kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
generally we can say that the illegal annexation of crimea and sebastopol by the russian federation created a threat a very dangerous situation which is a direct challenge to international security with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states.
the eu will remain committed to fully implementing its non recognition policy including through restrictive measures. on the other hand if and when a sustainable solution to the ukraine conflict is found we will obviously need to adjust and recalibrate our relationship with russia.
we should be ready to engage with that country.
let me simply say that the european commission and the council have just adopted the communication on the energy union.
yes we need a review of the european security strategy.
it is on its way and we are absolutely relying on your cooperation on that procedure.
of course this does nothing to de escalate tension in the region.
it does however expose the hypocrisy of the eu telling greece to spend money on defence while cutting pensions and raising vat and forcing austerity on ireland plus cuts in positive social public spending.
the report highlights eu strategic interests in guaranteeing member states' energy supply and the security of oil and gas exploitation in the black sea.
russia's illegal annexation of crimea its deliberate destabilisation of eastern ukraine and its continued involvement in conflicts across the region such as abkhazia and south ossetia mean we can no longer trust the russian leadership.
with this in mind i am glad the report recognises the ongoing work of the eu missions in the black sea states and in particular the human rights abuses that crimean citizens have suffered since the annexation.
mr president much of the pain destruction loss and suffering caused by the recent fighting in ukraine can be directly attributed to the expansionist policies of the european union.
due to the eu's previous empire building ambitions in ukraine this organisation now has little moral legitimacy to take any action either diplomatically or militarily without the risk of further stoking the fires of conflict in the region. this is why i am today calling for a strategy of intervention and the promotion of peace
to be developed and implemented by a non state non partisan actor such as the un in order to avoid a potentially catastrophic multinational military engagement.
given the opportunity i am convinced ukraine can develop into a strong independent politically free and defendable nation that can freely trade on both sides of the current divide and with the rest of the world.
first of all i understand the situation that our friends in romania and bulgaria find themselves in having lived for so many years in an area that was apparently an area of peace and recreation and now is an area where supposedly nuclear armaments might
the report states that there are a lot of things that the eu can do.
an additional eur nine million was added earlier this month for food shelter and water for malian refugees and internally displaced persons.
throughout our aim has been to work with the governments of the region.
it is not in the interests of the people of mali the region or the european union for this to become effectively a lawless zone.
stability in the region is essential for all europe's african partners.
the inauguration of dioncounda traor as interim president and the release of the detained ministers come as good news.
the eu remains committed to the preservation of the unity and sovereignty of mali.
i have spoken with president ouattara who is acting as chairman of ecowas to reinforce this message.
for two thousand and twelve we have increased our humanitarian aid budget for the sahel from eur forty five million to eur one hundred and five million.
the crisis in libya and its fallout exacerbated an already existing problem causing well armed fighters to spill out into a region where terrorism hostage taking drug trafficking and criminality were already serious problems.
a way must therefore be found to restore governance and democracy to the north. this is made all the more urgent by the increasingly serious humanitarian situation.
we are already in close touch with ecowas concerning their proposals to provide support for the security sector notably for the north but we also need to work closely with all neighbouring countries mauritania niger algeria burkina faso and cte d'ivoire all of which all have a clear interest in the events taking place in mali.
the strategy includes a financial top up allocation of eur fifty million to contribute to supporting malian security policy.
the council has made clear its commitment to the territorial integrity of mali.
that is why we intend to mobilise all our efforts to find solutions not only for the urgency of the next weeks but also for the medium and long term with the clear intention of assisting mali in regaining its sovereignty in the northern part of its territory and being again a true united nation.
it has been increasingly clear that development and security have to go hand in hand.
such an option requires careful reflection on what the nature of such a mission should be and how to coordinate it with the necessary reinforcement of mali's national army and gendarmerie.
our development cooperation with mali was immediately put on hold.
i also discussed the evolving situation with the un secretary general ban ki moon yesterday in brussels.
it will be for the interim government to decide what support including military they may want from external partners and from whom.
