kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
mr president my group hopes that the resolution we adopt on russia will demonstrate european resolve to be united in expressing our concerns about the internal situation in russia and the deterioration in our relations with russia but united too in sending a signal that we want to find a path to return to long term dialogue and cooperation.
i have to say that i join the condemnation of the blacklisting of eighty nine eu politicians.
at the same time you are equally strong in stating the eu's readiness to develop a constructive predictable and mutually beneficial relationship with russia.
let me finish with a crucial point in your report perspective.
second there is the issue of balance.
eu foreign ministers agreed back in january to continue dialogue with russia at expert level on the resolution of regional conflicts and tackling global challenges.
i share the reasoning behind this call.
such a balanced approach should be followed between the eu and russia.
we cannot turn a blind eye to security risks in sectors like energy cyber space civil aviation or the impact of propaganda on our democracies.
the eu provides substantial assistance which is clearly conditional on real reforms in ukraine.
at the same time there is an imperative for cooperation based on the inter dependence and complementarity of our economies on historical and cultural traditions and on our capacity to make a difference when we act jointly.
we have maintained our support and assistance for civil society organisations and human rights projects in an increasingly challenging environment.
the work of this house is an example of eu unity.
these fundamental principles underpin our commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine.
for this to develop we need a long term vision a strategy that we must develop further.
our partnership was severely impacted last year by the illegal annexation of crimea and the destabilisation of donbas.
i fully share your conviction that our russia policy is strong and successful only if it enjoys the unanimous support of all twenty eight eu member states.
this is the backdrop of the report you are debating today.
but russia is also an important economic counterpart and an essential partner for the solution of many pressing international problems.
i appreciate your efforts in particular those of mr landsbergis which have made this report a very important contribution to the debate on how best to shape relations with russia.
the eu must continue acting on the basis of a broad and principled consensus on the ukraine conflict and on its relations with russia.
balance is at the core of our approach to the ukraine conflict.
they are the basis for our call on russia to respect its international commitments be this in the field of governance security or international trade.
to achieve a vision for eu russia relations that can embrace all scenarios our reflection should already start now.
thirdly the commission shares your commitment to a comprehensive approach to our russia policy.
quite the contrary it means pursuing a comprehensive approach responding to immediate concerns but with strategic patience and vision.
fourth let me stress the issue of integrity. the eu stands firmly behind democratic values respect for human rights and a rules based international order and will continue to do so.
further engagement with russia should be gradual with russia's fulfilment of commitments under international law and steps for rebuilding mutual trust.
these efforts will continue unabated.
on the other hand eu member states and eu institutions are engaged in the search for a political solution to the conflict.
we should more often exercise our responsibilities as actors in a complex world of global and regional challenges.
i see that the very first plea you make in your report is for the eu to develop a contingency plan for the short term as well as a comprehensive plan for long term relations with russia and with the eu's east european partners.
dialogue and engagement should go together with resilience and firmness.
your report contains strong criticism of moscow's actions such as the illegal annexation of crimea and sevastopol its destabilising policy in donbas the multiplication of hybrid threats throughout europe and the shrinking space for russian civil society and media.
despite the deterioration of relations we will enhance people to people contacts in all fields from education culture and research to cross border cooperation.
i understand that the draft report has been adopted by an overwhelming majority in the committee on foreign affairs i hope. that the plenary vote will also reflect this in order to send a clear political message about the views of european citizens.
as high representative mogherini said in this chamber at the start of her term last autumn we believe that a successful foreign policy depends on success in internal eu policies fully committed to this principle.
events in crimea and donbas should not prevent us from taking a broader horizon for identifying the challenges we face and the opportunities to be exploited.
soon. let me thank you for your fruitful exchanges.
your report is a timely and strong document.
yes this is of course possible.
we will invite people students people of goodwill they are welcome and normally people of goodwill who are on this list also want to go to russia to speak to their counterparts.
we have to tell the people in these countries that we want these countries to be strong independent and developed and the russian federation wants these countries to be weak and controllable so that they can be blackmailed.
eu meddling in defence risks undermining these efforts and dividing the transatlantic alliance.
yes i do think it is incredibly important to support civil society exchanges which is why i express concern at the law on socalled undesirable organisations' and would make the point that the ngos that russia is targeting are not a threat to its constitution security or defence.
