kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
amnesty international has also reported on the caning of refugees and immigrant workers in malaysia.
we urge the government of malaysia to abolish caning as a form of punishment.
mr gahler raised a number of points which were not connected to this debate and i would just like to suggest to him that if he writes me a quick note about those issues i am happy to come back to him but i did not want to take parliament's time this evening on issues that were not on this debate itself.
honourable members who have visited the area will know it is a huge expanse of sea where there is plenty of room for complementary activity and very little risk of duplication and indeed the services work very well together.
my objective is to find practical and pragmatic ways in which increased collaboration can help support our people on the ground.
but i do so with the knowledge that turkey has an important role to play and i do so in the knowledge that i represent twenty seven member states and i work closely with the member states who are most interested and affected by the issues at hand.
actually the areas that we are working in are indeed very complementary.
i will if i may try and pick up some of the key points that were made and at least begin to give you responses to that.
but i do not underestimate the challenges and i am always looking at and interested in ideas for how we might do that.
the first thing to say is that i am committed to trying to find ways forward in the relationship between the european union and nato but i do not underestimate the political issues that sit at the heart of this question.
the people in theatre the people in operations are those who are most in my thoughts when i look at how we can collaborate together.
the example that was given earlier was of ocean shield off the coast of somalia and the work we are doing with operation atalanta.
concerning questions about missile defence as far as i can see what happened was that a balance was found during those negotiations on nato's new strategic concept between the issues of missile defence and nato's nuclear posture.
i was very pleased to have participated in some of its discussions.
i welcome the recognition by nato heads of state and government of the important contribution the european union brings to security and stability.
lisbon also paved the way for important decisions for nato in a number of key areas such as missile defence cyber defence nato reform and nato's contribution to stabilisation and reconstruction.
in lisbon the heads of state and government agreed on a new strategic concept a vision for the alliance for the next ten years.
many of these measures have already been implemented in the european union with the support of the secretary general of nato.
my participation in several nato high level meetings including the foreign affairs dinner at the nato lisbon summit which also focused on eu nato relations has been instrumental in this regard.
pending wider solutions it is essential that we can count on solid arrangements between us when we are deployed together in the same theatre.
these are both vitally important areas of work with real operational consequences for our troops serving in the field.
in that context we trained a one hundred and fourteen crews that is over one three hundred personnel with fifty eight helicopters.
in lisbon secretary general rasmussen received a similar mandate to work with me on reinforcing eu nato relations.
another example this time in the field of countering road side bombs is the counter improvised explosive devices where the european defence agency is in the final phase of purchasing a forensic laboratory which could be deployed in afghanistan next year. we have also continued to improve cooperation through the productive interaction between the european defence agency and the allied command for transformation.
my ambition is to pave the way to even more progress.
the meeting of ministers of defence last week paved the way to move forward towards that goal.
i would like to underline the strong political commitment to the strengthening of the eu nato strategic partnership expressed by all especially from president obama.
i have been very actively engaged with member states and allies and the nato secretary general in order to reinforce eu nato relations.
we will all need flexibility to be able to take this forward and to find solutions.
more than ever we have to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication.
one area of progress is eu nato cooperation on capability development an area where we are achieving promising results particularly on the military capability development which is necessary for both enhancing military capabilities and maximising cost effectiveness.
as an immediate result sixty three trained crews were deployed in afghanistan.
we have already worked together for example on helicopter availability and we have now defined the building blocks on counter improvised explosive devices and medical support.
just to give a couple of concrete examples. in the field of helicopter availability we already had two exercises in france and in spain. similar exercises are planned for the next four years.
this generated opportunities for informal discussions on issues of common interest as well as more eu political dialogue with all nato allies.
earlier this year i took the initiative of sending nato a set of concrete measures to reinforce eu nato cooperation.
we owe this to our personnel.
nato preserved its core tasks of collective defence and deterrents and recognised the importance of crisis management and cooperative security.
i will outline to honourable members what i think are the important results achieved focusing particularly on eu nato relations and i will not touch on the more internal nato issues.
in relation to afghanistan which we just discussed and which is also an important area of cooperation between the eu and nato decisions were taken on both transition and on long term partnership.
