kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
it is because of the work that they have done and because of the commitment that i think you will see from tefan and myself that we see a strong representation from the european union and i hope a successful summit in the making.
our relationship with each one of them brings with it some challenges that need to be addressed and concerns all of which have been expressed in this house this evening in terms of frozen conflict the potential for new conflict the need to espouse the value and principles that we must hold within the european union.
if we are able to use this opportunity to bring together the leadership with the european union and with our eastern partners and develop a stronger relationship being clear about the commitments that we expect as well as the commitments that we give with more for more' and mutual accountability being the watchwords of how we operate i think it will have been an enormous success and it will give new energy
if we are able to move forward on these that would be important.
however i do not underestimate all the challenges as we look at our six partners in our eastern neighbourhood.
to our work with our eastern partners.
first of all the clear time frame for the signing of the ukraine association agreement and the free trade agreement and for the start of those negotiations with moldova and georgia.
we wish to see people dealt with fairly and properly within the way in which we operate as a european union.
i can bear witness to that work and i thank them very much for all the effort that they have made.
that will enable us we hope to work in a slightly more arms length way which can be of great value to those who wish to get support and help but do not meet the criteria that we quite rightly have for our instruments.
we are going to continue with our discussions on the deep and comprehensive free trade area and the association agreement because we believe that an association agreement provides stronger guarantees on some of the issues with ukraine that we think are so important.
how do we support young people?
from the commitment of honourable members and i hope from what i have said in this debate and the number of times tefan has discussed these issues from his perspective and from our joint perspective i believe the answer is very clearly yes'.
coming back to my point about transparency and openness the value of the endowment for democracy proposal is to enable us to do things that we cannot already do. it is not to duplicate what the instruments that we have do but to look at some of the questions that have been raised in our discussions with our partners across the east and the south.
if you build me a bench in the middle i would be very happy to sit there. i am trying to fulfil my obligations!
i want to be clear that the issue that we have raised is this apparently selective use of criminal judicial measures and to say that the criticisms come not only from us but from many others from independent experts.
this is the issue that i have raised with them the issue that tefan has raised with them.
they are all very happy with the possibility of working with us and they will invest great effort in the future work as well.
this is a lively structure.
we need to remain united in our commitment to establishing closer ties and to use the summit to send the right political signal of our will to play a leading role in the region.
similarly to the preceding hungarian presidency enlargement is high on the agenda of the polish presidency the two being partners in the organisation of the upcoming summit.
it affects the entire union.
on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the soviet union it is my firm conviction that the eu divided to the extreme can be reunited with its region on the other side of the iron curtain only through this kind of solidarity and thus complete its integration process.
the concept is not however completely clear for me.
therefore it is very important to keep the balance in the relations with all the eastern partners not to focus on separate countries but rather to develop the potential of this neighbouring region as a whole.
regional cooperation is crucial in this regard particularly the development of the transport and energy corridors which is not only indispensable for eu security but also an important element of the partners' economic integration with the eu. unfortunately this cooperation is impossible in a situation of conflict and closed borders.
it should put more focus on these issues in the framework of the eu russia dialogue which is very important.
clear eu commitments are also needed for post conflict participation and stabilisation.
moreover since then the current problems in the eu created by the crisis and the unexpected developments in north africa have complicated matters even further while not deterring russia from taking advantage of these difficulties.
and yet our messages are not exactly convincing.
our partners have reason to believe that they have been downgraded.
the nabucco project is less visible than it used to be. the mediation capacity of the union cannot properly deal with so called frozen conflicts.
this could add a strategic and an energy crisis which would multiply the economic crisis that we already know.
mr president when i compare this hemicycle during the debate about the south and the debate about the east i am less optimistic and less able to be as optimistic as my predecessors.
we have negative dynamics in the eu due to the crisis and the south we had an example of the failure of euronest to agree a message to the summit and we have negative dynamics in the east because of the retreat of democracy.
does our offer what is on the table create sufficient leverage for our policy in the east?
we have been taken by surprise in the south.
the opportunities we lose today will be extremely difficult to regain in the future. i think that it is important to state that this is about europe and it is about democracy and the rule of law.
while there are still some minor issues with regard to prevention and management of conflicts of interest good progress has been made.