madam surely it is extremely necessary to develop a clear vision.
the orchestra has been a great way to bring musicians across the continent together.
this resolution has a critical meaning not only for syrians and for the middle east region but also for europe and the future security structure in the world.
it is also participating in the main international efforts deployed notably in the framework of the international contact group set up recently by the african union.
the commission considers that there has been a flagrant violation of essential elements of the cotonou agreement and that this is a case of special urgency' within the meaning of article ninety six of that agreement.
the commission has therefore launched the procedure to propose to the council to open consultation with the authorities in power in order to examine possible solutions to the crisis aimed at the re establishment of constitutional order.
the commission has fully endorsed the czech presidency statement issued on behalf of the european union on twenty march condemning the transfer of power and calling on the malagasy parties to comply fully with the provisions of the constitution of madagascar.
at this stage the prevailing view is that the relevant malagasy political stakeholders agree on a road map for a return to constitutional order and the holding of elections.
i would also like to stress the commission's continued commitment to the malagasy people.
my own country cyprus is one.
if we were debating that epa today we would have to enter our reservations regarding madagascar.
now we have a situation an army coup d'tat partly triggered by a plan by the former government to lease one million acres of land in the south of the country to a korean firm for intensive farming when a substantial majority of the population live on less than one euro a day.
we welcome the fact that the un has appealed for nearly usd thirty six million worth of humanitarian aid anticipating the food shortages that will result later this year from the current political events in madagascar but we strongly condemn the coup d'tat and all attempts to seize power by undemocratic means.
we call for the immediate restoration of the legal and constitutional order in the country and ask all malagasy parties to comply fully with the provisions of the constitution.
this unconstitutional change of government is a serious setback for democratisation.
in april we overwhelmingly approved that economic partnership agreement with reservations about the situation in zimbabwe.
since then madagascar has been troubled by unstable governments with threats of secession and impeachment punctuating a rough politics.
for the thirty six acp countries that have initialled epas but not yet signed or ratified them.
colleagues it is not because we have never had a deadline until now so this is the first proposal for a deadline and if passed it is important to understand that it will be set in stone because no change to this deadline could take place without a further commission proposal and without the agreement of both parliament and council; and i suggest that it is unlikely that the commission would bring forward another proposal.
two thousand and fourteen in my view mr president the commission is half correct.
i have to say having spoken to colleagues in many of the countries that are affected i believe the opposite to be the truth.
we must not create the perception fair or otherwise that we are bullying african countries into signing and ratifying epas without giving them enough time for careful consideration.
that was challenged in the wto and we had a wto waiver until two thousand and seven which allowed us to continue to give those one sided preferences.
that is why the trade committee has put forward the deadline of one january two thousand and sixteen which gives due notice to the acp countries that their preferences must come to an end but also in my view gives a realistic timescale to complete negotiations.
if we were to vote for two thousand and fourteen we are in my opinion excluding seventeen countries from the scheme.
mr president the eu has historically given one sided preferences to our acp partners.
it is true that the regulation was a temporary solution and it is therefore reasonable that an end date should be set.
they would simply not be able to meet that two thousand and fourteen deadline whereas two thousand and sixteen sets a firm but achievable target.
however i believe that we have to see this proposal in the context of the current climate of economic partnership agreement negotiations.
the commission believes that the two thousand and fourteen deadline would give momentum to the epa negotiations.
secondly are we forcing anybody to do this?
two thousand and seven that is the reality.
that is what you would create.
even then our door is open to negotiating a new agreement with them.
is also why i stand by the proposal that we have
union. we are ready to help them with aid for
i share the position of the rapporteur when he suggests that the main reason behind the commission's proposal is to increase pressure on these states to sign up to economic partnership agreements.
according to the ngo comhlamh the loss of dfqf market access could effectively close the european market for some sectors and will be disastrous for the economies of the countries concerned.
mr president there is a word for this proposal to take away duty free quota free access to eu markets for a group of countries in the african caribbean and pacific region.
it is not one that is moveable once we pass the legislation.
so all we are saying as a house to you is let us not rush this let us set a deadline. and i will repeat what i said at the beginning that deadline would be set in concrete.
it is not a flexible deadline;
at the same time this commission and probably this parliament are going to pass the colombia free trade agreement which is going to give trade preferences on cut flowers to their biggest rival colombia.
