kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
mr president with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies and the european medicines agency based in my london constituency and as a retired doctor myself i fully support this report. i am also in favour of streamlining and strengthening the eu's capabilities in responding to potentially devastating transnational health threats such as pandemic flu.
there may indeed be rights abuses in hungary but it is for the hungarian people to address these concerns and not the eu.
this idea of a wise men group an investigative body of meps looking into the rights of all twenty eight member states we are not just talking about hungary in this report takes away our democratic rights; it does not add to those rights. i think this proposal crosses the rubicon and just as when julius caesar crossed that rubicon there is no way back.
and as julius caesar said the die is indeed cast.
this is how the eu works it takes a good cause such as this and it makes it its business but it is not the eu's business.
it marks the start of a european empire interfering in nation states' matters.
i think this report absolutely says that.
i am supportive of this report's aspiration for a principles based approach to protecting taxpayers and bank customers when part of a bank fails and needs formal resolution.
in the uk i support the vickers banking reforms and would personally go further by advocating a formal separation of retail and wholesale banking along the lines of the us glass stegall act to prevent another two thousand and eight financial collapse occurring in the west.
i welcome its desire to complement other banking reform measures with its proposals.
however recent reckless behaviour has heightened awareness of the sector's need for prudential reform but we must preserve and also enhance the banks' ability to finance the wider economy particularly smes in order to create jobs and growth in our economy.
the mff deal delivers a smaller eu budget which reflects the tough times which we face today and which our citizens live in.
here we have a proud state with a long history very traditional that for many years was locked in the icy grip of moscow and is now a proud member of the european union and will be leading the european union for the next six months.
but i am not going to dwell on the irish presidency because it has been enormously successful.
the irish presidency has been extremely good.
we are the ones on the atlantic and this week we had a very significant occasion when that flag over there the croatian flag joined the european union.
it was on immediately after the break for the sakharov prize and i think that was unfair to the proposals. if you look at the figures seven hundred and five voted immediately before the sakharov prize six hundred and sixty five voted on this report which was on straight afterwards and the figures rose to seven hundred and ten when all the members got back into the chamber. i think that was an unfair position and something that should be noted for the future. i must just finish by saying that while mr hannan always makes some interesting points his conclusions are not correct. to say that the european union is synonymous with fraud is a gross exaggeration.
our vision for road safety is to make journeys on northern ireland's roads as safe for all road users as anywhere in the world.
two thousand and eleven in two thousand and eleven the commission submitted a proposal for a decision establishing measures and structures for the effective protection of citizens throughout the european union from a wide range of border threats to health.
over the last six months we have seen several measures introduced by the hungarian government which threaten the freedom of religion of hungarian citizens.
hungary is a beautiful country that i have visited on a number of occasions recently and they have rid themselves of the oppression of communism. i trust and hope that they will also reflect on measures which are deemed to be against freedom of religion and association as well.
a new law in hungary called the law on the right to freedom of conscience and religion and on churches religions and religious communities has meant that only thirty two of over three hundred faith groups in hungary have received formal recognition by parliament to operate as churches.
this is something that as you will know i have been asking for since i first became an mep.
mr president at long last the saga that was the negotiation of the eu long term budget the mff has concluded.
if i have heard that phrase once in the debate i have heard it a hundred times all taxes ultimately fall on people.
and as a result of driving capital and financiers out of europe it will whack up the tax bill for everybody else as they are obliged to make up their share so all of us will be poorer in return for what the commission itself accepts will be a reduction in europe's gdp.
investors in reduced returns bank customers companies in higher borrowing costs and therefore of course the customers and employees of those companies.
it is not your house that pays the council tax it is not your tv set that pays the licence fee it is not your car that pays the road tax and it will not be the bricks and mortar of the banks that pays the financial transaction tax.
mr president it should come as no surprise to anyone in this chamber or indeed financial centres across europe especially london that i oppose this tax.
this ftt is badly thought out and would never achieve the revenues that people claim it will.
it will simply cost businesses and small investors across europe more while banks and sophisticated market actors will create ever more complex products to avoid it.
we do not levy vat upon goods and expect the supermarkets to pay it.
we all know that the cost is passed on to the consumer and it is naive to think an ftt is any different.
i cannot understand why the countries who have agreed to go ahead with this enhanced cooperation have done so and i look forward to hearing the european court of justice's view on the extraterritorial implications of the tax as proposed.
