kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the digital single market is not only an economic forum but a cultural one also and i support measures aimed at protecting and supporting cultural output.
this is a directive that can be improved on when it comes to implementation at member state level.
i support continuation of the more for more' principle.
while i supported extending the reversal of the burden of proof for the whole two years of the european guarantee i believe that extending the no questions asked' guarantee from six months to a year is already a very positive step for consumers.
if your product cannot work for a year it should not be on the market.
this said i believe the most important part of these two files is that it moves us closer to a single consumer rule book for europe. a single set of rules in europe.
if both traders and consumers know what the rules are and that it is the same everywhere they will sell to anywhere and they will buy from everywhere.
the promise of these values is precious and people calling for them should find solid european support.
us not impacting neighbours does not mean they won't impact us.
i will always stay with a sense of missed opportunity.
if the eu had invested more forcefully in the freedoms and rights of the largely young and desperate populations in the middle east and north africa what could have happened?
because whatever you give attention and frankly speaking money to grows.
that is why we pushed for a marshall plan for the middle east to invest in democracy education and human rights particularly those of women and minorities.
because after years of being plundered by corrupt and authoritarian leaders institution building and transition are hard but they are very much worth investing in.
the war in syria and the people it sent adrift towards europe made for cynical trade offs in the form of so called migration management' a euphemism for outsourcing the sheltering of people fleeing the worst violence we have seen in a long time and outsourcing that responsibility to others in exchange for money to the same kinds of dictators that caused people to flee in the meantime.
unfortunately and i think this is very damaging europe is not a key player to solve that war.
so there are painful but important lessons that the arab uprisings can teach us about our role in the world.
we should continue to improve our policies and not step away from our responsibilities because our fates are intertwined with those of the people in the middle east.
it's very important that five years after this illegal annexation we speak about the situation openly because many people have had their rights suppressed and many people feel abandoned and left alone.
so we have to recognise the systematic repression and persecution of political civil and human rights which have taken place since the illegal occupation and annexation.
we have to join the commission and the high representative in the demand for the unconditional release of the political prisoners.
i'm conscious that people have been in the chamber who are not on the list and want to speak.
i have to make a judgement call and i try and prioritise catchthe eye.
if you want this debate to go on longer and have an exchange i am open to that but i will have a problem with the services.
so i hope you can understand the reason for that decision.
but anyway this is a harmonisation exercise because the eu needs to harmonise its consumer protection legislation.
at the same time the eu has introduced now a completely new layer of consumer protection for digital content.
these two directives create a standard set of consumer and contract law rules that boost consumer confidence throughout the eu when the digital business to consumer market is growing.
these directives also restrict further fragmentation of the consumer legislation in the member states.
so this is again one step towards more responsible supply chains.
human rights democracy the rule of law and the fight against corruption must remain our absolute priorities.
the new funding instrument introduces more flexibility and this will be particularly key as our complex relationship with turkey evolves.
the deteriorating human rights situation in the country has made it necessary for us to adapt our funding policy focusing on civil society rather than governmental agencies.
whilst i am sad about the current direction of the country under president erdoan's rule i am nevertheless convinced that the future of turkey lies in europe.
my regular contacts with numerous members of turkish civil society have convinced me that turkish citizens long for human rights and democracy and to be part of the european family.
and when it comes to the balkans where i also spend a lot of time we must continue to be proactive in our support for the institutions as well as civil society.
including freedom of expression and of the media.
in order to achieve these goals it is crucial to cooperate with governments but also to actively support civil society.
we need to use our financial support in the region wisely. we are the biggest donor and trading partner of all the countries of the region. we invest in infrastructure energy networks environment and agriculture in the western balkans.
we should expect that the countries will make serious commitments to reforms and to upholding the fundamental values.
whilst i welcome the commission's overall plans to increase investment in eu external action in the new mff round i'm a little sceptical about further increasing ipa funds.
therefore my questions to the commission are firstly commissioner hahn i hope you're listening how is dg near in this case also ipa iii taking the absorption capacity of accession countries into account?
secondly as we've just heard parliament voted to suspend accession negotiations with turkey.
given that turkey is by far the largest ipa beneficiary how will the suspension of talks affect ipa disbursements?