good progress is also being made with regard to the implementation of the commission's approach on eu decentralised agencies and the related roadmap which should help foster the performance culture referred to by mr caldeira.
for this the third element is to further improve the reliability of information especially that which we collect from member states to make sure that we actually apply the most important recommendation of the court which is a single audit chain do not do multiple audits when we can actually have one.
there are positive elements.
we take it seriously when we build our control systems we take it seriously when we communicate to this house when questions are addressed to us we take it seriously at political level with my fellow commissioners engaging this year in an exchange of views with the committee on budgetary control
i will present an updated administrative simplification scoreboard to show what has been achieved and what else we have to do.
there are also a lot of things we can do to improve the way we protect our taxpayer's money.
simplification is important for our second objective to improve the cost effectiveness of management and control systems.
we hope we will see more of them. fourth and last it is of utmost importance to take into account the multiannual nature of our problems and to improve our corrective capacity.
we on the side of the commission first and foremost take as our goal to protect the budget against fraud.
for that we have to have credible information.
we need to do more and better in compliance with the rules in the areas of shared management agriculture and cohesion we heard that from the rapporteurs in the controls operated by national authorities in member states to detect errors early so that they can be addressed early and we do not get to the point
for the commission budget implementation is built on multiple blocks settingup of control systems selection of projects publication of tenders signature of contracts verification of payment claims and the transfer of many thousands of payments.
make them more understandable easy to apply and easy to control with fewer errors.
core accountability procedure for the european union the discharge procedure.
i want to stress that in the juncker commission we are concentrated on four critical points.
that culture needs to be based in our view on a genuine commitment by the financial management at all levels to achieve results. it also requires there to be clear targets and effective incentives for achieving them.
this is again an opportunity to put these things right from the beginning and to strengthen the eu accountability chain.
these are two elements where we think we can do better.
for financial instruments namely those designed to fund investment.
this is an area where we need to work because there is room for improvement along the european union accountability chain from those that are responsible at the first level for ensuring that there are indeed cost effective systems in place. more could be done
that means a significant change in attitude and culture amongst many of the european institutions with spending responsibilities.
in taking this opportunity to thank the president and members of the court can i express a wish that we can find ways to work together to achieve a much more outcome driven budgeting performance;
much of that was evidenced in this audit report and i particularly thank the auditors for highlighting the need for greater transparency and accountability for budget discipline and for compliance.
in future the yardstick by which we measure performance must be added value and value for money.
mr president we are operating with a significantly reduced mff so our priority has to be to make sure that the money we do have works harder.
there is always a risk that when we shift to performance we focus our money on what is easy to measure rather than on what matters the most for our people and our economies.
measuring performance in some areas for example school attendance is easy.
latvia is much better connected because now it has a modern airport that allows much more traffic.
i have the same experience in my own country.
we are now at a crucial moment of time when we are making a leap into balancing measures taken on compliance with measures taken on performance the culture of results that we have discussed.
first learning from experience.
because in the end what matters is to turn the debate into actions of the commission of member states that lead to improvements in the way we spend our taxpayers' money.
learning from good experience and learning from bad experience.
we would very much like to continue in that spirit to identify what works and cherish it.
learn from what does not work and then correct it fix it.
this has been mentioned by many and it is an obligation of the commission and of course in the shared management programmes of our partners in the member states.
my second point is on the question of methodology.
they are enormous.
when we talk about the european budget yes.
with european money.
measuring the impact of investment in smes on jobs then growth of the economy is not difficult. measuring how rural roads contribute to inclusion of rural populations in the economy the national and european economy is more difficult.
it is not a trivial matter and it is not easy.
we are grateful for the effort you have made.
these are the baubles bangles and beads of that office an office which itself is a form of political costume jewellery.
it is therefore very hard to understand why candidate countries will be receiving pre accession funding at this level.
one egregious abnormality in this is the amount of pre accession funding that is going to turkey.
i am specifically going to address the budget line that relates to the instrument for pre accession that is paid out to candidate countries.
indeed it is hard to understand why they are receiving pre accession funding at all.
lord dartmouth do you not think there is just a little tinge of hypocrisy in your contribution this evening bearing in mind the financial issues which have attended upon the united kingdom independence party over the last few years?
but all the institutions have to work together in that sense.
