kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the european union will recognise changes to the pre one thousand nine hundred and sixty seven borders only if and when agreed by the parties including with regard to jerusalem. this is a principled position but it is also based on a realistic assessment of the situation on the ground because the two state solution
it is essential for democracy both in israel and in palestine and it is essential to guarantee a truly sustainable economic growth for both israelis and palestinians.
in parallel the five european union member states who currently sit in the un security council which are the united kingdom france germany belgium and poland expressed this common position in new york in a joint stakeout.
it has always been our position and it has not changed.
i have to say i want to thank the five member states that are currently sitting in the un security council because the practice of coordinating positions they're expressing these positions together including with public press statements done jointly by the five of them including meetings with myself to coordinate positions of the eu member states in the security council is more and more often.
so let me tackle the two issues separately during this debate.
on this as well the european union has been united and very clear over the years and we will continue to do so.
is first and foremost essential for peace but is also essential for security starting from the security of israel.
right after the announcement we issued a statement to repeat that we consider all settlement activity illegal under international law and that settlements erode the viability of the two state solution.
what i can say is what we are seeing in recent times over the past months the israeli settlement's construction has continued.
so i'm very much looking forward to continue working together with them on this specific issue that is so important for security and peace in the mediterranean.
this is what the european union will continue to do in the coming months with all those who are ready to engage towards a just and lasting and sustainable peace.
coming back to our points on the agenda today the second issue to discuss is the israeli government's settlement policy.
our first duty then is to keep the twostate perspective alive and to preserve the possibility of new negotiations towards peace to take place.
and let me add most importantly even it is essential for peace security and economic growth for the entire region starting from the neighbouring countries. if the situation does not improve it will get worse. that is the reality we have seen in these years and in these difficult times i believe that keeping this perspective
i want to remind everybody that the uk has the right and obligation to take part in this election as long as it is a member of the eu.
this is not subject to negotiation.
you have been funny all the time and why should we be afraid of you?
madam president i think this whole debate shows one thing and that is the strength of european unity.
the problems in westminster are caused by the fact that belonging to the european union means a lot for a society and it is difficult to break up.
you are trying to make us afraid of people like you coming back.
you have never seriously contributed to european security to economic growth in europe to open markets in europe.
i would maybe answer a specific question that was raised about what kind of strategy and what kind of alliances we plan to put in place.
around the horn of africa with some winds of change that are blowing also in other countries.
it's about what kind of country we are.
we have fought and given much for that principle of nation state democracy not just for us but for our friends in europe too.
in fact lots and lots of us are coming back because mr verhofstadt is right.
about the appalling tragedy of notre dame cathedral in paris being burnt down yesterday something very beautiful has been lost but something very vital is being lost in the united kingdom and i thought the deaths column of the times newspaper yesterday summed it up rather well uk democracy on twenty ninth march two thousand and nineteen aged.
in the past i know i've always criticised the power without accountability of senior bureaucrats in brussels but for once i have to say that this mess is not your fault.
god have mercy on soul.
democracy campaigned for the rule of law human rights.
you know the commonwealth america many of these countries that actually like us still believe that we are a great nation and yet we have sunk to this a prime minister that promised us we'd leave on twenty nine march that then said we might leave on twelve april that we would definitely leave
we need to sweep away the twoparty system that has let us down so badly and i think you're all going to be very surprised by what happens on twenty three may.
but i've never been to a european summit quite like last week where for the second time in two weeks a british prime minister comes along and begs begs for an extension to article.
we have the oldest longest serving continuous parliament in the world.
it will be a new future for british democracy and goodness me it's needed.
fifty it was humiliating not just to be in brussels but humiliating for the standing of our country around the world.
the mother of parliaments.
so i don't believe it's going to happen and in fifteen years as a joint or sole president of a group i have been to dozens of european summits and again and again i've seen conflict between nation states and the european institutions whether it was the austrians or the irish or the hungarians or indeed the greeks.
little did i realise what the uk political class would do so the morning message is i'm coming back.
the mess is the fault of british politics of two parties which both promised us in their manifestos they would deliver brexit which signed up to article fifty which expressly said we would leave with or without a deal. that is where the betrayal is and i do share members' great sadness
you're quite right the brexit party will sweep the board in these elections and there is only one way it can be stopped and that is if the governing party of ms may and the opposition of mr corbyn come together and agree to a permanent customs union and indeed effectively membership of the single market.
she will be sorely missed.
but actually if it's left to this appalling prime minister if it's left to our politicians in parliament i know that it's not going to happen.
not one to put on yellow vests and protest but one that says we need a peaceful political revolution in our country.
