kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
once conditions are ripe the eu will also be ready to provide the right conditions for eu companies and financial institutions to support the country's transformation and to invest in belarus's future privatisation process.
the belarusian authorities are under an absolute obligation to ensure the respect of the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment and have a responsibility to investigate reports thereof.
the european union and its member states want to reach out to belarus and to share their successful experience of transition to democracy and market economy.
the eu restrictive measures are an important instrument to keep up political pressure to strengthen our political message to belarus. the european union has repeatedly stressed that they remain open and under constant review.
breaches of human rights continue.
the european dialogue will be launched in brussels on twenty nine march in brussels what we want to achieve is an open exercise taking in all political forces and civil society with substantial involvement by eu member states. in difficult times it is important to maintain channels also of communication and information.
will move on the way towards more human rights more civic rights more democracy and the rule of law.
the belorussian economy is in dire straits.
line. as for the eur seven hundred million which have been so generously promised by the commission and council we would like to know again as the budget authority what the money is for before we sign up for the eur three hundred and fifty million.
here. we will play our full role as a co legislator and not sign on the dotted
house. but more importantly europe needs its own asylum and migration policy and we're very interested to see what the european commission will propose.
yes europe also has to renegotiate with mr erdoan.
support to greece. that i think is european solidarity in action and in
after easter. let me conclude with one aspect; i think i share it with many of you. it is the situation for children and maybe especially those that are without their parents unaccompanied children minors teenagers. one third of all children arrive in greece without parents or family around five five hundred children and teenagers in total according to europol; ten are younger than fourteen years old. they face violence abuse and exploitation. many of them just disappear from their asylum reception centres and we don't know where they are. i'm afraid that many of them fall into the hands of criminals. sometimes the same criminals who traffic migrants also traffic people for sexual exploitation. just imagine being a fifteen year old fleeing searching for a better life. imagine how afraid you would be alone under these circumstances and at risk of being a victim for abuse and trafficking. my mission together with the greek government is to put in place a process to protect and care for these vulnerable children and teenagers. i want to find solutions that will help unaccompanied migrant minors in particular on the greek islands with relocation to other member states with medical aid with housing with safety protecting them from being victims of trafficking. on thursday i will be in greece together with president von der leyen. this is the aim of our purpose to continue
and transportation to support the greek asylum service and to strengthen the ongoing voluntary return programme. tomorrow evening i will go to greece and on thursday i will meet with the greek minister and the authorities to discuss how we should implement this action plan and of course i will also ask the greek government how they will act now to make sure that they comply with eu law and the right to asylum and also with the principle of non refoulement. second our relationship with turkey. the eu turkish statement remains valid. we must continue our dialogue we must de escalate the rhetoric and decrease the tension. that involves finding a path forward with turkey. the lines of communication with turkey remain open and active. with turkey we share a joint responsibility for refugees and a joint commitment to the statement. that is why we're continuing a constructive engagement. as you all know yesterday evening president von der leyen and president michel had a constructive dialogue with president erdoan. the two presidents expressed very clearly to president erdoan their commitment to move forward with a perspective for migrants and stability in the region. on our side we are delivering on our commitments in the euturkey statement by having provided safe and legal pathways to europe for over twenty six five hundred syrian refugees and by supporting schools healthcare and basic services for syrian refugees in turkey. we must relieve the pressure that has been brought on the border and the main way to do that is of course a dialogue together with turkey but we also must ensure that the right to asylum is respected. to conclude let me say that the situation at the european external border towards turkey is worrying but i also must say that this is not. two thousand and fifteen we are much better prepared now to manage the situation because we know better what to expect. we have reinforced our agencies we have strengthened we now have frontex we have the european asylum support office. we have more willingness to cooperate between member states and we have stronger structures between the member states. that's why it is possible for the european union to react so quickly in support to greece and to the external borders of the european union. but let me also say that even if we are much better prepared in two thousand and fifteen we are not well prepared enough and what we are lacking is a common european migration and asylum system. this is really a problem for us and this has been my task since i took office. i have had constructive dialogues with all the twenty seven member states and a lot of dialogues here in this parliament on this topic to find a compromise forward for a common approach so that we together will be better prepared to face migration and asylum together in the european union. and i must say that these dialogues have been constructive.
action quite quickly. member states are assisting greece by sending medical equipment medical teams shelters tents blankets and a lot of other items that are needed. we also need to give financial support. the commission will immediately make available eur three hundred and fifty million with a possibility to increase this by another three hundred and fifty million through an amending budget and this will be used to increase the reception capacity and the living conditions for the migrants on the islands and on the mainland. it will be used to support the provision of services such as healthcare food provision
we all know it's a difficult task of course but at least i'm more optimistic now than before i started the dialogues and i'm preparing now the proposals and you can expect them to be presented
these areas. and third of course we must share responsibilities for supporting syrian refugees also in turkey. as you all know last week the presidents of the european parliament the european council the council and the commission visited the greek turkish and bulgarian turkish borders stressing our unity commitment and solidarity. last week also the commission presented an action plan on measures to be taken by the union and the member states together to provide critical support to greece. as a result together with the member states and our agencies we agreed on a number of concrete steps. first we agreed to support greece and other countries to handle this situation to protect our external borders and support people. greece is obliged to protect its borders and the eu external borders but it also has to do this with proportionate measures. with the launch of two rapid border intervention operations by the european border and coast guard at the land and sea borders between greece and turkey an additional one hundred border guards will be deployed as well as assets like helicopters and boats. frontex stands ready to coordinate a new programme for the quick return of irregular migrants from greece to countries of origin. the european asylum support office is also ready to accelerate the deployment of experts to support in greece. at the request of greece the civil protection mechanism has been activated; sixteen member states have so far pledged
but we need to take those decisions without threats from across the border.