firstly it will sour the mood in terms of our relationship with the acp countries and secondly i think it is an impossible deadline to meet.
we are not asking them to give them protection in perpetuity but we are at least saying give them two or three years in order to find a solution that encompasses both their objective of signing an epa and staying within their east african regional partnership.
we did so on the understanding that our epa partners would formalise their commitment to these agreements within a year or two by signing and ratifying them.
how can that business idea grow if inputs are expensive?
but it was also one that matched the political moods at the time.
are we not letting down a promising entrepreneurial class in eight acp countries if the two thousand and fourteen deadline is extended?
two thousand and seven so it is not about negotiations on comprehensive epas the argument invoked by some to justify an extended deadline.
eighteen had not until last year.
that leaves us with only eight countries actually affected by the proposal we are discussing today.
some of them are also continuing negotiations to get to comprehensive regional agreements.
sometimes wanting to do good is actually the enemy of the good.
we are continuing negotiations for comprehensive epas with practically all the epa regions and i have a small set of outstanding issues left with the east african community with western africa and with epa partners in the southern africa development community the sadc.
let me try once again to explain what this regulation is about.
why do we continue to see africa the caribbean and the pacific as not being capable of exporting much more than basic agricultural commodities?
eu trade policy had to reflect this too. i have said this before and i will say it again the political value of bilateral trade agreements is that they create flanking policies and institutions to manage the implementation of commercial commitments.
as a commissioner i am also bound by eu law.
in two thousand and seven by the time we had conducted and concluded epa negotiations with about half of the acp countries the eu acting in good faith passed the market access regulation to allow our epa partners continued market access to the eu on a duty free quota free basis.
that is so far from present day realities and needs.
besides stimulating the two way flow of trade lowering customs tariffs reduces the potential for poor governance in particular corruption.
for these reasons as well as my conviction that free trade deals serve poor countries better i continue to support the commission proposal to amend the market access regulation with legal effect on one january two thousand and fourteen and i very much hope that this wisdom will also convince parliament.
in conclusion as trade commissioner designate i took a pledge before this parliament in february two thousand and ten to uphold and further strengthen the multilateral trading system. at the time i also understand my ambition is to bring epa negotiations to a successful conclusion provided the results are wto compatible and can foster development.
the broader picture on epas is really something to be proud of.
nine of the countries left are least developed countries and will continue to enjoy duty free quota free status because they continue to be eligible for everything but arms' benefits.
furthermore we are implementing agreements concluded back in two thousand and seven with the caribbean papua new guinea and four eastern and southern african countries.
the international community at large had finally understood that development policies which do not sustain good governance are simply not sustainable.
why should a kenyan an ivorian or a namibian business person who has an innovative idea finds a niche market and wishes to develop a product with the assistance of good european machinery continue to have to pay very heavy import duties for the next two four or even seven years?
the epa must effectively address some of the most fundamental challenges many acp countries are facing for example regional integration and europe is well placed to know that that integration takes time.
for the moment both sides seem to be in a dead end and neither seems to be able to find its way out so therefore a deadline like this could be an impetus but it could be a guillotine that does not serve those most in need.
i therefore fully support david martin's recommendation for a two thousand and sixteen deadline as i believe this is a fair compromise for all parties especially in this year which will be a litmus test for relations between the eu and its african and pacific partners as we are also reviewing the cotonou agreement the european development fund and the development cooperation instrument.
as chair of the delegation for relations with south africa i am particularly concerned that a satisfactory agreement for all is found on the sadc epa.
mr president my main concern with this proposal is that it puts pressure on governments of acp countries to sign and ratify the respective epas whether or not contentious provisions and issues have been resolved.
if they choose not to do so they will be treated equally with other poor countries and we will be fair to them on the same basis as non acp countries.
but just because you once were part of an illegal trade agreement you will always be a part of an illegal trade agreement that is not fair neither to those who sign epas nor to those who never were part of the original illegal trade agreement.
is it also fair that poorer countries do not have preferential treatment because they simply refuse to sign up to an economic partnership agreement?
do you really believe that is fair?
this has demonstrated ongoing commitment to provide clarity to business operators and to keep the guidance a living document. we also invited the director of the office of foreign assets control to inform our finance ministers and encourage him to further reach out to the private sector.
the release of the joint statement on post jcpoa business with iran was a clear signal to reassure financial operators and to encourage them to engage with iran.