' what is happening in british politics beginning on twenty three may isn't now just about brexit isn't now just about us leaving the european union.
i sense among some in my country disillusionment.
it has not been easy in these recent years to build a common european position on this.
but this is praise for those of you who are in the room.
let me also say it is somehow sad that as we discuss something so serious on which there is no surprise unfortunately for years now we have been struggling and working not only the european union but also the united nations and some of our partners in the region like the african union or the arab league we have been struggling with the situation it is somehow sad for me to see that in what is the last part session of this mandate in parliament there are more spectators at these debates than members of the parliament.
this is something that not only i but also other colleagues from the commission have repeatedly stated.
they have always very much counted and relied upon the european union support politically financially diplomatically and on the ground.
among other things but mainly that. obviously you see the contradiction in terms of having a naval operation without naval assets.
the second thing i'm proud of in this difficult environment is the work that we've managed to finally start and that we need to consolidate on the detention centres aiming to empty them and close them together with the un agencies.
i still hope that they can reconsider their decision and decide to redeploy naval assets in the international waters.
i'm on the record already on these issues i've been very clear.
it's not only a transit country it is a neighbouring country and it's a country that deserves to be treated as a partner from our side.
obviously there is a risk of migration for the european union but there is first and foremost a risk for the migrants themselves for their lives and i thank those of you that have raised this because i think we have to take into consideration first and foremost the fact that every person we are referring to is a human being and secondly that there is work we need to do with libya and with libyans for the sake of libya and libyans themselves.
in the coming weeks.
recently this has changed but i'm looking forward to having them back in tripoli as soon as possible.
i've always argued in favour of the naval assets remaining in the international waters because they have proven to be a very effective deterrent for the smugglers and the traffickers.
moment going back to a libyan owned and a libyan led political process that can be the only hope for the country to get out of this endless transition out of the conflict to de escalate the military tensions and attacks and to find a way to create
the libyans know that the europeans and the european union as an institution have always been trying to help in a constructive honest manner again both financially politically and diplomatically.
i would like to conclude by saying that i would like to thank again all of you from the different political groups for the support for this strong call and strong work that we're doing on the ground not since yesterday but for years together with the un for at this
i think that in these particular circumstances it would make a lot of sense not only to deter the activities of the smugglers and the traffickers of human beings across the mediterranean but also to fulfil the duties the responsibilities we have taken of implementing the un security council resolutions when it comes to the arms and the oil embargo
i would have dreamt of a debate in this hemicycle today on libya and libyans and not always on libya and migration because if the situation is deteriorating on the ground in the military escalation in libya let me tell you very frankly my first concern is for the human losses for the deterioration of the perspectives for the political dialogue.
strong inclusive institutions and peace in the country.
unfortunately the decision of member states has been in another direction.
and a return to the political track and the convening of a national conference under the auspices of the un that we have prepared together supported together and that i believe still represents the hope for libyans to have a proper country and a proper present and future.
you know that the starting points were not necessarily always converging but today we do have a converging european policy and action to stabilise the country giving the libyans the citizens the stakeholders the different interlocutors the different institutions as fragile as they are as conflictual as they are the possibility
the same was also true for the dockworkers of liverpool in the one thousand. nine hundred s so how is it that in the twenty first century when we can put a man on the moon and send a probe to mars we cannot yet give the ordinary man and woman job security?
so with the uk government still trying to leave the eu and with the risk that the conservatives will seek to water down workers' rights we must recognise that good regulation for predictable and transparent working conditions along with collective bargaining for all citizens in all twenty eight member states is the best way for the uk for the twenty seven for unions and for workforces.
with the rise of zerohour contracts in the uk through the emergence of the gig economy and the transformative way our world is changing through the fourth industrial revolution we must adapt legislation to ensure that workers are protected in this new ecosystem in the world of work.
