kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
our first aim must be that during the period between the entry into force of the treaty and the coming into being of the eeas the effective delivery of the eu's external policies is maintained.
we in the commission are examining how this may be done pending the modification of the staff regulations and appointment to the service should be through selection procedures based on merit with appropriate account being taken of the need for a geographic and gender balance.
this is why i think it is very important that the eeas should be set up in a way which allows it to work very closely with the commission and the council and to respect the need to be fully accountable to the european parliament.
a european diplomatic college is a waste of money and would become another burden on the taxpayer. i wish to remind colleagues that any common position on foreign policy would be determined by the member states represented in the council not by the commission and certainly not by this parliament. any additional staff the eeas requires should be seconded from the member states and they require no separate training. the policy that they will represent to the world will be that of the council of ministers not some independent european policy.
i suspect not and i ask why the czech republic is treated differently.
this proposal is uncosted.
i want to speak against the setting up of a european diplomatic college.
we should act as guardians of the public purse.
a diplomatic college would only become necessary if the eu were to take control of foreign affairs away from the member states.
as the english author george orwell might have observed all member states are equal but some are more equal than others.
at a time when all member states face huge budgetary pressures the eu should show restraint.
our aim should be to spend public money prudently and endeavour to return money to the member states and the taxpayers we represent when we can.
it is another example of how some members of this chamber are all too eager to make grand gestures with other people's money.
no that is limited to consultation.
mr president this report tries to put our minds at rest about the service but to my mind it does exactly the opposite.
it is clear that this service is intended not in the short term but in the long term to take over and replace diplomatic representation of member states perhaps in the end even the vetoes of the united kingdom and france on the un security council.
this body will conduct foreign policy over the heads of member states with no effective control by member states or the european parliament.
if it cannot decide the service will simply be carrying on with its own agenda.
not i think the council.
it claims on the one hand that the service complements member state diplomacy and does not call it into question.
our geopolitical strategic thinking in foreign policy cannot be limited to climate change and energy security. one of the three institutions that will in practice be active in foreign policy president of the council president of the commission and high representative must have the geopolitical strategic competences assigned to it and not only short term fixing of emerging problems which leads to lowest common denominator based foreign policy.
in my view the natural candidate for these strategic competences is the high representative drawing on the competences and expertise of the european external action service.
i will never ever forget commissioner how you hugged and kissed the members of the israeli government during that terrible time.
it needs to be a shared enterprise with full buy in of all the eu institutions and the member states from the very start.
i can see the need for the high representative vice president to have a degree of managerial and budgetary autonomy.
second under the treaty the political accountability for the european parliament is primarily through the president of the commission and the high representative vice president and other members of the commission. we welcome the clear signal in mr brok's report that the high representative vice president should be the appointing authority for the eeas and the senior delegation staff.
in the new system heads of delegation and other senior eeas staff will be eu officials under the staff regulations subject to defined appointment procedures and obligations of independence.
we would have questions about the implications of singling out one group for ep hearings in this way.
even if it were a question of hearings only for a more political post the same consideration would apply.
i have also noted with great interest and pleasure that the question of human rights and the question of women's rights have been mentioned.
after the gaza conflict it was very important to obtain a ceasefire.
i have to say to the council that it is not acceptable that the service is placed in the same class as the economic and social committee or the ombudsman as part of the financial
for parliament it is crucial that we have a political interlocutor to negotiate the establishment and future programme of the external action service so please states bring us your
people for all these posts.
we need an autonomous development service answerable to an autonomous commissioner for development and humanitarian aid.
the wicked lisbon constitution already forces an unelected president and foreign minister on us all.
now this report adds a new european diplomatic service the so called european external action service but embassies represent national interests.
so what national interests will these new eu diplomats and embassies represent?
they are creating a new yugoslavia.
by forcing very different nations cultures and economies together under a rigid undemocratic soviet style bureaucracy you are entering very dangerous waters indeed.
i worked for the british government on the northern ireland peace process.
i saw what happened when democracy fails.
it is not pretty.
now i see democracy failing here in europe.
you profess to love peace but by railroading through lisbon and by this power grab of our embassies you are putting europe firmly back on the road towards war once again.