thirty three iranian banks have been reconnected to swift so far.
let me first of all stress that the lifting of sanctions was a key element of the nuclear agreement and an effective implementation of the sanctions lifting is a condition for sustainability and success of the plan. it is in our interests and iran can reap the economic benefits of it.
let us be clear there are still challenges we need to overcome.
major banks are becoming more comfortable as they start to comprehend the new rules in practice.
we have always known that the full reintegration of iran into the world economy would not happen overnight but i am confident it will succeed.
the eu continues to be closely engaged including through the high representative's coordinating role of the joint commission overseeing the implementation of the deal.
to enhance the economic dialogue and cooperation in october we are planning a european economic mission to iran with representatives of european smes and businesses.
in addition it is important that iran takes the necessary steps on the regulatory framework and business environment.
cooperation and consultations in the financial action task force framework should be treated as a priority. our visit to iran has served as an opportunity to establish the basis for cooperating and providing assistance in these domains.
but we have also engaged with the private sector to provide clarity and reassure operators wanting to go back to iran.
let me also take this opportunity to share with you how appreciative we are of the us efforts to provide clarity about the scope of the remaining us primary sanctions and to reach out to the banking sector in europe.
let me assure you that we have faithfully met our commitments as agreed under the plan of action by lifting the sanctions and publishing guidance on implementation day providing clarity on the subject.
successful implementation of the deal is also a key here in the eu.
iranian banks have been cut off from the international financial system for the same period of time.
the us has updated twice its guidance publishing additional frequently asked questions.
with that in mind we can better continue our consultations with the us in order to get as much clarity as possible continue reaching out to the european business community and provide assistance to iran's banking and financial system.
it is undeniable that we are at a very critical juncture where we need to make sure that all remains on track during the visit of the high representative and seven other commissioners including myself to tehran in april.
the financial and banking issues we are experiencing should not be underestimated but they should be put into perspective.
it will still require of course some time as the international business community needs to adjust to the new reality of the post implementation deal.
more recently it was reported that two hundred small and medium sized international banks including european ones have started correspondent relationship with iranian banks.
madam president commissioner and colleagues this debate is about creating more clarity for eu based companies looking to trade with or invest in iran after the lifting of sanctions as a result of the nuclear deal.
but ongoing as well as new us based sanctions for human rights violations or to deter iran's missile programme regardless of the validity of those goals and i think they are valid have led to uncertainty for european companies.
as a result of the extraterritorial impact an estimated half of interested companies are holding back.
the need for financing insuring and transporting products going to iran can lead to a chain reaction where banks do not trust that their services even if fully legal in europe will not be punished in the us or by the us not only billion dollar fines but also new visa requirements that hinder access or undermine trust in being able to access the us after
since we requested this debate secretary kerry has met with eu based banks and the question is this has this sufficiently clarified their concerns according to the commission?
and what has the commission or the external action service done to address these concerns with us officials to get more predictability and clarity for european companies?
and have you engaged in the underlying problem and addressed it with the iranian authorities namely the fact that a significant role for the revolutionary guard in the iranian economy hinders the emergence of a truly private sector and also risks that the benefits after the deal will go to a few and not to the many.
does the current situation of uncertainty jeopardise the deal at all?
the joint comprehensive plan of action adopted in october can be a significant step forward for the security stability and development of the entire region.
only successful implementation will allow us to show the benefits of diplomacy and negotiation over the politics of obstructionism and confrontation.
a temporary solution to the difficulties faced by european companies and to ensure in the long term together with our iranian partners the security and legal certainty of european investments in iran.
i think that it was rich in information.
i am sure that you are making an effort.
i am sure that this is the case but the fact is that we do have cases which have concrete implications.
in particular any automated decision should be verified by a human being and allow the data subject to explain his or her point of view.
i am committed as always to keeping you informed about the progress in all the negotiation stages.
after the signature of these memoranda the us and some member states have negotiated two types of agreements.
he has been pursuing negotiations with the us transportation security administration to exempt us originating passengers at eu airports from rescreening.
two thousand and eight the eu track concerns the negotiations between the eu and the us regarding conditions for access to the us and indeed to the visa waiver programme.
i will of course keep you fully informed about this.
this resulted in an eu us agreement confirming that the eu satisfies these conditions.