kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
tell your colleagues in the european council to put their money where their statements are and please assure them that we are doing a lot to make sure that the eu budget is well spent.
thank you very much. good luck for your presidency.
but we are here because this resolution fires more than one warning shot and people are concerned.
that's why the commission president when she asked for questions heard the concerns of people on citizens' rights. why?
i give you one example the prime minister just recently in his decision to revise the withdrawal agreement bill to delegate the powers of the independent monitoring authority people talk about windrush which is responsible for overseeing uk policies towards eu citizens to other bodies. instead of strengthening the independent body given the history of our immigration and nationality system given the injustices given the shared moral and legal responsibility this is the direction we were moving in.
let's be clear these are genuine concerns of eu citizens and i say to the council we have genuine concerns of uk citizens in the rest of the european union.
if we don't get this right this will be a deep scar and continuing injustice that will define what happens in the future agreements.
of course it will be for many years to come.
so when people talk about the physical document or they talk about the declaratory system they're not talking about details they're talking about a system that may create injustice that would go on for years that would have no independent resolution and that would be part of the jurisprudence and moral narrative that is built. that is why michel barnier and others made citizens' rights so important in the first place and that is why this resolution fires the warning shot which must be heard.
and knowing this we should debate on the green deal and the jtf. so i believe that we should support the european commission and its initiative to secure the future of our children and a good environment.
i know the future belongs to policies which deliver without harming the environment.
i know the future belongs to policies which are not harming the future of our kids.
but i believe we could achieve that without killing whole sectors.
i believe we can achieve that without leaving millions of people without jobs.
my concerns are that if we have big and new initiatives we need new and big funding and the proper time to deliver those results.
they are a key component of our local economy.
but our uk government has blocked access to eu funding for not for profit cultural enterprises.
the northeast cultural partnership is trying to build on these existing successes in part using eu erdf funding;
mr president beamish is one of europe's largest open air museums which annually entertains six hundred and fifty zero visitors. it is a key local employer and a unique selling point for my constituency. in my region the northeast of england the cultural industry such as beamish employs thousands in decent jobs and offers training and volunteer opportunities to thousands more including many disadvantaged social groups.
i visited serbia three weeks ago and i was pleased to see the results of the european union's efforts to relieve the after effects of the floods in may last year.
the european union is the biggest donor of assistance for flood relief in serbia with the eu funding more than one zero private houses that have been built reconstructed and supplied with all that is necessary. but now we need to turn forwards towards flood prevention and in that respect the european union has secured an additional eur sixty two million
i think this effort and action will be equally important if not even more important since we should all work together to prevent a similar catastrophe occurring in the future.
of which eur nineteen million will go towards prevention.
this visit firmly convinced me that the solidarity of the european union with the citizens of serbia was money well spent for a noble cause.
together with michael davenport the head of our eu delegation to serbia i visited the town of svilajnac which was heavily affected by the floods.
the directives do not oblige ireland to contract out services that they wish to provide themselves and they should therefore remain in public control.
mr president in april two thousand and sixteen ireland will transpose three new procurement directives into national law and previous guidelines from the commission give scope for the government of ireland to use procurement as a positive instrument to achieve gender equality and sustainable development and to realise social goals such as its national antipoverty targets. in order to ensure real public accountability labour rights equality and environmental considerations should be explicitly referred to at all stages of procurement processes.
the right to organise collective bargaining and gender equality as set out by the ilo standards must also be complied with and monitored on an ongoing basis. given that my country ireland is second in the oecd for low pay and women are particularly vulnerable in this area the living wage should always be included when applying the best price quality ratio.
community and voluntary services must also be protected and not disadvantaged by a move from a grantbased funding model to one of tendering.
we have shown that parliament can take concrete measures that can really make a difference create more jobs and assist smes.
secondly the commission rightly analysed the problems and successes of the previous directive and i want to remark here that this was the first directive where the agreement of the committee coordinators to invite the commission to present its full impact assessment of any proposal was carried out to the full.
and secondly it must result in a change of culture which says that it is simply no longer acceptable for large customers to exploit small businesses by paying them late.
this is the major achievement and i particularly want to thank the belgian presidency and i see that they are represented here this evening because they resisted demands from some member states to try and get themselves a carve out from this sixty day requirement.