the external action service is without any doubt a potentially major element in the promotion of coherence in the eu's relations with the rest of the world.
these relations are often wide ranging complex and have a significant impact on the world outside europe.
it is vital therefore that these activities are thoroughly coordinated in order to ensure that eu policies have the impact that they were designed to have.
if different parts of the european union place different emphases on policy issues the impact will be muted and will very likely have unintended consequences.
the external action service will in the light of this have a considerable responsibility in working together with all the other institutions of the european union that have an external dimension.
clearly the effectiveness of the service will necessarily structure the work of the high representative but in the medium term its work will resonate throughout all the institutions of the european union.
when seen from this perspective it is essential that the service should be accountable obviously to the high representative but also more broadly to parliament itself.
the service will at the end of the day represent the european union in all its aspects hence the emphasis on accountability transparency and coherence.
meanwhile poverty across europe is rising rapidly.
oxfam also correctly points out the responsibility of austerity for that increase and it is clear that the eu is a driving force behind that.
this allows the most deprived some crumbs off the table.
it is better than nothing but much more is necessary and much more is possible.
at the same time of course profits for major corporations are increasing.
according to oxfam an additional twenty five million people could be at risk of poverty by two thousand and twenty five bringing the total to one hundred and forty six million.
two five billion to eur. three five billion; we wanted to strengthen the role of anti poverty organisations in the design operation implementation and monitoring of the national plans that will bring fead into each of the member states.
the new fead programme that we have now agreed is the first ever specific eu initiative which seeks to reach out to people experiencing extreme deprivation and particularly food poverty homelessness and child poverty in all member states.
in the year long negotiations with the commission and the member states we wanted to make sure we raised the budget from eur.
we wanted to simplify the administrative procedures for organisations which would be accessing fead funding and we wanted to ensure that fead would complement other european initiatives such as those aimed at reducing food waste promoting public health and sourcing local produce.
fead is a small but strategically important step towards a more social europe.
however at the same time this is a victory for parliament and indeed for those citizens who will use the fund. in the teeth of significant opposition from a number of member states which do not see this as having a european role and which do not recognise this as european solidarity we have succeeded in delivering this eur three.
i agree with what commission andor said earlier the fund might not be in place were it not for parliament's insistence on its continuation and its determination to find solutions and compromises with the council in order to ensure a timely allocation of monies for this fund.
in my own country ireland in two thousand and twelve youth unemployment was at thirty and in my own constituency it was at.
madam president i do not quite share the totally negative view that my colleague paul murphy has of this report. there are certainly some positive aspects to it and i think that one of them is paragraph thirty one which was carried by parliament and which said that member states that are subject to the excessive deficit procedure would have the fiscal space to implement the youth guarantee schemes. i think that is an important issue in that the youth guarantee is a european initiative but also that it is a guarantee to young people
already many of these member states are under extreme fiscal pressure and they need that fiscal space to implement the guarantee.
the police service of northern ireland recently confirmed that there are one hundred and forty five criminal gangs operating there and over one thousand people are involved in this crime as a day job. only last week three fuel laundering plants were disrupted by officers of her majesty's revenue and customs. these plants were capable of producing twenty six million gallons of illegal fuel per year robbing the public purse of gbp eighteen million.
this is partly because nationalist political parties refuse to allow the uk national crime agency to operate fully within northern ireland.
our forces are fighting crime with one hand tied behind their back.
this was a good news story in the fight against organised crime except that the officers will be back in a few months' time doing exactly the same thing because the masterminds behind the crime are not behind bars.
madam president i would like to use this discussion on the freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime to again throw a spotlight on the prevalence of organised crime and indeed fuel laundering in my own constituency of northern ireland.
if we want car manufacturers to invest in low carbon technologies we need to give them this certainty.
reducing co two emissions from passenger cars is vital to fight against air pollution and climate change and also to reduce fuel costs for consumers.
it is my view that all member states have national legislation which criminalises gender based violence.
it is sensible therefore to assume that protecting women from violence forms part of the principle of respect for human rights fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
i voted against this report today because quite simply i do not see the need for eu legislation in this area.
eu law should be made with a view to adding value to existing national laws. the question we really should address today is why member states are not implementing and enforcing suitable national legislation to stop violence against women.