given that there is still no answer to the basic questions of who should collect the tax and how i suspect this debate is going to continue for a long time.
however i do hope ultimately it will die and it should actually be discarded in its entirety.
mr president the presidency of the eu council by the irish republic saw agreement on some of the most difficult issues that face the european union notably the cap the cfp and the mff.
the agreements reached on agriculture and fisheries policy will have a huge impact on my constituency of northern ireland and certainly in relation to the cap we are waiting to see the finer detail as to whether it will actually support active food production to meet the growing challenge of global food security.
northern ireland has the largest concentration of smes in the united kingdom.
i am also glad that within the mff there is an allocation for peace funding for northern ireland. this has been important in building a future for my constituency.
mr president the challenges we face when it comes to preventing and responding to serious health threats have increased as we have continued to become a more and more globalised world yet the cross border nature of such serious health threats is an issue that we are well placed to tackle at european union level.
therefore i welcome the opportunity that this report has provided for us to reinforce the eu's ability to respond to such serious health threats.
this is essential if we are to support uk companies who are investing in renewable technologies of the future.
these changes are strongly backed by the uk government and the uk companies in this sector yet it is really disappointing that our conservative colleagues have once again voted against their own government policy and the interest of british industry.
thankfully a majority in this parliament voted for the measures which i hope will support our uk companies in this sector in the future.
mr president while i welcome the committee's ongoing work towards fighting fraud across and within europe's borders it is unfortunate that this report continues to promote the harmonisation of national criminal law systems across the eu.
member states should have complete sovereignty over how they decide to detect pursue and prosecute instances of fraud and should not be forced to comply with standard eu requirements for evaluating individual cases and reporting information to the commission.
of course this does not negate the responsibility of national governments actively to fight fraud.
i also support the committee's focus on promoting the role of ict and e transactions in detecting fraud.
finally i welcome the report's calls for law enforcement authorities to prioritise fighting fraud.
the whole point of the emissions trading scheme was to create a way for the market to set a price on carbon emissions and thereby use market tools to aid environmental priorities.
the market forces have acted businesses have priced in the extra charges and financial market participants have created a secondary market which supports these activities.
the eu may not be happy with the results but ultimately if you decide to create market mechanisms you have to deal with the resulting prices.
changes in the rules of the game half way through are unfair on those who have made long term business decisions based upon supply and demand and current prices.
i am strongly opposed to any market interventions based solely on price and the level of uncertainty this gives to all eu projects going forward is unacceptable.
if the ets is functioning that badly we need to start again not tweak at the edges.
mr president with only one exception every voice we have just heard has been in favour of higher spending.
the national governments really have no particular incentive to reduce spending.
if spending is coming from brussels in their region they do not want to invigilate the system and reduce the amount going to recipients. there is not really anybody whose job is to keep the budget down and that is the basic structural flaw here.
it is not like a national parliament where there is a link between taxation representation and expenditure and where the parliamentarians have to go back to their constituents who are also their taxpayers and explain what they have done with the money.
we expect the bouquets when we spend but not the brickbats when we tax because the taxation is done elsewhere and that is why there is this constant structural upward pressure on spending.
i think it is now becoming clear to everyone that this is a deeply flawed project which has not been thought through properly by the commission or those who wish to introduce it.
taxing both sides of the transaction is also a blatant attempt to try and raise money from companies trading outwith the countries in the scheme and it is no surprise that the uk government is taking the commission to the court on this matter. if you are outside the transaction scheme you should not be obliged to pay the tax through this externalisation of the financial transaction tax.
i would also like to commend emergency services working in the areas affected for their endeavours in limiting the human and social cost of the disaster.
as the economic impact of the flooding continues to become apparent i welcome the emphasis placed by each of the groups on the need for flexibility with eu funds including the structural funds to ensure that programmes can be redirected towards reconstruction and regeneration within communities affected.
i would add however that in recent years parts of my own constituency like fermanagh have been badly damaged by flooding with no support given.
i also share the view that member states should revaluate the strategies they have in place for both preventing the natural disasters and responding to such crises as they arise.
that is why so many european countries said they did not want to be part of the ftt. now however we have the issue of extra territorialisation a long word.
i believe all of that will result in economic benefits for coastal communities located along the atlantic
this is not necessarily a new concept.
