kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
it can be part of improving the performance of a company and a way to increase public trust in business.
she is right but disclosure will empower consumers.
it is the end of the beginning.
welcome and encourage not manipulate and regulate with european law.
in my own region of the west midlands we have an excellent example of csr with the very well regarded cadburys and their bourneville development.
they put social responsibility at the heart of their company's ethos and this tradition is carried on today in many companies.
mr howitt's report recognises the continuing high levels of business engagement with csr and the importance of reputation to modern business profitability.
so we are looking at something that is working well and working voluntarily.
which unfortunately did not bear fruit. we strongly welcomed the mediation efforts of the costa rican president and trust that they will result in a peaceful settlement of the crisis.
again as the presidency has said in response to the gravity of the situation the local ambassador of the eu presidency has been recalled for consultations and all other eu ambassadors have also left the country.
and we called upon all parties involved to show the utmost moderation and restraint.
we expressed our deep concern about the events in honduras and we stressed the great importance we attach to the respect for the rule of law democracy and democratically elected institutions.
the crisis in honduras shows us how fragile is the rule of law and the institutional framework for the resolution of conflicts in some latin american countries and indeed how these countries can plunge into crisis especially now that they are going through a period of strong political polarisation.
for the time being suspending our cooperation has not been decided but disbursement of our financial commitments related to budgetary support has been put on hold.
therefore we continue to follow the situation closely and we support all efforts to find a peaceful solution.
in close cooperation with the presidency and the member states we continue to explore the ways in which we can best contribute to the solution of this crisis.
we are very much aware that the events in honduras could create a dangerous precedent a step back in terms of democracy and could destabilise the region.
we have urged all parties involved to resolve their differences peacefully in full respect of the country's legal framework and to promptly engage in a dialogue in the interests of peace and stability in the country. we deplored the violent confrontations even more so as they have resulted in the loss of human lives
the commission declared it would be ready to support all initiatives aimed at a peaceful solution of the crisis and at restoring the constitutional order. as the presidency has said we supported the initiative by the organisation of american states and its secretary general mr insulza
following the events in honduras and after consulting the central american governments and eu member states it was decided to postpone the next round of negotiations with a view to an association agreement with central america negotiations that were due between six and ten july in brussels.
but we trust that these negotiations can resume as soon as possible.
he will probably have to spend quite some time in negotiating with representatives of both the parties but i think it is important that he has our support as well as the support of the other american states for these particular efforts.
as to the nature of the particular solution that is for him to judge and for them to agree.
the return of president zelaya is a necessity when it comes to the restoration of constitutional order.
since the beginning of this particular crisis last month the presidency has condemned the military action that was directed against president zelaya who was democratically elected in spite of everything else that can be said.
i think in much the same way as we expect when we have problems in different parts of europe that it is the european union that should take the lead and we would hope that the rest of the world would support our efforts our policy has now been guided by giving support to the organisation of american states in their efforts
to find a solution through dialogue and compromise to the problems that they are facing.
we have a situation where none of our ambassadors at the moment are present in honduras.
we very much welcome the recent effort by costa rican president oscar arias winner of the nobel peace prize to try to reconcile the differences that exist.
so far that has proved to be hardly surprising one might say a somewhat difficult enterprise.
we can only encourage him to move forward with those efforts and we can only continue to urge both sides to be ready to compromise fully respecting every part of the constitution of honduras.
let me conclude by underlining the importance that we attach beyond the immediate crisis to the holding of fair timely and transparent presidential elections in honduras later this year. the rule of law and respect for human rights must remain the cornerstone of democratic government throughout the world;
central america latin america all of america are certainly not excluded.
when criminal extremists carry out such terrorist attacks it is our values they seek to destroy and we will stand united to face them whoever they are and whatever the cancerous hate and division that they may preach.
madam president yesterday only a matter of hours after we marked our remembrance of victims of terrorism an extremist fuelled with religious hatred and intolerance carried out a terrorist attack destroying by fire a religious place of worship in brussels killing the religious leader of a whole community.
but you're going to destroy your own project because the next countries that are going want to leave are germany holland france and more.
the british people voted to leave the european union for many reasons and one of the biggest ones was mass immigration. you're actually making the problem worse for the european union because you are extending these visa arrangements to people who can come there are then very few or no checks they can overstay their welcome and once inside the schengen area they can move anywhere else that they like.
