kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
are taking place. greece also activated the union civil protection mechanism for equipment that will help them provide arriving migrants with basic non food items such as medical equipment shelters tents blankets and other necessary
three seven million migrants and refugees we strongly reject turkey's use of migratory pressure for political purposes.
in turkey. coming back to the situation in greece our response has so far been the following last week frontex launched two calls for rapid intervention upon greece's request one for the sea border and one for
border crossings. however the situation has to be closely monitored and we should increase our level
the eu and its member states remain determined to effectively protect the eu's external borders and illegal crossings will not be tolerated.
the land border. deployments of additional staff under the rapid reaction pool and technical assets under the rapid reaction equipment pool
according to some reports there were some twenty zero persons inside the border area on the turkish side trying to move towards the greek sea and land borders. however due to the timely reaction both on operational and political levels massive illegal border crossings did not take place. despite certain incidents we can say that the current situation is stable both on land and sea borders. last week home affairs ministers met for an extraordinary council meeting to discuss the situation at the eu's external borders with turkey. in line with the strong statements made by the presidents of the eu institutions the day before their visits to the greek turkish border the ministers expressed strong solidarity with greece but also with other member states which might be similarly affected in other efforts to manage the eu's external borders. the ministers sent a clear message that while we acknowledge the increased migratory burden and risk that turkey is facing on its territory and the substantial efforts it has made in hosting.
supplies. member states have been very responsive and quick in their reaction and the commission has been efficient in coordinating
european union. president michel noted that the meeting had clarified a number of aspects relating to the implementation of the statement and in particular had provided an opportunity to show how the eu has implemented its financial commitments including the pledge to mobilise a total of eur six billion to support refugees
islands. i do share this
we must show that the eu holds fast the fundamental rights even in difficult times. the circumstances that the greek border is under are serious and exceptional but the right to asylum is a fundamental right and enshrined in the eu treaty and international
million. hopefully we can achieve a more stable situation but we have to be prepared because what we need is de escalation dialogue and concrete
say this. many of you have stressed the importance of relocation of vulnerable especially from the overcrowded camps on the greek
one year budget? what would this do for the credibility of the
very soon. this is still possible but we are already
on the mff. attempting to find a solution along these lines would therefore absorb everyone's time energy and focus while we need all efforts to find a good agreement on the actual long term
in december. therefore two thousand and fourteen meant a lost year for some programmes something we need to avoid this time. but that also implies that even in our best case scenario we are already under massive
nowhere. crucially we cannot close our eyes to the challenges in the real world that we need to address together. the challenges for migration and borders for treating people in wretched circumstances with a minimum of human dignity need no further illustrations after last week's
buy more time. but let me be very clear about the
challenges. the suboptimal option would be a contingency plan rolling forward existing budget programmes for
shared resources. it is the time for everybody to recognise this and to stand up for realism reason
secondly like the european parliament the commission is also convinced that we need a budget tailored to achieving our common goals with a sufficient overall
this agreement fast. we in the european commission know that
next year. however looking at the history of the multiannual financial framework it has always needed at least two european summits to find an agreement. it will therefore be crucial to make the second summit a success and to do it quickly. we the european commission call on leaders to draw lessons not just from their deliberations but also from your contribution and most of all from the challenges in the real world that have been intensifying in
time to lose. it is truly time for reason and cool headedness. at this moment we have three options the better the suboptimal
fund our ambitions. they are the winwin solution which might help to
and responsibility. we need an agreement on the next longterm eu budget to secure the necessary funds to be able to act together and we need
budget soon. it might well fail in which case we end up with no result. even if it didn't fail what type of answer to structural challenges such as climate change digitisation and external policies could we give with a
very late. last time we achieved a deal in the council in early february and the final agreement only
at the end of. two thousand and twenty one the better scenario therefore is already one that will come with serious
events. leaders from right across the union have pleaded for the european
no cohesion money? how would we explain to the citizens that europe is unable to act when it comes to climate and digital challenges or that it lacks the means to protect our common borders
and the worst. the better option is reaching a balanced agreement
soon as possible. to achieve this we need
complacency is not an option. we have launched a joint procurement for personal protective equipment and this morning we will know what response to this offer we have received.
it is not an easy situation to live in and the decisions taken by government are not taken lightly.
