kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
mr president i too want to congratulate cristian dan preda on this report which i believe is really key in terms of building our relationship with one of the world's fastest growing economies and a global power.
i believe we share a vision for the future based on shared values including sustainable development. we face many of the challenges which cristian has already outlined climate change terrorism protecting the rule of law managing migration and respect for human rights.
but tackling inequality and ensuring our citizens are ready for the technological area is key.
these are really issues where we need to join forces and work together.
i do regret that relations have been on the back burner for a while in the past but i believe strongly that this report is a vital step in building a long term cooperation and partnership and reviving negotiations on the trade and investment deal.
i understand there will be a summit in the near future and it is important that this leads to real concrete actions based on ambitions this parliament has outlined in your report today.
last but not least let me underscore that one of the main dimensions of our strategic partnership should be people.
that is why we asked to promote exchanges on education expand erasmus to allow opportunities for students but also to increase contacts dialogue and mobility in areas like it research and culture.
once again it was a pleasure cristian to work with you on this.
witness to this is the promotion of the universality and implementation of the rome statute of the icc in our political dialogue with partner countries.
we therefore note with concern that at its july summit the african union called on its members not to execute the arrest warrants against president al bashir.
it must abide by its obligations to the icc as a state party to the rome statute and it must respect its international law obligations notably un security council resolution.
we appreciate the fact that kenya has upheld its commitment to cooperate with the icc on internal issues as demonstrated during the visit of the icc registrar last week.
we can but hope that kenya adopts the same behaviour as far as international issues are concerned as well.
as this parliament will know the eu is a long standing supporter of the international criminal court.
in keeping with the eu's position on the icc on twenty seven august the spokesperson of the high representative and vice president issued a statement expressing concern over kenya's failure to arrest al bashir and the eu delegation to kenya was instructed to undertake a dmarche to convey our messages to the government.
the revised cotonou agreement is another instrument which we have to promote the strengthening of peace and international justice by seeking to ensure that our acp partners ratify the rome statute.
the official visit of president al bashir to chad in july and kenya's invitation to al bashir to attend the ceremony promulgating its new constitution are also worrying signals from our african partners. it is the eu's view that kenya must balance its legal and political obligations
kenya had the obligation to arrest him while he was on its soil and failed to do so.
africa played a crucial role in the establishment of the icc and its commitment to the court's statute is also reinforced in article four of the constitutive act of the african union. the cotonou agreement between the eu and kenya lays down the conditions for partnership and in this agreement conditionality on trade and aid in terms of adhering to democratic and human rights standards are clearly spelled out.
it is a signal that the government does not play a credible role in adhering to agreements it has itself signed up to and this should be a serious problem for the eu.
this is a serious problem.
madam president president omar al bashir of sudan has been indicted on charges of genocide by the international criminal court for allegedly ordering terrible crimes in darfur. he is hardly the sort of person you would want to make a guest of honour and turkey had to back down from inviting him to the oic conference on ankara last year because of the icc indictment.
sadly that is exactly what kenya's president did recently at the ceremony to mark the promulgation of the new constitution of kenya.
the icc was established precisely so that high ranking officials even heads of sovereign states could be called to answer for their alleged crimes when these became crimes against the whole of humanity or genocide or war crimes and therefore subject to universal jurisdiction for rome statute signatories. kenya's refusal to honour its obligations as an icc member is therefore deplorable. however recent news that kenya will cooperate fully with the icc
as it investigates the tragic post election violence of three years ago is to be welcomed even if it is long overdue and seems to be a consequence of the furore over the bashir case.
now iran is fooling us but perhaps people here want to be fooled in order to continue day dreaming.
iran is determined to continue enrichment and the development of missile technology to construct a nuclear weapon. we are not stopping the process but just delaying it.
these are not really signs of confidence building measures.
mr president some people think that president rouhani is a moderate.
we have to be much stricter.
in two thousand and thirteen six hundred and sixty executions took place in iran two thirds under the authority of mr rouhani.
there are hundreds of journalists banged up in prison.
we all know that rouhani is limited in the power that he exercises but his approach to the nuclear weapons issue has certainly been more constructive than that of his predecessors. i welcome the recent council conclusions on implementing the joint action plan and i support any measures which put an end once and for all to iran's quest for nuclear weapons. lady catherine ashton's recent visit to tehran is welcomed and is an important sign of the eu's commitment to build constructive albeit cautious ties with the theocratic regime.
