kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
ahead of the dialogue we have held consultations with civil society representatives both in brussels and in kazakhstan and we have discussed specific recommendations from civil society that were then reflected in the dialogue with the government of kazakhstan.
there are valid concerns however about the state of freedom of media expression and association in kazakhstan which must be improved by releasing a number of political prisoners and activists.
kazakhstan should continue its reform process which should go hand in hand with its third modernisation strategy. i would also like to encourage kazakhstan to follow the venice commission and the osc electoral recommendations. we appreciate and welcome kazakhstan's increasingly important international role and would like to encourage it to positively contribute to deepening regional cooperation.
they need urgent hospitalisation but are subject to ill treatment and severe torture instead.
as i told the kazakh government in a letter i sent out two months ago i believe that the fulfilment of kazakhstan's international human rights obligations should be a nonnegotiable condition for the ratification of the agreement and as this condition is not yet met i will be voting against the agreement.
human rights organisations have registered more than thirty five cases of persons subjected to politically motivated prosecution for civil and trade union activities for public criticism of the authorities for participating in peaceful rallies for publishing and sharing posts on social media and for conducting journalistic investigations.
politically motivated criminal prosecutions are becoming more frequent and demonstrate that the authorities are unwilling to accept dissident voices.
i am very concerned by the detention of political prisoners and the ongoing use of torture.
mr president the agreement between the eu and the republic of kazakhstan comes at a time when we see a sharp deterioration in the human rights situation in kazakhstan.
i greatly appreciate the discussion and your interest in the eu kazakhstan partnership and cooperation agreement both during the negotiations and now for the consent as reflected also in the accompanying resolution.
the debate has shown strong support for the strengthening of eukazakhstan relations through this agreement. this new agreement gives us the opportunity to consolidate our achievements and advance on a range of issues relevant to the challenges of our time.
we hope for the continuation of your support in the implementation of the agreement and in strengthening our bilateral relations with kazakhstan.
with your permission i would like to explain why.
mr president the services should arrange our voting more carefully.
it is unreasonable for you to have twenty five minutes of voting on a tuesday and to have scheduled two hours on a thursday of own initiative reports and resolutions none of which are time critical.
we see that intermediaries banks law firms tax advisers wealth managers and so on lawyers of all kinds they are helping rich people and companies to evade taxes.
so i hope the council will do something about it and i see the parliament and commission we have to stand together in reforming the code of conduct group to bring tax justice to europe.
we need to see the commission and council acting on the many recommendations that this parliament has put forward and adopted.
we have seen some action but we need much more and we need also the council to listen to us and act not only sit back and relax.
i think when we built the single market in europe we failed fundamentally to ensure that we have a fair tax regime and the code of conduct group of business taxation lacks transparency and its principles on unanimity are destroying fair competition.
so we need urgently to reform the code of conduct group for business taxation;
i will not grow old thinking about my time when i have left here wondering whether there are those people in this chamber who have understood taxation because i know they never will.
when you look at this special committee on tax rulings and you look at the commission you can quite clearly see that this chamber and its civil servants have taken that quotation to heart.
mr giegold sees devils and evil behind every corporate in the world. he thinks that every businessman who gets up in the morning is trying to evade taxation and steal from the pockets of himself and those around him. the socialists in this chamber want harder taxation rather than dealing with those
if they understood that excessive taxation drives down business and puts people out of work they would not be doing it.
the council has identified a working method to deal with those proposals starting with the common corporate tax base and we are currently working on the new elements introduced by the commission on research and development allowance for growth and investments and cross border loss relief.
as regards transparency and exchange of information i am also in a position to report that progress has been achieved on the administrative cooperation directive as multinational companies will now be obliged to report key tax information on the amount of revenue profit before income tax and income tax paid in each country where they do business.
this could be achieved by making alternative dispute resolution mechanisms binding faster and more efficient.
we have adopted two sets of conclusions which enhance the effectiveness of the code of conduct group.
similarly to previous presidencies the maltese presidency has placed the fight against tax evasion fraud and avoidance among its top priorities on the council's agenda. the taxe resolution of july two thousand and sixteen called for a significant number of measures to be adopted
i will give you an update on the achievements reached to date in the council in reply to the general call for action.
