kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
i am glad to see that this own initiative report comes some way towards guaranteeing a similar universal service obligation throughout the rest of europe but let us recognise the difficulties and challenges presented by this obligation.
ones. this will make it easier for them to spot problems in the market.
and fewer member states now require deliveries on six days each week instead of five.
this is important but compensation should be limited to what is strictly necessary and should not distort competition.
we concluded that close monitoring and further analysis of the market was needed and we committed to publishing statistics each year.
parcel delivery companies especially universal service providers will also be able to benefit from a growing number of parcels.
universal service providers can be compensated for net costs they incur in providing universal services.
so as it stands the current uk postal services act two thousand and eleven goes further than the minimum obligations laid down for a universal service.
regrettably due to the unwelcome inclusion of a social dimension we are unlikely to support the rapporteur in the vote tomorrow.
finally mr president we now live in a world where most of us will be buying goods online and we expect a twenty four seven service.
it was only in two thousand and fourteen following a lengthy battle to exclude vehicles of this weight that that regulation was supported.
the key reason for this is not that we do not support great opportunities and good working conditions but the reference in paragraph forty eight to the possible installation of tachographs on vehicles of less than.
the royal mail means a great deal to all of us in the uk.
a six day a week provision is guaranteed with uniform prices and free services to blind and partially sighted people which shows that we have fully met the requirements to date.
it has changed dramatically.
for me the way to do this is to have a solid regulatory environment in which we have high quality universal services with a certain degree of flexibility independent and i stress independent national authorities that monitor the situation on the market
i think that this is the way to go.
for me ladies and gentlemen this is not the end;
i am looking forward to that and i think that we should be bound by the principles on which we have agreed in this report.
the review of the postal services directive is a welcome opportunity to assess these developments now and establish our priorities for the future of services in europe.
it is important to note at the outset that the postal services review and the report that we will vote on tomorrow have both confirmed that the directive does not require the privatisation of a universal service provider.
in fact it stresses that eu citizens have a guaranteed right to affordable and regular postal delivery services and it makes clear that these rights need to be protected. so together we must ensure the long term sustainability of the universal service obligation protecting as has also been said minimum delivery standards while recognising that the current provisions do provide member states with the necessary flexibility within the law in the application of the directive according to particular geographical circumstances.
i would urge you very much to welcome this report with me.
parliament's report makes it clear that competition in the postal sector must develop in a way that enhances rather than impedes citizens' basic rights.
greater consumer choice is to be welcomed but we must ensure that this does not lead to cherry picking particularly in relation to employment practices in the sector.
it has been acknowledged in the report that liberalisation of the postal sector has led to substantial differences in working conditions and wages and the report also stresses that increasing competition should not lead to illegal social practices.
the eu and the member states must work together to protect fundamental workers' rights across the sector irrespective of employment status. now while this report deals primarily with the review of the postal services directive we know that online shopping is a major factor and that has also been mentioned. so overall this is a good report and i would urge everyone to vote for it tomorrow.
it is essential of course as other colleagues have said to keep the universal service obligation to deliver and collect five times a week as a minimum.
it is important too to allow enough flexibility for member states to meet their own domestic needs as well as ensuring that this service is sustainable.
post is one of the most valued public services and has changed and developed a great deal in recent years as we have become more digital.
i know from my own constituency in wales how vital it is to ensure that there is no discrimination against people who live in rural or mountainous areas compared with people living in cities and towns.
there has to be an equal service. the report highlights the importance of decent working conditions and wages for all postal workers for more checks on rest times improving driver and road safety.
it also includes protection for consumers and the need for easy recourse particularly in the case of cross border services and it aims at ensuring affordability and access for all which must be a basic principle for all of our services.
fighting against malnutrition requires we ensure access to education.
this comes on top of the food insecurity in these regions that affects millions already especially women and girls.
one four million children are at imminent risk of death from starvation today in the twenty first century.
we cannot expect to solve the humanitarian crisis if we keep selling arms to saudi arabia or overlook the role of iran in the war in yemen and the region.
women and girls particularly pregnant women and adolescent girls are the most vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition.
madam president i thank all of my colleagues here especially soraya post for raising this issue. the scale of the catastrophe we see unfolding before us is staggering.
