kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
now you have said that this was not the cause of the crisis; of course it was not but when parliament voted for this two years ago we did so because we wanted companies to take responsibility for their own supply chains to understand their supply chains. by labelling they would not be able to pass the buck
when we asked for this before the commission and the council said it would be too costly but how much have governments now spent and companies now spent since the horsemeat scandal erupted? commissioner you have also told us that the current system is fundamentally sound yet many people are saying to me that the changes made in two thousand and six by the meat hygiene laws actually reduce the number of inspections particularly in meat cutting plants and that since two thousand and six we no longer
so our traceability systems worked well enabling member states' authorities to establish quickly who had done what where and when.
it is the responsibility of member states to check whether or not the product presents a risk and whether it complies with applicable legislation. we then have other tools like the eu's rapid alert system for food and feed popularly known as rasff through which any notification or alert made by any member state is immediately communicated to all member states as has happened with this issue.
let me conclude by emphasising that public confidence is a fragile concept which can all so easily evaporate. therefore i have urged member states to step up their investigations and there have been some results in the criminal investigations which have been conducted and to ensure the immediate circulation of any new information so we can establish the full facts of this matter as quickly as
as well. this report must take into account the need for the consumer to be informed the feasibility for a mandatory origin indication and an analysis of the costs and benefits as well as the impact on the internal market and on international trade. as i said before the committees i have an open mind
is out. so even though country of origin labelling' would not have prevented the current horsemeat scandal i shall consider this report as soon as
indeed the commission is already considering how we might further strengthen our rules and controls in three areas that have attracted particular attention sanctions the level of controls and origin labelling.
bring can serve as an effective deterrent. secondly some have called for more official controls along the food chain.
public confidence has been badly shaken.
even in the current scandal all the commission could do was recommend a control plan which i know most member states or all member states are implementing but it is not actually legally binding. thirdly as we know some member states and also members of this assembly
states. i cannot overemphasise how important it is that we take on board the relevant lessons arising out of this scandal and i am sure you share my determination to restore full confidence in our food chain as soon as
the forthcoming proposal on the official control rules will indeed bring significant improvements and will include not only the possibility for the commission to require member states to implement coordinated control plans of limited duration to ascertain the existence of shortcomings along the chain but also the powers necessary to establish permanent specific control requirements in cases of newly identified risks.
possible. i have publicly stated that we have one of the best food safety systems in the world and i keep on
the existence of fraud does not question the validity or the essence of the rules themselves.
penalties applicable to intentional violations of food chain rules but i believe that these penalties should reflect the economic gain which is made by those who fraudulently violate eu legislation. in other words only the prospect of losing more than what the illicit activities could
as with any food related scandal crisis or scare we are duty bound to learn lessons and if necessary consider appropriate changes in the light of experience.
firstly the importance of proper controls and dissuasive sanctions to enforce our legislation has come to the forefront.
part of the reassurance that we can provide lies in the way we respond swiftly using the effective tools at our disposal and analysing data without delay.
the issue remains one of fraudulent labelling not one of safety. as you will know food business operators are primarily responsible for ensuring that the requirements of european food law are met while member states are responsible for ensuring the proper day to day enforcement of eu rules.
in the current scandal findings of horsemeat labelled as beef in certain processed food products were immediately communicated to all member states through the eu's rapid alert system.
on thirteen february there was an emergency meeting of the member states affected by this issue.
all member states are carrying out now the agreed dna testing for horsemeat in beef products and testing for the absence of phenylbutazone popularly known as bute in horsemeat in accordance with the recommendation supported by the member states and adopted by the commission on nineteen february.
this is why i believe that it should be made extremely clear in such a sensitive issue that crime does not pay.
that it was the irish enforcement agency which conducted an investigation into the cheapest beef burgers in a supermarket and it was through that inspection that it was discovered that some beef products
also as mrs mcavan said it is important to have unannounced inspections and in the new legislation we will try and put forward a proposal to oblige member states not to announce the inspections but to have random unannounced inspections along the food chain to improve the inspection
before all inspections used to be done purely on the food safety issue.
first of all the sanctions i agree that even though the legislation we have is based on directives and we do not have a regulation as we have in environmental criminal law where specific sanctions are specified in the regulation
meats from different places of origin which are processed in one meat product.
