kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
a few weeks later it turned out that he had used overly optimistic figures in his presentation.
but we should not do it alone.
we must involve the national parliaments and cooperation between the european parliament and national parliaments must be strengthened.
incidentally the proposal from the polish government that addresses the question goes in the right direction.
mr president i am speaking on behalf of the committee on constitutional affairs so these points are also included in the report. if we want to strengthen the european semester we have to endow it with more democratic legitimacy. we need to clear up the remaining legal ambiguities which may give rise to institutional conflicts increased complexity of the system or duplication of competences. the european parliament which is the only supranational institution with electoral legitimacy should be involved in economic policy coordination. we should be able to evaluate the whole process be involved in the follow up to the annual growth survey and the country specific recommendations.
the commission will issue the new annual growth survey at the end of november two thousand and twelve together with the alert mechanism report and regulation no one thousand one.
however whether a new legislative proposal in this area is opportune can only be assessed once the results of the currently ongoing negotiations on the two pack are completed and the debate on the future of emu has sufficiently advanced.
the commission supports the strong involvement of the european parliament in the reinforced european semester and the active role of the european parliament in the new economic dialogue.
therefore all efforts should concentrate on programme implementation which covers the most urgent priorities for the countries concerned.
two thousand and twenty the economic adjustment programmes include important growth enhancing structural reforms covering the most urgent issues in the respective member states' economies.
firstly the report calls on the commission to review its current approach and to issue only one recommendation to member states in the financial assistance programme in order to bring it more into line with the europe two thousand and twenty objectives.
i would like to recall that the adjustment programmes already touch on areas covered by europe.
the commission is pleased by parliament's endorsement of the two thousand and twelve european semester and the support for its growth enhancing policies and its policies aimed at correcting macroeconomic imbalances. the commission equally welcomes the call for member states to strictly follow the rules
secondly the report calls on the commission to present a framework regulation specifying the role including timelines of the member states and the eu institutions at the various stages of the semester cycle.
the commission has deliberately decided to issue one single country specific recommendation for programme countries asking them to implement the measures as laid down in the respective programmes.
thirdly the report calls for strengthening the democratic legitimacy of eu economic governance.
the possibility for parliament introduced by the six pack to conduct economic dialogues with individual member states provides an important element for a transparent process of democratic accountability in european economic governance.
hundred and seventy six two thousand and eleven allow me to go into some more detail with regard to the positions expressed in the report in three areas.
the answer to the problems of the south is not austerity which produces only more unemployment.
we need to see an abandonment of the euro experiment and southern countries released to enjoy export led booms.
most of the countries of europe need reflation without inflation.
we must remember that what is physically possible must be financially possible or there is something wrong with the financial system.
we must reject globalism protect and recreate our industries and reject the coded references in this report to wage cuts and worsened economic conditions.
we must not drive down our wages and conditions.
equally tackling youth unemployment has been a key priority for the commission throughout.
of the european semester.
these programmes also include important growth enhancing structural reforms covering the most urgent issues in the respective member states' economies.
this is an important practice which could be built upon further.
the commission considers it not only its right but indeed its legally mandated responsibility to point out policy inconsistencies and potential sources of negative spillovers including in areas where such autonomy of the social partners exists.
these are the preconditions for sustainable growth and job creation which are the ultimate objectives of the programmes and of europe.
we find it particularly relevant to give new impetus to such a dialogue in the context of the european semester and could foresee an intensified dialogue at two separate moments during the semester following the annual growth survey and the adoption of the country specific recommendations.
but it is important that this responsibility is also exercised in the light of the european dimension.
the reforms pursued under the programmes thus span a wide range of areas to ensure that the countries concerned can realise soon smart sustainable and inclusive growth and employment creation.
the social dimension of the two thousand and twelve european semester has already been strengthened in the two thousand and twelve annual growth survey which included as a priority the need to address unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis.
two thousand and twelve a large number of member states received a country specific recommendation on this subject including the eight member states where youth unemployment is the highest.
however i see that the french president has reduced the retirement age from sixty two to sixty whereas most of the countries in the eu have to increase it from sixty five to.
it was all financial figures and economic variables then.