i reiterate that we cannot yet treat iran as a fully trusted partner in the middle east.
almost two hundred people have been hanged for various crimes this year alone and conditions for women lgbt people and minorities such as the baha'is the ahwazi arabs and azeri turks remains dire.
i am sceptical about the proposed opening of a full eu delegation in tehran but welcome efforts to reach out to civil society and build more democratic institutions in this key country.
it is not yet the case.
established at the previous meeting.
ahead of the meeting next week in vienna and to continue the work on the substantial areas technical experts are meeting as we speak to further elaborate on the details of the relevant issues.
especially the problems and challenges we face with the drugs trade and the potential of our human rights dialogue in the future.
this visit was not primarily related to the nuclear issue. the visit was an opportunity to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern in the region to have an opportunity to talk about the terrible situation in syria to focus on areas of cooperation around the future of afghanistan
the eu and us supposedly negotiating to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons when they are the same powers that support economically financially and politically the nuclear power of israel and its policy of terror against for example the people of palestine.
they are actually using the talks to try and ensure a middle east shaped in their own interests.
instead it is a recognition by a section of the ruling clerics that in order to avoid revolt from below they had to try and get the sanctions eased.
while they give a liberal face to the outside world internally it seems that repression has increased.
the number of executions has doubled. iran is the number one executor in the entire world.
these include human rights activists political activists ethnic minorities.
working people in iran and in europe cannot trust either side in these negotiations.
the sanctions need to be lifted.
i am afraid i cannot judge whether iran has only a civil nuclear programme but the claims about iraq proved to be unfounded.
there is a certain irony in the fact that many of iran's critics the united states and israel among them have been involved in conflicts in the past and have nuclear weapons.
i am sceptical about the foreign policy priorities of the united states though i must say the present administration is showing more restraint than its republican predecessor. i am no supporter of the european external action service or of the position of high representative.
but the eu's long term policy towards iran should look beyond the nuclear issues.
drawing iran into constructive regional cooperation would go a long way towards restoring stability in the middle east.
mr president i want to begin by complimenting high representative ashton and her team on her leadership in the negotiations and the achievement of an interim deal on the nuclear dossier along with the global leaders and iran.
now some people ask why we would engage with the controversial islamic republic of iran at all beyond the nuclear deal?
their human rights their well being especially that of women who suffer disproportionately from the systematic repression in the country are at the core of our focus.
i am glad that nasrin sotoudeh took time to visit us last december and i am glad that high representative ashton took time to visit with gohar eshgi. we also have other issues of shared concern such as the rise of extremism and terrorism in the middle east whether it comes from jihadists or whether hezbollah with the support of iran is responsible.
we must address this.
we can also work with iran in seeking to curb drug smuggling but there should be clear pre conditions that suspects do not receive the death penalty which we of course strongly condemn.
let us do what we can to work with the rouhani government to try to turn promising words into concrete actions and reforms which will benefit the people.
they cannot wait to see more change.
two thousand and eighteen in this context your report is very timely and the solutions proposed will be taken into account in our work.
the full results are available online but let me underline that respondents were overwhelmingly in favour of protecting whistleblowers. asked specifically in which areas the european union should support member states to better protect whistleblowers
mr president whistleblowers are essential for protecting the public interest saving public money and ensuring transparency and integrity in public life.
in the light of recent scandals and particularly following last week's assassination of maltese journalist daphne caruana galizia it is crucial that we adopt an eu wide protection plan.
when protecting whistleblowers we also protect journalists and their sources we protect ngos and freedom of speech and we protect the truth.
i am proud that my group has played such an important role in promoting eu action for the protection of whistleblowers and i want to thank my colleague virginie rozire for her work on the report.
transparency democracy free press and high ethical standards both in public and private organisations are the values that we protect when we protect whistleblowers.
we need to stand strong on these especially when faced with attempts to dilute the substance of the report by some other groups in this house namely the epp.
mr president as commissioner moscovici told our committee last week the european parliament is leading the eu institutions in fighting tax avoidance and money laundering but we would never have been able to do this without the work of antoine deltour the luxleaks whistle blower whose courage led to the setting up of a series of special tax committees.
daphne caruana galizia the maltese journalist who was killed by a car bomb last week gave evidence to our committee about the tax affairs of the rich and powerful in malta.