we must make sure that our policy on this is coherent and consistent.
unicef estimates that.
i also want to reiterate the long term role of education and intercultural dialogue in peace building and development.
clearly more must be done urgently to save these lives.
hundreds of thousands of children are in immediate risk in nigeria and yemen.
unfortunately this is the tragic reality for millions of citizens.
we are currently mobilising all our funding possibilities to step up our response.
over five million people need emergency food assistance in north east nigeria alone.
the situation is desperate. half the population over six million people are now facing acute food insecurity and hunger. three million people need urgent life saving assistance.
ground. as the european union we are fully committed to doing our best to help as we did last year when we adopted a package of eur five hundred and forty million to help address the el nio effects in
this as you know has to be matched by other donors because the needs are huge. every hour that passes is
but the worry is even bigger right now because of the combination of extremism and instability with climate change and population growth.
this is the largest food insecurity emergency in the world.
we must not repeat the tragedy of the two thousand and eleven famine in the horn of africa.
provision social cohesion mobility opportunities and livelihoods. i believe we can still save many lives.
is it really some important legal issue or is the truth that they realise they are in severe danger of losing amendment no four and they want to postpone it so as to apply pressure to members of their own groups? this has nothing to do with the fictitious reason we have been given and i would urge colleagues to vote against this delay and vote in favour of amendment no.
i agree with mr bendtsen's remarks and i truly believe after the meetings i had with the representatives of the greenland and danish parliament with the inuit community different ngos and with the commission itself that the hunt conducted by inuits and other indigenous communities does not harm or threaten to harm the habitat and health of the seal populations and there is no
the reality is that in nordic and baltic countries there are still licenses issued for hunting seals. there are some cultural traditions in estonia for instance there are fifty licenses granted for this type of hunting and this number is not likely to increase.
the fact that they cannot make any use of what they hunt does not contribute to making people aware of it and value it as they just end up disregarding it.
i hope that the commission will look at current practices and see what is the best way to ensure that while respecting the ban we still allow traditions to carry on in the smartest way since legislation that allows hunting but either leads to a waste of resources or creates a grey economy is not good legislation.
madam president whilst i appreciate that changes to the legislation on seal products are based on world trade organisation recommendations and serve the intention of better welfare and the protection of seals i am deeply concerned about the impact that this will have on the inuit communities whom these changes will also largely affect.
recent figures from greenland have shown that the ban has had an overwhelmingly negative effect on those communities.
in two thousand and nine when the exemption for inuit communities was first established a key priority of parliament was to ensure that negative impacts would not occur for the inuit communities who for hundreds of years have relied on seal hunting as a means of providing food warmth and economic prosperity.
to ensure that continued or additional negative impacts from future changes do not take place we must ensure that the livelihoods of the inuit are held in the same high regard as the welfare of the seals.
however like many things that come from this parliament this was not the end result.
under which seal products resulting from hunts conducted by inuit and other indigenous communities could be placed on the market a clear reference to the needs of such communities to provide food and income to support their life and a sustainable livelihood.
the proposal was amended so as to reiterate that seal hunting is an integral part of the culture and identity of the inuit communities making a major contribution to their subsistence providing food and income to support their families and small communities and preserving and continuing the traditional existence of the community and the cultural heritage of bartering.
we amended the commission's proposal taking into consideration in particular the right to self determination of the inuit and other indigenous communities.
the amendment had become necessary after the wto ruling in june last year.
it is a politically sensitive issue for many involved and we are satisfied that a balanced compromise has been reached.
it provides for a balanced approach between fulfilling the eu's international trade obligations and addressing the legitimate concerns of inuit communities and member states affected by the changes.
the final result upholds the ban with a meaningful indigenous communities exception and addresses all the shortcomings identified by the wto such as the need for removal of the marine resource management exception.
the commission has made it clear that we fully support the outcome as far as the substance is concerned. on some procedural issues changes made to the commission's proposal in the course of the negotiations require us to make two statements relating to horizontal institutional issues which we have forwarded to the european parliament services for recording in the minutes.
we believe that the constructive cooperation between the institutions has led to a very good result.
a very important step for the credibility of the eu as one of the main users of the wto dispute settlement mechanism in implementing its wto obligations.