when the commission followed up parliament's calls on a code of conduct to stamp out the spread of fake news online and reported on the code of practice against disinformation we looked at the progress and we saw that the commissioner warned that facebook still has one hundred and sixteen million fake accounts on its platforms.
electoral interference is proven it's happened and it's going to happen again.
what is more important than that as we enter the european elections?
this is essential for citizens to be able to protect themselves against any manipulation and to protect our electoral processes from foreign interference. we also have to look at how political parties and campaigns are using social platforms for campaign purposes.
i am in the european union.
so we need to think about what we do about facebook and the cambridge analytica scandal using all of the tools we have here in the european union.
signatories to this it's not just facebook it's google and twitter and we know that the commission will follow up this work and we really need to act as a team to ensure that this happens.
we may need to end the deadlock on eprivacy regulation to ensure that the rights of citizens especially regarding the protection of users against targeting are protected.
so online we have called for full algorithmic accountability and transparency.
there are three regulators in the world china the united states and the european union.
offline we have to have electoral safeguards such as rules on transparency and limits to spending respect for silence periods equal treatment of candidates banning of profiling for electoral purposes and social media platforms should label content shared by bots and speed up the process of removing fake accounts.
i want the eu to act on foreign actors interfering in our elections.
we really can't control this spread unless we really use the tools that we have so there is a sense of urgency.
your party thought that they could give us mark durkan one man no vote.
the irish government is only one of a few member states here in the european parliament that deprives its irish rightholders of the right to vote in european elections when they don't reside in their member state. you would know sen that in the north of ireland my mother my mother's generation and people like that went to london with john hume to fight for one man one vote.
and just like our african brothers and sisters we want the transition to be managed by civilians.
they asked for a concrete guarantee of a much quicker civilian transition.
but as soon as a civilian transition takes place the european union will be ready to accompany it both politically and also economically.
we want their call for liberty to be heard and to translate into real change for a country that has already suffered too much.
we welcome the lifting of the curfew established on the day of the coup and we call on all parties to refrain from the use of force and any form of provocation.
to prevent such a scenario there has to be a swift handover to a civilian transitional government with real decision making authority.
today i can only subscribe to the position taken yesterday by the african union's peace and security council.
as you all know al bashir has been indicted by the international criminal court and we have repeatedly asked to execute the arrest warrant.
for four months now they have demonstrated not only against the dramatic increase in the price of essential goods but mainly and also for freedom peace and justice.
it is also important that the opposition remains united at this critical moment.
the head of national intelligence and security service resigned;
this announcement was quickly rejected by both the protesters and the opposition parties.
over the last few days the military establishment has tried to bridge the gap with a certain show of goodwill.
so we fully support the african union demand and position on this issue as on many others.
the military leaders initially announced a two year transition to be led by a transitional military council composed of different strands of the security forces.
the head of the transitional military council was changed;
as long as this is not the case as long as the transition is not managed by civilians the european union will not recognise the legitimacy of the transitional military council.
we also expect further confidence building measures to be taken by the transitional military council such as the liberation of all remaining political detainees and the reform of the security sector.
these measures would help create the right environment for meaningful political negotiations so that all parties including a transitional military council the sudanese professionals association and other political actors can cooperate in good faith.
the europeans want the people of sudan to succeed.
our first priority must be to prevent further violence.
this would open the way for a peaceful credible and inclusive political process to finally address the sudanese people's demand for political and economic reforms.
the image of a sudanese student a girl standing in a white dress on the roof of a car speaking to the crowd has already become a symbol.
it is clear that without a true transition the crisis in sudan is likely to continue.
the african union has demanded the immediate handover of power to a civilian led transitional authority which should happen in the next fifteen days and this transitional authority once installed should ensure an inclusive and consultative process to agree on the exact modalities of the transition towards free fair and transparent elections.
we have supported this request indicating that a military council would not provide the right answers to the people's demands and requesting a swift handover to a civilian transitional government.
and last but not least of course it is crucial that we improve the way in which we communicate about our eu values and policies.