recently we discovered or the national authorities discovered meat from the united kingdom which was being exported to france which was illegal because it was mechanised beef which is illegal under eu legislation.
the internal market is a cornerstone of the european union it is something positive but when you have an internal market without any barriers of five hundred million consumers one of the disadvantages this can cause is that the moment someone violates a law in one country the ripple effect affects other countries as well.
then we have the commission which through its food and veterinary office in ireland inspects the inspectors to see that the control system works.
clearly we must make every effort to learn the lessons of this regrettable episode and do our utmost to restore confidence in our food supply as soon as possible.
of the food chain itself.
i said that enforcement is in the hands of the member states and that the commission has no control as mr davies said over the decisions of the courts and tribunals which implement the legislation.
but as i said i have an open mind on this.
madam president thirteen years ago the british government stupidly allowed the eu to have competence in all aspects of food law.
what has been uncovered in recent weeks is a demonstration of gross incompetence which has resulted in british people eating the meat of horses when they believed they were eating beef.
the paper trail system that the eu has adopted to ensure the provenance of produce is wide open to fraud and as the eu becomes ever larger it expands into countries where fraud and corruption are a simple fact of life.
under our previous system in the uk where food was regularly tested and inspected the substitution of horse for beef would have been quickly detected.
it is depressing to note that many of our own british members of parliament assumed that our secretary of state for agriculture had the authority to act decisively in this matter when in reality he is as impotent as a bullock or a gelding.
let me say this very clearly in this house today there is no such thing as cheap food.
on top of that it is unfortunately a very corrupt country with transparency international rating it for the tenth year running as the most corrupt in the world and of course the worst of all is al shabaab the terrorist organisation which caused major devastation in october.
by appointing representatives from different clans to ministerial office he is also building unity across a very fractured society.
the eu too must now do what it can by encouraging dialogue between the social sectors and ensuring that allegations against amisom troops are thoroughly investigated and that those responsible are rapidly brought to justice.
somalia is a land plagued with intractable problems terrorism drought famine refugee camps crippling debt child soldiers and the worst corruption in the world for the tenth year running.
the election of president mohamed abdullahi mohamed was a milestone in this country's recent history and there are some positive signs that president mohamed is committed now to continuing the fight against al shabaab.
access to aid organisations should be granted.
we must also acknowledge that terrorism is a global problem and needs to be addressed in unity.
madam president the attacks in mogadishu on fourteen and twenty eight october resulted in unprecedented numbers of innocent people killed. i wish to convey my condolences to the victims' families and loved ones and actually to all somalis. i am glad the eu offered emergency response quickly and hope that there will be more efforts by the international community to continue to build resilience and address structural problems.
this should include meeting the needs of the four hundred zero children who are suffering from malnutrition.
it is important to see the connection between the different elements that can lead to the recruitment of people to terrorist organisations.
i think it is a shared responsibility of the international community and i hope it will be met by all.
the population did not even have time to mourn for these victims before yet another brutal attack took place on twenty eight october.
i therefore appeal to the african union and the united nations this is not the time to withdraw troops from the country.
it killed over three hundred and fifty people left more than two hundred injured and many are still missing. al shabaab the organisation responsible for such barbarity had not itself foreseen the scale of its own operation.
they did not even claim public responsibility for the loss of so many lives for fear of angering the citizens and losing support for their insurgency.
somalia is under attack and it needs our support to continue.
amisom the african union's peace keeping operation has been essential in providing a security space for political progress to happen.
in the last few years thanks to the collective work of the somalis themselves coupled with the support of the international community somalia following decades of civil war clan feuds and disarray has seen positive political developments.
equally the federal project must move forward fundamentally in finalising the constitutional review to resolve the outstanding issues of power and resource sharing between the federal government and the federal member states. all of these reforms should allow somalia to take ownership of its own security and its own economic potential.
the federal government of somalia now has to show leadership and determination.
only political inclusivity joint commitment and unity between the federal and regional levels will move somalia out of this constant crisis mode.
the security situation has to be tackled up front and the concrete building of a somali owned security architecture in line with the agreed stability pact has to move forward.