while the ruling upheld the eu ban on marketing of seal products the wto concluded that the exceptions provided by the eu for inuit and other indigenous communities and for maritime resource management had some discriminatory effects.
furthermore some specific requests by the european parliament were taken on board in the compromise text such as the provisions requiring the commission to regularly evaluate the regulation as well as to inform the public about the ban and its exception.
throughout the process the commission has engaged with all the relevant stakeholders and also those member states particularly concerned with the proposal. we believe that this dialogue has been very constructive and that its results are reflected in the outcome of this process.
let me once again thank you for being engaged in this process so constructively despite the sensitivities surrounding the subject which have been well reflected in most of the points which you raised.
the updated regulation aims at ensuring that the fundamental economic and social interests of those communities traditionally engaged in the hunting of seals will not be affected adversely.
the hunt as has been explained is an integral part of their culture and identity and represents a source of income and as has already been highlighted by most of the speakers contributes to their subsistence as well.
however rest assured that we have thoroughly examined each and every proposal that we have received but found no possibility for keeping the exception without running a great risk of wto sanctions because of continued non compliance.
it was also vitally important for us that we clarified the wording around the inuit exemption so that they cannot only eat the seals that they hunt but also make a living from those seal products.
finally in line with the ecr commitment for better regulation i think it is vitally important that we have now put requirements on the commission to study the effect of these changes and particularly the effect of the changes in relation to the previous legislation so that we can go forward with better legislation in the future.
so from the ecr group we supported the commission proposal we are supportive of the agreement and we think this is a good step for the future.
these important initiatives are finally being decided and implemented.
this is definitely necessary as the european union especially the eurozone finds itself at a decisive juncture not only in its three year old debt crisis but in its thirteen year old history.
the short term symptoms of this crisis have their roots in long term ailments both structural and systemic.
this is the proposal before you now.
the two are of course closely intertwined.
there is no time to lose.
together these two elements will improve the quality of debt raised by project promoters allow institutional investors to buy this debt and support considerable investment throughout europe.
building on its experience and developing joint instruments the eib has been working on identifying projects suitable for the start up period.
the clear objective however is to support access to long term finance for infrastructure throughout europe.
the project bond initiative is therefore another fine example of synergy between the eib and the commission and i thank commissioner rehn for his excellent cooperation.
long term investment will be a crucial component of this plan.
it is not an alternative to the instruments in our toolbox; it is an addition to them.
as we all know there will be huge investment needs all over europe in the coming years so the test phase of the project bond initiative comes not a moment too soon.
we are faced with an urgent need to restart our economies to stop the rise in unemployment in order to preserve the eu's role and position in the world and the project bond initiative will be one more element among others in our toolbox to raise private money on the financial markets.
allow me first of all to thank parliament for its support of this initiative and in particular the rapporteur mr gran frm for his constructive and pragmatic approach which has hopefully helped to reach a compromise acceptable to all.
importantly for the taxpayer the project bond initiative does not impose an additional burden on domestic budgets sovereign debt or contingent liabilities.
at last week's summit leaders committed to an ambitious growth and jobs compact.
this is the rationale for using public money as risk capital in times of crisis. a careful scaling of the eu guarantee and eib loan element will allow for a more efficient use of eu budgetary resources.
as the eib has traditionally worked on three pillars lending blending and advising we are optimistic that we can offer our help and experience to make this pilot phase a success and it must become a success.
the multiplier effect can be significant.
the first pilot projects will most likely be situated in some of the more advanced project financed markets of the eu and will focus on a handful of clearly bankable deals where relatively small amounts of public money can help underpin relatively large volumes of investment.
i know that some member states including my own have been reluctant to accept this initiative but i hope that this debate has reduced their worries.
we are not taking any unreasonable risks with taxpayers' money and we really need this additional effort.
i would say that the main discussion here has been about the risks.
on criteria mr turmes and some others have raised the idea of having other kinds of projects such as renewable energy projects.
outcome of all this to an objective test and to scrutiny and evaluation.
that means that we have to play with open cards and with very precise and clear criteria that will be the benchmark for the evaluation of success of this instrument.
i can assure you that the bank is going to be ready to participate in this critical and honest review of what has been achieved within a relatively short period of time.
the private sector that has equity will pay a market premium for credit enhancement.
