kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
it is certainly a move that the commission welcomes in line with its policy to foster country ownership and democratic governance.
the commission encourages and supports efforts by partner countries to build up parliamentary oversight capacities so that the use of public funds is subject to proper supervision.
furthermore with the economic partnership agreements and other trading arrangements the european development fund and strategy papers included as subjects for discussion the joint parliamentary assembly now enjoys greater parliamentary oversight functions.
this revised budget support policy highlights the need to link budget support to the fundamental values of human rights democracy and the rule of law and to bolster the assessment of eligibility criteria.
that the jpa has to play in nurturing and developing a truly democratic dialogue between the representatives of the european union and acp member states. i am convinced that strengthening the political nature of the jpa and its oversight functions as reflected in the second revision of the cotonou agreement signed in ouagadougou in two thousand and ten is of paramount importance.
i believe that developing the national parliamentary dimension an aspect emphasised in your report will help promote the broader and more inclusive partnership we seek.
the role of national parliaments is even more important in the countries where budget support is used.
however the explicit refusal by the acp in particular to include all grounds of discrimination and the principle of non discrimination will make it extremely difficult for me to recommend to this house to agree the proposed cotonou text.
congratulations to the rapporteur because the report takes an integrated approach on the cooperation between the eu and the acp countries.
the jpa should be a platform to embrace such issues and get them on the table in a frank and robust discussion especially as the debate could have happened in kinshasa.
the report quite rightly calls on parliaments to exercise close parliamentary scrutiny of the european development funds.
so i hope that it will be present in togo for the twenty second session at the end of the week this would send the right message to acp states.
debates that we have had at the jpa level have been heated often misinformed and clearly mark a dividing line between us.
the report insists that the principle of non discrimination including on the basis of sexual orientation will not be compromised in the acp eu partnership.
there is only one ground which is a cause of dissent between the eu and the acp states and it is non discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
it is for that reason that we will defend what we believe is the principle of the universality and indivisibility of human rights.
but i want to send congratulations to the co chair louis michel for his courage and his commitment to human rights and equally to others who have the courage to speak out in the jpa.
the eu will stand up for these values and will not back down.
the jpa has played an important role in monitoring the negotiations on in particular economic partnership agreements.
however the eu council was absent from the twentieth session in kinshasa and that sent entirely the wrong message.
i do not want to give eurosceptics the opportunity to criticise eu investments.
make these improvements to the control and management of eu funds.
we want member states to play their part as they account for eighty of eu spend and that is why i welcome the rapporteur's forecasts on member states' shortcomings and also the rapporteur's work with the commission to ensure they make further improvements to preventive and corrective measures in the future. finally let me say that it is important that the member states and the commission
of course in these difficult economic and financial times it is important that every euro is spent well on promoting jobs and growth.
while the trend in the error rate has reduced in recent years it is still too high and we need to see further progress there.
i would particularly like to congratulate and thank our rapporteurs for their forensic and detailed reports to this parliament.
we agree with you that progress must continue to be made and we want to work with you to ensure that we improve the way in which expenditure is carried out and the way in which expenditure is accounted for in terms of achieving our common objectives. this can only be achieved by greater dialogue consensus and agreement and i hope we will see this
i think colleagues have spoken about the disparity between both.
it is important that we continue to make progress and improvements year on year in reducing the error rate and making sure that the expenditure that is voted through this parliament and to the commission is expenditure that achieves its objectives.
i want to assure you that the council is at one with this parliament in ensuring that monies that are spent on behalf of the european union are spent in an efficient appropriate way.
this is an important political debate and a circumstance where our union is going through a very difficult economic phase.
as a member of a parliament myself the fundamental political task of any parliamentarian is to hold governments to account and to ensure that public monies which are spent are scrutinised in a way to achieve objectives.
we have had a good initial discussion but it is only honest to say that this has been a long standing issue between council and parliament.
but when one looks at the progress that has been made in the most recent programme in comparison to the previous programme progress has been made.
as the years progress.
that work includes measures to improve the prevention of conflicts of interest in agencies.
as in previous years the commission will report on the implementation of every single request made by this house.
now we have this window of opportunity and i am looking forward to the efficient work of the irish presidency and a demonstration by member states that they translate political language into practical action.