it is devoid of meaning if you let public authorities off the hook.
we said to the belgian presidency that there is no point whatsoever in having this directive if you allow this to happen.
i think this is what this directive will achieve.
we had a very comprehensive impact assessment which clearly identified the areas which needed to be changed. above all the insistence now that public authorities in particular also have to conform to the standards applied to the private sector and cannot abuse their position against small suppliers by complying with these requirements is absolutely central.
we must insist that member states implement this proposal as soon as possible.
first of all we must get this implemented properly and consistently in every member state;
it is absolutely fantastic work and an example of the type of good legislation that we can bring through.
it will provide a better flow of money around our economies and therefore is good for business small businesses and society in general. more importantly it will help us with the big issue facing us all at the moment which is the provision of jobs.
this directive will provide clear strong principles that can be communicated in markets and member states to the effect that late payments will no longer be tolerated. this should create greater liquidity.
companies getting paid promptly are more likely to be able to avail themselves of credit grow their businesses and generate and create employment.
i think this is a good idea.
let us not forget farmers.
and includes those who attempted an open coup less than ten years ago.
liberalisation and privatisation of their economies that primarily benefit the major transnational corporations based in the eu and the united states.
the real agenda here is not to defend human rights but in fact to advance the overthrow of the government of hugo chvez in venezuela and to give succour to the right wing pro big business opposition in venezuela which still controls large swathes of the privately owned media and industry and landed estates
the chvez government has carried out certain progressive measures which have improved the lives of the most impoverished sections of society but that has meant that chvez opposed the neoliberal economic policies which the european union and the united states have been forcing on many countries in latin america policies such as deregulation
i would like to take this opportunity to stress that the eu encourages all actors to engage in the electoral process in a spirit of tolerance civil mindedness and respect for pluralism of opinions.
although the venezuelan authorities reported that she has been held separately from the general prison population as has been mentioned here she continues to be behind bars at the national institute of feminine orientation whose inmates could include people she sentenced.
the inter american commission on human rights issued a protective measure in favour of judge mara lourdes afiuni stressing the responsibility to protect her life and physical integrity and also to transfer her to a safe place.
in the context of our dialogue with the venezuelan authorities we have always stressed the importance of fully respecting international obligations and commitments on human rights including freedom of expression respect for the rule of law and especially respect for judicial independence.
it is important to note that the un special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the un working group on arbitrary detention qualified the arrest of judge mara lourdes afiuni as a deeply disturbing blow to
un experts went further by stating that reprisals for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed functions and creating a climate of fear among the judiciary and the lawyers' profession served no purpose except to undermine the rule of law and obstruct justice
and our own judgement that we are deeply concerned about.
the september legislative elections are widely seen as a milestone for the future of the country and it is now timely for the eu to underline the importance that these elections be held in a peaceful transparent and fully democratic environment.
a similar clause in the treaty on the implementation of the inter american convention against corruption was used by venezuela to prevent ngos reporting on corruption in this country.
venezuela wanted to make civil society participation subject to domestic law.
one recent situation with implications in the entire region is the attempt by venezuela in june two thousand and ten to amend a draft resolution on civil society participation in the organisation of american states.
the commission and the council must strongly and openly support civil society in venezuela and must watch with great care the upcoming parliamentary elections.
this paradox continues to undermine the eu's collective efforts to expose the alarming trend towards totalitarianism in venezuela.
chvez has already labelled her a bandit accused her of taking a bribe and said she should be jailed for thirty years. he has also said that simn bolvar would have had her shot an extremely inflammatory statement in chvez's increasingly dictatorial regime and in my view a reckless incitement to violence.
he has now targeted the independence of the judiciary as a next obstacle to his assumption of absolute power. the arrest and imprisonment of judge mara lourdes afiuni mora represents his most audacious and brazen attempt yet to silence dissent and undermine separation of powers and the rule of law. how this judge can hope for a fair trial is beyond me.
yet chvez gets away with this behaviour largely because he remains a hysterical critic of the united states and as such is popular with many on the left in europe and in this house.
after thirty nine years about three hundred kyrenians from all over the world plan to celebrate this important holiday in their former home town.