and while everybody expresses their grave and graver concern over rising youth unemployment they stop short of a binding youth guarantee.
the text of the amendments neither applauds nor criticises the compact and it should be capable of uniting us as a parliament.
one sentence threatens that majority.
i would appeal strongly to colleagues on the left and the right in this parliament to vote in favour of the identical amendments one and fourteen to change this sentence regardless of your opinion on the fiscal compact because this report is not about that.
it is in paragraph twenty three on the fiscal compact.
this report is not the place to settle our differences on the fiscal compact it is about the european semester.
when i started working as a rapporteur on the semester around this time last year there was hardly any debate at all about job creation or recovery.
i deplore the fact that although the semester is becoming more and more important it is not becoming more democratic.
this has changed for the better but although the debate seems to have shifted in the right direction the actions have not yet shifted.
we are doing our own report on single market governance which will link into this but i hope that over the next twelve months we may make some serious progress on integrating our thoughts about the single market into the broader strategy for growth and dynamism in the european economy.
the policies at member state level there is time to consider how to incorporate this more formally into the semester process.
i do not think we from the european union should regulate labour markets because that must be left up to the different member states.
mr president whether it agrees or not the european commission has contributed to the crisis by distributing the european budget without exercising proper controls.
also through multiple directives it has imposed a huge burden of regulation on member states forcing prohibitive costs on private entrepreneurship.
how can the same institution which has failed so gravely make judgments on where and how member states need to put their taxpayers' money?
smes are the backbone of economic expansion and recovery.
but by urging the member states to create access to finance for smes we will achieve nothing as their coffers are now empty.
why not look for more flexible measures instead of calling for the inclusion of a core set of rights in workers' contracts?
the commission has not learnt any lessons from the past.
let me mention the most important ones.
that every year millions of non eu nationals enter the european union with a visa be it for a short stay or for a longer period. most of them are legitimate travellers who fulfil the entry and stay conditions on the territory of the member states. the current visa information system allows us to check at the external borders and in the consulates around the world
we cannot allow criminals and potential terrorists to enter europe undetected. europe i have repeatedly said is not a fortress and will never become one but at the same time we need to know who is crossing our borders.
this will close an important security gap.
fourthly regarding the finger printing of children we have to be consistent.
fundamental rights will be as always at the heart of all our policies including in the design of our information systems.
to the visa information system for prevention detection or investigation of terrorist offences or other serious crimes.
i am sure this is an objective that we all share.
it will also allow national authorities not to legalise the presence of third country nationals who do not fulfil basic security conditions for entry and stay in the european union such as persons with links to known terrorists or organised crime networks.
we have proposed lowering the age for finger printing because we want to fight child trafficking more effectively.
access to the vis will also be opened to law enforcement authorities for the purpose of searching or identifying missing or abducted persons and victims of trafficking.
the lowering of the age of finger printing provides us with a key tool for achieving concrete results. i want to close with the most important point for our citizens.
this will increase the efficiency of the european union returns policy notably in relation to third countries refusing to give us their cooperation. in addition to this to strengthen our capacity to prosecute and prevent crime law enforcement authorities and europol will have better access
and. seventeen most of these children come from countries that are under visa obligation.
with the new visa information system we will remove blind spots in our systems and give visa authorities and border guards the information they need to do their jobs properly.
that these conditions are fulfilled.
security will remain a defining issue for the european union in the years to come and europe's citizens rightly expect their union and national governments to deliver security in a fast changing and uncertain world. we need sufficient resources to support our actions in the area of internal security in line with our political priorities and
it will focus on three new objectives increasing the exchange of information intensifying crossborder joint operations and strengthening capabilities to combat and prevent crime.
if it's really about human rights violations then stick with the majority in this house calling for the suspension of the accession talks.
i'm very happy to have that commitment.
now i'm surprised to hear this.
but the channel of accession that's the one that we should close because it has become a ridiculous channel.
it doesn't make sense. they have become totally ridiculous and incredible.
i really hope that the council will come up with a more sophisticated strategy than we have seen so far in how to deal with turkey.
i didn't hear more than five colleagues in this room who agree with the strategy of not having any consequences to the accession process.
