kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
two thousand and three similarly it was servier itself that did not request the renewal of the marketing authorisation in two thousand and three in italy.
in this case no action was triggered at eu level in the light of the conclusions of the pharmacovigilance working party and the fact that no divergent decisions were taken at the time by the member states in response to the discussions in the working party.
the fourth and last question was will the commission ask the european medicines agency to conduct a full retrospective investigation into the ways in which this drug was used over twenty years?
under the new provisions in place since two thousand and four this automatically triggered a review of the product's benefit risk balance which led to the adoption of a commission decision requiring all member states to revoke any national authorisations for benfluorex containing medicinal products.
i would like to clarify that monitoring of pharmacovigilance data and the subsequent decision making on national authorisations for medicinal products is the primary responsibility of member states.
the commission can launch a europe wide evaluation by the european medicines agency in two cases firstly when member states adopt divergent national decisions concerning a marketing authorisation and secondly before any decision is reached on the granting variation suspension or revocation of a marketing authorisation that appears necessary in particular when taking account of pharmacovigilance information
it seems to be more suited to larger scale enterprises. secondly the one stop shop idea which is already in use internally within the eu could be put to better use in the bric countries that is brazil russia india and china to increase the amount of exports and outward investment that european companies can make. thirdly and finally
the model that has worked best so far has been the eu japan relationship.
my question is in that context could the commission endorse other measures such as loan guarantee schemes or indeed an extension of the eu microfinance facility?
the boundaries of such relevant markets are not clear as the sector is still relatively new and evolving and as there are also several comparable platforms and devices that provide similar functionalities some of which are supported by online application stores
as the consumer demand for electronic and or print magazines is unclear and evolving. once the market has been properly identified the question of dominance would have to be assessed.
dominance has been defined by the european court of justice as a position of economic strength enjoyed by an undertaking which enables it to hinder the maintenance of effective competition on the relevant market by allowing it to behave to an appreciable extent independently of its competitors and customers and ultimately
of consumers.
the commission notes in particular that alternative application platforms exist and several companies have recently launched or are expecting to launch in the near future a number of devices similar in terms of functionality to the ipad.
the commission is following the developments regarding apple's commercial policies and is in close contact with the national competition authorities.
i believe that is doable.
every thursday of every strasbourg session we devote half a day to talking shop.
despite advances in security since mr buhari's election there is still much to be done to address this violence in the region and the sense of impunity surrounding it so that justice and lasting peace is restored between conflicting communities.
it was good to meet with president buhari when he was here but we must also share our expertise with the nigerian government to ensure that it has the skills in counterterrorism to combat this terrible evil.
madam president the continuing captivity of over two hundred schoolgirls from the town of chibok symbolises the senseless human suffering caused by terrorism in nigeria.
many in the chamber today have talked about poverty and social exclusion but it is also important in nigeria that we foster a free society ensure that the fundamental freedoms of religion and conscience are upheld and quite rightly we debated this week terrorism in europe.
with our development assistance and humanitarian aid and with all other european instruments at our disposal we will assist the nigerian authorities in their endeavours to tackle the current challenges.
this will be at the heart of the discussions at the next security summit in abuja in may at which the european union needs to be represented at the highest possible level.
both parties also agreed that the fight against terrorism is a common challenge that can only be surmounted together when security forces abide strictly by international humanitarian law and respect human rights.
a memorial event at the school in chibok is being held today to remind the world that two hundred and nineteen of the kidnapped girls are still missing.
such a multi faceted strategy needs the backing of the international community and the european union is ready to support this effort.
at the ministerial dialogue federica mogherini also reiterated the european willingness to continue providing support to the population in order to help stop the violence and rebuild a prosperous future.
suicide attacks continue to be on the daily agenda in the north east of nigeria an area where mass abductions of children and their use as suicide bombers child soldiers and sex slaves are still dramatically frequent.
it is exactly two years since boko haram abducted the chibok girls and we are still calling to bring back our girls all of them.
it is essential that children go to school and that radicalisation is prevented.
the kidnapping rape violence and murder must end and the path of extremist destruction that has displaced millions should be reversed.
in fact the surrender of hundreds of boko haram fighters is an important sign that the promises of a better life under sharia law and extreme circumstances are empty lies that more and more people are recognising.
