kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
as a group we have long held the view that the sharing of good practice in this area is a good thing but adding a long wish list to what has already been agreed by the member states is not the right approach. let us look at what works well and help to share that experience for the good of all member states
with this report the european parliament is trying once again to have more and more say over policies.
now i do not blame people wanting to get a better life for themselves and their family.
the people i do blame are the politicians who forgot that they were public servants.
the government in allowing for in work benefits meant that big employers did not have to increase wages because the taxpayer will top up the bill.
but i also worry day after day because those of you here who cling to the euro who cling to free movement and the unreasonable policies of this union you are condemning your futures your youth to misery and unemployment. and when you get your referendums which the people will actually force upon you you will have to change or your constituents will change you.
because people were coming in taking a minimum wage that was much above their own wage but big business cottoned on to this.
it was obvious before the referendum was even called.
it was the governor of the bank of england who sealed the deal for the referendum when he said that mass immigration had led to incredible wage compression.
mr president our referendum on twenty three june was a very british revolution. as i was watching the results come in it was the working class areas it was the traditional labour areas that were coming in with massive votes to leave the european union and it was obvious why.
they forgot that they had a responsibility to their constituents who are their employers. as public servants they have to make sure that they do everything within their power to improve the lot of their employers and they have not.
fortunately with our brexit we have made sure that we can fix this problem and there is not a day that goes by when i do not thank the british people for giving us our freedom.
you talk about employment policies well let us look at the biggest issue that has faced the united kingdom for several years now that of uncontrolled unfettered mass immigration.
if your minimum wage is gbp one an hour and you have the ability to go to a country where the minimum wage is gbp eight or nine an hour you would do that and i do not blame people for doing that.
we do want to see that workers across europe are given due recognition and are provided with the necessary support in the workplace that gives them the respect that they deserve. so i think the position parliament is taking and the discussion we are having here really do underline our commitment to the workers of europe.
mr president as enshrined in the treaties of the european union the overarching objective of the internal market is to achieve full employment and social progress that is a decent job for each and every european citizen no matter which part of the union he may belong to.
this year parliament is once again calling on the council to revise the guidelines addressing the necessary policies to achieve this fundamental contract with citizens to ensure an inclusive integrated labour market decent working conditions and wages for an adequate living income by way of collective bargaining.
yet the council has consistently chosen to ignore this pivotal request of parliament thus failing to live up to one of its basic responsibilities under union law.
will the council this time break with this irresponsible practice and undertake parliament's proposals or not?
i would like to turn to you madam commissioner joining the previous speaker and beg you to convey this message to the council since they do not seem to find anything of interest to be here tonight.
right now we are working with the different experts in order to assess and to define the final requirements of member states to meet their operational needs and to define a more concrete timetable and way forward.
the commission has followed to the letter the roadmap outlined by the council and the council agreed on conclusions at the last meeting.
we have the malta pilot project and are evaluating this. i agree that we should try to find ways to make it more permanent and to involve more member states. this is of course subject to the willingness of member states to contribute but the commission will look at this and we will also look at a general intra eu solidarity mechanism and present that next
this is of course something that could really reinforce our role on the global scene but also make a real difference for these people who are caught in a very difficult situation.
i recognise the need for this as well.
the commission has already made proposals in this regard.
this is of course related but is a slightly different subject.
i think there is broad agreement on the aim and the purpose of this fund and i hope we can find a solution to the procedural issues very soon so the proposal can be adopted without delay.
it is of course a very good initiative to pool the resources of the member states and to encourage further engagement on the global scene in order to alleviate pressure in refugee camps following a crisis or a very difficult situation. we can inspire member states to make more intelligent use of the funds and to coordinate this with unhcr.
imagine if turkey joins the european union we can expect not just seventy two million turks to have automatic right of entry to european countries and britain but floods of refugees from places such as iran and iraq might cross the border into turkey and then seek resettlement in europe!
one half of it the conservative party pretends to be eurosceptic whatever that means while the other half the liberal democratic party is unreservedly europhile.
however our new prime minister mr cameron can solve such problems at a stroke as i described here yesterday.
such a scheme would merely encourage more refugees genuine or not to come to the european union.
britain does not have to join this scheme but watching our new government grapple with such issues will be interesting.