more specifically we have called on the member states to adopt measures to counter aggressive tax planning tax avoidance and the particular mismatching tax qualifications that lead to cases of double non taxation.
measures such as the control of foreign companies and anti hybrid mismatch measures that you mention in your report are no longer a wish but a binding reality for all member states.
in a joint effort to speed up our common fight against tax avoidance the council reached two political agreements on an anti tax avoidance directive. the directive provides for a comprehensive framework of anti abuse measures aimed at ensuring that taxation will happen where value is created.
in a large number of areas.
in order to reinforce transparency tax authorities have also been given the competence to access anti money laundering information in particular on the beneficial ownership of companies.
honourable members turning to the code of conduct group on business taxation developments aimed at improving its working methods and effectiveness have been undertaken.
responding to that call the commission issued two legislative proposals that the presidency has put on the table in the council.
we will also strive to increase tax certainty by we hope making as much progress as possible in establishing a mechanism that will improve double taxation dispute resolution.
mr coburn it seems to me that socialists today want to preserve their academic position by assuming that they understand everything.
the fact is they understand very little and if only they trusted the hands of people themselves governments should get out of the hands of public get out of the hands of business and get out of the hands of ourselves.
if that was the case then you would see greater growth in the european union.
indeed my own finance minister in ireland claims ireland is committed to the highest international standards on tax transparency but then on the other hand is also on the record as opposing public country by country reporting.
they say the irish people have trust in our revenue agency therefore country by country reporting does not need to be made public.
so making countrybycountry reporting public is vital to ensure democratic public scrutiny of corporate taxation.
transparency and sovereignty can go handinhand but we need governments to stop using the limitations of the oecd's proposals as an excuse to block action on tax transparency.
indeed input and output legitimacy are minimal. in fact work by the european institutions is essential to arrive at a fair corporate tax system.
tax advisers will always find ways new ways to work around the corporate tax system.
but the committee was hijacked by left wingers and euro federalists. in the eu the legal practice of tax avoidance has become a synonym for illegal tax evasion. the more complicated you make tax the worse it is for small business. instead of simplifying the eu is harmonising tax
and abolishing competition between various jurisdictions.
the common consolidated corporate tax base is just another part of the eu's corporatist agenda to maintain the tax cartel between europe's socialist economies.
tax competition forces governments to be efficient and saves taxpayers' money.
would you agree with me mr woolfe that this place does not understand capitalism and that one of the reasons they are failing the citizens of europe is that they will not try to understand that this system here does not work and that we must have reasonable taxation or people will simply not pay?
why should people hand over their hardearned income whether companies or individuals?
why are we not creating the conditions for that capital to stay at home to create jobs and make wealth?
why is that capital not employed in those countries?
we created wealth in europe by creating wealth. how do we create wealth in the acp countries?
you also stress the importance of good governance in tax matters and in the fiscal area.
i would like to focus on four items starting with the importance of the parliamentary dimension as embodied in the joint parliamentary assembly to which the report attaches great importance.
at the same time we would be interested to learn more from parliament how it sees the jpa's role and functioning in a changing political and institutional environment.
on the contrary the commission proposal must be seen in the broader context of growing parliamentary oversight functions in particular with a view to existing and future economic partnership agreements and edf programmes.
regional integration is crucial for the development of acp countries and we need to integrate this reality into cotonou to better support their own efforts towards this objective.
the negotiations have gained momentum and are now entering into the final phase and the next joint ambassadorial meeting will prove the value of these discussions.
this by no means signifies disrupting the acp group and our acp partners largely share this approach.
the commission accepts however that this matter needs to be agreed with those who are most concerned and is therefore open to reconsidering its position.
we should ensure maximum synergy between epa and cotonou institutions including between regional jpa meetings and the epa parliamentary bodies.
likewise the importance that you attach to climate change and food security is shared by us and will be reflected in the final outcome.
good governance is a fundamental principle of the cotonou agreement.
by contrast the commission welcomes the call for cotonou to give more attention to the trade and development issues in general and to aid for trade in particular.
parliament puts at its heart in these negotiations reinforcing the principle of non negotiable human rights clauses and sanctions for failure to respect such clauses inter alia with regard to discrimination based on sex racial or ethnic origin religion or belief disability age sexual orientation and towards people living with aids and hiv.
