kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
deforestation formally establishing the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation mechanisms as foreseen in the copenhagen accord should also be one of the deliverables from a package agreed in cancn.
we are on track to meet our kyoto target. we have inscribed our twenty reduction commitment into law and we are willing to increase our target to thirty if the conditions are
we are open to a second commitment period but let us make it very clear to everybody that in itself that does not change a lot. we must have some conditions attached to this or else we will make it more difficult for ourselves to pressure others to give commitments in the future. we must see comparable commitments by developed countries that are
air'. otherwise there is no chance that the world can stay below the two
i think it is very well known to those of you who are here that the eu's objective on climate change is a comprehensive legally binding agreement that allows us to limit temperature increase to below two c.
we were so close in copenhagen.
right. in other words we are delivering.
what do i mean by balanced?
we are pursuing a strategy where we will try to see if we could have that as part of a decision in cancn. we should also have substantial progress on the financial architecture.
the same could be said on agreement on a framework for action on adaptation and also on technology cooperation.
in addition we are looking to anchor mitigation commitments made so far as a basis for their further discussion and strengthening. with such a result cancn would lay a solid foundation for an action driven international framework and we would have proved that if we can agree on substance then it might be easier next year to agree on the future legal form.
preferably we would also like to see decisions on new carbon market mechanisms to continue the development of the global carbon market for emission trading in other words modernisation of the cdm.
that will have to be reflected in the formal negotiations through decisions in cancn.
that is about environmental integrity because there are today some weaknesses in the kyoto protocol that undermine its environmental integrity.
also we must have a modernisation of the cdm system.
views. in parallel we have intensified the day to day outreach on climate carried out through the eu's network of delegations.
the very high rate of unemployment among young people in greece is evidence of the difficulty they face in getting into the labour market.
mr president honourable members the memorandum of understanding signed by the greek authorities with the commission the european central bank and the international monetary fund provides that the greek government is to adopt legislation for minimum entry level wages for groups at risk such as young people and the long term unemployed.
the commission constantly advocates a set of measures to address labour market segmentation to ensure the unemployed and other vulnerable groups have adequate support and to foster sustainable employment and social cohesion.
in greece the european social fund finances a number of measures to boost access to the labour market with priority for young people women the long term unemployed and other vulnerable groups. it does this through a range of measures such as personalised services for the unemployed work experience programmes for new entrants to the labour market the promotion of employability
long term unemployment figures are also higher in greece which highlights how hard it is for the long term unemployed to get back into the labour market.
the goal is to promote job creation for groups who face a higher risk of unemployment and therefore of social exclusion.
while the main argument for introducing a minimum wage is to minimise in work poverty high minimum wages may increase labour costs and that may constitute a barrier to young people's entry into the labour market and thus contribute to higher unemployment.
some measures in the memorandum of understanding provide an emergency response to a critical situation.
or reskilling support to professional mobility and so on.
adequate pensions therefore means ensuring that older people are not placed at risk of poverty and that they can maintain their standard of living to a reasonable degree after retirement. given the current pressure on pension systems and the problems with alternatives such as higher taxes on pension contributions or poorer pensioners
the green paper does not dispute the fact that the design of pension systems is largely a member state responsibility. instead it seeks to contribute to the debate on the eu's added value for pensions.
these will also be used under europe two thousand and twenty to assess the adequacy and sustainability of member states' social protection and pension systems. pension reform needs to be based on solutions that preserve the adequacy and sustainability of pensions and which are not carried out at the expense of the elderly and the socially most vulnerable.
the green paper is an opportunity to canvass the views of all those with an interest in pensions not just the member states but also employers and trade unions who play a key role in some pension schemes and of course the european parliament.
the commission has always stressed that pension reform is essential but cannot suffice on its own.
the council adopted an interim report in june and a final report with country profiles should be adopted at the end of the year.
this means fighting labour market discrimination against older workers opening job markets for them providing training and skill updates throughout their careers adapting working conditions to the needs of people at different stages of life and ensuring that workers' health and safety conditions improve.
the joint review on pensions takes stock of the results of the last decade of pension reform and assesses progress made in the light of the setbacks due to the crisis and the bigger challenge to deliver pensions against a background of lower employment lower growth faster ageing and a much worse fiscal situation.