the usa cannot be expected to carry this burden with less and less contribution from us.
i think we should celebrate the fact that nato's lisbon summit has strengthened protection for our peace and democracy in direct contrast to the treaty of lisbon which is already doing quite the opposite. but nato is threatened by the savage cuts being imposed on european armed forces.
today the british harrier jet is removed from service.
it is a false economy too because defence spending brings good jobs.
these are deeply dangerous.
this month we lost the carrier hms ark royal prematurely with the loss of six zero dedicated personnel.
i welcome the new approach by nato of looking at the broader picture from cyber security to the threats posed by climate change and food security but the rationale for nato is as strong today as it ever was when the organisation was first founded sixty one years ago.
i welcome coordination between the two.
the cold war is now gone and the threats we face are increasingly asymmetric and global.
even at a time of austerity when many member states are cutting their defence budgets winning in afghanistan must be our priority.
the last such big exercise to prove that the us could move troops rapidly into europe took place seventeen years ago.
it may be taken as a declaration of goodwill.
you mentioned on human rights that it is time to take stock and move on.
secondly i really urge you to use the synergy post which i hope will now be created in the framework of the setting up of the external action service to strengthen the civilian management capabilities in your service.
involved in information exchange and resolving whatever problems. i would like to point out that equal partners must take equal responsibilities. there are some significant differences between nato and russia when defining security.
while russia perceives classical military threats to security nato on the other hand emphasises the lack of democracy and violation of human rights as a security threat.
in order for russia to be more closely involved in joint projects within the framework of nato i would expect russia to mainstream democracy human rights civil liberties and the rule of law.
firstly the european union must prepare itself to assume more responsilities as far as european security and defence are concerned.
this means not only developing and updating our european security and defence concept but also developing our military capabilities.
this means that we have to redefine our global interest and targets and increase our military capacities to an extent which will allow us properly to share the burdens of global defence with our american allies.
it is insufficient although it goes in the right direction.
could we have expected more? i think yes but if you compare it to where we were two three or four years ago it is much better.
clearly there is unused potential in relations between the two but there are more words than deeds and we need more deeds than words.
at the same time there is increasing complementarity between the two.
they have addressed ways of improving the social inclusiveness of higher education and ways to equip graduates with employable skills to deepen how higher education contributes to society.
the bologna process has transformed higher education systems in europe and many member countries have made significant changes in order to bring a common higher education area into being.
on the road towards a fully functioning european higher education area we face particular challenges and opportunities that we expect will be addressed at the ministerial conference in yerevan on fourteen and fifteen may this year.
other challenges that the communiqu is likely to address go to the heart of the teaching and learning process and it is essential that we continue to put students at the centre of this process in using the ects credit system or in quality assurance mechanisms for example.
new modes of delivery and a better use of online tools are crucial and offer a variety of opportunities for creating even more high quality international education institutions students and staff. the aim is the same as with traditional mobility to ensure high quality learning and teaching. the commission acknowledges parliament's call to help reinvigorate and indeed accelerate the bologna goals.
all our efforts for reform in education must be underpinned by the sharing of democratic values in order to ensure an open inclusive space for higher education to help sustain the future of europe and its next generations.
the commission welcomes parliament's call for countries to implement the agreed reforms and to support those countries encountering difficulties in this.
we both recognise the challenges that have their roots in the different context and circumstances of the various member countries.
reforming higher education boosts the quality and reputation of europe's learning institutions mobility and internationalisation while at the same time generating sustainable growth and jobs.
it also agrees with parliament's contention that education is one of the main pillars of society when it comes to promoting jobs and growth and that necessary funding must be guaranteed when tackling youth unemployment.
therefore it is absolutely vital that countries continue on the path of structural reforms modernising and internationalising higher education in europe to improve quality transparency and trust.
last year twenty programme countries received funding to address identified gaps in implementation and the capacity building strand of erasmus provides support to the remaining members of the bologna process.
these reforms support core issues at the heart of eu policymaking too by promoting social inclusion enhancing learning mobility and employability of european citizens as well as promoting the international competitiveness of higher education in europe.
mr president thank you for the opportunity to discuss this report and to say that the commission welcomes the report follow up on the implementation of the bologna process and would like to congratulate the rapporteur on the result.
