kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
i would like to see my own country britain take the lead in this field and consult with the whole agricultural industry because a balance must be struck between maintaining the confidence of the breeders in the principle that a successful idea will yield a financial reward but on the other hand the concern that the market will be permanently cornered and subsequent potential improvements discouraged.
skill and technology though is now so advanced and correspondingly expensive that occasionally a breeder can produce something that is a step change or a defining moment in the history of plant breeding. the implications of this need to be recognised and catered for.
and brought a successor variety to the market the original variety would have had its few years at the top of the hit parade earned its royalties and been superseded.
having watched the eu make a complete hash of legislating on the topic of gm crops i do not want this institution to spoil yet more innovation in plant breeding.
we do not need to get involved in semantic arguments about the difference between a discovery and an invention.
i believe the industry in the uk is more than capable of reaching a decision on this with minimal interference from politicians.
what we are witnessing is entrepreneurship on the part of the patent office the logic of whose entire existence depends on the granting of patents. if we allow this sort of practice to continue then we threaten food production food security plant innovation and biotechnology and essentially give further power to multinationals over our food supply. what the epo has done with its decision of twenty five march two thousand and twelve basically amounts to commercialisation of the natural world.
it is therefore worth bearing in mind that article twenty seven c of the agreement on a unified patent court states that the rights conferred by a patent shall not extend to the use of biological material for the purpose of breeding or discovering and developing other plant varieties'.
however as a result of consecutive decisions by the european patent office the content of these exceptions has been eroded.
article four of the directive excludes plant and animal varieties and essentially biological processes for the production of plants and animals from patentability provisions reflected in the implementation regulation of the european patent convention.
the epo will play a central role in the implementation of the european patent with unitary effect.
in two precedent setting decisions of march this year the enlarged board of appeal of the office declared that while processes for conventional breeding cannot be patented plants and animals stemming from these processes are patentable.
article fifty three b of the convention itself prohibits patents on plant varieties and on essentially biological processes for breeding.
i hope that this second attempt by this house to bring its concerns to the attention of the european patent office will help to convince the commission to raise the matter with the epo and will help to prevent and possibly reverse interpretations of law which erode carefully considered exceptions to patentability and patent protection.
mr cofferati would you agree that one of the reasons that plant breeding is getting into the hands of larger corporations is the expense of registering and going through the whole process of bringing these materials to the market?
would you agree that due to the mess that the eu has made of legislating over gm crops this whole issue should be left to the nation states and to those who understand the land best in their own nation states?
mr president we would like to remove the word add' from the beginning of paragraph thirty five replacing that with the words examine the possibility of adding' so the sentence would read asks the commission to examine the possibility of adding the fao port state measures agreement the un fish stocks agreement and fao compliance agreements to the list of instruments to be implemented for countries to be eligible for generalised systems of preferences plus'.
mr president it is an amendment that reflects the facts really because it is worded when you have it in your voting list notes the commission's announcement of the conclusion of the negotiations of an eu us pnr agreement which will be scrutinised by the european parliament in the light of its requirements set out in its resolutions of five may two thousand and ten and eleven november.
two thousand and ten' it was felt that the original wording here was simply out of date because the commission has announced the conclusion of the negotiations.
these are things that we need to build on.
this makes a welcome change from previous years.
i am glad amazed actually that the european parliament is having this debate here tonight and actually showing some concern about where the money goes.
we must continue to help afghanistan build because it was a factory of terrorism.
in this context the commission will continue to assist afghanistan by ensuring that monitoring mechanisms adequately address corruption and proper management of aid and that the recipient communities are involved in identifying needs and shaping development assistance policies.
the establishment of a fully independent control and audit office will also remain a precondition for budget support.
at the service of its people.
in this environment multi donor trust funds have been instrumental in pooling donors around afghan owned strategies harmonising aid and contributing to strengthening national public finance management capacities.
they also enable the efficient donor division of labour and facilitate pooling donors' specific expertise and resources.
this long term commitment will be conditional on the afghan government's progress in further strengthening public finance management systems reducing corruption improving budget execution developing a financing strategy and increasing government capacity.
in bonn the eu and its member states also announced the negotiation of a partnership agreement on cooperation and development with afghanistan.