workers must have both the opportunity and the capacity to work more and somewhat longer in order to acquire adequate pension rights.
it looks at how the eu can support the member states in their efforts to adjust their policy and make pensions adequate for the future.
in his political guidelines last september president barroso said we need to ensure that pensions do the job intended to provide the maximum support to current and future pensioners including for vulnerable groups'.
the member states need to consider the role that more people working more and longer can play in ensuring pensions are both adequate and sustainable.
the commission supports monitors and assesses the impact and implementation of national reforms through the open method of coordination with a view to developing pension systems that are adequate sustainable as well as modern and transparent.
to measure progress towards achieving adequate and sustainable pensions the member states together with the commission have developed a set of indicators within the social protection committee.
taken together these actions contribute to the internationally agreed goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by two thousand and sixteen and eventually ending all forms of child labour.
although there is a downward trend which is encouraging that is still two hundred million too many children who are working when they should be receiving an education.
many eu companies including smes subscribe to corporate social responsibility schemes through which they undertake to ensure that child and forced labour are not used in their supply chain.
the commission is currently exploring ways of better integrating human rights issues into eu corporate social responsibility policy.
i refer you to both documents for more specific details about that policy approach and its future development.
as regards international support through official development assistance the european union as the world's biggest donor assumes leadership and sets an example for other partners. based on the proposals made by the commission eu member states have agreed on a set of ambitious and concrete actions and policies
many developing countries have made considerable progress towards the achievement of the goals and are likely to achieve them but a number of countries could have difficulty in achieving them the united nations high level plenary meeting in september two thousand and ten certainly represents a challenge but the commission aims not only for a confirmation of the commitments made in two thousand but also for a concrete and action oriented outcome which will pave the way for the next five years and help reach the two thousand and fifteen objectives.
a follow up to these actions will also be carried out annually by the commission.
implement the necessary policies and take concrete action based on lessons learned.
to be implemented between now and.
more recent agreements include provision for an overview of the implementation and monitoring of compliance involving intergovernmental bodies social actors dialogue and if necessary an independent review resulting in public reports and recommendations.
there will be some related work on demography in between.
we would like to build this european year on active ageing to support the employment opportunities of older workers in combination with looking at what needs to be done in order to develop lifelong learning schemes and to preserve health because all these are factors that influence the employment opportunities of this age group.
our credibility very much depends on the level of commitment and delivery on the millennium development goals and official development assistance.
two thousand and seven seven policy options were identified for tackling water scarcity and drought issues putting the right price tag on water allocating water and water related funding more efficiently improving drought risk management
based on information from member states and on its own research the commission prepares annual follow up reports that assess the implementation of these policy options throughout the european union.
in order to prepare this blueprint the commission is launching a number of activities including a pilot project on the development of prevention activities to halt desertification in europe and an integrated assessment study of the vulnerability of european water resources to climate change and adaptation measures.
a further communication on mainstreaming adaptation and mitigation into the key eu policies is foreseen next year.
the commission is also implementing the white paper adapting to climate change towards a european framework for action'.
furthermore the commission intends to launch by two thousand and twelve a blueprint for europe's waters which will be based on a review of the implementation of the water framework directive a review of the water scarcity and droughts policy and a review of the vulnerability of water resources to climate change.
considering additional water supply infrastructures fostering water efficient technologies and practices fostering the emergence of a water saving culture in europe and how to improve knowledge and data collection. these were the seven elements.
the report is about to be published on the commission webpage. the legislative proposal would be based on chapter three of the euratom treaty which deals with health and safety protection.
it would aim at creating a community framework for member states to ensure the safe and sustainable management of spent fuel and radioactive waste for all types of waste and at all stages from generation to disposal avoiding undue burdens on future generations. as the technical assessment is still ongoing it
in general terms a large majority of european citizens is in favour of binding community legislation from which many expect enhancements as regards safety legal certainty public involvement and national decision making.
in particular the summit should agree on the substance and working methods of the new joint africa eu strategy and the action plan for.
may i thank the commissioner for his response. in these stringent times would the commissioner agree with me that it is necessary to communicate to the public what is successful in terms of the development budget we are spending so that we can ensure continued support for this?