the eu stands ready to help nigeria in countering violent extremism but we can only contribute fully when the rule of law and human rights are respected in the process.
this includes the right to free expression.
we therefore call on the senate of nigeria not to adopt laws chilling expression or criticism of the government.
in responding to this there is a great need for coordinated action both within the state of nigeria itself and within the region.
we know that there is gross inequality within the country and there is an urgent need to tackle corruption in order to increase revenue.
furthermore to improve the quality of governance we need trusted institutions to tackle tensions confront violent extremism and increase the general quality of life for nigerians.
so we welcome the current government's efforts but we also want the eu member states and indeed our companies operating in nigeria to cooperate as well.
the eu should make every effort to help root out this menace in nigeria.
mr president we have already got anti discrimination laws in the uk and meddling bureaucrats in brussels complicating our laws without any accountability do not help the situation.
employment should be solely based on merit skills and enthusiasm that individuals have for a particular job which brings me to the other side of the debate which is positive discrimination.
so before you can all take the moral high ground and sit there and say everything is perfect about the eu you really need to get your own house in order;
of course there should be no discrimination against people in the workplace full stop.
others have spoken a bit as well about the way in which we apply rights.
the fundamental rights agency said that maybe about one in four people in the eu were aware of their rights under the legislation.
so this begs a question about whether we can put in practice a strategy to improve that figure measure the outcome and hopefully improve the results.
yet these are the clear contact points for people to report and to develop cases.
when we look at the breakdown of unemployment figures it is still very clear that there are still groups that are really suffering discrimination whether they are people with disabilities older workers people from ethnic minorities or whatever.
we are aware that many national equality bodies have actually had their funding cut over the last few years.
mr president i am afraid this is more than usually kafkaesque that we are sitting here discussing this more than ten year old piece of legislation about anti racial discrimination in the workplace in an almost entirely white parliament serviced by an almost entirely white secretariat
surely you people surely all of us rather than sitting here in liberal pomposity discussing a piece of nonsense legislation like this should be looking at our own houses and asking where are the black asian and minority ethnic employees in the european commission and in the european parliament in these tens of thousands of well paid jobs?
being dealt with by a european commission that has thirty five zero employees almost every single one of whom is white and a european council with three five hundred employees almost every single one of whom is white.
mr president i should like to thank the commissioner for her response and i note her concern about the implementation of these anti discrimination directives. what i would say to you commissioner is that there is a paradox with regard to anti discrimination legislation at eu level and it is this i believe many europeans are generally aware that we have anti
discrimination legislation and indeed that we have equality in the area of employment.
yet reading your own reports all available information suggests that there are very low levels of reporting and indeed in your report which was published last january you gave the commonest reasons for this.
these include the belief that nothing will happen as a result of reporting;
a lack of knowledge on how to go about reporting an incident;
and also negative experiences in relation to inconvenience bureaucracy and crucially the length of the process.
so again your report goes on to say that there is a need to make further efforts at awareness raising and reporting and a need to make the complaint system more consumer friendly as it were or customer friendly.
i think we need proposals on how to deal with these barriers on access to justice.
we could look for example at the length of time during which a complaint could be made getting rid of the short time limits that are there.
we could also look at the cost of proceedings and i think in all of that we need to link in with national actors on the ground.
i know the commission perhaps cannot intervene directly but it is an important issue and it is one that makes a difference because if sanctions are not dissuasive then they are meaningless.
on the whole issue of the shift in the burden of proof argument where it is up to the respondent to prove there has been no discrimination is that working satisfactorily and do you feel that any further action is needed?
finally in the context of the un convention on the rights of persons with disabilities we have ratified that and of course that has certain implications for our legislation particularly in the area of reasonable accommodation for disabled persons.
do you believe that the ratification of the un convention will be meaningful that was the second question we asked you without any further action to make the non provision of reasonable accommodation a discriminatory action?
the union adopted in the past a comprehensive framework for tackling discrimination and ensuring respect for fundamental rights to equal treatment throughout the union. this framework includes the employment equality directive the directive on racial equality and the directives on gender equality.
but to provide full effect directives must be properly implemented in all member states.