as the afghan government progressively takes over full responsibility for security and development we also expect democratic institutions to be strengthened both at central and provincial level.
the commission shares the view that our commitment to afghanistan must focus on the long term perspective. at the bonn conference on five december two thousand and eleven the eu looked to the afghan government to provide the context for this long term engagement by improving governance and the rule of law and making other structural reforms which are necessary for the transformation of afghanistan into a fully functioning sustainable state
shortcomings of external assistance in afghanistan are the result of a complex mix of political factors military insurgency economic underdevelopment and drug trafficking to name just a few.
three one billion by thirty one march this year and for many years to come. that type of payment will bring us to our knees and is asking the impossible. it will send our debt to gnp ratio spiralling to one hundred and fifty and condemn the irish economy to years and years of stagnation.
virtually all independent economists agree; and it is time for the ecb to stop dragging its heels and acknowledge that ireland needs measures which will provide some prospect of survival.
the debt must be restructured.
we made the initial mistake of guaranteeing our banks and then the ecb insisted that irish taxpayers would take the hit for speculative bondholders. that same ecb is now saying that on top of our extremely difficult fiscal correction we must pay eur.
so how can we ever hope to pay back our debts?
under the commission's own code of conduct a former commissioner has at all times a duty to behave with integrity and if not can be deprived of his right to a pension.
he should no longer receive his sizeable pension from the european commission.
according to article two hundred and eighteen of the tfeu the european parliament is to be kept continuously and fully informed about important developments.
mr president i find it remarkable and disturbing that i as an elected member of this parliament must rely on the international media to learn about important developments about the acta treaty.
mr president the irish minister for the environment and local government is re examining the structure of the local action groups implementing the rural development programme.
while no concrete proposals have been announced in my experience any proposal to integrate the local action groups into the local authority structure would be both legally problematic and ineffective.
such a move would override the leader programme's bottom up approach based on the independence group's best ability to identify and respond to needs on the ground.
the additional pre financing for the two thousand and fourteen two thousand and twenty programmes should be covered by payment application by the end of.
for the two thousand and seven two thousand and thirteen period two measures are proposed firstly to release the last five percent of the remaining eu payments which are normally retained until the closure of the programmes in two thousand and seventeen and secondly to remove the obligation to provide for national cofinancing and to apply the one hundred eu financing rate.
the commission has stood by greece throughout the crisis with both financial support and technical assistance.
timely and effective implementation of reforms to modernise the state and the economy as agreed under the third programme is crucial to ensure financial stability fiscal sustainability and sound economic fundamentals for investment job creation and growth. it is crucial to dispel any uncertainty and ensure a sound financial sector.
to help address this situation we have put forward three exceptional measures so that the investment supported by eu funds can take place and take place swiftly.
madam president considering the fact that greece has been very much affected by the consequences of the financial and economic crisis that it faces a critical lack of public funds and consequently has difficulties in co financing the investments of the european structural and investment funds i strongly support the proposal to provide additional pre financing in the current financial period as well as to increase the co financing rate
do you feel that the commission has provided a sufficient response to those questions?
the economic and financial situation greece faced gave the eu an opportunity to show such solidarity and unfortunately it took a long time before the eu stepped up to the plate and took any action.
even with a new agreement in place now i still think greece faces huge problems in the future in terms of its economy.
the structural funds should be going to improve the economy and the prosperity of places like greece. i would also hope that the structural funds could be used to alleviate the problems due to the refugee crisis by helping with funding for infrastructure and social inclusion measures as well.
i am pleased that the eu commissioner commissioner creu seems open to that idea in the future.
it is no good providing this funding sometime in the distant future we need to provide help and investment to greece as soon as possible.
i support the measures put forward by the commission.
they are not to blame for the situation at all.
they passed through easily and smoothly to come to this place.
help never comes without strings and it is never straightforward. the greek state reminds me very much of my uncle.
the greek state should deal with the real problem.
what will happen when other countries within the eurozone see what happens here see this precedent and demand any funds to them to be frontloaded?
it is unsustainable.
therefore i think that the gradual adoption of rules depending on the size of the plants strikes a good balance between affordability and environmental protection.
however considering that about seventy five of medium combustion plants are run by smes it is also important not to impose a too high administrative and financial burden on such companies.
