduced a directive on carrier liability that makes it completely illegal for any airline or shipping company to take on board anybody that does not have a visa.
yet still we hear some voices among the leaders of the member states complaining about illegal migrants.
through a picture we have realised that behind each and every one of the dead refugees and migrants there are dreams and aspirations and loved ones left behind.
we have done our work but what will happen on monday?
will we see the blame game on monday? or will we see a reaction to the biggest refugee crisis since the second world war?
the european union is its member states and it is its people.
but this is also a test for our international credibility.
the two dimensions of our action and of our identity and our response reinforce one another or weaken one another. this is the truth like it or not and we have to face it.
it is a moment of truth to see if we are really europeans and if we are really a union.
you cannot ask for international cooperation at european level and then not put up the money for
most of the people we see today coming to europe are fleeing from conflict and persecution. this is the first issue we need to address.
our strategy has been clear and consistent since the beginning of our mandate.
this is not the main purpose of the operation but it is an important component
between syria and iraq more than ten million have left their homes and are internally displaced.
we are asked to take decisions that are consistent and coherent with our emotions and to be strong in so
we must act well we must act fast and we must act unitedly.
we have to show coherence in our decisions.
let me stress this because i believe that as we see syria losing an entire generation to war and exile we have to invest in syrian children.
to be credible preaching well is not enough.
secondly we are working with the international community mainly with the un agencies with the countries of origin and transit and those who host an impressive number of refugees.
it. remember this when we come to discuss the budget.
enough. we need to act and this is the
let me say one thing we have rightly focused in recent months on minorities in need of protection in the middle east christians kurds or yazidis supporting their right to stay on the land and go back to the communities where they have been living for centuries.
part. let me be cynical as politicians we are not asked to express our emotions;
today as you know we are putting forward a proposal for a trust fund for africa to promote economic opportunities development security and better management of migration in a context of equal partnership with the african countries and our partners.
we cannot focus only on the last mile of the tragedy we must also consider all the steps of the refugees' odyssey.
of it. with regard to the way forward we will have the valletta summit on migration in november bringing together leaders of the european and key african countries those that are part of the khartoum and rabat processes as well as the african union commission and the economic community of west african states commission.
today we are presenting a communication setting out the way forward for all the external action needed to address this crisis.
the long term answer obviously is putting an end to the conflicts and the wars facing the threat of daesh starting processes of national reconciliation.
eur. one eight million to this fund and i expect the member states all of them to do their fair share.
still it is important that we do act now.
let me say too that it is going to be very important and we are looking very much in this direction to work to the south of libya. if we focus only on the libyan sea border forgetting about the libyan land border we will never manage to solve the issue of the corridor.
our external credibility depends largely on our internal coherence and consistency.
do not imagine that there is only an external response to the crisis just as there cannot be only an internal response to the crisis.
that is what it is about our responsibility to protect the lives of human beings and human rights and solidarity among member states and towards those in need.
do not think that we can go around the word promoting human rights if we do not guarantee the highest asylum standards inside the union.
where we need to respect what we see is being done by countless european citizens today.
we need to respect the basic humanity that makes me so proud of being european.
for that reason we need to make a clear distinction between those who deserve our solidarity because they flee from war and persecution and those who might have genuine feelings about seeking a better future but should not abuse the asylum system to attain that goal.
the responsibility to make a swift registration of those who arrive at the borders so we can distinguish between those who have the right to asylum and those who do not;
solidarity with the refugees and solidarity with the states in europe who need it today.
there are those who sell the illusion that simply by closing all the borders and sending everybody back we could solve this problem.
closing the borders and sending everyone back would mean that we take leave of our most fundamental values as europeans.
they have the advantage of being clear in terms of proposals but the disadvantage of being completely impossible in terms of practicality.
i just want to use this opportunity when three institutions are coming together to talk about this issue to call upon the european parliament to strongly support the commission's proposals today.
the stronger parliament can be today in coming out with its position the better we are prepared for the council on monday.
that is the basis of our proposals but also a call on responsibility the responsibility to better guard our borders;
to do that we need a combination of solidarity and responsibility solidarity with those who need refuge solidarity with the states who are now burdened to excess because they are the states of first arrival notably greece italy and hungary. there needs to be european solidarity with these states
responsibility to create a list of safe third countries so that we can be swifter in returning people who have no right to stay;
opening the borders and letting everyone in would mean that we would put an end to the european social model as we know it because it could not support people coming from all over the world in great endless numbers.
let me end on this before handing the floor to federica what we do today and what we will be doing next monday is closely linked to the destiny of europe not just of the european union but to the destiny of europe as a community of values
the un also makes a clear definition of those who are economic migrants as well as those not fleeing from persecution.
middle class and wealthy meps who have enough cash to avoid the economic and social problems of mass migration come up with schemes such as this to salve their consciences but they ignore the poor the voiceless the immobile who live throughout europe and who will have to live on the edge and suffer the consequences of these schemes.
mr president we face an unprecedented situation and we must prioritise helping refugees fleeing horrific wars both with their immediate needs and to give them hope and support for the longer term. but different countries can help in different ways and we should stop the finger pointing.
