kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
these are not figures made up by me to suit party political propaganda but estimates from the european court of auditors.
we should in fact have administrative sanctions for minor offences rather than the criminal system that is currently employed in my own country.
the commission will shortly publish its legislative proposals for the reform of the common fisheries policy.
this should not be left to each individual country. if we have a common policy then the sanctions should apply across the board.
this reform must standardise member states' compliance and enforcement regimes as there is no uniformity throughout the eu.
but ensuring fair competition protecting net neutrality and data protection rules cannot be left to private companies to safeguard.
currently the eu relies on adequacy decisions to assess the level of data protection in third countries and we've seen two such decisions with twenty of our trading partners so there is a lot more that can be done.
small and medium sized enterprises as well as larger companies can reach customers all over the world at the click of a button.
so why are digital trade rules important at all?
but there are not only opportunities to be reaped;
i hope that the commission continues its efforts there towards developing a set of binding multilateral disciplines on e commerce and to transform the moratorium on banning tariffs on electronic transmissions into a permanent agreement.
but the good news is that both here and in argentina we are working on european leadership towards rule and value based trade.
president colleagues the world of trade is rapidly changing and the eu has a key opportunity to lead.
rules must defend the public interest.
european companies that are being hindered by forced data localisation requirements and the lack of respect for people's rights online is an increasing challenge worldwide.
so what do we want to achieve with a digital trade strategy for europe?
we also see challenges in growing digital protectionism.
we need more agreements along with more predictable and transparent criteria.
digitisation and universal and affordable access to the internet are also key to achieving the sustainable development goals.
not only is the usa taking a step back and china pushing forward we also need to look at how digitisation changes the nature of the rules that we seek to ensure our principles remain leading whatever we do in a changing world. i think here with this eu digital trade strategy we once more have an opportunity to be rule makers instead of rule takers and we should take that opportunity.
digitisation is becoming a key element or a layer of almost every industry or sector.
after intense and fruitful cooperation among the shadow rapporteurs i am happy that we can present a broadly supported call for an eu strategy on digital trade and hopefully our resolution with broad support can inspire a common position from the commission and thus the european union.
one of the trends that we see is that its private companies that are essentially setting the norms in the digital economy from deciding what is and is not acceptable speech to proposals for entire online free trade zones.
so an eu digital strategy should ensure that access to the open internet is prioritised globally that data transfers are enabled while respecting privacy and that encryption is understood to be essential for security.
we certainly take good note of the european parliament's position on the issue of data flows.
the agreement with japan can also serve as a good example of the eu's current approach on digital trade.
it should at the same time ensure and deliver benefits from eu consumers who stand to benefit from a broader choice of products and lower prices and always respect and fully safeguard the fundamental rights enshrined in the eu charter.
digital trade is therefore a priority for a variety of european industries. the global ecommerce market is now estimated to be worth over eur two trillion and continues to grow at a fast pace. the eu is the world's largest exporter of services and is therefore in a strong position to benefit from the opportunities of digital trade. this highlights even more the role the
this should be achieved within a trade and investment policy that is consistent with broader european values.
the position of the commission is crystal clear.
however there are areas which will require further work. this will give us an opportunity to follow up with you in detail on other issues raised in the report.
within the commission a dedicated project team on data flows was set up in january.
as regards data protection the commission made clear in its communication on exchanging and protecting personal data in a globalised world that protecting personal data goes hand in hand with the promotion of free flows of data.
the commission's objective is to develop a proposal on how the eu should facilitate trade and tackle protectionist practices abroad while ensuring that there is no possibility to use trade agreements to challenge existing and future eu legislation on personal data and privacy. i can assure you that when it comes to privacy and personal data in trade agreements
eu should take in shaping the global rules on digital trade. the commission in the trade for all communication stated that the facilitation of digital trade constitutes an important part of eu trade strategy.
our digital trade strategy should ensure market access for european companies.
the commission considers your report an important contribution to the discussion on responses to the challenges brought by the digital revolution that we are witnessing all around us. modern trade is increasingly enabled by digital technologies.
many of the proposals made in the report concern issues that we already pursue in trade negotiations and that were tabled in the recent negotiations with mexico and indonesia.