we need to share equipment protocols and testing protocols.
it is a time of critical communication with our citizens and here parliament can be of great help in two
this is a time for all of us wherever we are positioned to join our voices because this is the only way we're going to be able to come out of this crisis and that
states. with commissioner breton we are discussing how industry can scale up production to meet increased
spread. we need to show a europe that cares a europe of solidarity and a europe that protects a europe that offers added value to its member states in their response to that challenge.
we are strengthening the operational support and advice of ecdc on the
greece. we have increased funding for research and vaccine development and we are also coordinating our border visa and security measures.
us. i have called on all of them to plan ahead to be ready for the possible next scenario.
but you also need to be the voices against false news and misinformation because this is equally damaging to the efforts made and the impact of the virus itself.
usual. we are facing an exceptional situation and under such circumstances everybody needs to stand up to their responsibilities.
slowing down the virus must be our greatest priority in order to gain time for our health systems to function effectively and for research and development to advance. the measures we are seeing are impacting on our citizens on their everyday lives on the economy on businesses.
this is a critical time for cooperation and solidarity. without solidarity and europe wide solutions we are not going to be able to deal with this public health emergency.
let me be absolutely clear this cannot be business as
ground. an expert mission has already taken place in italy and a second one is underway in
week. we need to see solidarity in
in ending i want to say that from day one our priority has been to protect citizens from this virus and to support member states in stopping the
we are already looking at joint procurements for medical equipment such as respirators and testing kits which have been requested by member
agency. we have established a video conference three times a week with myself as health commissioner and the agencies to be updated and coordinated in every way possible so that we can be proactive if possible.
i know that when under this kind of pressure everyone reacts in different ways but this is not a time for fragmentation;
from our side we will continue to do our utmost to ensure that medical workers and those on the front line have the best means possible in order to face the outbreak.
but when necessary and justified although tough these decisions need to be followed to the letter.
action. we need to share resources share information share expertise share equipment.
ways. you need to be the voices that speak to citizens for them to take responsibility for their personal protection measures washing hands avoiding physical contact;
i think you have all seen the curves of how an epidemic usually takes place. well we have to take all the measures possible to flatten that curve so that people do not infect other people. usually people infected with this virus infect two to three other people as we have learned already from the epidemiology of the virus. we have to bring these numbers down so that in total people in the population do not get infected because and let's not forget this there is no immunity in the population. so let's not compare this with influenza. this has nothing to do with influenza where there is a high background immunity. this is a really different virus and the real danger is that the health systems the healthcare systems are being overloaded. i think we've all read the newspapers. today we've seen what is happening in the northern part of italy. hospitals where people do not get beds where intensive care beds are lacking because they can't put the patients where they need to be. indeed we really have to do everything possible to contain that virus. i want to
reinforce the call of the commissioner that maybe we have to step up our measures to make sure that this virus is
contained. i'm not going to talk about the social and economic consequences.
we all know these but if we don't do what is necessary to contain the virus and to look at the health aspects also the indirect effects of this epidemic the social and economic consequences will be much worse than they would be
these are exactly the situations where european citizens expect us to act and act fast.
so thank you very much for your support.
it's the fate of those women of men and children that is the crisis and that is what we need to care about. it is shocking that europe will only care about refugees when they pose a problem at our own borders. it is shocking how europe answers people in need with tear gas with breaking the law and with suspending human rights. is that what we really want to be? those who are fleeing from a war those who need protection and those who are living in unbearable conditions on greek islands or anywhere else they need our solidarity. the eu needs to support the member states on the borders but it completely fails if this support is understood as just more policing and keeping people out. rather the eu should support greece with applying international law by a rapid redistribution of the people trapped on the islands or at the border. the eu should focus on safely distributing the refugees. hundreds of municipalities all across europe have volunteered to accommodate refugees. they are real heroes and those communities deserve our praise and they deserve our
so much still needs to be done. since we're in a parliament i indeed want to remind us of the big lack of women in decision making. just because we might see one woman somewhere in a leading position that just reminds us of the stark contrast of everyone else in the room usually being a man. that needs to change but we can also all do something about that. all of our parties all of our list elections everyone can do something about it. it is not a natural phenomenon that women are under represented. everyone can but also everyone has to contribute to this struggle. while it takes forever as we have seen to break old problems to break all old inequalities new ones are rising by the day. for example if we look at the online hate that people women are
facing; the hate that we have received is an old problem but to see it so much multiplied in the online space is a new phenomenon.