article six states that the union is founded on the principles of liberty democracy and respect for human rights and on fundamental freedoms.
i would like to see the member states better enforce their legislation.
a member state which allows violence against women to occur without legal consequences should be removed from the european union.
madam president i was pleased to support this report on combating violence against women. indeed having heard one of my colleagues say that every day seven women in the eu die from domestic violence i am even more pleased that i supported it.
i think it is another step by parliament to try and ensure european added value and to show that we want to support the action of member states in the field of prevention of violence against women and girls.
i just want to emphasise one issue that was raised in this report and it is the need for a coherent system for collecting statistics on gender based violence because good statistics should always underpin and inform policymaking.
yet in ireland the rape crisis network which is involved in this crucial work is under threat of significantly reduced funding.
its areas of work include data collection capacity building and training of frontline staff production of best practice standards and the exchange of good practice and the identification of emerging issues.
these matters are core to ensuring a top quality service for victims of domestic violence.
victims of domestic violence should have an adequate service that is fit for purpose.
first and foremost it is my belief that enhanced cross border cooperation amongst aid organisations throughout eu member states is vital to ensure an effective response and a targeted approach to aid efforts in disaster stricken areas.
with the number and scale of humanitarian crises across the globe increasing significantly it is clear that an overarching initiative to aid relief can be useful in providing more meaningful relief on the ground.
madam president with the elections around the corner it is beginning to dawn on a section of this house that so called fiscal consolidation and austerity both of which are imposed via the european semester are to blame for the social catastrophe we see around us across europe.
on the one hand it declares that social indicators should be taken into consideration but on the other hand it continues to advocate the continuation of fiscal consolidation slashing wages to boost competitiveness increasing the retirement age promoting insecure unstable jobs for young people and so on.
what is needed is to scrap the semester to scrap the austerity offensive that serves only the interests of big business bankers and bondholders and to pursue socialist policies to point a way out of the crisis repudiate the debt make the rich pay their taxes and have public investment in real job creation and a democratic plan to redevelop our economies.
i particularly welcome that the directive encourages member states to promote the re use of seized criminal assets for social purposes.
i have long advocated for the proceeds of seized criminal assets to be reinvested back into the communities that have suffered as a result of crime.
criminal activity runs deep and the actions of a few damage the lives of communities for generations.
i welcome confirmation by the minister for justice in ireland that ireland will indeed opt into this directive and i have asked minister shatter to go one step further.
as the report highlights violence against women is taking ever more unacceptable forms.
we have only to think of the impact of human trafficking modern day slavery and the impact this has on the lives of millions of victims who are being sold into an unending ordeal of sexual exploitation and abuse.
it is right and just that member states put in place robust legislative frameworks to prosecute offenders as well as providing support to their victims through the legal process.
i also wholeheartedly support the premise of allowing victims of abuse to tell their stories in order to encourage a halt to these appalling injustices.
i think specifically today of those in my own constituency who are currently telling their stories of historical institutional abuse.
these are people whose lives have been traumatised by the brutality imposed on them often by religious orders.
it does so by making trademark registration systems more accessible and efficient for business.
it should also lower costs and reduce complexity which is what we constantly ask for when we are trying or acting to provide a supportive environment for smes.
the new legislation should also cut down on time lags as it streamlines application and registration for procedures for community trademarks. ambiguities should also be lessened with greater predictability and legal security.
madam president i supported this report because like the previous report it will foster innovation and economic growth by streamlining registration systems.
outdated provisions in the current directive have been eliminated and a level of legal certainty has also been introduced by clarifying trademark rights in terms of their scope and their limitations. we will also achieve greater approximation of national trademark laws and various procedures and they will be more consistent with the community trademark system.
and also of course remunerated and unremunerated training and voluntary service.
hardly a conference takes place on let us say volunteering but they have what they call the empty chair syndrome' where at least one or two chairs will be empty because third country nationals will at the last minute not be able to get their visas or satisfy the requirements for entry into the eu.
ireland of course does not participate in the students' directive.
there are also other issues for our government and it believes that the rights proposed under this directive would not be in line with similar national policies which we have on immigration control.
