kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
our common agricultural policy is essential to turn these challenges into opportunities. the role of member states is critical. the future common agricultural policy in particular offers them a significant opportunity to improve and scale up their actions on pollinators. as announced in the european green deal and while we are still waiting for the adoption of the new
in two thousand and sixteen the european parliament called on the commission and member states to act urgently on this problem.
these include precision agriculture organic farming agroecology and ensuring that these plans work towards the goal of stopping the loss of pollinators.
in; two thousand and thirteen and supporting member states to ensure the sustainable use of pesticides in particular through integrated pest management. in the european green deal the commission announced an increased level of ambition to tackle the causes of biodiversity loss including by reducing significantly the
the initiative aims to reduce the impact of pesticides on pollinators by strengthening the risk assessment;
use and the risk of chemical pesticides as well as the use of fertilisers and restoring damaged ecosystems.
banning all outdoor uses of the three neonicotinoids restricted
it does depend on pollinators but also exerts a strong pressure on them whether through intensification of agricultural practices or abandonment of high nature value farmland.
in two thousand and eighteen the commission adopted the first ever european union initiative on pollinators building on european research projects and following a broad public consultation. this initiative sets long term objectives and short term actions providing the necessary framework to consolidate efforts across sectors and to provide a more effective response of the european union and its member states.
cap the commission will work with member states to ensure that strategic plans are assessed according to robust and environmental criteria and lead to more sustainable practices.
the already existing and future european union actions on research climate change and pollution will also be critical for the protection of pollinators.
the decline of wild pollinators in the european union is as you have said dramatic.
the commission is currently developing a common european union monitoring scheme for pollinator species in close cooperation with member states.
it also addresses directly the threat from invasive alien species.
and finally the biodiversity strategy for two thousand and thirty and the farm to fork strategy to be delivered in the spring of two thousand and twenty will provide strong frameworks for the european union pollinators' initiative and help us to reach our goal of stopping the loss of pollinators.
this will support research on the causes of pollinator declines and better understanding on how to effectively tackle them.
this will ensure that we have the necessary knowledge to assess the effects of our policies including the common agricultural policy on the diversity and the abundance of pollinators.
there was a bad deal on the table and i applaud the commission and the presidency that you didn't take that because it would make it totally utterly useless to have these cops if we just give more room to those who just want to use climate for their business opportunities get credits for free and not support climate legitimacy. so it's good that we have brought the system to the brink of failure where all countries have to realise that we have to do more that we have to
then we can succeed.
that is the last year and the last cop when we actually still have a chance of limiting global warming to. one five degrees or even close to that.
we need to deliver on the green deal at home and build on the alliances that we have with those countries that want to do more before the glasgow meeting.
he needs to go right away. there is a murder.
in hungary we may have a political debate we may have a debate with the commission at times very well that's what europe is about political debate.
you should have new elections and asked the people of malta to act.
they work closely with the local nhs partnership trust and with cumbria county council social services and they've got links with ngos across cumbria such as age uk.
the cyber more team have been involved in several eu projects including e ten which supports the deployment of trans european eservices in the public interest.
initially established in two thousand and two to provide broadband and computers to improve access to services and overcome isolation cybermoor initiated the alston health care project in two thousand and seven focusing on telehealth and telemedicine services for the local community. they've delivered the successful implementation of a heart failure telehealth project and provide video links between hospitals
i know that remote and peripheral communities such as alston will be hard hit by brexit as they've benefited enormously from the eu's close attention to the outermost regions.
demonstrating the value of partnership working.
to provide remote assessment of patients.
always innovating they work with other ngos to recruit test users for new projects such as home monitoring by informal carers.
the commission takes any allegation of suspicion of fraud and misuse of funds very seriously.
the commission closely monitors the implementation of relevant transparency requirements in all member states.
the commission on national audits also identified irregularities with some more systemic character in some member states. however such systemic irregularities don't systematically indicate fraud and intentional misuse through the implication of high level officials office holders.
for the rural development investment measures the commission has communicated its latest findings to the member state.
eu rules impose that it's the member states who have to publish the beneficiaries of the cap funds annually and expost.
the commission will follow up on information or complaints with respect to conflicts of interest in all member states.