secondly would he agree that with gni going down it is inevitable that contributions will go down but that they should not go down as a percentage of reduced gni in such a way that the developing world is penalised twice?
what progress is the commission making in this regard?
does the commission have any specific policy in place to introduce or to reintroduce working children into the education system?
i did read all of those details in the communication.
citizens have read of this possibility of sanctions.
how can you penalise member states and their governments without penalising their citizens?
if you are going to stop the eu budget flowing to member states to the cap or to cohesion the question is who will suffer from that decision?
am i to take it that my question to the commissioner for development will not be reached?
i think that what is now very important is for the member states of the european union to reflect back on the very thorough communication that we sent out in may.
i of course was very happy to see that the french german and british ministers of the environment so clearly spoke out in the middle of july and i only hope that other member states will do the same.
it is also about what actually serves europeans' interests properly.
if we do not want them to know exactly where all our red lines are we must make some more flexible mandates and then we must have confidence in one another and be sure that we then have some leverage to negotiate.
commissioner i agree you need rules when you are part of a common currency but the stability and growth pact was put in place at a very different time.
we have come to the verge of a global collapse and while some countries are recovering better than others certain countries like my own are still struggling.
you are talking about a toolbox of sanctions but as my colleague mrs mcguinness said these will impact on citizens.
how ironic that the european parliament is voting today on an agreement to kick poor and penniless pakistani citizens out of the european union and back to a homeland that is ravaged by disastrous flooding.
the long suffering poor and peasants and workers of pakistan are suffering even more than ever with twenty of their country devastated by the floods with crops destroyed cattle killed children going hungry and up to twenty million people affected.
madam president i abstained on the vote on an agreement between the european union and pakistan. the agreement appears to enhance the ability of nation states or member states i should say to return illegal immigrants to pakistan. on the face of it that would seem to be desirable for the united kingdom but it should only be for britain as an independent sovereign nation state to decide who can and cannot enter her borders.
to vote in favour of this agreement would be to cede that right to the european union which is something i could not possibly do.
britain must gain control of its immigration policy legal and illegal and not surrender it to the european union.
i welcome any initiatives which break down barriers within the eu to achieve that.
at the same time however there is so much more commerce which is involved with the rest of the world and i would hope that we are not then seeking legislation on a global scale but better coordination between different jurisdictions to ensure that we break down barriers and that citizens of countries within the european union are able to take advantage of cheaper prices in the rest of the world and to buy products goods and services from the rest of the world over the internet.
i do not think anyone can be against the idea of poverty reduction and job creation in developing countries.
all too often that is the problem.
the epp the socialists and the greens are looking to ban investment in developing countries.
we must tackle that sort of economic nonsense.
instead it has been enjoyed by a privileged few.
when forty five of europeans feel threatened by globalisation this is not a challenge.
if globalisation is to succeed it must succeed for poor and rich alike. it must deliver rights no less than riches. it must provide social justice and equality no less than economic prosperity and enhanced communication.
unmanaged globalisation creates real problems for ordinary citizens.
globalisation has spread industries trade and services but it has also put established rights standards values wages and even jobs under enormous pressure.
we have to strengthen the resilience of individuals and societies.
we need to give direction to our policies on how to shape globalisation.
this is not an action plan.
another example come from sweden.
that is why the commission has proposed an external investment plan because we want to influence sustainable development in our developing partner countries for instance in african countries.
of globalisation.
but in the last decade this has not happened in the eu.
for me this is the challenge of our generation to manage globalisation so that free trade is fair trade.
at eu level investment in universal broadband access allied to lifelong learning will be essential if eu citizens are to benefit from globalisation.
we for example have extra judicial courts to enforce investors' rights but no binding mechanism to enforce environmental standards health and safety standards and decent work conditions.
however i do welcome this paper and the work done by commissioner vestager in trying to ensure that large corporations pay their fair share of tax a crucial element for fair globalisation.
on one side we have the gung ho supporters of free trade regardless and on the other we have the protectionists for whom no trade deal is ever right.
while our economy has grown overall real incomes of middle class households have largely stagnated. commissioner some of the messages to be sent to our citizens are contradictory.