the emission limits ensure the most favourable cost benefit ratio and mitigation measures have been incorporated to help smes such as the phased implementation for existing plants exemptions for plants operating a limited number of hours and reduced monitoring requirements for small plants.
in that sense it is a pity that the council is not here because the council was the leader in creating loopholes in this legislation.
these immense costs to citizens' health national budgets and of course to the environment should be taken very seriously indeed and we cannot continue to kick the can down the road on air quality.
air pollution is a major yet preventable killer in europe and in my home country ireland one three hundred premature deaths are attributed to bad air quality.
madam president although i disagree with a number of exemptions in this report i do welcome this piece of legislation which will see emission limits for medium combustion plants covered by law for the first time.
it is right that the regulatory gap between small and large combustion plants is finally filled.
it has been designed to be affordable for smes and it provides long term certainty for all economic operators concerned while minimising the administrative burden for both industry and member states.
it will encourage continued innovation and help eu industry gain shares of the rapidly growing global market in pollution control technology.
the flexibility provisions that cover district heating and the use of biomass as a fuel which are two major issues for parliament will ensure that climate and air quality policies are consistent and their synergies are maximised.
the medium combustion plants directive will close an unacceptable gap in our legislation and will thus make an important contribution to reaching the future reduction targets as proposed in the amendment to the national emission ceilings directive that is still on the table for the co legislators.
thanks to the work of the parliament negotiating team it has been possible to maintain the environmental integrity of the proposed directive whilst addressing justified cases where member states needed flexibility for implementation.
the directive to reduce pollution from medium combustion installations is a key component of the commission's clean air policy package presented in december.
the commission thus fully supports the compromise although i have to make a declaration on the use of the no opinion clause for the adoption of implementing acts.
finally i would like to underline that beyond being environmentally efficient this directive promotes advanced eu technology.
however we are firmly opposed to the commission's proposal to create new eu legislation in this field.
we opposed the eco design directive and the industrial emissions directive so we will categorically oppose a directive covering all medium combustion plants.
we oppose a mandatory eu registration scheme to be applied to all new plants because we do not think that this is a matter that should be regulated by unelected bureaucrats in brussels.
conversely we support those exceptions to the directive that alleviate the impact of this over prescriptive regulation.
current eu policy frameworks have failed to deliver legal certainty to investors and few can afford to invest in this environment.
overregulation threatens the free market system of investment and production and additional eu regulation will not promote the re industrialisation of europe.
i think you also agree with the polluter pays' principle.
that shows a bit of concern and not without due reason.
in this case we have a fairly balanced compromise which ensures that installations in all member states make equal efforts to combat air pollution.
would you not accept that industry needs to be taken into account and that we must make sure that whatever measures come forth from this place are at least industry friendly so that industry continues to be a source of wealth as well as pollution?
madam president on behalf of my delegation i would like to welcome this agreement.
i know that this has been a difficult negotiation and this agreement represents a fair compromise between very different points of view.
poor air quality is one of the most serious health issues we currently face in europe. it is very easy to ask for perfection but sometimes perfection is the enemy of the good so i am delighted to see ambition tempered by pragmatism and the setting of conditions that will allow investment in new technologies and new renewables to take place.
i am from an area of the west midlands of england called the black country and the reason it was called that was because during more industrial times the air was black with smog and many people in my area died from air pollution so i understand entirely the requirement for cleaner air.
i do not believe that as the uk we need to be subject to an eu regulation and more rules on this kind of thing.
i believe we can handle this ourselves.
how is a small island of. four four million people supposed to cope with this madness?
a little comparison if france population sixty two million were faced with an equivalent banking crisis the debt of french citizens would be eur one trillion. would the commission describe that as tough but sustainable'?
constable kerr a catholic police officer was murdered when a booby trap bomb planted under his car exploded on saturday as he left for work.
since two thousand and seven dissident republican terrorists have planted dozens of booby trap bombs under the private cars of police officers.
i am sure that you will also join with me in calling for all information regarding this murder to be given to the police.
they need to do it for the future of our country and out of respect for a brave police officer and his grieving mother and family. i am also appalled at the lack of respect that this speech has been given by some members of this house.