just to mention a few concrete examples we included ambitious rules prohibiting mandatory source code disclosure consumer trust enhancing rules such as disciplines on consumer protection electronic trust services electronic contracts and unsolicited communications such as spam.
the request of the heads of state and government and your debate today will give further momentum to this work.
we need to leverage the economic and political muscle of the union to ensure that we defend ourselves against non cooperative jurisdictions and others that do not play fair.
firstly member states need to make the best use of the tools available at eu level.
mr president honourable members minister in these difficult times we must ensure that taxes are efficiently and fairly collected.
the commission will continue to support eurofisc and the practical activities under the fiscalis spending programme.
it is now time for the european union to take its own mechanisms a step forward.
thirdly we need to look forward by developing new ideas.
my fellow commissioner michel barnier is also very active in promoting transparency in company accounts with recent proposals on country by country reporting and interconnection of companies registers.
we cannot ask citizens to accept the burden of increased taxes and cuts in public services if we do not do our utmost to clamp down on activities and practices that rob member states of legitimate income.
in this context i look forward to hearing your views and concerns today. in order to better frame a european wide strategy i believe that we need to take a three pronged approach.
new ideas should also be developed such as quick reaction mechanisms for allowing member states to take rapid action against new types of carousel vat fraud.
in parallel based on the results of the ongoing double non taxation public consultation i will be continuing to push for effective means to end situations of aggressive tax planning which undermine fair tax collection.
what can be done?
the council's code of conduct group which coordinates the efforts of member states in the fight against harmful tax competition in the area of business taxation is embarking on a new line of work aimed at promoting the principles of the code to third countries.
this includes the speeding up of information exchange between member states the establishment of conditions for vat exemptions on imports and agreements on invoicing rules.
obviously at this stage i cannot provide you with full details of what we expect to have in that report but i can give you an idea of the work which is ongoing in council.
the directive provides among other things for increased possibilities for exchanging information and requests and introduces provisions on the automatic exchange of information.
detailed council conclusions on this issue are expected by the end of the danish presidency.
at that meeting the danish presidency will propose that a mandate be adopted to allow the commission to open negotiations with switzerland and other non eu western european countries on a new generation of savings taxation agreements.
the overall objective is to ensure more effective taxation of cross border savings and the danish presidency hopes that we will be able to make real progress on this difficult file a file which is important for combating tax fraud and tax evasion.
in two thousand and six and two thousand and seven the council adopted conclusions aimed at establishing an anti fraud strategy at community level in particular in the area of vat fraud.
this is even more the case in the context of the current economic climate and the need for all the member states to ensure ambitious fiscal consolidation.
since then the council has adopted a number of acts such as the strengthening of the regulation on administrative cooperation between member states in the field of vat as well as a number of modifications to the vat directive which are aimed at tackling fraud.
in that context it called on the council and the commission to rapidly develop concrete ways to improve the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion and to report back in june this year.
furthermore in two thousand and three the council adopted the directive on the taxation of saving income in the form of interest payments.
in addition to initiatives in the legislative field the council is continuing work on the coordination of tax policies.
the savings agreements with third countries can then be revised in parallel with the proposed amendments to the eu savings directive.
finally in march two thousand and ten the council adopted the directive concerning mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to taxes duties and other measures which is a major upgrade of the existing mutual assistance instruments to collect taxes.
in the area of direct taxation as recently as february two thousand and eleven the council adopted the directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation which is aimed at strengthening the instruments of mutual assistance in the assessment of direct taxes between member states.
the work is currently under way and we fully expect to respect the deadline and report back to the european council in june.
the challenge is to translate this political wish into real action on the ground.
effective tax systems require many things such as good design effective controls and strong administrations. these are elements that member states need to reflect on over and above the traditional union concerns about cross border issues on tax.
i believe that we now have the opportunity with the european semester process this year to put these issues clearly at the centre of the economic governance agenda and i will be advocating this strongly in the coming months.
i have two important priorities.
on sharing good practices i have to say that we have a specific structure for this a tax policy group that was established by the commission.
in this forum we invite member states to share their good practices in order to be able to use these practices in other member states.
i will also be engaging with stakeholders on this issue and building on the current public consultation on cases of double non taxation.