we do not have any positive results.
we cannot continue investing money into a lifelong project.
the legislative proposals before you contained three substantial elements mr coelho made reference to them and that will change the development of the project.
many of these refugees find themselves in catch twenty two situations they cannot return to their country of origin nor can they integrate locally in the country of first asylum since many of these countries are themselves victims of conflict or poverty.
it is very complicated but i am determined to work together with you in order to get this right in a transparent way and to see the project completed. the vote tomorrow is very timely for the sis ii project.
we will continue to move forward on sis ii in a transparent way with the european parliament but we must keep a clear distinction between the technical work and political transparency.
the joint eu resettlement programme is being discussed at a crucial time since two thousand and seven five member states in addition to those which already had the programmes have decided to start national resettlement programmes.
the proposal will make sure that this will continue whilst streamlining the board's role composition and procedures.
the idea in the proposal is that the eu in partnership with the unhcr will contribute to more strategic use of resettlement on the basis of an annual decision on the common priorities for resettlement.
i am sorry to tell you that the commission is not yet in a position to take up that proposal.
thirdly the necessary legal flexibility to carry out the development through an alternative technical scenario would be foreseen and i believe that we all agree on the rationale of this. as regards the budgetary aspects of continuing sis ii development the commission shares the rapporteur's aim to make the most efficient use of taxpayers' money.
the proposal tabled in september two thousand and nine aims to improve the situation.
secondly the global programme management board is a group of technical experts advising on sis ii development and that should be formalised.
from the point of view of budgetary implementation i would only ask mr alvaro if there could be some sort of clear and efficient de blocking procedure for the case when we would need the money.
this is of course entirely within the discretion of the budgetary authority.
today resettlement is carried out but there is no structural coordination at eu level. the commission believes that the eu can play a bigger part and be more active on resettlement by strengthening the union's role globally and showing solidarity with the most affected regions.
the commission's experts together with all member states are in the process of finalising the adaptation of requirements and the new global schedule.
but in this spirit the commission is open to providing full technical information to the members of this house by making available the reports of the board to parliament in line with what mr coelho suggests.
we are very satisfied by the very positive response that parliament and the council have given to the proposal.
once this is done the commission will make appropriate suggestions in the light of the new global schedule to be presented at the next justice and home affairs council in two weeks.
by pooling the national quotas the eu can help to alleviate some of the most difficult conflicts in the world and in refugee situations.
for this reason it is a purely technical body it is not appropriate to open the board to meps and other parliamentary officials.
the global management board has already proven to be a very good tool of cooperation and technical analysis between the commission and member state experts.
several other member states have resettled iraqi refugees over the past year in response to a commitment agreed at eu level in. two thousand and eight it is crucial that we maintain this positive momentum and that the adoption of the proposal is not delayed.
as you know a large majority of refugees worldwide are hosted in countries in asia africa and the middle east.
first as mr coelho said the initial expiry date of the instruments thirty june this year has become unrealistic and will therefore be changed. this will allow the sis ii project to continue in the light of technical requirements and a global schedule which are currently being redefined with the member states' experts.
for these groups of refugees resettlement can be the only solution.
the council has confirmed that the milestone i test was successful and that the development of sis ii should continue on the basis of current technical solutions.
the issue of recurring delays and cost overruns is very worrying and if not this what else could be more telling about mr barroso's management skills in his first commission?
the commission evidently fancy themselves as the new un.
the eu may talk about democracy promotion but what about democracy here?
then the eu spends handsome amounts monitoring elections in afghanistan and kosovo to absolutely no avail.
in her report she says human rights must be central to all eu policies.
while of course the middle east and north africa are in the spotlight we know that in belarus president lukashenko continues to suppress any form of opposition and that is why we led a cross regional initiative to record our condemnation of belarus at the june meeting of the un human rights council.
the resolution in favour of a moratorium on the death penalty was passed with great support and a resolution against religious intolerance was adopted by consensus.
sometimes we have to be bold and i think that is essential in terms of how we now approach the report and take this work forward.
i believe that we need to be creative in our response to these rapidly evolving challenges.
it is right too that we review our policies to ensure as ms de keyser says that values consistency and a genuine culture of results' are absolutely at the heart of them.