it is about time the member states ratified the istanbul convention on violence against women. it is about time the member states fully implemented the trafficking directive the protection order and all the other measures such as on protection of victims that we have adopted both to prosecute the perpetrators and to give better cross border protection to women.
that is why i have supported this report calling on the commission to create a comprehensive strategy for the eradication of violence against women.
it is also about prevention about fighting stereotypes stigmatisation and discrimination and about empowering women and girls.
a hard hitting eu report warns that jerusalem has reached a dangerous boiling point of polarisation and violence.
madam president twenty years has passed since the celebrated arafat rabin handshake on the white house lawn twenty years since the establishment of the palestinian national authority and twenty years since the formal start of the palestinian israeli peace process.
yet it was clear from my third visit to palestine and my third refusal into gaza last week that this year marks twenty years of shattered hopes and unfulfilled obligations. in the run up to the israeli elections netanyahu exposed the twenty year pretence that he was a genuine partner for peace when he stated that there would never be a palestinian state.
earlier this afternoon in this chamber we voted on measures under the european globalisation adjustment fund as we often do providing billions of euros of assistance to get people back into work across the eu but not in the uk which has never made an application.
for the social and economic purposes for which it was intended.
the degradation of political and institutional life has translated into epic corruption on the one hand and the reanimation of civil society claiming its constitutional rights on the other.
they are travelling in the eu they spend their dirty money in the eu they buy real estate in the eu and they educate their children here. this recommendation suggests that the eu member states should stop these practices.
instead of facing justice these people are still in office.
his personal fate reflects the complexity of the transition that russian society is going through.
business people consider this a litmus test for the stability predictability and safety of russia as a destination for investment.
indeed the magnitsky case is consistently part of the agenda for our twice yearly human rights consultations.
them. solving this case would send a strong signal to partners and investors that russia is serious in its anti corruption efforts.
president van rompuy made three important points in this letter.
case. it sends a clear and strong message. acting on this recommendation would require unanimity from all the member
first he urged the russian government to bring the case to a comprehensive conclusion.
it is a case of a russian citizen and a lawyer a young father being arrested and mistreated by law enforcement officers for standing up against suspected fraud and abuse by government officials. as such it is a case of grave abuse of the law and of human rights. the european union is founded on the core values of human dignity freedom the rule of law and respect for human rights and we are committed to defending
first because of the nature of the case itself.
without it all the progress that southern sudan has made in recent years will be in vain.
the referendum is not the end of the process but the start of it.
finally i hope that steps are being taken to ensure that the personnel and financial resources allocated to the eu delegation in juba are adequate.
i am therefore delighted that southerners voted with such overwhelming determination in favour of a sovereign independent future. the fact that more than ninety nine of voters favoured secession is a damning indictment on khartoum and president bashir's decades of efforts to conquer and subjugate the christian and animist south to hard line islamism and sharia law.
another war would have unimaginable consequences for africa as a whole.
southern sudan needs to be sure of the eu's total and unswerving commitment and one of the things i call upon the high representative to ensure is that all edf money should now be transferred to the new state immediately even before they ratify cotonou. i also call on all twenty seven eu member states to immediately recognise this new african nation on nine july as decreed in the cpa.
southern sudan should now be the eu's number one humanitarian development priority.
we remain committed to providing assistance to the people in the north particularly in war affected areas such as the east the transitional area and darfur.
i believe the eu has an important role to play in supporting a peaceful stable and democratic future for the sudanese people whether in one country or two.
three european citizens are still being held hostage.
we urge all stakeholders to continue to exercise restraint and to ensure that calm prevails and that the safety and security of all peoples in sudan are protected.
eu foreign ministers have said they are ready to look closely at eu support for international debt relief for sudan consistent with political progress.
the us and of course the european union. sudan has been high on our political agenda in brussels during the past months.
huge challenges lie ahead.
we also commend the southern parties to the comprehensive peace agreement for their leadership and the sudanese referendum authorities for the remarkable job they did in organising the referendum despite the enormous challenges they faced.
the referendum on abyei which was supposed to have been held at the same time as the southern sudan referendum has still not taken place.
we are encouraged that both parties have agreed on a number of principles particularly to work for two viable states with soft' borders and to build constructive relations.