also the bias of algorithms now coming up and soon having a very big influence already having a very big bad influence on our lives is something that is a new phenomenon.
so let's never ever for one day even think the fight
is over. it is not
upon us. let's act together for the european
so if we act together now and close down this european ivory market we can make a huge contribution towards saving these magnificent animals and stop the criminals who currently profit from the trade.
as long as europe has a large market for ivory the poaching of elephants will continue.
the actress virginia mckenna spoke passionately for an end to wildlife trafficking and a ban on the ivory trade.
only global action can stamp out the trade in ivory and turn back the tide towards elephant extinction and not forgetting the rhinoceros.
we in the uk have consistently taken the lead;
prince william's speech in china endorsed our position and last week in the british house of commons they voted for what will soon be one of the toughest bans on the trade of ivory in the world. this uk ban will be tougher than america's and china's but nations acting alone cannot succeed in closing the market.
with twenty zero animals slaughtered annually waiting six years is not an option commissioner.
i want future generations to be able to enjoy our world's diverse wildlife not just read about it in history books.
the only place where ivory belongs or should have any value is on the front of a live elephant.
criminal gangs control this profitable trade.
an oxford university study to be released later this month shows that over two thirds of ivory sold legally on the eu market is in fact not pre.
that's the problem. we all assume the ivory we are exporting is legal.
china and hong kong have closed their ivory markets and even the uk as we have just heard is now coming forward with a total ban on all ivory.
yet the eu is still the largest exporter of so called legal ivory' in the world.
but the eu is sitting still while others are taking real action.
they forge paperwork and they get their new or reworked ivory onto the market.
we need a full and comprehensive eu wide ban on ivory with appropriate exemptions now.
the commission and its member states must send this clear message to the rangers who protect and to the customers who buy ivory has no monetary value any longer.
so commissioner no half measures.
we are very much aware that the eu is expected to continue playing a leading international role in the fight against ivory trafficking.
if there was one theme which came out of these recent commission nomination hearings it was the desire for a dedicated revenue stream for the european union and for a measure of tax harmonisation.
a state can raise its taxes only up to a certain level before the money begins to go abroad and the revenues dwindle. as milton friedman put it competition between governments in their delivery of services and their levels of taxation is every bit as productive as competition between companies and individuals.
mr president the greatest constraint on a government is external competition.
like the people of massachusetts the people of europe do not want taxation without representation and i am sure they will vote accordingly.
this is why it is so distressing to see the european union going down the road towards tax harmonisation and the export of high costs from one country to another.
the tragedy is not just that we become less democratic it is that we lose the consensus that we might have had for tackling environmental problems.
mr president at his very first press conference following his appointment as president of the european council herman van rompuy celebrated the fact that two thousand and nine was the first year of global governance and he looked forward explicitly to the copenhagen summit as a step towards the economic global management of our planet.
it is a pity that a number of people have jumped onto the environmental agenda as a way of advancing a different agenda an agenda that has at its core the desire to take power away from elected national politicians and concentrate it in the hands of international technocracies.
left or right conservative or socialist we can all agree that we want a diversity of supply for energy and that we do not want pollutants being pumped into the atmosphere but only one set of policies is being applied those that involve statism and corporatism the same policies in fact which have failed politically and societally are now being applied to the environment.
mr president friday will mark one month since the devastating earthquake in haiti.
this should cause us to do all that we can to ensure survivors are given assistance to rebuild their lives and their country.
i supported the joint resolution put forward for that reason but want to put on record my opposition to the concept of a european civil protection force.
how are we to explain this difference between the two unions?
that is why we now see acting according to its foundational doctrines this intolerance for tax competition masquerading as an attack on tax havens by which it in fact means jurisdictions which have run a more efficient system and kept their taxes lower.
the us was founded out of a popular revolt against a remote and autocratic government and against high taxation whereas of course the european union in line one of article one of its foundational treaty commits itself to ever closer union.
in doing so it sets its face against the competition the external curve which is the main constraint on government.
it seems to be that you have to look for an explanation in the foundational dna of the two polities.