however as i have already indicated the reports of the arrest of the former prime minister and of another senior politician are of deep concern.
following strong leadership by the west african regional organisation ecowas as well as continuous pressure from the international community including the european union and the united nations an agreement was reached on six april two thousand and twelve providing for a return to civilian rule with the appointment of the speaker of the national assembly as interim head of state. he will then appoint a new prime minister and a government representing all parties. new elections need to take place as soon as the voters' list can be updated.
for now our primary aim is to deliver quick relief to the most affected and vulnerable populations.
as soon as the interim government is up and running we shall discuss how best the eu can support the transition including the holding of elections.
the tuareg rebel mnla captured the three strategic towns of kidal gao and timbuktu in quick succession after government troops withdrew.
where the government is strong that works well.
across mauritania niger chad mali and burkina faso the commission is implementing over eur two hundred and fifty million in humanitarian aid and food security actions for an estimated population of fifty million people.
coming on top of the recurrent food insecurity a major food crisis has greatly worsened conditions for a large part of the population.
it will remain in close contact with the new interim authorities in bamako to define the concrete assistance in all the different fields food electoral process security and so on that it can provide.
the mnla leaders should also now be subject to eu asset freezing and travel bans until compliance is forthcoming.
we are firmly supportive of ecowas' efforts and those of the neighbouring countries and we are remaining in close contact with them regarding how we can help the political transition.
i pay tribute to president ouattara who himself not that long ago experienced enormous difficulties in cte d'ivoire and who is now very much putting his chairmanship on the line in terms of support for the country.
we remain very preoccupied with the situation in the north and we reiterate our support for the territorial integrity of mali.
we are in contact with ecowas on a number of issues including how to work with its ideas to establish a collective force to help the new legitimate government to restore order throughout the national territory.
we are determined to offer our support to provide humanitarian aid everywhere we can subject only to the physical safety of humanitarian workers.
i very much look forward to the resolution that the european parliament will adopt on this matter.
of more concern though for africa but also for the security and stability of europe itself are the developments in northern mali.
such a development is against international law.
i can quite happily declare myself as a participant in the voluntary pension scheme along with three hundred and ninety nine other members and i intend to vote against my own interests and in favour of the taxpayers' interests. the simple solution is for the other three hundred and ninety nine members to do the same.
it was the gravest accident in the whole history of latvia as an independent state and the biggest catastrophe in eastern europe for the past thirty years.
madam president the last time i was here i spoke about the european youth initiative the youth guarantee and the failure of the uk government in the second year of the scheme to draw down any of these funds. this evening i need to take the opportunity to talk about the european structural and investment fund money
which is not being remitted by the commission because they are very concerned that the uk's local enterprise partnerships are not suitably accountable and transparent democratic institutions to receive european money.
could you tell us what those penalties are?
i think we would all be greatly worried about the security of the olympics.
the uk government did not take the opportunity to go into sis i for reasons best known to itself.
of. two thousand and eleven we can i guess expect some further slippage.
perhaps some of the ambitions for the collection of data and large scale surveillance systems might have to be looked at again which would be no bad thing from the privacy point of view if we are going to have all these technical and infrastructure problems.
you. thank you again for coming here.
in the summer of two thousand and twelve the olympics are being held in london.
and what about the outsourcing arrangements which are being established? you mentioned that there have been contractual penalties imposed owing to the delays in the visa information system.
however not only uk but also european security could be put at risk if the uk does not participate in access to the policing side which it is allowed to do of the schengen information system by a time well ahead of the london olympics taking place in. two thousand and twelve could you tell
we also want to deplore the lack of cooperation from the council in particular the refusal to use the codecision procedure for the implementing measures.
like to know about possible costs.
like mr busuttil i want to set out an explanation which is a joint explanation of our serious concern regarding the significant delays in migration from sis to sis ii and the development of vis.
i think you will understand why we tabled a joint resolution because there is a genuine concern here.
mr coelho and others have been making this concern known for some time and it is worth putting on record that while these significant delays are obviously highly worrying on their own the key issues here for parliament as you know are those of transparency and accountability particularly when we are dealing with sensitive data and sensitive data in this area.