will you put respecting fundamental rights as a key conditionality including in the trade relationship?
we all agree.
we have a big majority in this house to call for the formal suspension of the accession talks to stop talks i want to make it clear to stop talks with president erdoan about accession.
for ten years we had a turkey rapporteur from the epp who never made this call.
but also i want to hear from the council how are you going to help turkey's democrats?
but i also heard some colleagues from the far right and some members from the epp group who want to go one step further not only stopping the talks but also taking away the candidate status of turkey.
minister you said we take note and we continue to follow' and i am very happy to hear from you in your conclusion that on friday's meeting with the turkish president you will put human rights at the top of the agenda.
since the british people's vote to leave the european union this place has increased rhetoric emphasising alarming support for the development of integrated eu military forces.
in the case of european neighbourhood policy countries it becomes another element in the chain of contacts and peopletopeople diplomacy.
in the cases of the chair of the european banking authority and the position of board member of the single resolution board several candidates including female candidates failed to meet the eligibility criteria often because they did not have the required minimum professional or senior management experience in the field of finance.
twenty we also agree that women continue to be particularly under represented in executive positions in the field of banking and financial services.
we look forward to continuing the cooperation with this house on this very important matter.
the commission is strongly in favour of supporting women with the necessary qualifications reaching top positions.
the under representation of women can also be observed in the public sector entities in this field.
on average there are four to five times more male candidates than female candidates.
in line with the relevant regulation establishing the board appointments are to be based on merit skills knowledge of banking and financial matters and on relevant expertise and experience.
as regards the european banking authority the commission's role is limited to assisting the board of supervisors in relation to the appointment of the chairperson of the european banking authority.
first of all let me emphasise that this commission is fully committed to the principle of gender balance and has taken decisive action in this regard.
for the single resolution board currently chaired by a woman the commission is indeed entrusted with providing the european parliament with a shortlist of candidates for the positions of chair vice chair and other members of the board.
on the specific cases you are debating today i would like to stress that it follows from article two hundred and eighty three two of the treaty on the functioning of the european union that the commission plays no role in the appointment of a new member of the executive board of the european central bank.
moreover in line with article fifty six four of that regulation candidates shall be chosen on the basis of an open selection procedure which must respect the principles of gender balance experience and qualification.
women rarely make up more than a third of the governing bodies of most national central banks.
the under representation of women can be observed in a similar way in the applications for positions in eu agencies active in this field.
we have taken this into account and rigorously respected the legal requirements in the selection procedures and we have kept the european parliament informed at all stages of the process.
women only account for about fifteen of private executives.
in the cases where the commission has a role in the process the commission will continue to pay close attention to the issue of gender balance when composing shortlist of candidates for the eu financial services agencies.
but in my opinion the current reform package makes it even more difficult for citizens to participate for example by eliminating individual online collection systems.
with some eighty of the country's population now affected it is difficult to overestimate the severity of the problems as hospitals and other key services and infrastructure struggle to keep afloat.
much more likely it seems it was the result of underinvestment attributable to the many years of corruption and mismanagement under the chavez regime a pattern we now see continuing under maduro.
with regret i can only note the shredding of some of the democratic achievements since.
our engagement is not unconditional open dialogue is not uncritical dialogue.
a series of high level sectoral dialogues on political issues transport and the economy has taken place recently and an association council will be convened later this week.
we have emphasised that the turkish government should refrain from provocative and illegal actions notably in the eastern mediterranean and in the aegean. at the same time we must not lose sight of the long term and perhaps even more importantly of the many people in turkey who are directly affected by the current downward trend on fundamental freedoms.
we also continue to call on turkey to improve its relations with all our member states bilaterally especially with cyprus.
it also hosts the largest refugee population in the world and our cooperation under the facility for refugees is an example of successful cooperation.
it was a state actor namely the russian federation and non state actors predominantly radicalised islamic organisations like isis. this time we decided to structure the report's recommendations differently thanks to the contribution of representatives of major political groups in the parliament.