it is a great commentary on what we were able to do in terms of foreign policy and democracy but it also enables us to consider the responsibilities we have to ensure that people in all countries benefit from the same rights as us.
at the un we were very active last year not least because of the review of the un human rights council.
the report goes on to stress the need to develop further the political dimension of our work to match what we do on development. we have a good basis for doing that though i am sure it will not be easy.
i believe that we have to choose stability and democracy;
no simple task to deliver but i think this contribution enriches our debate and helps us move towards achieving it.
that will be new money.
so i know the importance of support for those forces who want to fight against oppression and of democratic support for building capacity for the financial and organisational support.
so i welcome this report by vronique de keyser which is so comprehensive and so good and which contains this particular proposal. in my opinion this endowment needs to be something that will be very flexible very quick and which will not compete with the funds for the instrument for democracy on human rights.
fortunately in recent years under the people who were here present in the chamber it has improved considerably.
just to recall some twenty years ago after the revolution in central and eastern europe i founded the eidhr as a mechanism that was not part of the eu but it was financed by us. it was at arms length and it remained so for about ten years until it was taken in house by the european commission and then became
so many people have mentioned this and i will do so too. so i would ask colleagues to keep the door open to a mechanism which is capable of doing things that eidhr cannot do and should not do.
but it still cannot do everything that we need to do especially in the arab world.
if democracy can come from facebook pages and tweets by the young people of north africa europe itself could use virtual technology to achieve our own aims for democratisation.
second election observation missions really are some of the most successful external actions we as europe make.
but we need to understand that we are sometimes blocked where we are most needed including i regret to say currently by the military government in egypt. we can do better targeting missions where we can most make a difference as well as in the follow up of the recommendations in the final report in our other country specific actions.
finally to those who are worried about those who would use democracy to defeat democracy let us acknowledge that this is a problem in many of our countries.
which is why we designed the rules of the eidhr carefully to allow us not to choose for people of third countries but to directly support reform and opposition movements to ensure that there is a choice to be made.
this is difficult territory but we asked the european external action service and commission to exploit these rules to full effect. let us agree with the axiom democracy cannot be imported or exported but it can be supported'.
i just want to bring up three very brief points. first that building democracy means we need to build deep democracy. we need to make sure that democracy takes root and is not just a process of one electoral cycle but it is about all of the institutions that go alongside it.
not an easy mission by any means but one accomplished extremely well.
third with regard to a proposal for an endowment for democracy a number of times i have thought of ideas and ways in which i believe we can support the people of the region only to be told that i cannot do it because supporting some of the political processes is impossible under the instruments of the european union.
most importantly i want to see ways in which we can support young people to continue to be in touch with each other using the new media using the chat rooms twitter facebook and so on.
these are the ways in which they already have been in touch and the ways in which they work together in the course of changes and revolutions.
so it is not about replacing what we already do well it is about doing things we simply cannot do under the instruments we currently have but which we can identify as being of great value.
the benefits could be clear and straightforward.
this is the reason why the report calls for the shift of paradigm in eu democratisation in external policy.
this could be a good and useful tool. it is necessary to be more flexible in the allocation of external funds and respond more rapidly to democratisation trends in third countries. however if the endowment is to bring added value it should not overlap with existing instruments.
i want to inform the house that yesterday the ethiopian authorities freed the opposition leader merera gudina after more than a year in detention.
in its statement submitted to the council during the climate change package negotiations the commission established the guiding principles for granting financial support for indirect emission costs.
the commission is also mindful of the present difficult economic situation and of the importance of sustaining the economic recovery with smart measures taking into account the move towards less polluting as well as less risky sources of energy.
according to these principles financial compensation should be limited to those electricity intensive sectors which are unable to pass on the electricity cost increase stemming from co two to their customers through product prices without significant loss of market share
we call on the commission to take all the necessary measures.
together they constitute the so called medium threshold but the gue ngl group has now withdrawn its request and if there are no other requests for this vote to take place the vote will be withdrawn from the agenda and the committee may enter into negotiations with immediate effect. are there any other requests? no. so this means that i don't need to put this to a vote and it will be withdrawn from the agenda.
being diagnosed among men.
two one million children it is my belief that education throughout member states is vital for prevention which alongside early diagnosis and access to treatment can play an essential part in limiting the spread of hiv.