british police and politicians were for years frightened to act for fear of being called racists. when my colleagues on bradford metropolitan council in two thousand and six proposed a motion urging action against grooming all the other councillors and parties voted against it. those councillors included the present conservative mp for keighley who is belatedly trying to exploit the issue.
when my former colleague an mep for the north west tried to draw public attention to the issue the police and cps tried unsuccessfully to prosecute him for incitement.
mr president as we look forward to our christmas turkey i want to refer to a serious problem in turkey production.
farmers need a fair return for fair work and for products produced to the highest standards and consumers have a right to clarity and information about where their food is coming from.
it is not an arena for mud wrestling and i find it quite remarkable that people are laughing shouting clapping hands.
i thank outgoing president buzek for his condemnation of this incident whilst in office and my colleague emine bozkurt for her support along with the support of the overwhelming majority of members of the house. i thank the lancashire police for protecting my family which allowed me to carry on with my parliamentary duties and the crown prosecution service for delivering these racist extremists to justice. colleagues to this day i have no answer to give my nine year old daughter who still asks why. yet in this chamber
we will stand united and face you.
we will not cower in the face of your thuggery. you and your sort will never divide us.
today i speak not only for this house but for every right thinking citizen of my country and europe.
sits one mep who at the time offered these racists any help and support he could.
this was a necessary step to allow the full implementation of the convention in the european union including in policy areas within the responsibility of the european community.
indeed seven member states have already done so.
i am very proud that the european commission and the european communities have signed up to a human rights instrument for the first time.
i am very proud that it is the swiftest agreed convention in the history of the united nations but most of all i am very proud that disabled people and disabled people's organisations have played a full part in its consideration and its agreement.
i would like to see the commission and parliament keeping up the pressure on member states to ratify and implement.
the uk government my own government for example has again missed its own deadline of last year for ratifying the convention which is an absolute disgrace.
that is a milestone in itself but what i said in two thousand and three i will say again.
international human rights treaties are of no use whatsoever if countries do not sign ratify and implement.
if the eu is to have any credibility in this debate it must lead by example.
yes all member states have signed but they have not all signed the protocol. most of them have not ratified and they certainly have not implemented something we have called for in numerous parliamentary reports.
i was rapporteur as you know on the un convention on behalf of the european parliament in two thousand and three as the un convention was being drafted. we have since achieved a legally binding convention which i believe is historic.
to my mind this is shameful.
this convention has the potential to empower millions of disabled people in the eu.
we must now do all we can to make it a reality.
i must say that i am deeply disappointed that within this unity government this sort of human rights violation still continues.
we have not been tough enough in some cases and in other cases we have only dictated what to do.
there are also very many human rights violations.
we have said many times that we do not accept human rights violations.
in general the humanitarian political and economic situation in zimbabwe continues to deteriorate and millions of people continue to be at risk of starvation.
people do not have many chances to grow up in health and prosperity and if they do they lack fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression.
mr president at the eu africa summit in libya next november there should be talks on how mugabe and his close supporters remain a continuing stumbling block in the process of political and economic reconstruction and reconciliation in zimbabwe. they are plundering its economic resources for their own benefit and they are not granting their citizens fundamental rights.
the return of independent dailies is a step forward for public access to information but the situation is still very fragile.
i want to draw specific attention to the situation of lgbti people in zimbabwe. people need unrestricted access to be granted relief humanitarian access and aid so that the attempts by zimbabwe to achieve the millennium development goals can get under way.
around twenty zero people living in the outskirts of harare have been threatened with forced eviction.
operation garikai intended to assist those who were affected by the two thousand and five evictions is merely a continuation of the same human rights abuses.
i urge the government of zimbabwe to immediately amend operation garikai to comply with all obligations under international and human rights law.
nearly seven hundred people were victims of the two thousand and five operation murambatsvina forced evictions.
i ask the commission to raise this issue as a matter of urgency with the government of zimbabwe.
he has a long history of criticising the odious and brutal regime of president robert mugabe.
recently i have to say i was disappointed by the visit of president zuma who came to this parliament.
he came here asking the european union to lift their sanctions on zimbabwe because of the refugees flowing into south africa.
mr president time and time again this house has passed resolutions condemning the tragedy that is zimbabwe.