the implementation report issued in january this year highlights indeed that more needs to be done to ensure effective implementation of the directives on employment equality.
easy access to justice availability of remedies and effective sanctions are not yet sufficiently secured everywhere in the union and on top of this the report makes clear that today many victims of discrimination simply ignore their rights.
the commission will on a continuous basis carefully monitor the national developments including any new legislation and the development of national case law.
we will also pay more attention to what happens at regional and local level and i am ready to use all available means including the use of infringement proceedings to ensure correct application in all member states.
we have a booklet which is currently under preparation with practical guidance for victims of discrimination.
in order to address the lack of information on discrimination the commission is assessing the means to promote collection of such data in cooperation with other players such as the fundamental rights agency. the disadvantages faced by women in employment including the gender pay gap are not specifically covered by the employment and equality directive itself
which deals with discrimination on grounds of religion or belief disability age and sexual orientation. but there is a legal framework on equal pay which includes the employment gender equality directive clearly prohibiting any pay discrimination.
it is reinforced by a recommendation on equal pay adopted earlier this year and from now on i will strongly focus on the correct application and enforcement of the eu legal framework at national level and on the measures taken on the transparency of pay.
i have voted to restore cuts proposed by the council which fell disproportionately on areas from which world leading uk institutions gain substantial benefit.
the budget proposals for which i have voted continue to strengthen the eu's negotiating response to the challenges of migration and security.
mr president today i have voted for those elements of the budget that provide strong support to the programmes from which the united kingdom benefits most and which contribute to a strong sustainable and stable europe.
the parliament's budget sets the framework for further negotiations between the european union institutions.
i voted to support labour party priorities such as tackling youth unemployment strengthening research and boosting programmes such as horizon two thousand and twenty from which uk organisations are leading beneficiaries.
reductions i am afraid are in contradiction with the eu objectives set out in its global strategy.
we have to find the resources to be allocated from the eu budget in order to address the newly arising challenges when there are direct repercussions on our long term security.
this attempt by the european union to introduce chip technology at the borders will cost billions be a nightmare to manage and leave the security of the european union wide open to cyberattack. and what's the point anyway?
freedom of short term travel is a vital part of preparation for that.
the liberal group certainly does not want to undermine the pressure for high standards of passport and border security and the rule of law more generally but this exercise has to be fair consistent and effective.
but for visa waiver they are deemed to meet the requirements of block three public order and security some contradiction here.
for instance serbia and montenegro have been included in the july proposal although they did not meet the benchmarks at the date of the proposal they are expected to do so in the future.
we are aiming to equip their citizens to join an integrated free movement area with a single market and common values.
any prolonged delay for bosnia and albania and the complete exclusion of kosovo will have very divisive and detrimental consequences encouraging the search for croatian serbian or in the case of kosovars macedonian passports and undermining the integrity and governance of bosnia and kosovo in particular. i cannot believe the commission and the council intend to pursue this damaging path.
we are saying that serbia's stabilisation and association agreement cannot be progressed while mladi stays hidden since it shows lack of control over the security services.
the way to keep bosnia and albania up to the mark would be to include them in the legal scope of this proposed regulation but to make the actual implementation of visa waiver conditional on a commission declaration of compliance in fact similar to that which the commission needs to make this autumn about serbia and montenegro.
the commission and the council obviously share that goal so why on earth has the commission managed to put forward such an ill judged and divisive proposal?
these measures are yet another undermining of britain's ability to control her own borders and yet another reason why britain should leave the european union.
two thousand and ten so within twelve months we could see another.
strictly speaking this should not affect the uk which is not a member of the schengen group but in reality it will.
access to the eu for millions more people from some of the poorest and most corrupt countries in europe will enable them to cross the first barrier in gaining illegal entry to britain. these countries will eventually be full members of the eu anyway with full legal access to the eu.
but at the same time we say to the people of the european union we will not bend the benchmarks.
the rules have to be the same for everybody.
do your homework.
we appreciate the progress that has been achieved recently.
this is an issue of european integration.
i hope we can agree on a clear message to the authorities in the region that we will support them but we will not compromise on the security of our citizens that they have to take their responsibilities.
i think we should support the commission proposal and to those who think that this could be destabilising i would like to say that stability will come with european integration.