these two brave people gave us the information we needed to challenge the corrupt and self serving behaviour of the global plutocracy behaviour that is shaking the very foundations of our democracy as people lose faith that the system works for them.
one was found guilty and barely avoided jail.
this is the sort of courage it takes to be a whistle blower in a world without protective legislation.
how much corruption remains hidden because those who know about it are too afraid to come forward?
the legislation that parliament proposes today would offer whistle blowers the protection they need.
everyone says they are brave; everyone says they are exceptional.
it's only when we get to a situation where people don't need to be brave to be whistle blowers where it becomes normal to be a whistle blower then we can say that we have succeeded.
at the moment you have to be exceptional if you become a whistle blower in my country you will be the one ending up digesting the whistle.
you will end up unemployed;
you will end up mentally destroyed.
i have seen this on so many occasions.
we have seen situations in my country where whistle blowers in our police force have had false files and paedophilia charges put against them since exposed.
we have had members of our police force who have had rats hung on their door for exposing wrongdoing.
we need to help these people.
either that or we need to tell them keep quiet otherwise your life will be destroyed'.
hopefully this will change it. a good start.
however as regards the eligibility of projects of common interest for eu financial assistance in the context of trans european energy infrastructures the commission would like to state that it considers it important that the support from the eu and national sources extends to grants for works to enable the implementation of projects of common interest enhancing the diversification of energy supply sources routes and counterparts. the commission reserves the right to make proposals in this direction based on the experience gained from the monitoring
and foreseen in article sixteen of the regulation on guidelines for trans european energy infrastructures.
if we compromise our values on this issue we will compromise our values on all other issues that we need to deal with including issues pertaining to our own citizens. so i plead with the council to follow the commission's reasoning tomorrow. give us better reasoning give us better solutions or follow our reasoning.
mr president let me react to some of the remarks and comments made. first on greece i insist the commission will continue its efforts to find a compromise which is acceptable to everyone which is based on the idea that we should not let the greek people suffer more and find a way out of this problem.
sir i think you need to rethink this idea that by simply keeping people out we will solve the problem.
that is my deep conviction. i think to create the impression that by keeping people out we will solve the problem is not only morally suspect but is politically impossible.
we are not australia.
they have failed.
this brings me immediately to my second point which is on migration.
by the way what are you going to say to the family fleeing war in damascus or in other places in syria or elsewhere?
that can be an emergency situation we have instruments at our disposal to assist member states to address that emergency situation.
so your friends call you crazy.
i feel reinforced today by the position of the majority of this parliament to stick to this proposition.
they want to find a solution within the euro and if you declare yourselves to be such great friends of the greek people you might perhaps even follow their wisdom in that.
' yes go and say that to countries like jordan.
no you should stay in the region.
we have tried before with voluntary schemes.
you have no right to asylum you should stay there you should be killed there?
i think it is an issue of political and moral integrity to see that and to draw the right conclusions from that.
that not all british meps forgot about their wonderful wonderful legacy of being open to the world of being self confident enough not to be thinking in terms of building gates along the borders of europe.
etc. we are not even sure that there is a suspension.
we are not located in the middle of an ocean. we cannot apply the same solutions.
we will certainly demand of all member states that they apply the rules and if there is an emergency situation there are indications that hungary is facing a sudden enormous surge of refugees;
either we will find european solutions or we will not find solutions and keep on working with the problems we have today.
it will not happen.
but simply stopping admission is not one of the instruments allowed by european rules.
i was under the impression that his party did everything possible to get rid of the european parliament.
the commission will stick to its proposition.
europe will need to take its responsibility to find a sustainable solution based on our values.
of course we are committed to peace diplomatic solutions and first and foremost that which we ourselves have signed up for.
i'm interested to learn a bit more about how conversations with china and russia are going because the spotlight is so much on us.
certainly to have the us choose to abandon one of the biggest diplomatic successes at times where these are few and with so much at stake is enough for us to absorb and so we simply cannot accept that washington spells out which sanctions our european companies are bound by.
iranian leaders cannot and must not dictate what we in europe should do.
iran itself must build confidence that they are committed to their part of the deal if they expect us to try and work hard to absorb the challenge of the us stepping back.
i would be interested in what is possible to mitigate us extra territoriality without pushing private sector risks into public institutions.
