kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
such a policy aimed at increasing the european union's capacity for providing security to its citizens and improving its capacity to shape the global environment not only to react to changes requires an adequate institutional instrument an efficient european external action service.
this in turn requires transparency in the functioning of the service and clarity through the presentation of a consolidated budget of the european union external action.
this policy should recognise the indivisibility of security in the globalised world this being a source of solidarity of interest both within and outside the european union.
in this way the parliament can check whether the means match the policy and ensure the policy's effectiveness.
we should not forget that this service is not a decision making body.
parliament's main concerns were clearly expressed ensuring political oversight and accountability of the service including in its budgetary dimension.
i remember when i was a member of the council in two thousand and two we spent all of fifty seconds on the iraq war which was at that time the biggest foreign policy issue.
it will be through the formulation of what i call a real union interest' free from member state interference that a foreign policy of the union can be developed.
she has the power to take initiatives because she is also vice president of the commission.
only where the community method is applied have we made progress and had success.
look for example at the single market.
i say this despite the remarks made yesterday by the french prime minister mr fillon.
she also has the responsibility to produce the general guidelines setting out the strategic interests of our union and all of these responsibilities fall on her and her service.
the service will need clear direction and will need leadership.
it is by using the skills and expertise that you will have at your disposal that this real union interest will be identified.
that leaves the fourth and final component the capacity for a nation state to enter into relations with other nation states.
a defined territory the eu nations all have clear defined boundaries;
a government well ukip has long argued that this parliament the council of ministers and the real power the commission are all part of an eu government.
i believe that through the lisbon treaty through baroness ashton's role and the external action service the european union now has all four criteria it needs under international law to declare itself a single nation state a united states of europe and to do so overnight. i see there are many supporters here of that that confirms my speech and the threat to our nation states!
in order to face new challenges we need new instruments and this is such an instrument. in particular we need an efficient eu diplomacy capable of speaking with one voice acting together and pooling resources.
this is why it is so important to build a sense of common ownership common identity and diplomatic culture based on geographic balance and representivity.
first and foremost the text makes clear that we are safeguarding the community method in all areas where it exists today.
there is no better place than this house and no better moment than today to remind ourselves why the service is so important to the european union and why it marks a change in how we operate in a fast changing geopolitical landscape. we cannot afford to act in a disparate manner in a world that is seeing fundamental power shifts and where problems are increasingly complex and interlinked.
i am confident that a good framework has been found through the political declaration on political accountability.
it has given us a strong profile on the international stage as the world's leading donor so our cooperation programmes are a key tool in our bilateral and regional relationships.
it is a priority i fully share and i promise that as high representative i will give high priority to the promotion of human rights and good governance around the globe and make sure they are a silver thread that runs through everything that we
andris piebalgs stefan fle and kristalina georgieva together with other commission colleagues have clear distinct roles and i pay tribute to the work they are doing but under lisbon we have the opportunity to operate together under one shared comprehensive political strategy an aspiration
the many obligations inherent in my position do not allow me to be present as often as i would like in your debates but i am happy that we have a system for my replacement in such cases involving in particular colleagues from the commission and from time to time also members of the foreign affairs council from the rotating presidency or the presidency trio.
fifth we have a balanced agreement on staff issues between the wishes of member states to have at least one third of staff in the service coming from national diplomatic services so we can draw on their expertise language and historical ties while at the same time ensuring at least sixty of permanent officials.
it is important now that we move rapidly also with the amendments for the staff and financial regulations and an amending budget
we have a good deal on the table a draft decision and a set of declarations that form a coherent package. mr president i am submitting them formally to the record of today's proceedings.
key. under my direct authority and responsibility full coordination between all the services of the eas in particular between the csdp structures and the other relevant services of the eas will be ensured respecting their specific nature.
this is important for the future of europe and important for the future of the world.
the idea is that we all have a shared understanding on how the service will look.
my vision for the eeas is one which ensures that when we speak our voice is heard and when we engage our actions make the difference.
the vote you will make tomorrow i hope is an historic step in the development of the european union and although it is not our final destination it is a key staging post in realising our shared vision for the future.