there are people in the local community who have information about constable kerr's brutal murder. they need to come forward and bring these murderers to justice not shield them from it.
madam president i had intended to speak on the impact of the financial crisis in the republic of ireland on the economy in northern ireland.
thankfully most of these have failed to detonate.
he died at the scene. i call on this house to condemn this atrocity and to call for an end to such violent acts at the hands of irish republican terrorists intent on dragging northern ireland back to its darker days and derailing the political process.
those who know the persons or others who committed this murder have a duty to come and to give evidence to the police service of northern ireland.
she said we all need to stand up and be counted and to strive for equality.
i was very touched by the comments of his mother yesterday on mothers' day when she urged catholics not to be deterred from joining the police service of northern ireland at a time when we are striving as she said for a neutral police force for the good of our country.
mr kerr had only finished his initial training in december;
she urged all catholics not to be deterred by this murder.
he was only twenty five and a bomb exploded under his car.
those who murdered him have still not admitted to it.
again i will quote her words in her sadness we do not want to go back into the dark days again of fear and terror. we were so proud of ronan and all that he stood for.
i think it is important that this house realises the enormity of this tragedy for the island of ireland and for the family affected by it.
neither i nor sixty million other british subjects were consulted or asked to vote.
we do not want foreign legal frameworks so when can the british people have a democratic vote please?
mr president you will be aware that many in the uk object object to the imposed eu citizenship and do not want it.
i do not want this citizenship so please advise me what measures there are in place to renounce it.
' i see from the papers on this debate that the eu is now forcing the uk to wreck its social security systems by opening the floodgates to europe and the uk is being forced to abide by the rulings of the court of justice of the european union.
unbeknown to myself and the vast majority of british subjects every person in the uk including her majesty the queen became a european citizen by ratification.
one of the greatest obstacles to exercising active union citizenship is the lack of awareness.
the rights achieved by our citizens should be respected by all no matter the political family we belong to or the country we come from.
procedures for the recognition of documents can be extremely time consuming and involve many costs especially with regard to translation and authentication.
the only institution that can do it is the one that is charged with the task of being the guardian of the treaties the european commission.
since free movement rights are guaranteed by a mix of european laws and national implementing measures citizens often find themselves caught up in red tape being asked to produce an excessive number of documents in original form or authenticated copies and translations.
there is a large gap between the expectation of citizens who increasingly take free movement for granted and expect the spirit of the treaty and the legislation to be respected and the practice of national authorities who insist more on the conditions and exceptions.
this hampers labour mobility which has a positive impact on economic growth.
public policy exceptions to serve economic or security aims which have ignored the principle of proportionality especially in abuses of expulsion orders;
numerous petitions bear witness to the fact that there are still many problems related to the implementation of the directive unjustified administrative burdens particularly for third country national family members including entry requirements and lengthy procedural delays;
two thousand and ten this is indeed what we need in the eu to take steps forward by engaging member states institutions and citizens to fully respect eu law and lift obstacles to the free movement of our citizens.
over the last years an increasing number of petitions have been registered with respect to problems encountered by eu citizens who exercise their right to free movement accounting for approximately twenty five of the total number of petitions received.
so far the eu has been less successful and has not given enough priority to ensuring the legal framework is applied in practice. as a result the free movement of persons has developed less than the other three freedoms.
discrimination towards certain nationals and ethnic communities. these are just a few examples of such breaches of european citizens' fundamental rights.
to achieve real free movement as well as eu citizenship member states need to be pushed to do it to change their laws and administrative practices.
an important number of petitions highlighted the problems encountered by citizens on the mutual recognition and free circulation of civil status documents and their effects.
the signal we are going to give today by voting on this report is an important one.
the commission proposed specific measures to remove these obstacles.
to which it has been submitted for an opinion.
in practice this means and should mean that people who travel outside their own country whether for tourism study work marriage or retirement should be able to exercise their rights as european citizens as easily as in their own country wherever they are in europe.
thanks to continued political pressure we have achieved concrete results.
you have now received this proposal as has the council and we trust that an agreement can be reached swiftly.
let me conclude by saying that for this report today i have tabled thanks to the support of one hundred and twenty colleagues from different political families an amendment with a paragraph which was unfortunately voted down in the committee on petitions.