it demonstrates that even if progress has been achieved more work has to be done to further improve the management of eu funds both at eu and national levels. the good cooperation between our three institutions is an essential precondition to actually achieving improvements where needed.
i completely agree that this is a very important subject where we have to use this political opportunity and make substantive progress.
and as some actions have already been taken by the commission we will even be able to report on significant progress in some areas before the summer break.
in particular we should look at all the seats so that we can make each of them sensible and practical and make good savings in that way.
i can understand that for historical reasons perhaps it made sense to have different seats.
we are only here for forty eight days in the year so this place lies idle for three hundred and seventeen days.
nowadays though with the way the economy has gone and demands that we show leadership we should look again at the whole question of the seats.
secondly we have said and i agree that at a time of economic recession and austerity we need to streamline the spending and above all make unnecessary spending something we should not be doing in parliament. i think therefore we have to look at a single seat.
next i would like to say that i am satisfied that conflict of interest has become an important issue for both the court of auditors and for us in this parliament.
and lastly in the name of transparency i call once again on all agencies to make available on their websites a list of their management board members management staff and external and in house experts together with their respective declarations of interest and curriculum vitae. this is a way of preventing conflicts of interest
in this sense one could say that we should be relieved that the sixty year old human rights activist oyub titiyev only faces ten years in prison on charges that are in all likelihood fabricated.
i hope that the high representative and the eeas will give this and all other cases of political persecution the adequate weight they deserve in eu russia discussions.
to repeat and remind and insist respectfully and firmly that russia meet its obligations failure to remind will certainly be understood by the russian authorities as indulgence'.
this is a clear breach of all the international human rights conventions that you have signed.
on top of that the targeted abuse of the rights of lgbti people is of particular concern for our group.
we call for titiev's unconditional release as well as the release of all political prisoners.
they were held by the national intelligence agency for more than forty days without charge and without access to legal assistance. later they were transferred to the public prosecutor's office and charged with several offences.
these issues are also critical for the electoral cycle between now and the end of next year.
in both the local statements and council conclusions the eu has expressed concerns in the narrowing of the political space particularly since the events accompanying the revision of the electoral law at the end of january earlier this year.
more broadly many of you have called for human rights to be at the centre of our dialogue with the democratic republic of congo it.
we are concerned by arbitrary detentions and arrests especially those involving intelligence services and by unnecessary use of force physical threats and intimidation of journalists. where members of the security services have carried out illegal actions the congolese authorities should take urgent action to investigate and prosecute cases.
we regret that a solution can still not be found to release those activists.
in our responses we have drawn on the african charter on democracy elections and governance which stresses the importance of a political climate free of tension allowing for an open debate protecting freedom of expression and the right of the opposition to ensure the independence and impartiality of justice.
a parliamentary investigation found no evidence to indicate that either the leaders or the participants at the filimbi workshop were involved in planning terrorist or violent crimes yet the communication minister of the democratic republic of congo said that the filimbi leaders were planning terrorist activities and violent insurrection and i quote him.
two dmarches have been made to the minister of justice and eu member states have been observing court hearings. both eu member states and our eu delegation have regular contact with human rights organisations and lawyers on the cases and you can count on our continued attention.
naturally we will continue to follow these cases extremely closely.
we have underlined the risk of any perception that justice could be instrumentalised or serve political events.
is a country with a remarkable plurality of parties views and aspirations and it is vital this year more than ever that all political and civil actors feel free to speak their minds and to submit themselves to the public through debate and discussion. respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are essential elements in the cotonou agreement.
the eu wants to support that process but we need to have the right conditions to be in place in terms of budget calendar and political climate.
the very little information that we have has led many to conclude that the charges are disproportionate and unsubstantiated and there is an obvious risk in this context that the charges are politically motivated.
in congo civil organisations have an exceptional role in filling the void of a state that fails to provide fully for its citizens.
the fact that recent violations have specifically targeted youth movements and the political opposition is additionally disturbing.
the congolese authorities should make use of the critical benefits brought by an active civil society.
a dynamic civil society not only keeps the state in check but also brings the community the capacity to resolve common problems.
the sahel strategy combines political and diplomatic action development aid security actions and projects aimed at preventing violent extremism. we are now more than one year into the implementation of the strategy in the region.