the reality is that tax competition tax havens if you insist on calling them that is the major way to keep the government small and the citizen large and free.
mr president at the very moment when the good people of massachusetts were voting against excessive taxation and excessive government our own commission nominees were boasting of their plans to harmonise taxation in the european union and create a separate revenue stream for brussels.
mr president the treaty of rome contains one sentence on this subject.
it says men and women shall be given equal pay for equal work'.
now that sounds pretty straightforward. we all think we understand what that means.
but what has happened in the subsequent decades is that through a process of judicial activism the european court has progressively extended the meaning of that phrase beyond anything that a reasonable person would assume.
first it defined equal pay' as meaning equal pension rights and equal holidays and so on.
then it defined equal work' as being work of equivalent value.
how is an employer supposed to judge that?
do they have to factor in the availability of suitably qualified applicants? then in the south west trains case in britain it was extended to look at the rights of spouses of same sex unions.
now we are talking about reproductive rights.
there is an argument for all of these things.
you can take the view that the state ought not to regulate contracts between employers and employees or you can take the view that we need this legislation.
but whichever side you are on surely that is an argument that ought to be had by elected representatives who we can vote for and vote against.
it is outrageous for them to be imposed on us by a court.
a supreme court with a mission is a tyranny.
mr president when we listen to the discussion here in parliament there are many colleagues here who lament the fact that the eu was not listened to in the recent discussions in copenhagen.
let us look at the expenses regime an expenses regime that encourages meps to take taxis and chauffeured cars but if you try to take public transport you are not allowed to claim that back hypocrisy.
look at the common agricultural policy which many meps in this place support that not only damages developing countries' economies but damages the environment.
so before we preach to the rest of the world it is time we got our own house in order.
in my own country the british government has been spending money it does not have and now has to plug a massive gap in the budget.
even before the financial crisis we had countries that are known not to be collecting sufficient taxes to cover the public services that are needed by the citizens of those countries.
we are also spending taxpayers' monies on propping up companies that have failed and are being badly governed as well as badly run banks.
so really what should we be doing?
we should be encouraging a solution in the first place to all the problems i have outlined but we should also never forget that tax competition is a very good thing to have because it encourages governments to take less of our money and to provide services more efficiently for its citizens.
the last world trade talks were given the optimistic title everything but arms'. of course these quickly descended into everything but farms because the eu is determined to retain this protected and subsidised position for this one niche sector.
mr president the european union's common agricultural policy is unmatched in its wastefulness in its corruption in its byzantine bureaucracy in its selfishness in its hypocrisy and in its immorality.
if this is what we have come up with the ecological calamity the poverty the inflationary consequences of higher food prices what are we thinking of if we want to give these same institutions additional powers?
infer from what has happened.
the eu did not listen then and it has not listened since.
for many years we have been telling the islands of the caribbean and other developing countries that they should diversify away from sugar and bananas start to go up the value chain and start to get expertise when it comes to services.
they sink the scales and the bones are clogging the sea beds suffering as the uk's national poet puts it a sea change into something rich and strange.
however every solution proposed by the commission would bring perverse incentives of its own one can limit the days a boat spends at sea one can restrict the size of the mesh of the net one can force skippers to land every last sprat they catch.
all of these things are based on the existential problem of the common fisheries policy which is precisely that it is a common policy it defines fisheries as a common resource to which all nations have equal access.
no one has ownership and therefore no one has an incentive to treat fisheries as a renewable resource.
we need to copy what iceland new zealand and the falklands and other places have done in giving skippers an incentive in conservation and giving them property rights.
the only way to do this is by re establishing national control over territorial waters.
it is quite clear that that system has failed. it is time for us to recognise that the best way forward is a system based on property rights and transferable property rights for future generations who have an interest in securing the resources for their generation and for future generations.
what would help them would be for us to help the entrepreneurs in their country to create wealth locally and for them to be able to trade with us in the european union.
the united states has all sorts of subsidies as well. while we preach open trade we are being hypocritical when we close our markets to the very good produce from developing countries.
of course we all want safer food but quite often these standards are used as a non tariff barrier against imports from developing countries. it is time to trust the consumers. as long as food is safe let the consumers decide whether they want food grown in europe or grown elsewhere.