a further step is the proposal for protection of the union's budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in member states. the commission is also attentively following allegations of landgrabbing.
let me now come to transparency as regards the ultimate beneficiaries of eu funds.
the commission can assist the member state if necessary by supporting land registry reforms.
now about the questions and maybe i will be a little bit longer but in order to give a serious reply i have to take the time. the first question was about misuse of eu funds in member states involving established schemes as well as high level officials office holders.
how to prevent a similar case in the future?
it immediately addresses to the european anti fraud office any information pointing to allegations of fraud emerging from citizens whistle blowers or from audits.
the management and control systems in the member states are audited by independent certification bodies on an annual basis and by the commission auditors on a risk basis.
i limit my remarks to the funds of the common agricultural policy.
the ruleoflaw proposal referred to above would provide an additional tool once adopted.
the responsible commission services consider that the current publication by all member states of the data on beneficiaries of the cap fulfils the transparency requirements.
if land is taken by force then there is a ruleoflaw issue and the judicial system of the member state should act.
in the case of fraud and possible links to high level officials office holders financial corrections at european level and penal action at national level have been taken in order to protect the european union budget and to ensure the rule of law.
in relation to the czech republic the commission has communicated its final audit results for the european regional development fund and the european social fund to the member state.
we as brits are devastated that we will not be able to play our full part in driving forward stricter green targets within the european union as we will no longer sit at the table.
another year of discussions on measures to stop climate change.
let's not forget who will suffer at the hands of climate change. according to the two thousand and nineteen climate change performance index there is today no country on earth that is heading towards the.
but we also failed to deliver on adaptation on loss and damage on reaching agreements to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience against the future natural disasters that the world will face.
i urge you now as members of the european parliament and union to be a strong and ambitious voice in all future negotiations.
yet the cop twenty five failed to deliver on international trading rules.
during the cop twenty five the gap between the reality of our climate emergency and the pace of negotiations has been clear.
madam president two thousand and nineteen is coming to an end another year of record wildfires floods droughts and livelihoods destroyed under our watch.
yes we need to use modern technologies to help fight tax fraud.
at this moment just twenty five crossborder payments quarterly including offline payments by credit card are enough to store payees' data including credit card numbers for up to five years.
artistic censorship is totally unacceptable in our european union and questions must be asked of the commission officials regarding monitoring of the use of citizens' money in a culture of state repression.
this included a british theatre company who were offered an open ended residency in the programme and invited to make work responding to their experiences.
madam president corruption obfuscation interference lack of transparency intimidation. all these things seem to have been in play at the highest level in malta regarding the murder of the investigative journalist daphne caruana galizia but i want to draw attention to the unacceptable behaviour of the management of the state appointed valletta two thousand and eighteen european capital of culture who not only regularly dismantled the public memorialisation of daphne but also censored artists invited to the festival.
i'd like to take this opportunity to thank pen international for their work on this issue.
when it seemed their performance would include references to daphne they were asked to change their script.
thank you very much for your commitment to this very important matter.
we are sure that the conclusions on animal welfare which the council adopted just yesterday will make a meaningful contribution to further discussion on this very important issue.
we will certainly continue work on this field.
i'm convinced that there will be a lot of added value to the future discussions on animal welfare.
we look forward to this publication and invite the commission to work on a new strategy in light of the outcome of this assessment.
i'm here to speak up for a country that showed that it listens; a country that is open to the recommendations made;
malta is currently experiencing unprecedented circumstances that shook the whole society and we want these realities to be addressed in a constructive manner.
as the maltese sd delegation we are committed to ensure that the reforms our country has started to implement will continue at a speedier pace so that there are no doubts cast on the impartiality of our institutions.
we are confident that the process under the oversight of the president of malta to propose constitutional reforms will yield results.
currently there are five ongoing magisterial inquiries on cases of alleged corruption and yes we want these inquiries to be concluded as soon as possible for the benefit of all.
we want to make sure that checks and balances will be ingrained at all levels.
in the meantime all alleged cases of corruption must be thoroughly investigated. no one is above the law and the fact that time barring on cases of political corruption was removed should ensure a judicial process in all cases whenever they happened.