due to the stigma and fear attached to an hiv positive diagnosis people are coming forward for testing after the point at which treatment for their infection should have begun which greatly worsens their prognosis.
it is time to eradicate people's fear of being tested for the hiv virus.
two thousand and twelve in my own constituency of northern ireland more people than ever are living with hiv with an average of two people per week being newly diagnosed as hiv positive. while that number remains relatively low figures released this week show a rise of twenty with the majority of new cases
in light of these figures and the world health organisation's confirmation that. thirty three four million people worldwide live with hiv including.
i therefore hope that all members of this house will abstain from ideological consideration and will support the resolution as a whole.
commissioner we welcome the commission's commitment and continuous effort in implementing its strategy to combat hiv aids but we hope that you will make clear to member states that having a strategy just on paper is not enough.
let us also look at the reality and focus on the right priorities.
it is crucial that member states ensure that all national aids programmes and strategies develop strong linkages between sexual and reproductive health and hiv aids.
yes there are vulnerable groups that are more at risk notably young people men who have sex with men and injecting drug users which deserve all our attention and for which targeted strategies should be developed and reinforced.
thirty years after the first detection of aids it is still crucial to underline the importance of greater awareness raising and information the need for strengthened and targeted prevention policies and the need for governments in the eu to remain committed.
it is certainly not by denying the existence of these groups or by refusing to speak about anti discrimination campaigns that we will succeed in our continuous fight against hiv aids.
we need stronger action to reduce new infections over twenty five zero of which were recorded in.
hiv aids remains of major public health importance in europe.
we must remember that the enemy is hiv not hiv carriers.
a two thousand and ten unaids survey reported that those living with hiv experienced high levels of negative attitudes and behaviours as well as employment discrimination including loss of work.
in an irish context i regret we still have not developed a national sexual health strategy.
we are also calling for more action to tackle stigma and discrimination.
between two thousand and seven and two thousand and ten a new hiv testing programme in the us was carried out aimed at hard to reach groups and high risk populations.
finally i wish to thank my fellow co sponsors on this question and especially my colleague michael cashman who has worked so hard on this issue for so long.
testing took place in a range of settings emergency departments sti clinics substance abuse clinics and community based organisations.
of course the active participation and involvement of people living with hiv at all levels of the national and international response is crucial to the success of all our efforts.
we must guarantee access to hiv prevention counselling testing and early care and most of all support a community based approach.
people living with hiv aids should be included in all equality and anti discriminatory legislation.
the eu should also provide a policy framework to encourage national governments to address the issue of hiv aids in the context of sexual health strategies. we need adequate information and sex education access to protection means such as male and female condoms and strengthening the rights of women in sexual relationships.
exclusion from family activities was reported by more than forty of respondents.
two thousand and nine an estimated thirty of people with hiv aids are unaware they carry the virus. therefore we need to increase hiv testing amongst most at risk populations such as young people homosexual men injecting drug users sex workers and prisoners.
on behalf of the sd group i am calling for the eu to implement the strategy on combating hiv aids in the european union and neighbouring countries.
two thousand and fifteen let me reassure you that fighting hiv aids remains high on the commission's agenda following the adoption two years ago of our strategy and action plan on combating hiv aids in the eu and neighbouring countries.
the commission fully shares your concern and your commitment to improving the lives of people living with hiv aids in europe and beyond.
indeed evidence based prevention access to testing treatment and care and fighting discrimination are the core elements of our response to hiv aids.
the commission has also fostered mechanisms to coordinate hiv aids policies and actions such as the hiv aids think tank and the civil society forum.
since then the commission has supported a number of initiatives in this field to help member states and stakeholders across europe through the health programme the development programmes and bilateral agreements with third countries.
the commission is committed to working towards universal access to prevention treatment and care to support achieving the millennium development goals targets by.
the commission will continue to play its full and active role now and in the future.
shocking statistics show that there is still no decrease in the number of new infections within the eu.
hiv is an epidemic that affects all member states and we have a great responsibility to those living with hiv and aids.
the resolution looks at all aspects of the eu's contribution to fighting hiv and aids including funding for research to find a vaccine.
we need to deal with a disease which knows no borders no race no age and no gender.