this is what the eib is going to guarantee in this process.
for communication and transport for energy security and green growth.
they have to be because the well being of every european citizen depends on the well being of europe as a whole.
soon for these projects.
as regards concrete projects my understanding is that the eib is already receiving expressions of interest and has started assessing a number of potential projects in the three sectors transport energy and communications in order to start seeing signatures
as a lever for many larger volumes of investment in the future.
we want to see projects being financed as soon as possible and to assess how the initiative is received by market participants.
access to finance has become more difficult in the wake of the financial crisis. in the current challenging economic environment we need to ensure that long term investment in the fields of transport energy and information technology can be maintained.
the project bond initiative is designed to help attract and facilitate private financing of priority projects.
the european union contribution to the project bond instrument should help leverage large volumes of investment.
provided that the experience of the project phase is positive the volume of such financial instruments could be developed further in the future.
this helped us make rapid progress for which i would like to express my thanks to the danish presidency for the particularly efficient way in which it conducted the negotiation.
a wide range of instruments and policies have to be used in order to achieve this.
it will make an important contribution to supporting investment in infrastructure and will thereby help boost economic growth and create jobs.
nevertheless we must bear in mind that growth is created by markets not by institutions or legislators so if we want growth we should support the market.
if we want to speed up the development of infrastructure in order to complete the internal market and boost competitiveness we must use our shrunk budgets to attract private finance dedicated to long term investments.
the new mechanisms like the connecting europe facility should primarily rely on these financial instruments to develop energy and telecom infrastructure in a stable and transparent framework which will not distort markets and which will attract private investors rather than crowding them out by creating an uneven competition between public and private money.
yes we need project bonds to work and yes we need them to be assessed and improved after their pilot phase.
being part of the solution requires leverage for each euro spent by the public sector.
mr president i welcome the rapporteur's proposals particularly for investments that will help stimulate the european economy but i want to add a word of caution that it must be investment which adds real value. things like research and development cross border connectivity of energy
and transport and broadband are really adding european value whereas a lot of the previous investment in infrastructure has been of questionable value.
but i stress that this being a pilot project it is strictly time limited and at the end of that period it will be subject to independent analysis. it is important for that analysis to be taken seriously because it is not a rubber stamp exercise.
the outcome must be respected and in respecting that the key must be to protect the interests and exposure of the european taxpayer.
g twenty leaders discussed various topics of global importance and crucially issues on which the g twenty should provide leadership.
let me start with an issue which is very high on our agenda namely the management of migration.
it also recognised the structural problems caused by excess capacity in some industries most notably in the steel sector and agreed that this required a collective response.
importantly there was the recognition that growth needs to be inclusive in order to ensure that it serves the needs of everyone and benefits all countries and people so that no one is left behind.
challenges originating from geopolitical developments were also mentioned.
following the adoption of conclusions on taxation last may the council has already started to determine on the basis of a first screening by the commission non cooperative third country jurisdictions with which dialogues should begin during the course of next year.
the g twenty summit also made a strong case for international trade as a driver of global economic recovery. to this end g twenty leaders committed to strengthening an open world economy by working towards trade and investment facilitation and liberalisation.
my second point is the global economy.
finally the g twenty summit reaffirmed the commitment of its members to sustainable development and strong and effective action to tackle climate change. the g twenty leaders are committed to countries' ratifying and implementing in a timely fashion all aspects of the paris climate agreement including financial assistance for developing countries. in particular the g twenty supported efforts to enable the paris agreement to enter into force by the end
as well as to consider defensive measures against them.
the g twenty reaffirmed its commitment to the multilateral trading system with the wto at its core and to advancing the postnairobi work in the wto including the outstanding issues of the doha development round with a view to achieving positive outcomes at the next wto ministerial conference in.
however we need to recognise that anti globalisation sentiment and opposition to trade are increasing.
implementation with the recent adoption of the anti tax avoidance directive but timely consistent and widespread implementation of the beps package at global level remains critical in order to establish an international level playing field and avoid further loopholes.
two thousand and seventeen i also welcome the g twenty commitment to ratifying the trade facilitation agreement by the end of this year and its call for other wto members to do the same.
the establishment of the g twenty trade and investment working group is an important step in this regard.