the maritime institute which was visited by commissioner damanaki and her irish colleague based in my euro constituency in galway is to the forefront in developing new possibilities through different initiatives with economic sectors as diverse as ict food biotechnology shipping financial services ocean energy and new research into deep sea species. the development of killybegs in my own county as a renewable energy services hub the regional plan for the shannon estuary and the westwave project are concrete examples of new initiatives being developed off the irish coastline at present. the launch of the integrated strategy for the atlantic area which will take place in lisbon on twenty eight november is an important development. i strongly believe and support a coordinated strategy for the atlantic area from the north of scotland through ireland through france through spain and portugal.
we have an obligation to assist these people and their
arc. i want to give an example of how we can regenerate. i believe that regeneration of the infrastructural facilities in many small coastal ports and islands along this arc including my own country would result in tangible benefits. i am thinking in particular of the ports that have suffered as a result of the
the negotiations we have been holding with you and the council have led us to extend the operational objectives but above all they have helped us at the commission to understand your expectations better they have made it crystal clear that we should give priority only to actions of a truly integrated
before they can actually bear fruit.
so i am very pleased that we have come this far.
nature that cannot be funded elsewhere.
secondly we have to create linkages between different sectors.
blue growth is the effort to give our coastal states the possibility to expand their growth and jobs strategies.
nevertheless since we have only eur forty million for two years we have to focus on our priorities for these two years.
then of course we have some blue ocean energy projects not only wind energy but energy from the
and fourth blue growth.
sea. we have already taken the initiatives for these two areas.
the space for the media and political parties has been gradually reduced since just before the start of the electoral period
we will certainly continue to follow the situation closely and to react publicly when necessary.
similarly we have decided against financially supporting the undp electoral programme.
in terms of economic development and poverty reduction ethiopia is considered in many ways a success story for africa.
they have been imprisoned for having expressed their opinions publicly.
it is indeed important that we can exchange views on this very important country.
a more secure and peaceful ethiopia must not come at the price of human rights abuses or sham elections with no healthy opposition.
i have been working with civil society groups from ogaden in ethiopia and it was important for me to speak out on the situation as there has been no level playing field for opposition voices.
the eu must make a clear public statement outlining its concerns about the upcoming elections before twenty four may and making clear its commitment to human rights and democracy in solidarity with the people of ethiopia.
ethiopia will have its elections next week without an eu election observation mission and this is happening while the government cracks down on journalists and civil society and persecutes the ogaden oromo and other ethnic groups targeting women and children.
it must also ensure the eu aid money is not being used or implicated in ethnic persecution and human rights violations.
soon to see the situation for herself and to personally discuss issues of concern with the country's leadership.
i spend a lot of my time working with civil society groups and i work with unrepresented people who have no voice.
i speak here i use my position to give power and voice to those people who do not have a voice.
during spring and summer the situation on the ground deteriorated.
the joint support of eu institutions and member states for this process has certainly contributed substantially.
on visa liberalisation we are moving towards the goal of visa free travel for ukrainian citizens to the eu an important step to enhance people to people contacts.
nevertheless what we have now is a process that is moving in the right direction albeit slowly and sometimes hesitantly.
the eu advisory mission to ukraine is doing important work to assist security sector reforms.
cases of shooting and shelling still take place;
since one september following intense diplomatic efforts the ceasefire which was first agreed in september two thousand and fourteen is at last being largely respected.
two weeks ago an agreement was reached on the withdrawal of tanks and smaller weapons implementation of which has already begun.
does this mean that the conflict is almost over?
they are also addressing russia's concerns about the deep and comprehensive free trade area without amending or delaying the implementation of the agreement from one january onwards. eu relations with ukraine are developing dynamically despite the difficult realities of the conflict which its authorities and above all its people have to face.
to sum up we have reason to be cautiously optimistic about progress on the diplomatic track if we remain united and we will continue to support ukraine on its path to becoming a prosperous country.
there should be no russian forces on ukrainian soil.
just a few examples the support group for ukraine continues to focus eu advice technical assistance and financial resources on the ukrainian reform process;
one one million have left the country since the start of the conflict.
one five million displaced and another.
much attention has been given to other pressing problems lately but ukraine remains a top priority for the eu.