i agree with many colleagues here tonight but moreover we must strive at both eu level and national level to defend our values and the fight of cyber and information warfare through a robust defence of our electoral processes.
this report underlined how central freedom of speech and expression as well as media pluralism and identified moscow's aggressive campaigns as the main source of disinformation.
we need to raise awareness about these challenges closely cooperating with the media civil society organisations and social media platforms.
i therefore welcome that the european external action service is increasing the staffing of the east strategic communication task force to better enable them to detect to analyse and to expose disinformation.
just in march this plenary adopted the second report on the eu's strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties.
however it is not acceptable that this european labour authority acts as a simple information point. currently it's designed to provide information sources and services on labour mobility but it's still unable to help our citizens resolve their problems related to work.
it was actually a garage that somebody had transformed into a kind of room that i was supposed to live in.
it actually took a very reasonable stance on the contentious issue of the dual quality of products.
i do understand it's very difficult but it is a good point that we have and it makes it more difficult for the unserious businesses to trick you. what we are doing the new transparency requirements online will make sure that the ranking criteria on your site is clearly visible. that you cannot cheat with that.
the new provision will stop the fake reviews from taking place and the ambition is that in the future the amazing view is just simply amazing.
it got a lot of coverage and a lot of discussions going on and this legislation was the response to that scandal.
we have been calling for a more transparent and independent system.
we have succeeded in promoting timely public access to information held by the european food safety authority efsa.
this will increase control over the process of authorising substances that we unwittingly consume in our diet whether these be pesticides gmos food additives food contact materials or flavourings.
thanks to the new rules on the active and early disclosure of information during the risk assessment efsa opens its doors to citizens and their scrutiny of data provided by the industry.
no more decisions behind closed doors and no more gambling with people's health.
in today's world where the driving force is money the only hope for citizens is to have a robust system of authorisation that will be sufficiently resistant to external pressure.
i've got to know you since we've been here; you're a fair and reasonable man.
we disagree on many things but i would always stand for your right to say what you believe. i would hope that would apply to everyone.
madam president let us start off with one proposition. it is not a good idea for politicians to seek to intervene in the legal process.
in fact it's a very bad idea.
the separation of politics and law is central to western democracy.
in the case of mr julian assange he was taken into custody came before a court and sentenced because he was found guilty of jumping bail.
there are entirely separate charges of hacking and the like that have been filed against him in the united states.
it is these charges that are to be the subject of an extradition hearing.
the hearing will take place before an english judge and what the council said was factually wrong the home secretary does not decide.
many people including me have disliked and disagreed with some rulings of judges in the uk but no serious person doubts the objectivity and professionalism of the english judiciary.
nevertheless ms gomes and other colleagues want the legal process to be subject to political interference.
this is my last speech in the parliament but i have to disagree.
to debase the legal process to politics is entirely contrary not just to western values but ms joly to all the institutions of democracy.
we as politicians should leave the legal matter of julian assange well alone.
now what were the original legal proceedings that caused mr assange to jump bail? well it was the european arrest warrant and this warrant was brought not by a swedish judge but by the swedish prosecutor. despite this with the european
we hear a lot in this place about human rights but it is the s d the alde group the british liberal democrats all the unthinking supporters of a european superstate who are also the same people who are big supporters of the european arrest warrant. their commitment to civil liberties and the european arrest warrant is highly flawed as it probably was in the case of mr assange.
if only these people would think again and i beg you and urge you to do so.
now it's up to the british side to use this additional time in a constructive way and i would like to assure mr farage that we don't count on him. unfortunately and it has been disappointing for all of us here over the last week we have heard comments and read tweets from anti european english politicians about how they are going to sabotage our work in the months to come.
those politicians deserve to be told that we will not allow for that.
madam president libya and the whole arab spring situation is a salutary lesson in western intervention into nations that we don't understand and places where we cause more harm than good.
look at what happens chaos refugees deaths. and who gains from it?
despots rise;
we need to understand that in future going in with bombs and military into places like this is not going to be the solution.
nine times out of ten it will make it worse.
we need to be there to talk to people to help to have diplomacy and to trade but certainly we must understand that the days of muscular liberalism and intervening in these places must be behind us.
the only way forward is trade and talk.
this is not fair.