and thirdly in contrast to other accession countries public perception of eu in serbia is far from enthusiastic.
instead russian and chinese investments are greatly overestimated.
before committing more funding how do we first of all ensure clear visibility for the eu's engagement in serbia?
i listened carefully to the contribution of colleague stuger and he talked about the incest variant'.
mr president it's worth staying in the chamber to make an important point isn't it? when the arab spring blossomed european states missed the opportunity to develop an ambitious foreign policy based on human rights democracy and the rule of law.
we let down the young generations who led these movements by prioritising shortsighted economic interests over support for a longterm path towards democracy.
we could have been ambitious but instead we protected our own interests. we asked of our neighbours that they handle migration for us we closed our borders we continued selling arms and we continued to close our eyes to the deteriorating situation of human rights defenders and the appalling record when it comes to women and lgbtq.
as young people in algeria are now protesting and trying to create a peaceful movement it is time for the eu's foreign policy to live up to its full potential.
it's time to stand up for human rights in the middle east north africa and everywhere else.
the environment ministry wanted to have higher ambitions but the industry and transport ministry did not.
so it was a very difficult file.
it's great that we are finally getting these policies ahead.
i just want to mention to the commission that yes you put the proposal forward but it doesn't happen that often that both the council and parliament made it more ambitious.
in the old days the commission tried to be in the middle;
even the german car industry is now talking about wanting to fully electrify their transport.
mr president i would like to thank our three co rapporteurs for their work as well. having one set of rules for people who buy digital content and services across europe will make life easier for consumers and businesses alike.
the uk was the first country to introduce such legislation but many member states had no provisions at all and if you want europe to be a digital superpower we can't rely on old analogue regulations.
in today's modern economy millions of people daily buy apps subscribe to news outlets or take part in online gaming and these new rules will mean consumers have the same base level of protection wherever they buy products.
that also means less red tape for businesses that sell digital content or services across borders.
it will also make it easier for people to cancel contracts or seek refunds if those products are not up to scratch so the recent example of a french newspaper making it very easy to instantly subscribe online but then requiring all cancellations to be done by a paper form should be a thing of the past.
so this is a win for consumers it is a win for european businesses and we in my group will be supporting it.
thank you again for this report.
will the new ndici be an instrument to for instance make development aid conditional upon migration policies or to promote the commercial interests of the eu or will it rather be an instrument to combat poverty and climate change worldwide and promote human rights and democracy peace and the prevention of conflicts?
in order to translate our policy into actions on the ground the european union has developed a series of projects and actions in the framework of our cooperation with regional organisations.
it requires a comprehensive strategy that covers the adoption of protective legislation the enhancement of access to quality education the promotion of gender equality and a change in mentalities and social norms.
on this basis specific cooperation initiatives can be agreed to fight against child marriage.
also through political dialogue the european union regularly engages with countries where early and forced marriages take place.
through it the parties to the agreement declare their shared commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights.
at the fourth africa eu summit in two thousand and fourteen it was agreed to work together to ensure the full respect of human rights international law gender equality and to fight all forms of discrimination racism and xenophobia. the european union participated at the casablanca donor meeting on ending child early and forced marriage last week following the girls not brides' conference for a global partnership to end child marriage.
these campaigns projects and networks play an important role in raising awareness of the convention and in promoting its ratification and proper implementation.
eighty four eu delegations worldwide have prioritised children's rights in their human rights country strategies. human rights are at the heart of our partnership with the african continent under the joint africa eu strategy.
the european union welcomed the entry into force in august two thousand and fourteen of the council of europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
this has been reiterated in various policy documents including the latest action plan on human rights and democracy.
we also see an increased number of children being given in marriage in refugee camps as desperate parents try to find a way out of poverty.
unfortunately only eleven member states have ratified the council of europe's istanbul convention on combating violence against women that recognises child marriage as a criminal offence.
committed by daesh isis.
it emerged that there are camps in countries like zambia and mozambique to initiate girls in sex and prepare them for marriage sometimes before they turn nine.
keeping girls out of school is a way to condemn them to poverty and discrimination.
we need to help families and community leaders to keep girls in school and protect them from violence.
it is also a question of empowerment.