the commission continues to argue for wider and deeper implementation and for this it is crucial to fully involve the academic community and relevant stakeholders as parliament's report also underlines.
as the report acknowledges countries have modified their higher education structures and established mechanisms for better mobility recognition and quality assurance in education.
he's on camera inside the gated area calmly refusing to enter unless he was allowed to take with him eleven former members of the assembly. the event with him climbing the railing was staged afterwards.
the declaration by josep borrell expressing full support to guaid as president of the national assembly is so disappointing and for me it's a disgrace.
among others the german bundestag found that no legislative changes are necessary because the current german law explicitly sanctions the unlicensed manufacture of guns and firearms regardless of the method of their production.
on product liability this is a matter that is covered by the product liability directive. on this issue i can tell you that the commission published its fifth report on the product liability directive and the evaluation of the directive back in two thousand and eighteen. it also published a staff working document
the commission recently commissioned a study on the intellectual property rights implications of the development of industrial threedimensional printing.
the purpose of this study is to analyse the intellectual property implications of the development of industrial three d printing.
on liability for emerging digital technologies in the same year.
obviously the fight against counterfeited products be it through three d printing or any other production method is of paramount importance for the commission.
nevertheless the commission will submit to this parliament and to the council a report on the application of the firearms directive including a fitness check of its provisions accompanied if appropriate by legislative proposals notably concerning the impacts of new technologies
in addition the commission is working on a guidance document for the implementation of the directive and this guidance document should be available later this year.
since two thousand and fourteen the eu has allocated almost eur two hundred and forty five million to help people in need in nigeria and in two thousand and nineteen we provided more than eur twenty eight million in humanitarian assistance.
indeed we are deeply concerned with the issue of shrinking humanitarian access in the northeast and with the breaches of international humanitarian law.
i want to express our condolences to the families of the victims and our solidarity with the people of nigeria and in particular with the communities that have been so deeply affected by the insurgency of non state armed groups especially in the north east of the country. the boko haram insurgency has killed more than thirty six zero people in nigeria alone
two thousand and nine an additional challenge is the growing humanitarian crisis.
multi sectoral human rights oriented approach that focuses on peace building conflict prevention humanitarian assistance and social and economic development at community level.
we continue to work on strengthening the military's civilian protection policies and practices demobilisation disassociation reintegration and reconciliation efforts and in delivering improvements to nigeria's criminal justice system.
thousand and fourteen to two thousand and nineteen alongside these efforts we are strongly committed to the fight against radicalisation and violent extremism.
next week i will travel to nigeria including to the northeast in order to convey a clear signal of the eu's commitment at the highest political level.
it provides immediate assistance to cover the basic needs of the most vulnerable internally displaced people and host communities.
the eu continues to stand ready to assist nigeria in responding to its security humanitarian and development crisis in particular around lake chad but also in the north west middle belt niger delta and elsewhere and in all these cases a comprehensive approach that addresses the root causes is necessary in our view.
since.
more than two million people are estimated to be internally displaced more than seven million are in need of humanitarian assistance and more than one million are estimated to be out of humanitarian reach. the eu is following the situation very closely. we have promoted an integrated
the eu also aims to build long term resilience through its development assistance which addresses the underlying causes of violent conflict as well as support to basic services and rebuilding livelihoods.
the european union should use its financial instruments to invest in development of the region leading to the protection of religious minorities.
also at the end of december we witnessed several attacks on christian villages causing the death of over thirty people.
although the nigerian president a muslim condemned the atrocities the announced governmental measures to prevent further violence lack efficiency.
it is time that the international community recognised the persecution of christians around the world.
nigerian security forces often seem to neglect the persecution of christians. we discuss case after case of violent actions against religious minorities.
for more than ten years violent extremist and jihadist groups such as boko haram and islamic state in west africa province terrorised the country.
the latest reports date from last week eight january when fulani muslim herdsmen attacked the predominantly christian village of kulben in central nigeria and killed thirteen civilians.
africa is a deeply religious continent and it happens too often that misconceptions about other religions are used to instigate hate and terror.
millions run for their lives. millions more live every day in fear.
it's a terrible fate for them and for their families.
nigeria with its oil wealth would be a leading example in the region.