in the uk for example we are already providing more aid in syrian camps than the rest of europe put together and offering to resettle the most vulnerable refugees directly from the camps in order not to encourage further people trafficking.
individual countries however should consider the impact on their neighbours when they are granting asylum.
granting refugee status does not give that person automatic rights to move across europe and i think this needs to be very clear because otherwise we risk jeopardising public confidence in free movement in europe.
so let us be very clear to people about their rights and even at this difficult time we must not postpone other reforms to build our economies.
mr president the state of the union needs to be measured according to how we treat those people in europe who are most in need and there the picture is rather mixed.
i think we need to decide which side we want to support which of those two europes we want to bring forward and promote.
there i think the people of europe have shown us the way;
mr president when i first entered politics one piece of advice was given to me never speak when you are angry.
they agree on how many plastic bags we can throw away but when bodies of children are washing up on our shores and we still cannot agree how to deal with refugees humanely then everything else we do seems to me to be of little use.
we like to say that we are a union of shared values but we are not yet a union of shared responsibility and that is our collective failure.
every single state must fulfil its moral and legal obligation to address the situation.
walls and fences do not work and neither does simply throwing money at the issue. we need more than band aid solutions that serve to make us feel better before the next emergency exposes its inadequacy and yes we need a binding permanent distribution mechanism for people in need of protection and we needed this yesterday.
so my call to prime ministers is this face down the populists have the courage to give people fleeing the unimaginable horror the chance of a future without fear.
send an unequivocal message that europe also stands with the voiceless.
let us be an example for the world.
what do you think will happen if you say that everyone can claim asylum?
that means more people will risk their lives crossing the mediterranean crossing the aegean sea.
the commission welcomes the european parliament's efforts to set a maximum number of written questions to be tabled by members of the european parliament. this is appreciated by the commission in a spirit of cooperation between the two institutions.
the commission sees them as an important democratic scrutiny tool which must be given due consideration.
in his letter the president said once again that the commission under his leadership has been committed from the start to filling with new life the special partnership with the european parliament as laid down in the framework agreement of.
an average of forty replies a day was transmitted to the european parliament throughout last year. it is important to recall that according to article two hundred and thirty of the treaty on the functioning of the european union parliamentary questions are to be answered by the european commission
new efforts have been made in recent months to reduce the numbers of replies delivered after these targets and these are already bearing fruit.
in this context the secretariat general of the commission is in contact with the secretariat general of the european parliament to work together to further improve the mutual performance of our institutions.
this is why each reply is subject to wide internal consultation and agreed by the commission through a collegial process in order to enhance the quality and political relevance.
derogations from this limit are made where necessary.
and thus by the college and not by individual commissioners.
it is in this context that the commission has chosen to set an indicative limit to the length of replies in order to facilitate the smooth operation of the process and to avoid disproportionate costs arising.
the treaty does not set out any deadlines for replies but the commission makes all reasonable efforts to reply to written questions in good time and wherever possible within the target dates that parliament has requested.
president juncker has asked all members of the college to pay the utmost importance to the replies to written questions of the members of the european parliament to discuss the answers amongst members to avoid silo approaches and to give political answers to political questions.
as a sign of the importance that the commission attaches to these matters president juncker wrote recently on thirteen march to president tajani on this very subject.
over the last two years measures have been taken by both institutions to improve the system of written questions and answers.
the commission makes every effort to reply in good time and to provide high quality and politically pertinent replies. the success of these efforts depends also on the quality of the questions.
if there are other examples of vagueness i really apologise for that.
i agree but let us not mix up political answers with party political answers or partisan answers because the european commission is not only a political body but it is a political body of four political groups representatives of four political groups and twenty eight member states
so we must be vague because it is not in our competence to answer concretely those questions.
or commissioners sent from twenty eight member states.
i just wanted to support the question that has been put down this afternoon because when many of us ask questions of the commission or the council i get the impression that they sometimes think we are just doing it out of badness or just to make some political point whereas often what we are trying to do is genuinely seek information and perhaps forward some useful
on a number of occasions i have put down questions and i have either had a delay or when i have had a reply it has been a thoroughly inadequate response.
for example in december i put down a question about the negotiations going on in cyprus and asking what sort of helpful role could the council and commission be playing in those negotiations and it was not until february that i got a reply and it told me absolutely nothing at all so i do think we need to seriously look at this
and one of the few ways that we can gain information about the huge areas of responsibility of the european commission.
but it seems sometimes that when answers would be embarrassing to the commission we do not get answers that fully respond to the question if we get answers at all.
parliament has already limited the number of questions that we can ask.
it seems that the movement is all in one direction but the system here is not working.
if you want to restore honour and meaning and purpose to our existing systems of representative government we should trust the people and give them their referendum as we promised.
six hundred and thirty eight of them were elected on the basis of an explicit promise that they would put the european constitution to a referendum before they ratified it.
when we elect a parliament we entrust it with the safeguarding of our liberties for a temporary and contingent period. national parliamentarians have no right to make permanent derogations to those freedoms without going back and asking for an explicit mandate from the people.
it is not there to guarantee the privileges of national parliamentarians.
when we hear all this stuff about how the european constitution is now legal because all these parliamentarians have gone ahead with it that does not invalidate the case for a referendum it invalidates the case for representative democracy as it is.