i think you should wake up to what's happening in the.
a lot of people were very upset in this chamber yesterday and there were some very disgraceful scenes and it was the people who would like britain to remain in the eu getting upset with the people on this side who want it to leave.
perhaps it would be good for you to understand that the central issue on why we decided to leave was because of a loss of democracy and national sovereignty and control and the biggest issue that brought that home to the british people was the issue of immigration and specifically mass uncontrolled immigration which is what we've had for many years specifically from the european union in great numbers since.
that's still true and in the twenty first century equivalent the most attractive thing for many countries on the periphery of europe is the road somewhere else and one can hardly blame them.
to come onto the specifics of what we're discussing here this is a technical change i understand which would give georgia visa free access to the european union for a period of ninety days and as the rapporteur ms gabriel says the eu remains a very attractive destination.
well it's true that back in the eighteenth century dr johnson said the most attractive thing about scotland was the road to england.
now the truth is finally dawning on you here that britain is going to leave and the european union is going to lose one of its biggest net contributors.
one thousand nine hundred and ninety seven to give you an idea on those figures last year the official figure is that we had six hundred and fifty zero people come into the country but there were eight hundred and twenty five zero national insurance numbers issued so it's out of control and nobody knows what the real figures are.
you are going to lose britain and i wish you well when we've left.
if that's what you want then good luck to you.
so in your own interest.
please do not make the same mistakes with your huge desire to have open borders between all countries of europe that merkel made last year.
in the library of congress on georgia it says that borders with turkey are porous and dangerous for terrorists.
the european union in its desire to continue to extend its influence or as some would say its empire is doing two things.
the first of those is making the same mistakes by not making sure it checks those who are coming in.
let our commissioner know that this house stands united behind him because we have all seen those same flags in georgia.
we have seen how their sovereignty and territorial integrity remains compromised but yet they stand firm through their people on their european way.
whilst i rise and it gives me a huge amount of personal pleasure to be able to congratulate georgia on such a tremendous achievement let me also make it clear that the vast majority of this house stands absolutely united in rejecting the alternative facts and the bare racism that is demonstrated by a very small minority of people in this house who speak about things that they do not understand.
mr president it amazes me how our parliament can be the best of parliaments and the worst of parliaments in the same session all at the same time.
i apologise to colleagues for my anger that is coming through today but may i echo the words of our commissioner when he stands and says that georgia made him proud.
and eu citizens because let's not forget visa free travel is a tangible tool of european integration that directly concerns the citizens.
in addition the suspension mechanism applies to all visa free countries horizontally not just to georgia.
remind us what a unique achievement of peace stability and prosperity the european union is.
georgia has been exemplary in fulfilling a demanding roadmap which allowed us to propose to you and the council of course visa liberalisation for its citizens. i am therefore very pleased that georgian citizens with
this will be done by amending the visa regulation.
it is a very important achievement indeed and it has been a long process.
georgia has undertaken all the necessary efforts to meet all of the benchmarks.
i would like to share personal experience with you.
the commission will continue to monitor georgia's continuous compliance with the visa liberalisation criteria in particular on fighting organised crime.
i would like to remind you that visa free travel for georgia will enter into force at the same time as the revised suspension mechanism even though they are two separate issues.
we are today in a highly volatile political context we need our strategic partners more than ever and we need to prove to them that they can rely on us. georgia has shown its strong commitments towards european values and integration and it undertook reforms that were not easy.
according to the european commission report georgia was already meeting the visa liberalisation action plan requirements in december two thousand and fifteen and it is a pity that our georgian partners had to wait until now to reach this important objective.
the day that i leave here and britain is restored as an independent country i will be very very happy and pleased to make you happy as well.
three seven million people in georgia i believe and it's not about the actual numbers in georgia we've had this from every country in the european union.
i am the ukip brexit spokesman and i'm writing a plan which would get britain out of the european union a very much a great deal faster than theresa may's and soon as it's done i'll be happy to send you a copy.
the second part of your question was about.
your country has important european values and you are europeans because of your traditions culture history and values.
some eu country leaders publicly declared that they were glad to see these eastern european countries on the way of european integration but at the same time behind closed doors they put their feet on the brakes and started to blackmail the european parliament. in this way they tried to solve their internal political problems.