as co legislator and the eu's only directly elected institution parliament needs to be kept informed about the developments of these systems as it has requested many times in the past.
in our resolution we do not want to be seen to be making unreasonable demands.
we want to be reasonable and we want to respond to the way in which you have given us the information today. we simply want to be informed of the current state of play to be given explanations about the reasons for the delay and to be reassured that these problems will be resolved.
it is vital that a project as important as this which will have an impact on vast numbers of people both eu and non eu citizens is developed transparently.
however in addition to the issues of transparency and accountability it is also important to point out some of the wider implications.
the technical problems we are seeing and the development of these large scale databases do not inspire wider confidence.
public confidence in these systems is absolutely vital.
therefore we certainly have to look jointly across the political parties to see how these problems arose how they can be prevented in the future at the planning stage rather than the development stage.
lessons have to be learned;
we have to have confidence in these systems and above all we have to have full and effective oversight.
it is of vital importance that we in the european parliament call the commission to account when we are discussing matters involved with the spending of substantial sums of european taxpayers' money.
it is correct that there is a special interest from the general public in such a sensitive area that relates to data protection and exchange.
i would like to ask the commission why there have been such delays and overspending.
what action is being taken to address the shortcomings?
we would like to see full transparency as regards the implementation process as well as concerning the financial aspects to which i have referred.
as our resolution states the united kingdom not of course as a full member of schengen at this time along with a number of other member states will not want to be part of this system until a solution has been found.
we would like the commission and council to respond to the questions asking them to give an explanation of the grounds for continuing to have confidence in the current contractor and in its ability to successfully take the systems forward.
in fact is there a future for this project or should we now be rethinking the whole initiative?
as commissioner barrot has said some states are delaying but without confidence you could hardly blame them.
the european parliament must be kept constantly informed on the state of play of the deployment of these systems.
i look forward to reading the commission's response to the questions my colleagues and i have raised.
what must it be like for the eighty million disabled people who need access to computers atms telecommunications banking and transport services that we all take for granted?
indeed spending cuts in member states have hurt people with disabilities the most.
an accessibility act would put obligations on member states to take the necessary measures to include legislation to ensure accessibility and it would support the un convention of the rights of persons with a disability a convention that ireland has yet to ratify.
these proposals to ensure that there is non discrimination in the digital single market as well are important for all eu citizens.
they are very much interlinked.
madam president madam commissioner the more than eighty million european citizens with disabilities need and deserve equal access not just to the job market but also to the digital single market for buying goods and services.
what i find positive about this proposal is the wide range of services from computers to banking services from e books to smartphones and from television equipment to certain types of transport services.
i think this type of flexibility is important for manufacturers and businesses but equally we need to ensure that accessibility is foreseen at the design stage.
we have ratified the un convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and in order for it to be meaningful accessible products and services are a precondition.
i think it is an important step towards helping to ensure that more products and services are accessible to people with disabilities.
finally we are fast becoming a digital society and this act can help future proof social and digital inclusion.
these are changing our society and our economy and they make our lives easier. if these products and services are made accessible they offer new opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in society and to make independent choices.
the european union and its member states have committed under the united nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities to making products services and buildings more accessible.
this is also driven by demographic ageing.
this will allow industries to offer a wider choice of accessible products and services throughout europe at a better price.
our aim with this proposal is to eliminate and prevent barriers between member states created by diverging national accessibility requirements.
this leaves room for innovation and for flexibility.
and let us be honest at the end of the day everybody's quality of life can be enhanced by simple improvements to their accessibility.
discussions in the council on this web accessibility directive have progressed to the point where we hope for the trilogue to start.
after intensive consultations with stakeholders we have carefully selected key products and services from everyday life which are most relevant to supporting independent living.
this proposal is good for business too.
the functional requirements we propose in the accessibility act establish accessibility principles instead of prescribing detailed technical solutions.
member states have started to legislate on accessibility independently in an uncoordinated way.
to conclude i would like to stress once more that it is the commission's firm intention to enhance social fairness in europe.