the sahel region already suffers from drought and chronic malnutrition. over seventeen million people are now affected with eight million people in need of emergency assistance. the region's refugees and displaced persons are among the most vulnerable.
in recognition of the security challenges faced by the state in the region the eu is preparing to launch a civilian mission in the framework of the csdp to be deployed in niger by the end of summer two thousand and twelve to strengthen the planning and coordination of local security forces' capacities.
echo has recently mobilised eur nine million to help internally displaced people and refugees.
the current lack of humanitarian access to the victims of the violence in northern mali because of insecurity and attacks on humanitarian workers is of great concern.
finding a political solution to the conflict in mali and preventing the contagion of the entire sahel region are high on our agenda.
human rights security and development cannot be separated.
at last week's meeting in abidjan of the support and follow up group led by the african union the eu pressed hard for a speedy institutional transition in the south.
the eu will continue to work in close cooperation with the countries of the sahel region with civil society and with regional and international bodies to promote human rights security and development in an integrated and comprehensive approach.
we are helping promote home grown solutions to social political and ethnic tensions notably through employment creation for the marginalised groups. we work to assist the local communities in particular those living in remote and isolated areas by improving infrastructure and creating educational economic and employment opportunities.
enhancing transparent and locally accountable governance is also an important part of the sahel strategy which seeks to address the underlying political economic social and development challenges in the region.
in parallel we are seeking to improve the capacities of sahel states to provide social services and development to the local populations.
there are reports of abductions and sexual violence by various armed groups.
we also discussed how best to restore the authority of the malian state over the north.
we are working closely with the united nations and our other partners in the international community.
commissioner georgieva has demanded rapid progress to open the humanitarian space and allow supplies of food and medicines to reach those in need.
improving the security situation is integral to economic growth and the reduction of poverty in the sahel region.
these human rights violations must end.
extension of the csdp activities to other countries in the region in particular mauritania and mali is under consideration.
however we continue to provide humanitarian aid to those in need wherever it is safe to do so.
mr president the sahel region has been experiencing sustained difficulties for a number of years.
all this adds up to a dire humanitarian situation across this vast region so i now call upon the high representative to redouble european union efforts amongst the international community to prevent this crisis from becoming an unbridled catastrophe both humanitarian and security wise for the west.
it is a paradox because without improving the situation regarding poverty it is difficult to improve the security situation;
the southern neighbourhood is in the middle of a crucial transition and these events cannot be seen in a vacuum.
a crisis is looming in the sahel region which risks having enormous spillover effects into the already fragile north african region all the way down to nigeria which is facing instability every day.
after the conflict in libya weapons flowed through the sahel region way too freely adding to the complex and intertwined problems of terrorism and extremism poverty and organised crime such as trading drugs weapons and people.
ordinary people especially women and children are the first to suffer and they deserve our attention.
we need to work together with the african union the un and ecowas to speed up the implementation of the various components of the eu strategy for security and development in the sahel.
if we return to this chamber ten more times to achieve that then we should do that and keep doing it.
we do need political stability.
we must not forget the people of haiti.
one is that we have got to move immediately from humanitarian aid to reconstruction.
this is where the problem has not moved forward.
wonderful people smiling and you wondered why they were able to smile.
we must put more pressure on those who promised their support to deliver that support and we must put pressure on the clinton led reconstruction and the united nations to move faster.
we found them to be excellent and we should not forget that these people risk their lives on a daily basis to help the people of haiti.
they are a wonderful people.
i said at the time that nothing prepared me for what i found when we were there. i want to say a number of things tonight.
we must work for the people of haiti and we must help the people of haiti.
i listened to the commissioner and he is quite right.
in order to clear the rubble you need heavy lifting machinery cranes helicopters bulldozers and the capacity to drive them.
until and unless we do that it is quite absurd for us to ask our two excellent commissioners to go on popping up and down in parliament trying to tell us what they can and cannot do when the local capacity to do anything is so fraught and fragile.
there are a million people homeless in haiti;
we had one recently. it shows our concern for the people of haiti we are obviously more concerned about the people of haiti than the government of haiti is concerned about the people of haiti. we talk about the responsibility to protect. we talk about responsibility to protect against mass murderers and genocidal dictators but what about the responsibility to protect against inefficient and corrupt governments who do not care about their own people?