colleagues in politics as in a business company reputation of reliable partners is a very valuable thing and the reputation of the eu in this case in my opinion was seriously damaged.
i would like to apologise to our georgian friends for this unpleasant experience.
dear georgian friends i hope that today's decision will give impetus for the new achievements in cooperation between georgia and the european union.
it is a very important step on the path of the european integration of georgia.
i would like to take this one minute and turn to georgia's citizens. dear georgians today's decision of the european parliament is one of the last miles in your visa liberalisation marathon. you deserve it and i am proud to be part of the decision by voting in favour.
use it to the benefit of the development of your country.
to meet the visa liberalisation benchmarks was a challenge to which you have risen.
i am convinced that the decision on visa liberalisation will yield even more energy and enthusiasm to deliver on those new challenges.
but of course georgia has not completed everything and i wish georgia all the best on its way.
to keep the promises the european union has made to the people of georgia.
should there be any problems after visa liberalisation the revised suspension mechanism is there to deal with that.
there is no need to delay this important file any further.
it was a long way for many of us participating in the first congress of polish solidarno extending a friendly message to all nations suffering under communist rule.
however considering the hard geo political choices georgia has made about the country's future and the far reaching and difficult reforms it has implemented in the justice and home affairs area it is time for the eu to show that once its benchmarks are fulfilled it can also deliver on its promises.
i agree with the rapporteur that the visa waiver for georgian citizens should prove an important tool for enhancing economic and cultural relations and provide a stable framework for a dialogue on fundamental rights.
i want to request that this calendar be referred back to the conference of presidents.
i thank him for that but the advice states that the amendment is inadmissible only because it did not contain a justification;
i disputed that ruling and the plenary agreed to defer the vote for one month so he could obtain legal advice.
i want this referred back so i can re table the amendment with a justification and then the house can decide on its merits.
it is unjust to rule amendments inadmissible for failing to comply with a requirement that nobody knows about.
in other words my amendment would be admissible if it contained a justification.
you ignored the rule of procedure on the request from the rapporteur to speak before the vote.
you cannot allow your personal feelings and your personal prejudices to interfere in the course of the proceedings.
you are supposed to be an impartial chair regulating the procedure in this plenary.
to just ignore the rules of procedure whenever they do not suit you is frankly quite disgraceful.
i hope that you are ashamed of yourself and that you will reflect on your conduct in this vote because i think this has been the worst display of chairmanship that we have seen in this plenary in the last ten years.
however what many do not realise is that a market mechanism requiring constant regulatory intervention to maintain the price levels originally foreseen is in itself a contradiction as markets are supposed to set their own prices autonomously.
we should not support plant closures carbon leakage and industry and job losses.
madam president the rapporteur supports the commission's proposal to introduce a market stability reserve on the basis that this reform will govern fluctuations in the market providing long term predictability and stability to european industries.
mechanisms like the ets the back loading system and now the msr are one of the main causes of the impoverishment of our industries.
somehow this is always a fun debate in the plenary and all over the place and then in the end we usually do not get to a compromise.
however the work is only beginning because we know now that we have a stability mechanism but the biggest issues are still the huge surplus of allowances hanging above the market and what we are going to do in the long term on ets.
it always takes a bit longer than expected but let us see what we get next week.
these are the issues that we expect the commissioner to address in his proposal and hopefully next week because in the commission you have the same issues around ets.
we all know how difficult it is to get a compromise on ets.
we as greens can also support this compromise so we will vote in favour because we do think it is an improvement on what we have.
in order both to achieve our climate objectives and to give more stability to industry.
it has been the position of the sd to support its introduction as soon as possible by transferring carbon allowances to the market stability reserves in times of over supply and releasing them in times of under supply.
we must have a balanced system that will benefit our industries and enable a transition to a sustainable and green economy in europe which will provide a model for other countries worldwide.
however the current eu ets is flawed as it fails to address problems of oversupply of allowances in the market which enable the industry to emit greenhouse gases. it is crucial that we take action to repair the ets and turn it into a mechanism that both controls emissions and promotes investment in clean technologies such as renewables. we need to give stability and predictability to the eu ets
i believe the market stability reserve is the right instrument to achieve stability in the market.
the challenges that we faced in trying to bring about compromise were not easy.
but i am fully aware that if we get this wrong and if we do put a burden upon many of our larger emitters then we will have serious challenges.