as you said commissioner this must ensure that the benefits of trade are distributed fairly among our citizens.
i just wonder if you have an opinion about that.
you actually mentioned large corporations paying their share of tax. what do you think of the way that the government of luxembourg has handled this issue over the past ten to fifteen years?
the eu must ensure a better distribution of the benefits of globalisation by working together with member states and regions as well as with international partners and other stakeholders. together we should seize the opportunity to shape globalisation in line with our own values and interests in order to respond to its opportunities and challenges.
globalisation has also helped lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and has enabled poorer countries to catch up. but globalisation also brings challenges.
effective trade defence instruments and better enforcement of domestic and international rules could also help the eu to act decisively against countries or companies that engage in unfair practices.
they interact with each other on the web sharing their ideas cultures and experiences.
the eu has always stood for a strong and effective multilateral global rulebook and it should continue to develop
countries can produce more for less by specialising in what they do best and exploiting economies of scale.
however the solution lies neither in isolationism which has led to disastrous outcomes in the past nor in laissez faire politics.
this. for example the eu could push for new rules and higher standards to create a level playing field by addressing harmful and unfair behaviour such as tax evasion government subsidies or social dumping.
international competition and scientific cooperation have accelerated innovation. european exports have grown as customers worldwide demand the highquality goods and services we supply.
life. citizens are anxious about not being able to control their own future let alone the future of their children.
the evidence presented in the reflection paper shows clearly that globalisation can be beneficial where it is properly harnessed.
students have online access to courses run by leading universities across the world.
itself. it is a shared responsibility not only of the eu and the member states but also of regions and municipalities throughout
it takes an honest look at what globalisation has brought to the eu.
people travel work learn and live in different countries.
we should not wait for others to follow the path or maybe also do something but we need to be more ambitious in targeting the reduction of co two emissions because we have no time to waste.
let us think about posted workers.
it is a very good start.
there are a lot of very important words like realising concerns and pointing out the right problems.
unfortunately we see little action let us say in the paper.
i think that is a very good thing.
i think it is very important that we safeguard the rights of all workers inside the european union. let us also review trade agreements.
we also need to lead the fight against climate change.
i think here the european union can really do something because no nation state can deal with those issues alone. we need the european union but we also need to make sure that we do concrete things.
if we lose our planet there is not a second one we can go to.
in recent years trade agreements have been hotly debated and i remain convinced that the eu should lead in promoting rules based trade as a frame around globalisation.
this frame of rules must always be based on our fundamental principles and high standards and take off the sharp edges that globalisation can indeed exacerbate.
the commission's trade for all strategy and the globalisation paper published last week map out what this leadership should look like.
we must be rule makers not rule takers.
i believe there is room for more focus on the impact of technology on jobs and inequality.
as much focus as there has been on trade we hear little about the future of work as well as the significance of maintaining the rule of law in a hyper connected world.
here too the eu must be a global leader especially as the us retracts including when it comes to setting norms in the digital economy and digital trade.
the eu member states should take much more responsibility for redistributing the macroeconomic benefits of access to third country markets more evenly at home to reschool redistribute and innovate as much as possible.
indeed let us not overlook how globalisation and interconnectedness around the world has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and creates mutual dependence which contributes to greater stability.
our smartphones clothes and many different foods would not be in our homes and lives without it.
let us make sure we look at the impact of globalisation and the technological revolution in a comprehensive way and avoid a race to the bottom.
now my new great friend as of the last four years the trade commissioner cecilia malmstrm was at one time apparently a psychiatric nurse and it would seem that these psychiatric skills are badly needed within the commission.
at every voting session here in the european parliament colleagues vote for rules laws and regulations that inhibit innovation and destroy jobs and the direct consequence is low growth or zero growth or even minus growth such as that which exists in greece and italy.
this is a global issue and probably can only be solved at a global level and the oecd is doing some excellent work there with their beps project.
a number of governments in the eu need to look at this issue to ensure that the mismatches between tax systems cannot be exploited by large corporations.
i think all governments have a responsibility but some more than others.
mr president the benefits of globalisation in both rich and poor countries are often invisible easily taken for granted and easily forgotten in times when people are feeling distressed about it.