to discuss how we can support african leadership to find political solutions on the ground and how we can support the people of somalia to a better future. i know what we can do and what we are doing and i also know what we can achieve for the future.
this is of course without prejudice to the specific nature notably intergovernmental and communitarian of the policies.
fourth we have agreed carefully balanced arrangements regarding development policy and instruments.
a service that represents the eu should reflect that diversity.
when i travelled to east africa i saw what our naval operation atalanta was doing very well offshore but i also saw the important capacity building and development work onshore.
the european union and the member states have an impressive array of instruments resources relationships and expertise to help build a better more stable world.
the external action service will cooperate closely with the commission services as part of the eu system.
we need an integrated platform to project european values and interests around the world.
wherever i have travelled from gaza to haiti to east africa and the balkans this has been my key conclusion.
i am satisfied that we have clear language and guarantees regarding sound financial management including appropriate solutions to issues such as discharge and sub delegation of budgetary powers to heads of delegation.
i am personally committed to this.
it is time to get the right people in place to start doing the necessary
we have achieved a lot together in recent weeks building the necessary ground among all concerned.
before going into some of the detail i would just like to say something about the vision for the service in the future.
let me begin with a word of gratitude for the constructive engagement of parliament and the rapporteurs in particular elmar brok guy verhofstadt and roberto gualtieri throughout this process and to the committees afet development constitutional affairs budget and budgetary control the juri committee whose work has improved the text of the eas decision in many ways.
in recent months there has been rightly a lot of attention on the institutional complexities and the administrative intricacies.
mr president i am delighted to be here to discuss one of the most important issues on the european agenda the creation of the external action service.
the time has come to decide.
laying the foundation is a critical task but without losing sight of the reasons why we are creating this service reasons that have become more and more obvious as i have travelled on your behalf to visit governments military missions and our delegations and programmes across the world.
i pay tribute to the other members of the quadrilogue maro efovi and the commission and the spanish presidency led by miguel moratinos together with colleagues in the council.
now we need to bring all this together to forge joined up strategies and maximise our impact on the ground particularly in the troubled parts of the world where our actions matter the most.
second i know how important political accountability is for this house.
development is central to eu external action.
it is time to give ourselves the means to realise the ambition.
eu external action will always involve different actors. it is right and proper that development policy operates differently from diplomacy crisis management or humanitarian aid.
as a sign of the importance i attach to this issue i envisage a senior management team that not only has a chief executive officer in the executive secretary general but also a chief operating officer in the senior director general for budget and administration.
diversity is strength.
work. i agree with the amendments that have been proposed and will support them in the council.
as those engaged in our military mission were quick to say the solution to the problems at sea lies on the land. that is why working with andris piebalgs we are making sure our programmes work better together and why i will be returning to meet again with the leaders of kenya tanzania mauritius seychelles south africa mozambique the regional organisations and the african union
i will ensure that the relevant units from the commission will deal with planning and programming of crisis response conflict prevention and peace building and that the csdp structures work in close cooperation and synergy both under my direct responsibility and authority within the appropriate structure.
i know there was some concern that we might lose sight of development policy in the new set
the wealth of experience insights and languages that europe's best diplomats will bring to the service will be one of our distinctive features and competitive advantages.
i am ambitious i confess for i believe it is time to move forward and to get the service up and running quickly.
effective coordination of the work of the various departments in the eas will be
that effectiveness requires us to mobilise all the means at our disposal diplomacy political engagement development assistance civil and military crisis management tools in support of conflict prevention peace building security and stability.
sixth you will have seen my declaration on the eas central administration.
our citizens know very well that in the face of big problems fragile states pandemics energy security climate change and illegal migration we are much more effective together.
i will not dwell on each and every aspect but let me highlight just a few specific points on how we have found the proper safeguards in areas that i know are important to this house.
i will also ensure that the right coordination is established between the eu special representatives and the relevant departments in the service.
we need to defend europe's interests and project europe's values in a more coherent and effective way and we should be ambitious in how we do it.
i am looking forward to the intense dialogue and exchange of information with the european parliament and will make sure that my collaborators give high priority to this aspect of their work.