we want to establish europe wide functional accessibility requirements based on a design for all approach.
this would make it more difficult for industry to sell products and services across borders and it is also bad for citizens who are most in need of accessible products and services.
moreover european action can also have a positive impact on public budgets in the long term by reducing the dependency of older and disabled persons.
the accessibility act complements the draft directive on the accessibility of public sector bodies' websites on which you have already given your first reading.
it is estimated that in two thousand and twenty one hundred and twenty million europeans will face a disability or functional limitation.
as you know there are still many obstacles preventing people with disabilities from fully exercising their rights in society.
technological innovation offers great potential for overcoming barriers. take the example of smartphones or e banking and online shopping.
he is british and he is blind.
but disability cannot be allowed to define a person.
disability must not be a barrier to playing a full role in society.
callum pointed out that the websites of the european union institutions are completely inaccessible.
let us for goodness sake get our own house in order. we have a saying in the uk people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
able to take part. let us keep up the momentum of the year and work together to
on culture. here the commission is already promoting sustainable cultural tourism through a dedicated european initiative as part of the european year of cultural heritage. third we will organise regular dialogue with the cultural and creative sectors in the context of the renewed industrial policy strategy. this will identify policy needs and support a comprehensive policy framework at eu level. finally the commission will propose a mobility scheme for professionals in the cultural and creative sectors under creative europe. we cannot have this discussion without mentioning the important role of the european year of cultural heritage. one of the objectives of the year is to make cultural heritage accessible to all by removing social cultural and physical barriers. i am grateful for the continued enthusiasm of the parliament for the european year and i would like to use this opportunity to warmly thank president antonio tajani for organising a high level event dedicated to the year in the european parliament
increase of around. thirty four this will enable us to reinforce support across the board to add specific sectoral activities to support the mobility of cultural and creative people and to encourage the activities of the european cultural and creative sectors
we have to do more. this is why in our proposal for the future creative europe programme published two weeks ago we propose a funding
negotiations ahead. we have a great opportunity to create an ambitious framework for culture a framework that will enable more europeans from all backgrounds to take part in cultural activities and a framework that will boost the circulation of european artworks and help cultural professionals and artists perform or work
and public support. this
this was confirmed by the heads of state and government in their conclusions last december. culture is part of our identity. it gives meaning to historical events and feelings and it helps us to communicate across languages and nationalities. culture and creativity are also important engines for economic growth yet figures show that more than one third of europeans do not participate in cultural activities at all. i share your analysis regarding the obstacles preventing wider cultural participation both on the demand and supply sides. more efforts are needed to promote interest in culture starting with children at a young age. at the same time we need to ensure a market for cultural and creative professionals that is less fragmented and where they have sufficient access to finance and enjoy viable contractual conditions. your valuable recommendations fed into the preparation of the proposal for a new european agenda for culture that the commission presented in may. the new agenda intends to exploit synergies between culture and education to strengthen links with other policy
ensure its legacy. turning again to mr zdrojewski's report you stress the importance of proper financing
is indeed critical. the current creative europe programme already helps by promoting the circulation of cultural and creative works and of artists across borders but
in other countries. let's use this opportunity.
on the world scene. i would ask you to support our proposal for the future creative europe in the tough
on twenty six june. i hope that many of you will be
areas and to help the cultural and creative sectors to grasp the opportunities of the digital shift. the commission will play its part to help member states achieve these goals. let me give you a few concrete examples. first under the creative europe programme the commission will launch a project on cultural and creative spaces and cities to promote cultural participation and social and urban regeneration. second we will support regions in focusing their smart specialisation and macroregional strategies
as long as europe has a large market for ivory the poaching of elephants will continue. i want future generations to be able to enjoy our world's diverse wildlife not just read about it in history books. 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. i therefore implore you commissioner to do something and act now and follow britain's lead in abolishing this abhorrent practice.
we are of course also aware of the measures taken by the united states china and by some of the eu member states.
we are looking closely at those measures in our reflection on the eu regime on the ivory trade.