i am sure everybody in this house will join with me in expressing our sincerest condolences to the victims and their families. terrorist attacks are not uncommon in somalia and the terrorist organisation al shabaab unfortunately remains a continuous threat to the building of a peaceful and democratic society benefiting the somali people.
slowly a federal state with institutions is being established.
the european union including its member states is by far the largest supporter of somalia with a collective contribution of eur. three five billion in two. thousand and fifteen to two thousand and twenty the important and positive progress cannot be reversed. it is essential for somalia's advancement and security and it is important for stability in the region and beyond.
this is the latest in a long line of acts of violence extremism and terror attacks for the most part attributed to al shabaab.
these terrible acts have occurred in the wider context of internal conflict and instability including acute food insecurity and the fact that more than two million people have been forced to leave their homes as internally displaced persons or refugees in the region.
we must take a strong stand in condemning these acts of violence as well as addressing the situation that somalia is facing when it comes to nationwide security stability and justice a situation which will continue to worsen without strong action in defence of civil society
current legislation implements the twelve separate eu directives.
all ornamental species will now be required to have a detailed officially recognised description leading to unknown and unestimated additional costs.
in many areas this proposal takes us one step forward and two steps backwards.
it is clear from the impact assessment that the ramifications of many of these proposals have been underestimated or not considered at all. in short i would say that the impact assessment is inadequate.
normally reservations about a proposal would be dealt with at committee with questions asked and commissioners hopefully answering them compromises negotiated and agreed but this has not proved possible in this case.
for example all new varieties of fruit and vegetables would need distinctiveness uniformity and stability testing which is not currently the case.
much of the justification for this regulation is based around the claim providing more certainty in food production and yet it adds costs for farmers and the seed industry.
whilst i hear the arguments of the commissioner i think he has to accept and acknowledge that he has failed to convince us with those arguments.
the proposal fails to explain new concepts such as niche markets and heterogeneous materials and is unconvincing as to why these have been included.
this is because of the sheer range of concerns and the real possibility that the final text which resulted would be a mixed and matched muddle of such proportions as to render it incoherent and unworkable the exact opposite of the smart regulation principles that we have all been striving for over the last five years.
the need for registration is extended to forestry reproductive material with no justification whatsoever.
the whole five file package of proposals is headlined by the commission as an improvement creating a common framework and making all our lives easier.
a new regulation supersedes all current national regulation.
significant amongst those amendments and quite unique actually in my short experience in this house was a widespread desire to delete the package altogether and send it back to the drawing board.
member states will be required to create new penalties for infringements and we simply cannot go forward blindly on that.
i look forward to taking this work forward in the next mandate.
i believe that we need further discussion on how to improve the current text as i disagree with some of the views.
any attempt to do so especially in times of food insecurity is absolutely preposterous.
it is not fit for purpose and the commission really needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.
should the commission's proposal with this regulation proceed it could result in established farming practices becoming illegal.
it does not need to go back to the drawing board in order to get a better communication strategy but to get a better proposal. this is a simple case of the commission putting the needs of industry before farmers.
the commission's proposal also severely limits the freedom of member states and gives the commission excessive powers over markets that they are far removed from.
secondly quantitative and areal marketing restrictions have been abolished and since testing is no longer required registration fees are expected to fall.
but may i remind this assembly that with the current directive if this is approved the empowerments for secondary acts scattered in twelve different directives amounting to two hundred and seventy eight will with the new directive be reduced to sixty two
at present and some members conveniently forget this even traditional varieties have to be tested officially or using results provided by the applicant for distinctness stability and relative uniformity and there are quantitative and areal marketing restrictions as the law stands today. according to our proposal if it is approved in order to register a traditional variety
after forty years and with twelve separate directives in place the evaluation of the current legislation showed a clear need to update streamline and revise our legislation.
because if one were to look at the content of this directive it is exactly the opposite of what it is being criticised for.
all the applicant has to do is to provide a description which is recognised by the competent authority.
it is making life simpler.
second the aim of the directive is to introduce flexibility where under the current legislation there is no flexibility and to foster innovation and respond to the needs of specific types of production whether conventional traditional or organic.
finally all micro enterprises unlike the position today will in any case be exempted from registration fees.