that remains the case in the new lisbon context but development cannot be pursued on its own separate from other strands of external relations. that is why we are creating a strong common platform allowing us to work together andris piebalgs stefan fle and myself to ensure that general development objectives and poverty reduction in particular are mainstreamed in our cooperation programmes.
do. there will be a human rights and democracy structure at headquarters level as well as focal points in all relevant union delegations with the task of monitoring the human rights situation and promoting an effective realisation of eu human rights policy goals. honourable members europe needs the external action service to build a stronger foreign policy.
now becoming reality.
third financial accountability.
in the same way i am clear we need to ensure a proper gender and geographical balance and not lose sight of wider diversity issues.
for. two thousand and ten as i began i thank you for your cooperation and i count on your support.
the process seems to entail little hope for them which if true would be both sad and unfair.
therefore i think that those in charge should be convinced that in the end one way or another the principles agreed upon in this house will have to be complied with the sooner the better.
for instance the proposal to launch a concerted csdp mission to combat international organised crime is precisely the kind of
i truly believe that tomorrow's vote will become a historic milestone for europe because it will be the day when the eu steps firmly in the direction of a stronger eu presence on the global stage.
after that vote we will need to focus as much as possible on the completion of the work which is still ahead of us the codecision work on staff regulation financial regulation and of course budget amendment where the commission wants to be as helpful as possible.
british conservatives were opposed to the creation of the eeas but we are now reconciled to engaging constructively though not uncritically with it.
i personally would have liked a greater emphasis on the intergovernmental council led approach and a merit based selection of national and eu diplomats as opposed to national quotas as well as some political appointees and why not the odd ex prime minister or two?
this is especially important from the point of view of the military csdp missions which are funded from national not eu budgets.
however i like the british foreign secretary now recognise the existence of the eas as a fact and we need to make the best of it.
i would therefore ask the high representative to give the following guarantees in relation to the eas firstly that it will add no additional cost to eu or national budgets;
secondly that it will do nothing that will interfere in or diminish the role of national diplomatic representation in particular that of the united kingdom;
thirdly that it will not become yet another opaque bureaucratic apparatus and fourthly that it will provide for proper oversight by both national parliaments and this parliament.
those in this chamber who are rightly worried about the balance of national representation should support the high representative in pursuing appointment by merit precisely because it will break the post colonial link between some countries and regions of the world which they see as clients and it is therefore in the ultimate interest of genuine pro european working which looks to the future and not the past.
those in parliament like those who sought to keep this issue off the agenda this week must translate today's agreement faithfully and without further delay into the financial and staffing regulations.
we will still be in a situation where the first anniversary of the high representative's appointment will approach and the services that she has been asked to lead will only just have been created.
mr president the high representative is supposed to receive a mandate from the council which contains the representatives of member states.
the discussions in afco have made it quite clear that the institution to which the european external action service will be closest will be the commission of which of course the high representative is also vice president.
mr president i make no secret that i was opposed to the establishment of the external action service.
my view is that foreign policy should remain the exclusive preserve of the member states.
however as a pragmatist i have to deal with the eu as it is and not how i might like it to be.
at a time of austerity we must ensure that taxpayers' money is not wasted on superfluous expenditure such as a european diplomatic training college which happens all too often in the eu. baroness ashton made a solemn promise that the service would be budget neutral.
i have my doubts as to whether that will actually be achieved but if we are to serve the taxpayers we represent we need to hold her to that promise.
important signal that the new service is receiving the democratic endorsement of this chamber.
even though it was difficult it was complicated we have managed to reach a political consensus in seven months since the new treaty came into force which is i think a remarkable achievement.
here again we have been looking at all the possible options and i am sure now that even though we are going to create something new where there will be three sources for the people who will work for the external action service we will have all the appropriate financial accountability safeguards built into the system and i am sure that the system will weather the test of its future operation. the last big part of the discussion focused on
three one billion instalment on a promissory note which was negotiated by the discredited previous government for the now defunct anglo irish bank. this is the bank that was largely responsible for the collapse of the irish economy. as a result the irish people have been left with a massive eur thirty billion debt which truth be told stems from banks from all over europe
there is no doubt that failure to reach agreement in the fifty five days remaining on the promissory note will have profound implications for ireland's recovery.