i am pleased again that they have been sequestered away because without that happening quite frankly this process would not work.
i look forward to the vote tomorrow.
all that being said i think where we are now is in the right place.
i am also aware that the phase four of the emissions trading scheme that we must shortly embark upon will again ask very serious questions about the functionality which we must achieve if the emissions trading scheme is to deliver and if in the bygoing we are going to begin to link that scheme with comparable schemes in the rest of the globe.
i think we should endorse this as an important step forward but it is just that the first step forward.
i take my hat off to mr belet who has begun the journey of trying to reform what has been a dysfunctional but important policy.
that is why i am pleased again to see that there are conditions affecting carbon leakage.
i am also aware of the challenge again of those unallocated allowances measured in the billions represented.
we do not wish to find ourselves securing significant reductions in our emissions simply by the exclusion and the loss of industry which is important in so many parts of our union.
the start date alone created a great deal of tension not only in this parliament but also in many of our own individual groups.
allow me to recall the broader context.
extended to industrial innovation projects.
i will keep my promise.
madam president of course ets as a policy instrument is not perfect but it is the key policy instrument that we have here in the eu and it is interesting that those today who have criticised it have done just that.
they have come up with no concrete idea of how else we would reduce greenhouse gases and on that basis one can only conclude that they have no concern about decreasing greenhouse gases.
in fact in many cases i am well aware that they deny that there is any problem at all with greenhouse gases and it is unfortunate that this sort of argument is still going on here because it certainly is way out of the mainstream of thinking on the science of these issues.
we need to take into account the competitiveness of industry.
this is not incompatible with our climate change objectives and it is very annoying to hear yet again today a polarisation of these arguments.
we talk about converting to low carbon technologies only yesterday mr.
we are seeing plants closing jobs being lost. we are seeing investment moving offshore out of europe entirely and yet we in this house today are discussing a policy explicitly designed to make energy more expensive.
we should be debating here today how we make energy less expensive.
it seems colleagues that we have an economic death wish.
as my colleague dr reid has already said any market mechanism socalled which starts out with a preconceived price level and which requires constant regulatory intervention in order to achieve that price is not in fact a market mechanism at all.
what it is is an extremely cumbersome and bureaucratic and expensive carbon tax.
so you actually made a great political achievement here. secondly i would like to refer to some of the colleagues to say that it is impossible that we are driving industry out of europe.
i represent the north west of england and as my colleagues will be aware the mining industry was incredibly important to my region as are all the technologies and the industries that we are determined to protect through this modernisation of the ets msr.
we have taken action through the modernisation fund and we will have stability with other member states to make sure that this is an initiative which both protects the climate and promotes renewables and protects our industries.
and i was back there again together with benedek jvor last week to see that yes some houses have been rebuilt;
yes there is a memorial site;
first we need to have good legislation in place.
as is always the case whilst it would be easy to jump on the regulation bandwagon we believe that we should be more cautious and objective in our analysis of how this disaster came to be.
potentially at the cost of that entire industry and the jobs that it sustains.
but introducing new regulation whilst often the popular short term solution is often the most damaging thing that politicians can do for the long term stability of an industry and the society that it serves.
needs to be carefully considered.
after any tragedy the media attention and public outcry places a certain pressure on politicians to be seen to do something and new regulation is the way that politicians traditionally respond.
we remain committed to ensuring that every industry is as safe as it can be but also recognising that risk requires an assessment and any regulations imposed on an industry need to be measured and the impact on that industry indeed whether it can actually survive the introduction of new regulation
the hungarian people were the ones affected by this disaster and it should be for their elected representatives in their parliament to determine how best to avoid a similar disaster in the future and not for the unelected commission to impose its will on an entire industry and an entire people
mr president poor implementation of eu laws deficiencies in inspections and gaps in the relevant eu legislation are issues that if not addressed effectively can lead to a situation similar to the one exposed by the red mud disaster in hungary and in some neighbouring countries that were affected.
that legislation needs to be reinforced and properly applied;
and that nothing is being learned from the disasters of the past.
it is very important to better protect our environment to fight pollution and to fight climate change.
currently eighty of sub saharan african farmers are female. if we can help with the development of better agricultural methods investing in those who are the most vulnerable in our world helping them to feed themselves we can make a huge contribution to the health and the wellbeing of the poorest in our world.