it's yet another country in sub saharan africa that sees its economic and political potential wasting away.
the pain is easy to imagine.
europe must continue to support the people of nigeria and promote the regional cooperation and encourage further reforms like for security and in the army.
madam president bring back our girls'. remember six years ago this hashtag brought the world together to call upon the islamic terror group boko haram to release the hundreds of schoolgirls they abducted. it is heart breaking to think that more than one hundred of them have still not returned to their homes today.
let me remind you that you discipline hungary and poland because they are accused of betraying european values.
you say you embrace diversity but you never embrace diversity of opinion.
there is a tension in this parliament this relentless push by the eu to a federalist system in which all national cultural and political differences need to be eradicated and squashed seems to be incredibly destructive.
but those values must include the european enlightenment values of selfdetermination popular sovereignty democracy and what's more tolerance of political views you disagree with.
they were arrested on charges of undermining state security but really these attacks on media freedom are aimed at preventing the world from knowing about serious human rights abuses happening in burundi. so my questions to the commission.
how will it use its leverage such as the eur four hundred million allocated in the european development fund?
they were journalists just doing their job investigating and holding the government to account.
a platform that i've been able to use to speak against human rights abuses around the world.
and as elections approach in may how will the commission ensure that president nkurunziza acts to protect what is left of freedom of expression in burundi and that there are free and peaceful elections? this is perhaps my last speech in this plenary and it has been an honour and a privilege to be able to speak up for those who are less able to do so;
with particular regard to post employment activities the assessment is made on a case by case basis.
the decision concerning mr farkas was taken by the eba board of supervisors which is the decision making body to decide on and enforce post employment restrictions. the members of the board with voting rights are the heads of the national public authorities competent for the supervision of credit institutions in each member state.
in this respect vice president jourov has been entrusted by the president to work with the european parliament and the council on setting up an independent ethics body common to all eu institutions.
the commission has just published its fifth report.
this mode of governance is the choice of the legislator.
since two thousand and fourteen the staff regulations provide that each institution must publish annually information on the implementation of the prohibition for former senior managers for one year to engage in lobbying or advocacy vis vis staff of the former institution
in july last year the european court of auditors issued a report on the ethical framework of the european parliament the council and the commission.
i understand that the move of mr farkas from the european banking authority to the private sector generated some concerns and in this context you addressed questions to the commission with regards to its policy and its legal framework.
for each case there must be appropriate balance between the need to ensure the integrity of the work of the institution through temporary prohibitions and restrictions and on the other hand the need to respect the former staff members' right to engage in work and to pursue a freely chosen or accepted occupation
the new college marks a new momentum to address ethical challenges together with new ideas and determination.
the staff regulations and the implementing rules adopted by the commission apply to all eu agencies unless agencies adopt their own implementing rules which are validated by the commission. at the same time each agency holds its independence since they are separate legal entities.
the effective operation of ethics in the civil service requires that public officials and agents be independent impartial and responsible to the people.
the court of auditors' audit confirmed that to a large extent the audited institutions have established adequate ethical frameworks and that the commission is well advanced in this matter.
you have also raised the point in relation to the horizontal harmonisation of the ethical legal framework across the eu institutions.
these contain a comprehensive ethical framework.
two thousand and eighteen i would also like to underline the importance of transparency.
this was the case when the new decision on outside activities and assignments and occupational activities after leaving the service was adopted in.
when closing its second inquiry in february last year the european ombudsman confirmed that the commission has high standards in the area of ethics and transparency and encouraged the commission to continue to lead by example.
the commission participates in the board meetings with only one representative without voting rights.
this is part of the commission's overall efforts to achieve greater transparency which also includes publication of commissioners' and senior staff meetings and updates to the eu transparency register to name just a few.
prohibitions or restrictions must be well reasoned and proportionate.
this means that agencies are independently responsible for the implementation of the rules compliance and for adopting individual decisions concerning their staff and this also concerns mr farkas.
these provisions explicitly address the issue of lobbying in a democracy during leave on personal grounds or after having left the institution.
cooperation with the other institutions in this process of course is key to making this a success.
why are they preventing us from reforming the agricultural policy? why are they holding us back from what needs to be done when the planet is at risk?