others including recommendations by the venice commission and country specific recommendations are in the process of being carried out and they will continue to be carried out.
a country that implements;
malta is currently going through a period of political transition until a new prime minister is appointed and it would be counterproductive if this parliament rushes into prejudgments that can also prejudice the ongoing investigations.
i have the mandate to work closely with all commissioners to mainstream disability in all eu policy areas during this college's mandate.
they represent a very important share of the eu population and they must by no means be left behind.
proposing a new strategy for the next decade is certainly an option when evaluating the current one and considering the next steps.
our future policy will pursue the same objective.
the fact that we are evaluating our current strategy does not prevent us from making further progress now.
to this end the future gender equality strategy announced by president von der leyen in her political guidelines will pay particular attention to groups facing multiple disadvantage including women with disabilities.
two thousand and twenty to improve coordination within the commission and to mainstream the equality dimension including disability into all relevant eu policies we have set up an equality task force.
it also cemented the importance of promoting independent living and moving from institutional care to family and community based care.
we will of course consult with all relevant stakeholders in particular with persons with disabilities and the organisations that represent them.
the european semester and eu funds can be used for this purpose. european structural and investment funds already support the deinstitutionalisation and development of community based services for persons with disabilities in the member states.
this is in line with the evaluate first' principle of our better regulation agenda.
a first informal meeting with the member states took place on twenty two november.
areas such as personal assistance or accessible and inclusive education are a primary responsibility of the member states.
in this respect i recall that the united nations convention recognises that women and girls with disabilities are subjected to multiple discrimination and calls on state parties to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by them of all human rights
there are new challenges and also new opportunities.
however the commission is committed to keeping on working together with the member states and supporting them in their endeavours.
and fundamental freedoms.
our future disability policies will also have to take into account the changes affecting our societies.
for the future programming period having a national framework for implementing the united nations convention is proposed by the commission as a pre condition for receiving funding from any of the funds covered by the common provisions regulation.
the commission is currently carrying out an external evaluation of the implementation of the current strategy.
the commission is also working with the member states to ensure the correct transposition of the european accessibility act.
for instance the european economic and social committee unanimously adopted a valuable contribution to the debate just last week and we are carefully studying those recommendations.
we are committed to consult with the european parliament and to take into account the two reports it adopted these last years.
we already use and will keep using all tools available to achieve progress across europe.
digitalisation and accessibility legislation have allowed us to lift some important barriers but many hurdles still remain for people with disabilities and in some cases new barriers have appeared which need to be addressed.
the ratification by the eu of the un convention on the rights of persons with disabilities we have all taken the legal and political commitment to implement it and you can be assured that the commission remains fully committed to its implementation.
in my view the fact that we have a longterm strategy has proven to be essential.
such a followup initiative should build on the values enshrined in our treaties and contribute to the implementation of the european pillar of social rights as well as of the sustainable development goals.
according to the latest figures available to the commission approximately one hundred million persons in europe have a disability.
sixty eight one of the eu population with a disability would have been at risk of poverty without social benefits allowances or pensions.
the new agenda must mainstream disability in all eu policies and laws and push for social acceptance of people with disabilities as part of human diversity by fighting all forms of discrimination and stigmatisation.
however across the eu about forty seven of persons with disabilities are now employed compared with seventy two of persons without disabilities. meanwhile.
mr president the two thousand and twenty europe strategy set out five ambitious targets including unemployment education and fighting poverty and social exclusion. yes we have progressed overall but not nearly enough for the disability community who quite frankly are fed up of waiting to be treated equally in all areas of life.
programmes funded by eu resources will have to respect enabling conditions and preconditions in order to achieve effective implementation.
for example the member states will have to conduct a midterm review.
it is nonetheless a signal that we are at least on the right track.
last summer there wasn't a single incident reported at the border linked to the road transport of animals.
this is a requirement specifically set out in eu legislation and which must be respected.
to inform veterinarian authorities of problems detected by inspectors in other eu countries and this is something that we are actively working on with the european maritime safety agency to allow for better sharing of information regarding livestock vessels.
a further initiative that we have taken is to engage with the countries receiving live animals in order to get information on each consignment. this will provide valuable feedback on the conditions of the animals on arrival and promote continuous improvement and of course as is usual we have issued recommendations following our audits.