we need to work with law enforcement authorities the judicial system and the police and also to provide training and technical assistance to promote the adoption and enforcement of legislation prohibiting early and forced marriages including a minimum age for marriage.
and girls are exposed to sexual abuse domestic violence and even honour killing.
let us join forces across political groups and at all levels to put an end to child marriage.
girls forced to marry are forced out of school and education offers the best chance for girls to develop skills and have a role in society.
i welcome the fact that the european external action service and the member states have made child marriage a priority in the eu action plan for human rights and democracy and the eu development cooperation gender action plan.
however progress has been slow and uneven.
violence against children and women should never be justified by culture tradition or religion and it is time to break the vicious circle of poverty submission and violence. we need to work together with religious communities schools and the media to change attitudes.
just last week an international conference on child marriage was organised by the ngo girls not brides.
these are just a few chilling stories but there are thousands more and none of us can remain unmoved by them. child marriage is not only a violation of children's rights but also a form of violence against women.
young girls are sold naked at the market and promised as brides at a price after recruitment.
however as we saw a couple of years ago certain countries tried to push through a process to legitimise the concept of traditional values of humankind' as the basis for human rights law at the human rights council led by the russian federation. there is an inherent danger to making traditional values' the standard for human rights.
it is within this context that culture cannot be used to undermine the universality of the human rights principles which are applicable to the practice of early and forced marriage of girls.
firstly the eu ensures that gender equality is on the agenda in every dialogue with third countries especially for development cooperation.
however it should keep on mainstreaming gender equality in all policy areas and programmes especially inside the union.
too many girls in europe are still deprived of their right to education because they are forced into marriage.
the commission and the council and it is important that both institutions made these commitments promised us that in terms of aid promises they would deliver on the quality of the aid and in a timely fashion.
they assured us that the application of the most favoured nation clause would not in any way impact on south south trade and that the five year review at the end of the first phase of this epa would be a genuine review that would take into account development objectives.
on the basis of these promises and on the condition of course that these are now written into the record of this parliament and that both the council and the commission promise to honour and obey these commitments i believe that this house with a massive majority today can now give assent to the caribbean epa.
we are very pleased to see that the rapporteur and the commission have identified similar challenges and proposed similar actions specifically in the areas of improving financing facilitating innovation and strengthening cross sectoral collaboration and knowledge transfer in particular to clusters.
the commission is currently working on an ambitious package to pave the way towards a circular economy.
i really want to congratulate mr de backer on this report because the green action plan is at the heart of the commission's priorities the transformation of eu industry through innovation and modernisation with the involvement of smes.
we welcome your support for the forthcoming european resource efficiency excellence centre which will provide information and advice on the performance and cost effectiveness of different resource efficient options directly and through partners to smes.
the green action plan for smes is intended to enable smes to turn this challenge into real business opportunities.
we want to reach as many smes as possible. knowledge sharing among the centre the renewed enterprise europe network and european clusters will be instrumental in this.
eco industry and eco innovation currently supply one third of the global market for green technologies.
on access to finance which is a key priority for the commission we will work to ensure complementarity between different eu sources.
we have to demand that a genuinely independent international inquiry is set up into the events of zhanaozen.
video evidence clearly shows state forces basically mowing down peaceful protesters.
mr president i would like to speak about my amendment on kazakhstan where the oil workers engaged in a long heroic struggle for better working conditions and for the right to have an independent trade union have been met by massive repression by the nazarbayev regime.
as an incoming member of the european parliament's palestine delegation i am also particularly concerned about human rights violations in gaza east jerusalem and the west bank.
i want to welcome the inclusion of burma as an eu priority for the nineteen th session of the unhcr and commend the work of the special rapporteur on human rights in burma.
indeed i am delighted to make my maiden speech here in the european parliament on the subject of human rights.
i look forward to the transition to democracy in that country.
the eu must adopt a strong common position on the follow up to the fact finding mission to gaza and i call on baroness ashton to ensure that the recommendations of this mission are implemented in full and to ensure that there is full accountability for all violations of international law regardless of the alleged perpetrators.
in this regard i welcome the arab spring and i would condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing and appalling repression by the syrian regime of its population as described in the previous debate.
the protection and the promotion of human rights are fundamental features of the european union's moral and legal framework.