for our part in the court of auditors we believe that we also need to put more emphasis on performance issues in our annual report.
we also plan to devote relatively more of our resources to giving this house high quality timely and relevant special reports on those performance methods that matter the most for the european union and its citizens. finally
however i would hope that the eit can show enough progress in the coming months to allow us to grant it discharge also later this year. the s d group has put down a number of amendments to the horizontal report mainly relating to staffing issues. for example we oppose the imposition of extra staffing cuts above those
already agreed targets.
additionally we would oppose cuts which would mean that the agencies would have difficulty in fulfilling their mandates.
i have asked her to investigate the handling of the northern ireland process within the context of article one hundred and twenty five sub section three a of the common provisions regulation which states that selection of projects must be non discriminatory and transparent.
i have been contacted by a range of organisations from the voluntary community in women's sectors who believe that they have been subject to inconsistent and non transparent treatment by the managing authority.
these are groups that have a proven track record in providing critical skills to disengaged and disadvantaged sections of our society.
last week i was contacted by twelve of the groups in this bracket.
already over two hundred people have been put on protective redundancy notice and there is a risk to seven zero training places.
today i met with officials from the cabinet of commissioner marianne thyssen to bring this matter to her attention.
mr president i welcome the opportunity to relay the very genuine and heartfelt concerns expressed by applicants to the european social fund in my constituency in northern ireland.
what we need is less london and more local control.
my region like many others in the uk has dynamic leadership innovation and enterprise but these talents can only be fully utilised if decision making and funding powers are devolved from central government. our economies across europe are crying out for major reconfiguration and rebalancing of power between central and local government in member states.
let me give you an example from my west midlands constituency which has the highest growth in exports an eleven year on year increase and is england's third largest export region manufacturing actual goods not trading services.
yet even today the uk government is centralising the esif funding.
it makes sense to launch an ambitious programme of retrofitting social housing public buildings and domestic homes to drive down our electricity bills and our dependence on fossil fuels.
mr president ttip could well develop into the biggest bilateral free trade agreement in history but citizens across europe have begun to view the process with increasing concern and have in fact begun to question the very integrity of the commission.
the proposed inclusion of an isds mechanism which would provide corporations with the power to threaten elected governments ignore established legal systems and exercise influence on domestic legislation is meeting with unparalleled opposition. many farmers in my own constituency already cannot face further cuts in the price of their produce for example and opening our markets and allowing products that are produced at a lower cost and standard places farmers in a position of great disadvantage.
while the commission has made claims that standards will not be reduced we have yet to see any of these claims substantiated in tangible proposals or measures.
while growth is always welcome we will not support any agreement with limited gains at the cost of our most prized standards and protections.
so it is no coincidence that erdoan yesterday signed a law that allows criminal charges to be brought against those one hundred and thirty eight mps whose immunity has been lifted in such an undemocratic way.
so i appeal to the commission to make sure that turkey will not be allowed a shortcut for visa liberalisation and that this recent blow against the rule of law makes it very clear that you must not rely on turkey we cannot rely on turkey to solve the problems that we have with refugees and the solidarity crisis we have.
yes terror must be fought and turkish parliamentarians should distance themselves from the use of violence.
visa liberalisation is one element of what the eu should deliver if and when turkey meets the seventy two criteria it has itself agreed with europe in.
mr president we have seen an unacceptable amount of compromise on the part of the commission and the member states on the very values the eu is built on.
i call on you to ensure that we the eu act according to international law and ensure that turkey does the same.
but at the same time this is not a blank cheque there are number of serious developments affecting the rule of law and fundamental freedoms in turkey as well as the situation in the southeast of turkey.
the commission will therefore continue to follow this particular issue very closely.
in support of these reform efforts the commission is currently working at an accelerated pace on preparatory documents for chapters twenty three and twenty four of course without prejudice to the positions of member states in accordance with the existing rules.
any decisions on lifting immunity must be based on the merits of each specific case according to transparent criteria not subject to political considerations.
we have also systematically highlighted the problematic interpretation of the legal framework and the constitution in particular which continue to pose a risk to the freedom of expression of members of parliament in turkey.
it is the responsibility of the relevant political and judicial authorities in turkey to ensure that this right is respected not just for the people concerned but for the broader stability of the country.