human rights as you well know are often far too eroded and this erosion is primarily for party political advantage. the defence of fundamental rights is at the heart of the european union and so it should therefore be at the heart and the centre of our relations with all acp countries.
commissioner this is probably the last time you will appear before us in your present portfolio so can i please say a warm thank you on behalf of parliament.
you have been a staunch defender of human rights and the values of the eu and i wish you well in your new portfolio.
in addition to the system contributing to the reduction of migratory risks persons that pose a security risk will be identified and denied travel authorisation before they arrive.
we should rapidly start to develop etias so that it is up and running in. two thousand and twenty one i am looking forward to the debate today and thank you for your continued commitment to truly european initiatives which enhance our external border management ensuring more
please let me now touch upon some of the data protection aspects of the agreement what data is collected its retention and how it is protected.
the outcome on this point is very balanced.
visa liberalisation is also an important tool to promote reforms in partner countries and contribute to overall stability and good cooperation with third countries.
if additional information or documentation were to be needed or even the need to have an interview different possibilities will be offered taking into account the situation of the traveller.
the system will not require the collection of additional information other than what is strictly necessary.
together with you and the council we jointly agreed to work together to prioritise the legislative work of initiatives where european citizens are clearly expecting us to deliver concrete results.
today border guards have limited time and information when making their assessment on entry. they have no prior information on visa exempt travellers especially at land borders. with etias they will benefit from an additional
in terms of data protection the proposal was built to be fully compatible with our new data protection framework. as you know the extensive discussions reflect a delineation between the general data protection regulation and the police directive without affecting their scope of application.
applying for a travel application will be quick simple and cheap and will not require more than a travel document credit card and access to the internet.
it will allow etias to achieve its objectives and functions efficiently while at the same time minimising the data collected.
and broader security and migration risk assessment than at the border crossing point and before the traveller arrives at the schengen borders. with this system in place we should also see a decrease in the number of refusals of entry at the borders.
the vast majority of applicants will receive a positive reply within minutes.
the robustness of the risk assessments to be performed by the system is of course related to the data collected and to the checks performed against other systems.
today we are ready to pursue our joint commitment to the full and continue to deliver results for the benefit of our citizens.
first it will strengthen internal security and the quality of schengen border management.
etias is of course not a visa but it will compensate in a relatively light way for the loss of information on travellers who were previously visa required and hence present in the visa information system
anyone who is denied authorisation will not waste time and money travelling to schengen border crossing points.
second while enhancing border management and internal security etias will at the same time also facilitate travel for visa exempt third country nationals.
today we deliver on this priority.
and the recently adopted entryexit system will together form part of a single platform for thirdcountry nationals visiting the european union.
together the three systems will allow verifications of thirdcountry nationals crossing our external borders into the schengen area for short and long stays. it is therefore of paramount importance that the development of the three systems
we can add the last missing piece of the new eu information platform for borders and security.
i am looking forward to the start of the development of etias and the other information systems we have in the pipeline.
you will remember that it was one of my priorities from the very first moment i was designated commissioner responsible for security and migration.
i encourage you to support these important pieces of legislation when you vote later tomorrow.
rohingyas have lived in burma for centuries yet they suffer from institutionalised discrimination and have had terrible violence directed at them in recent years.
the border is an open one with no formal crossings in the jungle areas.
in the long term this means building an inclusive society based on dialogue and genuine democracy the rule of law and equal rights for all burmese people.
i commend the efforts of the burmese government on behalf of my group the ecr to try to end the violence directed against rohingyas but it is time now for the authorities in rangoon to move from words to action.
there are some three hundred zero rohingya refugees living in neighbouring bangladesh which is a very poor country and ill equipped to handle this influx and provide even the most basic assistance but they do their very best.
they are amongst the poorest and most marginalised of the country's forty eight million people.
the fact that burma is five thousand miles away in asia is not an excuse to ignore what amounts to ethnic cleansing in western burma today. support for justice for the rohingya who are mostly muslim would send a strong message to the islamic world that the eu is fair and even handed in its dealings.
i hope we will use the opportunity to emphasise that all the people of burma are entitled to full human rights regardless of ethnicity and religion.