it is very unfortunate that passports are issued in zagreb and in belgrade and we should definitely try to reduce that as much as possible but we cannot make different rules for the bosnian people.
it is not in their interests.
madam president i am in favour of visa liberalisation and i am also in favour of attaching certain criteria to visa liberalisation but what i am more in favour of is peace and stability in the western balkans.
do we really want to take the chance of fostering nationalist feelings and deepening the divisions in a country where stability is still so fragile?
i therefore strongly ask you to include bosnia and herzegovina in the present proposal for the sake of those people living there who are working very hard for a better future with the memories of war still too fresh in their minds.
we welcome the emphasis on our common effort to maintain a thriving industry.
the european union will continue to show solidarity with the workers and regions affected by major closures and we are ready to offer our support through the european funds the legal acquis and any other relevant policy instruments.
we do this via the european semester recommending clarifying and simplifying rules and regulations ensuring that tax systems encourage and not discourage employment reducing the scale of undeclared work.
i welcome the debate we had today and i have taken note of your recommendations.
we must also act directly to help create jobs by deepening our internal market in all its dimensions.
the stability pact is critical to preserve sound public finances in the european union and to stimulate sustainable economic growth. the rules of the pact should not therefore be holding back investments as president junker also said this morning in his state of the union' and here we see a common responsibility for member states and for the european institutions.
we are preparing a draft reply and i can tell you that we are taking due note of parliament's resolution on the competitiveness of the rail supply industry.
i would like to stress once more that our immediate priority now is to support those directly affected.
back in june two thousand and thirteen the european council recognised the vital importance of a strong european industrial base as an essential building block of the eu's growth and competitiveness agenda. as you noted in your resolution of two thousand and fourteen there are several aspects to consider and i will touch upon them.
to this end the european union has developed an instrument to support workers' employability and mitigate the adverse social consequences of restructuring.
together we need to engage in efforts to manage the adaptation of the current economic environment achieving gains in competitiveness whilst preserving quality employment.
this should include sectoral initiatives to be pursued by the commission whenever the challenges to competitiveness and the need to maintain a strong industrial base require it.
the potential of increasingly strategic and targeted lending by the european investment bank to innovation and industrial transformation projects notably in manufacturing and related services could also be looked into.
in the area of financing progress has been made through recent instruments such as the european fund for strategic investments.
the eu member states regions and industry all have a role to play in fostering the digitalisation of business processes and in developing the industrial dimension of the digital agenda.
regions can play a key role in supporting industrial modernisation.
infrastructures including digital ones must also be developed with a longterm view.
finally as the commission has indicated in its new skills agenda sustained investment in education and training and better alignment of skills and labour market needs are necessary as a way of contributing to employment growth and competitiveness.
as recent events show there is also a need for effective social dialogue involving governments and the social partners.
the recent crisis in the steel and automotive industries as well as the announced restructuring show that serious reflection and action is needed in the member states and at eu level.
at union level there has been a growing recognition of the importance of involving the social partners at different levels.
news of the closures announced most recently in belgium and france created anxiety and anger in the towns and regions concerned.
research and innovation are essential for the sustainable development of the european economy.
the recent cases of caterpillar and alstom are a reflection of a more widespread phenomenon of mass redundancies across the eu as a result of the changing economic environment with deep employment and social effects.
the council has welcomed the steps taken by the commission to involve the social partners in policies that may have a significant impact on the employment and social situation but dialogue and policy also need to take into account the financial aspects.
it is in this context that the presidency in cooperation with the commission is inviting representatives from european and international research innovation communities and the business sector to a major international conference on the re industrialisation of the european union.
as local and regional decision makers are responsible for two thirds of public investment in the eu their interaction with business and industry is highly relevant.
therefore the council welcomes the recent commission communication on digitising european industry.
another key element is the digitalisation of industry which has a cross fertilising effect on all sectors.
there is however still a need to remove obstacles to and to promote new debt and equity financing.
labour markets should enable growth while safeguarding the social rights of workers.
however we are still lacking coherent development across europe.
we need to decide whether we want to let our industrial knowhow slip away elsewhere or whether we should take determined action to improve the framework conditions for our industries.