the support of parliament is essential if we are to progress both in providing political leadership and in supporting appropriate commission legislative initiatives.
we will address the schools issue along these lines during the next round of fifty two negotiations scheduled for the end of this month.
the osce which coordinates the fifty two talks' in november two thousand and twelve issued a comprehensive set of recommendations to address this issue which are highly regarded by the international community. we feel strongly that the way forward lies in nudging the two sides into renewing dialogue on education issues
this offer is about social progress improvement in human rights and economic modernisation.
with a new allocation of eur twenty eight million of technical and financial assistance agreed last year we will continue implementing our programme of confidence building projects which allow the establishment of lasting cooperation at the civil society and local levels across the dniester river.
we strongly condemn any action by the transnistrian de facto authorities that infringe on the right to education in the territory they control.
moreover we will continue working for the transnistrian de facto authorities to consider in earnest the substantial benefits the region can gain if it participates in the future association agreement with moldova.
while paying so much attention to the schools issue it is crucially important not to gloss over the many other factors of tension in transnistria.
along the lines of the osce recommendations with a view to upholding the right to education of all children.
by way of negotiation.
of course the use of ultimatums at the negotiating table is not acceptable and it will first be necessary to lift current pressure on the romanian language schools.
this could counterbalance the restrictions that the authorities have set in place.
on our side we should focus on visa liberalisation and the association agreement as well as free trade deals. improvements in human rights economic modernisation and social progress will benefit the population as well as the authorities and us.
the authorities must also cooperate more constructively with the fifty two negotiations and the russian federation should implement the judgment of the european court of human rights and stop violating the right to education.
we must push the self proclaimed authorities to work with the osce and to end the politicisation of education.
there are two questions there.
we should support our partners in their efforts.
to fight against hate speech.
serbia itself has declared eu accession as its key strategic goal and we can all acknowledge the progress this country is making towards this goal.
i would like to outline that the european parliament stands by serbia on its european path.
serbia clearly belongs to our european family and has the capacity and ability to deliver and to get closer to the european union in the near future.
this kind of incitement to hatred and the encouragement of territorial claims have no place at all in the europe of the twenty one century. today we encourage all authorities in serbia the government and the opposition the political parties non governmental organisations and all individuals
this also needs to be the message of today's debate.
the second thing which we plan for spring next year is to improve the situation in private enforcement for consumers.
consumers are often confused and powerless and find themselves in a catch twenty two situation.
even if they contact the right authority the authority itself is limited by the procedures of its own national regulations.
they do not know which authority to contact who is responsible or who can help them.
not only are consumers powerless but so is the national authority.
this makes it very difficult for consumers and national authorities to tackle any problems emanating from the digital single market.
it is in the collective interest of each member state to ensure the better enforcement of consumer protection law both at home and cross border.
this is the key to the digital single market and to the union as a whole.
there are a number of positive points in this text. i particularly welcome that the commission will be empowered to assist member states in coordinating common actions for example those of national enforcement to get commitments from traders to change their malpractices.
europe has the best consumer legislation in the world.
however it needs more effective enforcement as was shown in the recently performed fitness check of eu consumer and marketing laws.
this has confirmed the outline of our consumer strategy which means focusing on public and private enforcement of consumer protection rules and laws.
in the coming months the commission will continue to ensure that consumer law is fully complied with and that no consumer is left without the chance for better individual redress especially in mass harm situations. this will also be one of the main objectives of the measures that we are going to propose as our new deal for consumers in the spring of next year.
unfortunately public enforcement systems in most member states date back to the predigital era and in all member states the reach of public authorities is limited by national jurisdictional rules.
we have proposed to reform the way public authorities work together and with the commission to tackle illegal practices harming consumers' interests and fair competition as well as trust in the european single market.
i would like to thank parliament for its support throughout the negotiations which were swift focused and very purposeful.
once the new regulation is implemented our citizens will be able to benefit from better working institutions securing fairer markets.
public authorities throughout europe will have modern enforcement tools to tackle online offences such as the power to find out who is behind an illegal commercial online practice trace back financial flows block online content or issue appropriate online warnings.
a real breakthrough is that consumer protection authorities will get more leverage in their joint negotiations with multinational players.