when an earthquake happens the first thing you need to do is to clear the rubble.
aid workers and technical experts were often working in quite difficult conditions.
this. it is a difficult choice but i believe it will help the country to have structural change.
is it visible?
and infrastructure requires massive investment.
you cannot just immediately send
before a disaster strikes is absolutely essential.
we provide direct assistance.
mr president in reply to a number of colleagues who were confused about exactly how to vote if you are for the agreement you have to vote for the report and if you are against the agreement you have to vote against it.
let me also welcome the support expressed in your draft opinion for the commission proposal to amend the regulation on the application of the protocol on the excessive deficit procedure let.
the commission will ensure the integration of more information on source data for compiling statistics into the edp inventories foreseen by the regulation.
the original proposal to this effect was made in two thousand and five but it was then rejected by the member states.
the commission can therefore accept the compromise text.
in particular the commission will look in the coming months at the issues of the level of competition in this sector highly concentrated for the time being as well as at the transparency regarding methodology and the conflict of interests since the system remains based on the payer issuer model.
work. ladies and gentlemen once again thank you for your attention and especially for your broad and strong support for our proposal which is the very first legislative proposal of the second barroso commission.
soon we will at last have audit power for eurostat all the more important now because it is the key that can make other plans about economic surveillance effective.
with that history it takes time to regain trust and lack of trust contributed to why in the recent troubles member states had to put a lot of cash on the table.
the european parliament's report favours unconditional rights for eurostat to do so called methodological visits.
we want the quality of data to be improved for it to be timely and we want to be able to examine upstream input to national accounts and we ask is the new power given to eurostat sufficient?
what progress is being made to ensure that accounting procedures are standardised and sufficiently transparent to capture off balance sheet activity and any other innovative practices?
even now the ecofin council has added in some conditionality to the new auditing power actually less restricting than many of us feared but has it undermined the possibility for really early investigation and intervention?
we know the history as mr karas has already referred to it. in two thousand and five the council brought shame on itself and sowed the seed of the current sovereign debt problems by weakening the stability and growth pact and simultaneously denying audit powers to eurostat.
of course resources must be targeted where needed but investigation needs to happen at the time of suspicion not after the event. finally when will we know that like is truly compared with like?
a tool to get a grip on an outturn is so much better than just a grip on promises.
words and political commitments by the ecofin council were not enough.
there is no doubt in my mind that eurostat should have wider powers in particular to make on site inspections in member states. but such inspections should not just be with officials from the member state's finance ministry or with national statistical authorities or even with state owned corporations they should include if the work
secondly we must have a common system of accounting used by all member states based on a standardised and internationally accepted method of accounting and agreed between the member states commission and parliament.
this should not apply just to financial reports as provided to the commission but they should also be used in the member states' public sectors themselves.
over a decade after the creation of the eurozone and the introduction of the euro we have discovered basic flaws in the system that are causing damage.
these flaws we ignored ironically because of the false sense of security created by a successful euro.
we must ensure that in the future markets trust governments' economic forecasts and statistics.
it is the only global forum which brings together both advanced and emerging countries and it is indispensable for moving the global economy from crisis to recovery.
frankly if that is what we are trying to achieve god help us.
we have to make sure that we succeed in our negotiations with the us and japan;
but we have to ensure that we do all of these things not at any price but at the values funnily enough set out by the g.
we need to look to exogenous growth in order to get our economy really moving and to sustain our growth.
and sadly for all of us our growth is stagnating while by and large the growth of the other g twenty countries is rapidly expanding.
we welcome the fact that the bali package has been given a kick start as a result of the g twenty negotiations.
but for the immediate future multilateralism is not going to be the answer sadly but realistically so we have to look at our bilateral trade agenda.
so while i welcome the commission's investment pledge that we heard today to kick start the european economy i think we have to be realistic and say that we cannot have sustained economic recovery by endogenous means alone.
that means expanding our international trade agenda.
twenty we have to ensure that these agreements include an emphasis on fair growth an emphasis on sustainable development and fair labour standards and tax transparency and strong financial regulation.
we have to ensure that we get a good investment agreement with china.
leaders committed to completing this work by the end