so i can also assure this assembly that the commission is willing to study the concerns as expressed in the tabled amendments to look at the issue of delegated acts even though we have made a reduction of almost seventy five and to contribute to finding clarifications and solutions which take the interests of stakeholders into account which is in the interest of this parliament and of the commission and to find common ground to further improve this important
the recent proposal threatens to effectively close down the ornamental market to new plant varieties under already restrictive registration requirements.
we have tried to change the law to make it less damaging but actually it is completely unnecessary.
gardeners in the uk can choose from over fifty thousand different varieties of plants and we must not have a system that is so costly that our choices will be cut down.
mr president i will not add to the colourful contribution of the last speaker about compost heaps and all sorts of things but i think this debate has been useful because there is unity of purpose in the chamber. commissioner i would add my voice on a different level.
my concern is that it is a massive proposal.
we are coming to the end of our legislature and there is a danger of rushed legislation.
i do not take it as a criticism of you as others are suggesting that you have come forward with it.
it is about big business;
it is about monoculture.
it seems to me that there is one underlying issue here which we all have a concern about and that is the control of a very small number of players in the seed industry.
perhaps we need another commissioner to look at that issue from a competition point of view.
of course proper democracy has certain characteristics.
an elected parliament does not bind its successor as we are seeing an attempt here to do.
the silvestris report illustrates everything that is wrong with so called eu democracy.
the commission proposal should be rejected and withdrawn and these are propositions which we in ukip would vote for and that is where the whole thing should stop.
but in the alice in wonderland world of eu institutions nothing can ever be that simple.
it would be for those elected in may to decide whether or not legislation should come in or not. but in the surreal eu version of democracy the incoming parliament is told what to do.
because laws come from the commission from bureaucrats we know it will happen.
my group was refused a split vote;
we wanted to say yes to reject the proposal and no to having the thing come back again but you would not let us do it.
judges and prosecutors anyone that does not openly support the government is at risk.
many other human rights activists have been arrested and labelled by the turkish government as terrorists. according to several reports from human rights organisations since july two thousand and sixteen the turkish government has started a crackdown on human rights. civil servants journalists teachers police military
civil society is being paralysed.
i as a feminist with full respect for international human rights conventions will not join the group of eu leaders that are ignoring attacks on human rights because of a migration deal.
mr president over the past year the turkish government has been organising a very worrying crackdown against members of the political opposition and representatives of civil society.
i deplore the turkish attacks on afrin this region has been a beacon of hope amidst the general despair with the kurdish people establishing new models of inclusive democracy that champion gender equality and pluralism as well as respect for the environment.
however the broader human rights and democracy situation generally continues to deteriorate and there are still many political prisoners in turkey.
as part of a project launched by the committee to protect journalists and human rights watch i have been twinned with a kurdish artist and journalist best known for being the editor of jinha a feminist kurdish agency with a staff consisting entirely of women.
so i ask the high representative and the eu member states to step up their diplomatic efforts to end the crackdown against civil society in turkey and push for the release of all political prisoners.
in two thousand and sixteen turkish authorities prosecuted her with charges of terrorism for her journalistic activities and after her release she was prosecuted again and jailed for posting a painting on social media depicting turkish tanks as animals.
a judge had ruled earlier that day that he should be released but within a couple of hours the same judge decided to order his rearrest.
high representative mogherini the eu is preparing a mini summit with turkish president erdogan at the end of march.
but remember that all these people have a faith have a family and have friends who are hoping that normalisation is still possible.
while the perpetrators of the heinous coup attempt must be prosecuted and brought to justice many many people have become victims of the massive crackdown on all democratic opposition voices.
every aspect of turkish society has become securitised meaning that all those who voice criticism of the government's policies are being labelled as terrorists or terrorist supporters. legitimate and peaceful opposition is thus being silenced in real life and on social media.
the wife and daughters of turkey's amnesty international chair were waiting in front of the gates of the prison in izmir to welcome their loved one after eight months' imprisonment.
in the past two weeks almost five hundred people were detained for peacefully opposing turkey's military operation in afrin.
the state of emergency has led to a situation where the government can rule by decree without parliamentary or judicial scrutiny.
and for all those people who lost their jobs by decree there is so far little hope of remedy.
we could read in the papers that no preconditions have been put on the table but i hope you can tell us what you expect in terms of results from such a meeting.