the european union has demonstrated its willingness to re energise relations with turkey across the board based on our firm principles and criteria.
mr president stripping parliamentary immunity from politicians facing criminal investigation is usually something we would welcome in a democracy such as this house.
in order to reach the all crucial number of three hundred and sixty seven seats that are required to amend the constitution without a referendum he is pulling out all of the stops he can.
having dispensed with his unruly prime minister he is now focusing on support outside of his ak party.
mr erdoan also seems intent on acquiring unchecked presidential powers to match the magnificence of his newly constructed sultanesque palace.
it is a nato ally and a necessary partner in the deal to stem the flow of refugees from the syrian conflict but erdoan is turning his country into one far from the secular democracy of twenty years ago and we should all be very alarmed by that.
unfortunately in this case the proceedings appear to be politically motivated a kind of collective punishment primarily aimed at weakening the kurdish majority hdp.
i strongly condemn these attacks and i would like to express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims.
no justification can be given for these horrendous attacks but investments must be made in finding a just and durable solution to the kurdish question.
this is very much in the interest of both turkey and its citizens who live in the south east of the country.
here in parliament we are concerned about the decision of the turkish parliament to lift the immunity of one quarter of its members a move clearly targeted against the opposition party hdp.
at such a critical moment taking away the political representation of many people living in the south east of turkey is a wrong move not because we believe politicians should be immune to prosecution not because we do not understand that turkey faces a serious threat from terrorism but because it is against all democratic principles to silence opponents simply for their political views no matter how much you dislike them or disagree with them.
if not even in the democratically elected parliament can there be any place left where opposing political views are tolerated?
many who saw pictures of hdp deputies attending funerals of pkk terrorists were hurt and many others were hurt when they saw that curfews did not cause any outcry from the west of the country and these grievances are understandable but the only way to overcome this divide is by looking forward.
moreover the current events could also have a negative effect on eu turkey relations.
seeing court cases in the coming weeks whereby democratically elected members of parliament are disappearing behind bars based on a highly controversial turkish anti terrorism legislation will certainly jeopardise visa free travel to the eu for turkish citizens.
we will not accept that journalists academics and members of parliament are thrown into jail for using their right of freedom of expression.
the eu should stand ready to contribute positively to the restart of a peace process but this process must start in turkey.
therefore i would like to urge all turkish political parties to come together to make a clear stand against terrorism and to make a serious attempt to put an end to this bloodshed for the sake of all turkish citizens.
mr president the lifting of the immunity is very clearly directed toward the hdp members and the intention is also very clear behind that it is to silence the hdp group and even the hdp party. this is entirely undemocratic.
it criminalises a whole democratic party representing a sizable part of the population a sizable part of the voters even.
it is also not just kurds who voted for hdp it was a lot of people who believed in a different future for turkey.
it was a lot of people who were protesting for better lives for human rights for freedom of expression for all those things that we are saying we are trying to stand for.
so we need to support those people.
it is a great disgrace that the kurdish conflict is now out again in the open and it is also a huge pity because erdoan himself was on the best way to find a sustainable solution and now we are back to square one.
hundreds of civilians have died houses are being bombed and this is no way to fight terrorism quite the opposite.
it is a great loss the lost peace process i really have to say and the european union and also the member states themselves need to be very strong in their reaction.
we have to be clear about the values we are trying to represent.
we should not be silent when those who are trying to speed up are being silenced.
we have made many mistakes in the past as a european union and also the member states.
we have actually made erdoan grow stronger on our rejection.
we should not make those mistakes.
i would also urge member states companies and trainers to ensure they are offering a good quality opportunity to young people and not just use them as cheap labour as we have seen so often in the past.
it is currently around.
we need to know how effective and efficient these programmes are. i would also like to see better market analysis so relevant opportunities can be offered to young people.
however more needs to be done.
now agreed to extend the youth employment initiative up until at least.
therefore i am pleased that the eu has done its part to tackle this scandal through the youth guarantee scheme and the youth employment initiative.
i am pleased we have put more money into the programmes to allow us to tackle this issue. i am also pleased that the programme was front loaded and pre financing was increased in order to tackle the problem when it was at its worst. i am also pleased that the eu has
they have made a huge difference but there is still much to do.