high representative vicepresident mogherini stressed then that the diplomatic efforts led by germany and france are genuinely european and that we must remain united in our support of the normandy format and the trilateral contact group in order to achieve
the eu will continue to support the process including through financial and in kind contributions to the osce special monitoring mission.
further progress is needed notably in the fight against corruption.
the european parliament ratified the association agreement a bit more than a year ago paving the way towards an era of new opportunities for citizens in ukraine based on its political association and economic integration with the european union.
the modalities of the local elections according to osce standards still need to be fixed under ukrainian law. the special arrangement for self government has to be agreed and an amnesty implemented.
our goal remains to help them create a well functioning state and a successful economy.
these are our joint objectives and i look forward to working towards them together.
nevertheless ukraine adopted decentralisation related amendments to the constitution at first reading including a provision enabling special arrangements for self government in certain areas of the donetsk and luhansk regions in line with the minsk agreements.
the eu supported organisation for security and cooperation in europe special monitoring mission is growing further to its full strength of one zero monitors on the ground to cope with all new tasks of verification and monitoring.
clearly not.
this is no small thing.
its mandate is currently under review to further streamline its activities toward ukraine's most immediate needs.
in less than two weeks some of you will travel to ukraine to monitor the local elections another opportunity for the ukrainian people to exercise their democratic rights. all of this strengthens eu ukraine relations.
ukraine should regain control over the four hundred and fifty kilometre long segment of its border that it has been forced to abandon.
over six billion of the original eur eleven billion support package announced by the eu in march two thousand and fourteen has already been mobilised to launch the reforms that will secure the future.
people continue to die. internally displaced persons are unable to return to their homes.
the report brings us one step closer to finding those responsible for this crime and bringing them to justice.
russia's behaviour has been strange during this whole investigation.
it did not support the creation of a un international tribunal but has instead been developing its own version of the shooting down.
also political responsibility must not be forgotten.
madam president the people of ukraine cannot be forgotten. the eu should be able to handle two crises at the same time the refugee crisis and ukraine.
one five million internally displaced people two hundred zero of whom are children.
the majority of humanitarian organisations still do not have access to the occupied areas and the eu should increase its efforts to ensure freedom of movement of aid to donetsk and luhansk.
there are five million people in urgent need of aid.
i also call on the member states to do more to support the commendable process of reform undertaken by the authorities in ukraine and to implement the association agreement.
the humanitarian situation in ukraine has escalated with more than.
the sanctions against russia are linked to breaches of international law in ukraine and the eu should stand firm and united behind them until the minsk agreement is fully implemented.
russia is seeking to assert its position in crimea and to add the so called people's republics of luhansk and donetsk to the list of breakaway territories classified internationally as frozen conflicts.
not content with this however mr putin is also trying to add to the destabilisation of ukraine by seeking ways to undermine its economy with projects such as nord stream.
in essence unable to take ukraine by force putin is reverting to the more traditional and subversive kgb tactics in which he has been trained of attempting to take ukraine politically.
we in europe must remain conscious of this and not let the pressure of the migration crisis and the fight against terrorism in the middle east divert our attention and allow russia its way in ukraine.
the commitments made by all sides must be respected by all sides. this is the only way forward out of the madness.
however i would like to warn all of us not to be over optimistic. yesterday the ceasefire was breached.
as the winter approaches this may result in a humanitarian catastrophe on an unimaginable scale.
we also observe the kremlin puppets trying to bargain or blackmail over the local elections issue.
no surprise actually!
and we in the european parliament we have the credit to call other institutions to become more transparent if we do the same.
in terms of individual improvements in the budget we've seen the driver service being brought in house successfully and we've had lots of comments about the improvements made there.
the gym in brussels has been reopened after a long closure.
and on this difficult issue i think we need to spend a little bit more time considering the options which are available to us.
we've seen those amendments.
also trainees who don't get up but up front mission payments is another issue. this seems particularly unfair to the lowest paid and again we need to see some action on this.
we understand it is not easy.
hopefully all these issues will be addressed in the near future.
there was great cooperation amongst the groups or most of the groups and this was reflected in the big majority in the committee to grant discharge for parliament's own budget.
they feel particularly badly treated and this issue deserves some attention.
there's a new ict project improving services for members and local assistants.
we need to get the council the commission the court of auditors eu agencies and other stakeholders including this house together to discuss appropriate solutions and make a change that counts.