currently being negotiated is also one of the eu priorities as set out in the negotiation directive which was approved by the council last year.
it is crucial that the negotiations as well as the text of the agreement itself mirror values which are dear to us such as the rule of law.
therefore the council will continue to press russia to implement fully the obligation it has signed up to as a member of the council of europe and of course the osce and also in the framework of the pca the partnership and cooperation agreement with the eu.
democratic principles and human rights.
the strategic partnership with russia which some are talking about must be built on shared values;
two thousand and five russia's actions in this and other areas will be taken into account in the negotiations on a new agreement with russia that is very important and also in other aspects of eu russia relations. achieving robust provisions on human rights in the new pca
in may.
in the community and addressing the different levels of direct payment between the member states.
so you can be sure that our presidency is keen that the union remains fully committed to reaching a balanced ambitious and comprehensive agreement in the wto doha development round.
one of these priorities will be the european union in the world.
trade policies should also contribute to the union's environmental and climate objective in particular by encouraging the expansion of trade in environmental goods and services.
and sets the right incentives for those member states where they can be produced most effectively.
citizens in europe.
moreover my country has set three priority areas for its presidency of the council.
in this context my country will highlight the importance of trade policy as a means of driving forward external competitiveness economic growth and the creation of new jobs following the eu's new trade policy strategy called global europe as well as under the revised strategy for growth and jobs.
last week and was also introduced here to some extent by the prime minister today. according to this programme trade policy remains a very important tool for addressing the opportunities and challenges of globalisation and fostering economic growth jobs and prosperity for all
i will just read it out while this alignment exercise is under way the commission will keep the european parliament regularly informed on draft implementing measures related to these instruments which should become in the future delegated acts.
this should be a matter of negotiation among the colegislators on a case by case basis.
the forthcoming proposals on the legislative package for regional policy after two thousand and thirteen might require application of implementing acts but might also require delegated acts.
in the case of implementing acts the situation is a bit different.
in the case of the present regulation we are discussing based on article two hundred and ninety one of the treaty we are speaking about implementing acts.
this is not a residents' association this is parliament!
far too easily sometimes facilitates what is a common view reached by the council and by the commission.
i must stress firstly that parliament in my view should not be under any pressure to sign up completely to the proposed first reading text in this regard. the most important thing is that we reach a fair compromise that is the best option available for this house and for the citizens we represent while noting what our colleague mr szjer has said.
if the council is involved parliament is involved. as a parliamentarian and it gives me no joy to say this it seems to me that often instead of acting as honest broker between council and parliament the commission is far too close to the council while parliament being of such numbers is easily divided and
we need to have the new legal framework operating as soon as possible and i also hope that in parallel we could launch a common reflection about the line of demarcation between the delegated powers and the implementing powers of the commission.
the presidency is ready to cooperate in a loyal manner with parliament and the commission to achieve these objectives.
the whole procedure will be conducted in full transparency.
only qualified majority against the commission's draft can then prevent the commission from adopting
when we presented our proposal we set out its main objective that new rules should put in place a system for the adoption of implementing acts by the commission which would be simpler more efficient and more transparent and in full compliance with the treaty.
the regulation on implementing acts will have a major impact on the way the commission implements european law in the future.
this will represent a real revolution in the field of commercial policy.
as the treaty makes clear only member states and not the council can control the exercise of the implementing powers by the commission. moreover the regulation provides that all special procedures will disappear and that all implementing measures including those on trade various measures such as anti dumping or countervailing measures will be subject to the regulation.
how did we achieve these goals in the proposals we are about to discuss?
the new procedures will begin to apply to all existing legislation from day one.
all documents submitted to the committees are simultaneously sent to the european parliament and to the council;
this means full alignment.
however this committee will be a normal comitology committee chaired by the commission and subject to the same rules;
we need these not only to avoid further conflicts when discussing proposals for the new legislation but also to streamline the alignment exercise. to conclude i would like to thank the rapporteur mr szjer for all the work done throughout the negotiating process and also to all political groups for their cooperation and the flexibility they demonstrated.
the commission has committed in a declaration to review all the acquis in order to adapt it as far as legally required to the regime of delegated acts and i know how important this is for this house.
this problem also connects with human rights or the lack of respect for human rights.