in previous debates i have made clear that i believe that we have lost too much time focusing only on iran's nuclear programme and not on the country's toxic role in the middle east as well as the systematic human rights violations against the iranian people.
or was it that even if it fully complies that regime can still have uranium enrichment?
mr president three years ago i spoke here against the disastrous iran nuclear agreement the jcpoa.
i fully agree with president trump's bold decision to withdraw the us from the deal and return to sanctions.
trump is right.
it makes sense though doesn't it?
it is time for us to follow our american allies and call it as we see it.
so let's be clear iran is preparing for the failure of the nuclear deal.
this is not academia or a domestic political squabble but will have real and long lasting effects on our standing in the world driving a wedge between the uk and our most important strategic partner the usa.
how will this influence the deteriorating trade and diplomatic relations between the eu and usa?
our ability to influence iran is greatly weakened without us participation.
if the eu and europe's major powers continue down this line its only real impact will be to tilt backwards towards the anti americanism that seeps through the seams of these institutions.
whilst we will of course continue to work closely with european allies when our interests converge this is not one of those times.
this is more about eu vanity than it is about solving complicated political issues.
this is going to be one of the first big tests for the uk to refind its place in the world as an independent nation. the whole point of brexit was to make our own democratic rules and pursue our own interests but like the rest of the negotiations ms may will surrender to the eu following eu rules and policies as closely as possible completely against the express will of the british people.
don't get me wrong.
lauded as a means of ensuring peace and security for generations its only effects have been to potentially catalyse yet more death and destruction in the already unstable middle east and to drive a wedge in western diplomacy as trump actually follows through with his campaign pledges and ends us participation.
trump pulls out of the nuclear deal and you see an opportunity to make the eu look like big players on the world stage.
but the british people certainly voted to stop being the eu's twenty eighth state.
i don't want an independent britain to be the fifty first state of america.
mr president the iran deal is dying before our eyes and only europe is still clinging on to this flawed plan.
so how will this affect potential economic projects financed by the eib?
according to reuters internal sources the eib is unhappy with the commission proposal because the eib raises funds on us markets.
so this proposal is far from being democratic and accountable.
but what is the eu's reaction to all this? the commission is trying to force through a delegated act to make iran eligible for european investment bank funding. not content with clinging to a dying deal you actually want to give economic and political support to the iranian regime.
we should not follow mogherini's vanity project at the expense of our most important global relationship.
the usa will be re imposing sanctions on iran. it was also reported last week that the iranian regime is looking at options to boost uranium enrichment in case the deal fails.
the uk government packed with remainers could not see the benefits of brexit before the vote and is too scared to seize them now.
but as far as i'm concerned their core mandate is to carry out our policies and there's nothing more important than carrying out this particular deal.
majority of this house agrees but now it is vital that we ensure that the reimposition of us sanctions does not spell an end to the deal.
so my questions to you are the eib as we've heard before has been asked to extend its activities to iran to help shield businesses from the us sanctions but it is hesitant because it is worried about us retaliation.
and we know the region.
this would lead us to a different kind of debate one that we will surely have at some point but it is essential that the european union together with our international partners is able to take decisions based on merit based on our interests and our values and based on what we think and decide is
no agreement no deal is perfect but this agreement is working.
you're free to come and see it.
iran developing a nuclear programme that is not peaceful?
third what is at stake is the autonomy of the european union.
i'm surprised that some forces that have always argued for sovereignty and autonomy are now tempted to follow not brussels but washington.
even if we do all we can and we are doing all we can to preserve this agreement there is a risk that this derails.
' because for me protecting and preserving european interests security interests economic decisions at this stage is a matter of priority.
the arguments that whatever is signed can be destroyed unilaterally after a few years is a dangerous one. i often gave this example in washington.
i believe that we need to be able to affirm that the european union positions are determined in europe. having said that the risk of not managing to save this agreement is real and i think we should not underestimate that we are running a risk.
but there is a risk that this work does not succeed.
first of all what is a stake is the risk that iran decides to restart its process to achieve a nuclear weapon.
this is why i believe that even if it's difficult and i see all the limitations we have the responsibility to try to achieve this result.
as such technically speaking the unilateral move of the united states administration is the unilateral decision to stop complying with the un security council resolution the united states itself voted. that is just to clarify what the jcpoa is.
it's perfectly possible.
otherwise the un security council resolution would not have been unanimously adopted.