we mention all of these activities in citations. i would like to stress the importance of the code of practice on disinformation the activity of the european endowment for democracy as well
we stress the changing patterns of a variety of actors. in terms of radicalised organisation we mentioned that instead of very popular websites that increased the level of radicalisation of young
much has been done both within the eu institutions eu based institutions and organisations and by civil society during those two years.
symbolic and universal meaning.
there exists already though a good degree of political and practical cooperation between them and the eu.
the three states combined have a population of around just one hundred and fifty zero people three times smaller than the eu's smallest member state malta.
therefore the association agreement will recognise this important imbalance between the two negotiating sides and i'm pleased to note that the lpez aguilar report repeatedly calls for its implications to be taken into account so as to recognise the difficulties facing the micro states in concluding an association agreement.
given the intense debates in my own country around brexit i'm only too familiar with the importance of the indivisibility of the four freedoms of the single market.
the presidency and the council as a whole fully share the sense of urgency and the commitment of the parliament and the commission in addressing this issue.
let me start by very clearly stating that the council is strongly committed to the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
we have in particular strengthened eu rules with the adoption in two thousand and nineteen of the latest amendments to the anti money laundering directive which stands as a very good example of this good cooperation.
so coming straight to the issue at hand the council has objected to the commission's delegated act identifying high risk third countries with strategic deficiencies.
we believe that in order to establish a strong and effective instrument the commission proposal needs to be established in a transparent manner and one that incentivises affected countries to take decisive action.
but to achieve the full impact of this instrument and to ensure its quality we need to introduce the list in an orderly process.
we are united and fully committed to maintaining and promoting the existing cooperation between the institutions.
this decision to object does not mean that the listing is not an important element of the ongoing work.
member states but also the european parliament attribute a huge importance to this file.
of course further progress is needed in our joint fight.
together we the parliament council and commission have worked closely over recent years in our common endeavour to establish an effective regime to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
the system will make it easier for member states to share assessments data and best practices in tackling disinformation. this will ahead of the european elections bring better situational awareness make it easier to determine responsibility for attacks and promote joint response if and when needed
this is about the quality of our democracies and about the quality of our union.
the report calls on the eu institutions to ensure that eu strategic communication becomes a matter of high priority on the european agenda and that the eu institutions and member states work hand in hand in fighting against disinformation.
mr president honourable members many thanks for making time to debate the challenge of disinformation and foreign interference which is more urgent than ever in view of the european elections.
indeed our fundamental values must be at the heart of our response to the challenge of disinformation.
obviously the action plan will fully respect the different national approaches with freedom of expression and freedom of the media as guiding principles of our action.
it closely matches the logic and actions set out in the action plan against disinformation which the high representative and the commission submitted to the european council.
investing in the eu's positive communications and public diplomacy in our neighbourhood is crucial in addressing disinformation and promoting european values and interests.
it is our collective duty to keep the european elections clean from foreign interference.
we are doing and will continue to do our part but member states need to step up efforts collectively too as the european council indicated in its conclusions.
the best antidote against disinformation is on the one hand to promote a healthy media environment and on the other to spread the word about the positive impact of eu policies. our citizens as well as the citizens of our region
have the right to make decisions based on correct information not on fake news.
the response against hybrid threats should be a joint enterprise.
unfortunately the number is likely to rise further as the problem will not go away anytime soon.
the recommendation underlines the centrality of freedom of speech and expression as well as media pluralism to resilient democratic societies.
the european external action service is working on this in full concert with parliament's and the commission's services.
in addition we should partner more with our neighbours to promote a positive european agenda.
this is precisely the spirit in which we have drafted and now are implementing the action plan against disinformation.
in parallel we are building better cooperation in tackling foreign interference and hybrid threats with our international partners such as nato and g.
including in terms of awareness raising and increasing our society's resilience. i appreciate your acknowledgment of the work done so far by the east stratcom task force both in terms of positive communications and in addressing disinformation.
the commission's response to the future challenges has been clear.
eu funding is paramount for creating and sustaining strong external borders. already four years into the current multiannual financial framework eu funding has helped train almost nine zero border guards.
allowing our border guards to work together with their counterparts in third countries in a close and interoperable manner will help reduce irregular migration and the loss of lives at sea.
with the new requirements.