equipped with the power to accept traders' commitments on remedies to consumers as foreseen in the respective national laws the authorities will be in a position to correct traders' practices swiftly in all the member states concerned with largescale breaches of consumer rights.
this will also avoid many lengthy civil court actions in situations where harm has been caused to many consumers across borders.
last but not least the commission will have a key market surveillance role.
it will be in a position to request member states investigate in a coordinated manner practices that do not look right when such practices concern a large part of the union.
the regulation on consumer protection cooperation review that you will approve today is a key part of the mosaic of the consumer strategy of this commission.
my personal experience of fraud online was actually buying booking and paying for a hotel room only to find out that in reality there were no rooms.
there is a greater choice there is a possibility of better value but shopping on the internet has to be safe.
mr president the reform of the consumer protection cooperation was an opportunity to update an important and already well established system of cooperation of national consumer protection authorities.
the trilogue outcome we are debating today unfortunately falls short on these key points of the original commission proposal.
on top of that it establishes overreaching internet blocking measures that are neither proportionate nor suitable for the goal of protecting consumers and come without mandatory judicial oversight.
i am asking you not to just sign off on the trilogue outcome today but rather to please support the plenary amendments that reinstate the parliament position on these critical issues in order to really provide an added value for citizens.
massive police repression is planned militarised zones thousands of police officers and soldiers water cannons and even drone spy planes approved by the policing board.
their list of crimes is a long one barack obama drone warrior in chief prosecutor of heroic bradley manning; david cameron heir of thatcher destroyer of public services;
the local politicians who wish to roll out the red carpet cynically claim that this is an opportunity to showcase the so called new northern ireland but all they have to offer is a potemkin village with fake shopfronts hiding the real economic hardship.
they are collectively responsible for war austerity environmental destruction and poverty which affect billions of people across the world.
angela merkel imposer of austerity across europe;
it is the neoliberal policies which the g eight peddles which leave these areas plagued by unemployment and emigration.
people should reject this intimidation protest in belfast and fermanagh.
with no small thanks to local development committees leader has since proven to be extremely successful in terms of providing community facilities in rural areas and creating jobs where otherwise there would be no alternative source of employment.
the bottom up approach implemented by the local development companies has been identified by the eu as an ideal system.
moreover local development companies have built up a cohort of highly trained committed and professional staff. should this expertise be lost it would have devastating consequences for local development in ireland.
the commission has recommended this step while this house has approved the report on serbia with an overwhelming majority in which we call for a swift opening of accession talks. i would like to repeat this call today and urge all member states to be in favour of starting accession talks with serbia.
it is well known that there are still member states that have some misgivings about serbia's efforts to implement the agreement on normalisation of relations with kosovo which was reached with the mediation of high representative vice president ashton. true the realisation of this agreement has moved slower than expected.
both sides need to speed up the implementation and make all the arrangements work on the ground.
at the same time we need to acknowledge that both serbia and kosovo have acted in good faith with a clear aim to set aside their differences and work towards a common european future.
i would ask mr verhofstadt and other respectable liberals to consider the option of expelling those parties from membership of their political alliance.
overall i would like to stress that a positive dynamic has now been created in the country around the eu initiative.
the december two thousand and fourteen eu initiative has already resulted in a unanimous written commitment from the country's leaders and institutions to undertake the reforms needed to progress towards the european union.
the commission particularly welcomes the support this resolution provides for the new eu approach towards bosnia and herzegovina as agreed by the foreign affairs council in december. two thousand and fourteen we also welcome the support for the envisaged next steps on the country's eu integration path starting with the socio economic reforms on the basis of the compact for growth and jobs
it reflects well the state of play in the country notably when it comes to the serious internal challenges it faces including on the eu integration path.
the commission will specifically monitor its implementation and support the country in addressing the priorities stemming from the agreement. at the same time and in line with the next steps in the eu initiative the commission is now closely engaging with the new bosnia and herzegovina authorities towards the definition and implementation of a reform agenda in the coming months. this will build on previous initiatives aimed at addressing citizens' socio economic concerns such as the compact for growth and jobs.
this needs to continue over the next months in order to bring about the necessary reforms.