this situation if it is not resolved could result in eu wide book apartheid those who can afford to will have access to knowledge and those who cannot will be denied.
it is critical for our future success.
if we are about creating a knowledge based economy we must ensure that libraries can offer their users books in an electronic format.
as commissioner vassiliou said today at the meeting in brussels we need to improve access to knowledge.
i look to other meps to join me in the fight against this form of violence to share their experience and data and to move towards eliminating this practice in all member states.
whilst i am aware that commissioner reding is working on this i believe we as meps have a duty to put this issue on the agenda immediately. female genital mutilation is a horrific and violent act committed against young girls and children.
i recently met a women's human rights advocate who has been working on fgm in the uk for over thirty years. she told me that the uk was regarded as a soft touch.
france for example whilst not having specific fgm legislation has had hundreds of prosecutions against parents who have let their daughters be butchered in this way.
you supported the idea of shooing in mr barroso without there being any sort of proper contest but it is on the lisbon treaty that i was most interested.
what a wonderful speech that was coming into this chamber and telling a few home truths and pointing out that european parliamentarians and leaders are not listening to the peoples of europe at which two hundred of you got up and walked out of the room. so at least for vclav klaus we thank you very much for the last six months.
i hope the irish tell you all where to go in the second referendum on two october and they just might! however i do not wish to be mean spirited because there was one wonderful bright uplifting moment during the czech presidency a moment when all of us that believe in nation states that believe in democracy that believe genuinely in the rule of law could come into this chamber and feel for the first time in my experience proud of the fact that we were part of this european parliament.
it is all about power.
this document has no legal force whatsoever.
madam president the czech presidency has followed a depressingly familiar pattern continuity more of the same the continuing obsession with climate change and the continuing drive to have new legislation.
you said that you wanted there to be a credible policy for ireland with their second referendum and so you produced these guarantees and here they are guarantees on the right to life on taxation on security and defence.
it is all about him and the eu institutions getting more power at the expense of the member states.
he says we must ignore them we must continue.
it is not worth the paper that it is written on.
you are the author of a disgraceful attempt to con the irish into voting for this lisbon treaty in their forthcoming referendum.
you ratified the treaty through your own parliamentary chambers without of course the thought of giving the people in your own country a referendum to express their opinion.
i think that should be a good enough reason for the rest of us to vote yes' to the lisbon treaty and for irish voters who will be making up their own minds on two october to listen to the voices who are urging them to vote no' and to listen very carefully to judge what they stand for and then to listen to the voices of reason and reflect on the fact that the european union
i would remind mr higgins that you in your work in the solidarity movement defended workers and their rights and i think the historical facts should be reflected it in this house.
has been very good for ireland and ireland good for it and that we will continue to remain at the heart of europe by supporting this treaty.
i expect this measure to be temporary and i hope that full visa travel between the czech republic and canada will be established soon.
concerning the issue of the regulation and supervision of the financial market which was also raised during the debate of course there is still an agenda to complete namely what was adopted at the european council as a consensus based on the de larosire report a report i commissioned from that high level group
another point that was mentioned during the debate was the issue of resistance to protectionism.
i discussed this issue with the canadian prime minister in the margins of the last g eight meeting.
it is unfortunate that a study on the cumulative effects of the trade agreements will not be complete until september.
the emphasis on new markets and new financial instruments is welcome but brings no immediate relief.
in the dairy sector this has been very extreme with farmers receiving prices below the cost of production over many months.
eight in light of the uk referendum debate many farmers are telling me that they think little has been done to help agriculture and that it is time to take back control.
however previous impact assessments carried out by copa find that benefits to agriculture would be one sided and that eu farmers would suffer a disrupted internal market and greater price volatility.
the current deal on the table with the mercosur bloc will have a devastating impact on the beef sector in particular.
the aid package has only been of limited immediate help.
mr president we are in an almost unique situation here in plenary today because speakers from across every political group from every country have had basically the same message.
while i welcome the fact that we have moved from a situation where the commission was failing to acknowledge that there was a crisis at all to at least some measures being put in place it is quite clear from listening to the remarks of speakers across the board today that those measures do not go far enough.