mr president there are still significant long term challenges in burma despite the fact that two thousand and eleven saw some unexpected and positive political developments.
a proposal to reinstate trade preferences for burma will come to the parliament soon.
in europe twenty years ago we saw the terrible nightmare of ethnic cleansing in the former yugoslavia.
both communities have to learn again how to peacefully co exist alongside each other.
in their conclusions in april eu foreign ministers recalled the need to clarify the legal status and improve the welfare of the rohingya population.
a permanent separation of the communities should be avoided; a solution must involve finding ways of reintegrating both communities.
but more could be done to help counter negative perceptions for example through access for local and international media.
he has invited the un country team and international diplomats to a dialogue on this matter later this month at a workshop in the capital nay pyi taw.
thus in ongoing contacts with the government the high representative vice president has passed on the following messages first we expect myanmar to adhere to international standards as regards human rights citizenship and treatment of detainees.
the government has allowed official visits by the international community including the eu to rakhine state.
the government should reach out to civil society and dialogue to build bridges between the communities in the context of an inclusive common myanmar identity.
that was most welcome to establish facts and a common understanding of the challenges ahead.
as made clear by echo the eu is ready and willing to help all those who have been affected by the violence.
the government has publicly stated that the solution has to lie inside myanmar.
the government should have the space to deal with the situation as an internal matter but there are external implications since it affects our interests and values and shapes myanmar's image abroad.
second humanitarian access should continue to be improved particularly in areas of northern rakhine state where interventions have been suspended due to the violence.
the president's establishment of the independent rakhine investigation commission with a mandate to propose medium and long term solutions is a step in this direction. the commission is due to report by mid november.
on behalf of the high representative vice president i therefore welcome the willingness of the government to listen to the concerns of the international community as expressed by the border affairs minister in recent contacts with eu diplomats in myanmar.
two thousand and twelve we hope this report will be made public.
an open and democratic society can be recognised essentially by its treatment of minorities.
the regime transition in burma can succeed if the announced democratic reforms also reflect on the ethnic minorities.
they have been displaced they have been killed they have been raped they have been tortured and from you we have nothing but silence. we call for an immediate end to that violence.
the authorities need to know that they have to protect the rohingya people. president thein sein has to receive that message clearly.
he has to grant them nationality and uphold their human rights.
we must thus express our appreciation for those burmese citizens who have raised their voice in support of the muslim minority and the pluralistic society.
i am happy to report that there has been good progress in the council under the dutch council presidency and i am counting on the slovak presidency to keep up the pace.
in order for member states to access these funds we have introduced as a pre condition that they demonstrate their administrative capacity to implement and apply the un convention.
the european accessibility act aims to improve the functioning of the internal market by harmonising accessibility requirements in the european union but it will also serve as a catalyst for social inclusion by giving people with disabilities access to everyday products and services.
i agree that the eu itself should make sure that we set an example by being a disability inclusive organisation in line with the convention.
the un convention has set the gold standard for the full and equal participation of people with disabilities in society.
we need to act on our commitments in consultation with and with the participation of organisations representing persons with disabilities.
your report refers notably to access to employment education and social protection.
we are working to ensure that european legislation prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of disability in employment is fully implemented.
to be crystal clear this is about putting the internal market at the service of people.
we are currently in the process of legally formalising this action and we are also advancing in preparing a list of legal acts which will complement the eu declaration of competences attached to the council decision for concluding the convention.
we have achieved good results so far but as we all know much remains to be done.
our efforts are backed up by our financial instruments in particular the european social fund which is worth eur eighty six billion.
we are also analysing the numerous contributions received during the public consultation on the strategy which was carried out earlier this year.
they contribute significantly to the proper implementation and monitoring of the convention at european and national levels.
i am therefore glad to use this opportunity to invite you all to contribute to the ongoing consultation.
free movement is a basic right in the eu and persons with disabilities should not be excluded from it either in their local living environment or when traveling abroad. that is why the commission is currently implementing with eight member states a pilot project on the european disability card.
the card will allow people with disabilities to access certain benefits in the areas of culture leisure transport and sport on the same conditions as nationals of the countries concerned with disabilities.
as to the recommendations specifically underlined by the un committee the commission also announced its intention to withdraw from the european monitoring framework and has stopped participating in the meetings of the framework.