eu member states should lead by example and as has already been alluded to we need to ratify all international human rights instruments that we have helped establish particularly in relation to migrants in our own countries.
mr president it is self evident that human rights are universal in that they are enjoyed by all people. rights cannot be withheld systematically from unfavoured groups but there are some groups that are so unfavoured in polite liberal society that they are universally invisible as victims.
the people who head the list of invisible victims are the afrikaners or boers especially the rural afrikaners in south africa.
the police routinely refuse to respond to complaints of attacks.
the afrikaners are as invisible to the european parliament as they are to the united nations.
not for the first time we regret the fact that the review process has not led to the development of further reaching membership criteria as regards commitments and performance on human rights issues.
having said this i should stress that the eu and our member states should guarantee respect for human rights in our own policies in order to increase the coherence between internal and external policies and thus enhance the credibility of the european union in the un human rights council.
tomorrow we will vote on the resolution on the nineteen th session of the unhrc.
two thousand and twelve secondly there is the ongoing review of the eu's human rights policy which should contribute to making the european union a more active coherent and effective force in the world.
today in this room.
we reiterate our call for competitive elections for all regional groups and we recommend that the european union and its member states state their clear opposition to the practice of regional groups putting forward clean slates' and lead by example on this matter.
i would like to concentrate on human rights issues in northern cyprus and their place in negotiations for turkey's accession to the european union.
a one hundred and twelve mile long green line' still divides the island.
with regard to the key issues of burma north korea syria libya and iran we would like to point out the role of the russian federation and the people's republic of china in reaching a constructive resolution of several crises.
we deplore the reluctance of the two non democratic regimes to cooperate in the un security council in particular by vetoing the adoption of the resolution on syria.
the cold war is over and we must set aside the neo colonialist discourse of spheres of influence.
this has led to an increasing number of self immolations of both temporal and spiritual people in tibet. the eu and its member states must consistently pursue a meaningful dialogue with china on human rights and raise those issues on every possible occasion.
on libya too the expulsion of libya was an essential part of the transition in that country which should not be forgotten and which sets a historic precedent for the human rights council itself.
mr president as we approach the annual high level session and the european parliament's own delegation to the un human rights council at the end of the first round of the universal periodic review process and now that the council's own review is completed the challenge of our commitment to human rights has never been greater greatest perhaps at the moment as in the debate we have just conducted on syria.
finally on behalf of the socialist group too we should send a clear warning against countries refusing to ratify human rights instruments by being consistent in our own support including nine years after it was signed in the international convention on migrant workers seeking to protect over two hundred million of the most vulnerable people worldwide.
amnesty international says its people are enjoying freedom of expression for the first time in forty two years.
let us recall the recommendation of the goldstone commission following the gaza conflict and the panel of experts' recommendations following the end of the conflict in sri lanka.
the need to challenge ourselves in europe on other issues remains though.
time may or may not heal when we suffer an individual bereavement but when hundreds and thousands die in what are said to be crimes of war there will never be a healing without justice and the european union must show that all war crimes will be held to account. in sri lanka having visited the last combat zone this year whilst maintaining my group's consistent support for an independent commission of inquiry i acknowledged the government can change the debate if it genuinely conducts investigations against perpetrators and secures convictions as at least inferred in its own report.
as this parliament's rapporteur we should also give full backing to the framework on business and human rights adopted by the council and signal europe's determination to promote and to implement it including i am proud to say this week the announcement by the enterprise commissioner of proposed human rights guidelines for the ict and employment sectors here in europe.
kofi annan speaking after the launch of the un's 'responsibility to protect' said 'responsibility to protect will remain pure rhetoric unless and until those with the power to intervene effectively by exerting political economic and in the last resort military muscle are prepared to take the lead'.
the eu also expects the human rights council to continue to closely follow the human rights situation in other countries of the region such as yemen and bahrain.
serious challenges still remain and must be addressed in order to improve the human rights situation in the country and deepen its transition to democracy.
to freedom from fear and from want. the eu was instrumental in making the human rights council adopt resolutions on north africa and the middle east in particular libya syria and iran but also in the case of belarus.
the high representative remains strongly committed to the defence and promotion of human rights worldwide.
she recently condemned violence against religious minorities in nigeria egypt and anywhere in the world.