i am well aware that the supervision and approval of vessels for animal transport are indeed challenging tasks. specific and extensive training is needed to adequately perform them specialised training that differs from that provided to most veterinarians.
for these audits we saw that the situation is quite worrying.
since two thousand and seventeen we have dedicated staff and resources to tackle this particular problem.
this is a matter that i will follow closely and i will raise with ministers on every occasion.
it is after all our responsibility to ensure that animals are safe and protected during transport.
actions on sea transport have also been taken.
i can also assure you that i will look at animal welfare as an important part of the farm to fork strategy that i will be presenting in spring two thousand and twenty as part of the european green deal and this includes a critical look at the existing rules including animal transport.
the commission is working with member states to improve the conditions of animals during transport.
although more can and must be done the results are encouraging.
in the last two years we audited official control arrangements for sea transport of livestock in four member states including romania.
they all need to take action to prevent incidents like the one that happened in romania from happening again and i can assure you that i will work with the same focus to improve the conditions of animals transported by sea as we did to improve the conditions of animals transported by road under the previous commission.
they failed to take adequate precautions to prevent this loss and to protect the animals from the pain and the distress that they suffered before they perished. this is about the ethical values of our union.
by working closely with veterinary authorities in exporting members states and turkey and with the cooperation of ngos we have dramatically reduced the number of consignments that cross the borders during hot periods.
our auditors found particular shortcomings concerning the approval of vessels by the authorities.
many arrangements seem to fall well below the standards established by eu law.
in recent years we have taken action to improve the situation particularly at the border between bulgaria and turkey a well known hotspot for animal welfare issues.
we will closely monitor how these are addressed by member states.
the recent incident makes it abundantly clear that even ensuring that facilities are suitable to accommodate animals is no guarantee that the vessel itself is seaworthy or that its crew is properly trained. there are also currently no arrangements
we have also worked with member states to improve their checks on livestock vessels and this process has brought out some improvement in the inspection systems for these vessels.
we need to maintain a constant dialogue with member states and stakeholders through the network of animal welfare contact points and the animal welfare platform and we need to ensure that this dialogue leads to concrete results and actions.
this does not mean that all issues have been resolved.
but of course this is of little comfort as we reflect on the losses sustained on that day. the transporters clearly failed in their primary responsibility to protect the animals in their charge throughout the journey.
i am actually tired of hearing excuses from other members of this house about the responsibilities of china and so forth. we owe a carbon debt to low income countries in particular for the loss and damage caused by climate change.
we cannot keep kicking that can down the road.
that is an especially bitter disappointment because of the unprecedented green wave of protests that we've seen over the last year calling for unity around the science and those citizens are disappointed.
will you sell out climate change with a race to the bottom trade deal with trump or will you step up?
we will continue to mobilise until action matches the urgency of the climate crisis.
' the world is watching not waiting.
now my country the uk is hosting cop twenty six next year and i have a message to boris johnson our new prime minister the world is watching.
as mr timmermans said our task is now more urgent than ever and we in europe have a particular historic responsibility.
we need to put our own house in order;
we have to get real.
now of course i have no difficulty in acknowledging the corruption exposed in the recent cap subsidies scandal in the likes of hungary and bulgaria.
we can't go on about tackling crime and corruption and invite individuals like bulgaria's disputed mr geshev the state prosecutor in here.
madam president the story here isn't actually about a few bad apples robbing eu funds and the need for the commission to do more.
but i think the biggest scandal about the cap subsidies is that when journalists started asking questions they were blocked by the commission itself stonewalled and not allowed to get information.
the problem is actually the system itself.
we can't on the one hand come in here and talk about corruption and then agree to for example the lifting of the cbn.
i've actually spoken about the corruption in bulgaria on numerous occasions in committee here.
the european social fund and research programmes will include important projects and programmes to support this.
earlier this year for the first time five member states began exchanging eprescriptions and patient summaries through the ehealth digital service infrastructure supported by the connecting europe facility.
the commission has taken a number of important steps on this.
digitalisation can be a game changer in this respect because it can bring concrete benefits to patients and to healthcare professionals. it has the potential to provide costeffective highquality healthcare and to reduce inequalities.