impact. in addition our stability and growth pact provides for flexibility to cater for unusual events such
we are working closely with member states to assess the situation and coordinate the necessary economic measures.
storm. on the fiscal front european countries have powerful automatic stabilisers which can cushion a good part of the
heavily involved in this effort. for the past six weeks we have been coordinating the work of all commission services to identify what needs to be done by whom and when and get it done. let me give you a quick overview of this effort. through the union civil protection mechanism we have coordinated the repatriation of hundreds of european union citizens from china and japan. we have coordinated the provision of assistance to china during the initial stage of the outbreak there. since then we have been working with the eu member states to coordinate assistance between
our aim is to make sure that the public health needs of all member states are met and that adequate supplies get to where they are needed
we have mobilised funding to the tune of almost eur two hundred and seventy million to boost global preparedness prevention and containment of the virus with a combination of development humanitarian and research funding. in the area of border controls we have issued guidance to member states and organised weekly meetings of the covid nineteen information group on borders which brings together the member states schengen associated countries the council secretariat and the european border and coast guard agency so as to exchange information and best practices on measures taken by the member states in view of the coordinated approach. for transport related measures we have requested the development of specific advice for ship and aircraft operators as well as the land transport sector regarding preparedness and the response to the covid nineteen outbreak. this advice was recently published by the expert
economy. we are assessing the impact on supply chains and working with member states to ensure that they use the benefits offered by the single market rather than close it off to each
on that. we are well aware that exceptional times require exceptional measures and this is such
by coordinating them we will maximise their
impact. it is important that affected workers and businesses get the necessary support to weather this
them via this mechanism.
group. in addition we are working every day on contingency planning and preparedness measures for the eu on all aspects of this emergency from health and research to civil protection and consular assistance from transport and home affairs to the
other. commissioner breton is speaking directly to european manufacturers of personal protective equipment.
most. there is no way around the fact that the economic cost of the coronavirus will be significant.
shock. they can also intervene in terms of providing liquidity to small and medium enterprises which are the most affected by this
this is why our answer needs to be no' to this proposal.
achieving digital sovereignty is also an objective of the heads of state and government.
a crisis can only be overcome if we all show solidarity.
anyone. it's the wrong way forward.
them. and most importantly i think i want to reiterate what the commissioner
said. we need to work together.
exclusion and discrimination does not help
we are briefed by the health security committee and there is an early response warning and response system which is precisely there to exchange information and coordinate.
the second point i want to pick up is that it was mentioned that the commission should not be reading about measures in the newspapers or be waiting to hear what they need to do.
several of you mentioned the need to strengthen the european centre of disease prevention and control.
huge area.
several times a week with the european medicines agency.
we need to stay focused.
several of you mentioned the need and the problems that we have with possible medicine shortages.
and as i said before we need to make sure that and this is the coordination that we are doing almost on a daily basis member states are taking these measures but again i repeat there is no one size fits all approach for member states.
this is an evolving situation and we are literally holding meetings at least two or three times a day to see how the situation is changing and this is the only way we're going to be able to address the many challenges.
we're taking it extremely seriously and everyone everyone has a part to play in this so we can all be sure that what is out there for citizens is scientifically based responsible information.
but we need to stay calm.
not all member states are facing the same challenges so we need to be constantly on board with ministers and readdress the way that we are advising and helping them move along.
last week funding of forty.
it is a time for solidarity.
seven five million was awarded to seventeen projects with one hundred and thirty six research teams working across europe.
it is a difficult situation for us all and the commission is not meeting once a week we are meeting almost on a daily basis working in parallel and with commissioner lenari we speak several times a day on a number of common issues and this needs to continue.
but there is no one size fits all for this situation.
finally containment.
i want to be absolutely clear this is not a situation where any of us have the luxury of saying we're going to be reading about it in the press or as it comes along.
there are very many unpleasant measures that have had to be taken but these measures are important in order to be able to slow down the spread and to save lives.
it is true that dependency on third countries is an issue and it's an issue that has been highlighted.
we are at the moment already working with them on this and they are maximising their outreach in terms of being able to respond to member states with a specific response team.
well i can assure you we do not read about daily events in the newspapers.
i will try to summarise and answer as many as i can and pick up as many points as i can.
we are in very close coordination with all the european health ministers.
the meeting will be an opportunity for the leaders to exchange information facilitate the coordination of efforts and to prepare the next
they share the same aim to secure production stocking availability and rational use of protective equipment in the european union.
member states stand ready to further raise collective and individual awareness of the threat from covid nineteen and to establish coherent containment measures while maintaining the principle of freedom of movement in the european union.
on seven february the presidency organised an informal high level video conference with member states' delegations.
we welcome the support mobilised by the commission so far provided in a number of sectors such as public health research and civil protection and we will continue to work closely with the commission to ensure that comprehensive support is delivered to the member
the current scale of the outbreak however demonstrates that we need to further enhance the coordination of our actions in close cooperation between member states eu institutions bodies and agencies such as the european centre for disease prevention and control and the european medicines agency and with the international organisations such as the world health organization. we have had numerous meetings including at council level where we have intensively discussed various consequences of the covid nineteen spread in the european union and exchanged information on the level of preparedness of member states in terms of the implementation of relevant protective measures. the health security committee established to coordinate risk and crisis communication and the responses of the member states to serious cross border threats to health has already met ten times to exchange information on this outbreak.
to that end we will convene an ipcr round table meeting at ambassador level for detailed discussions on concrete measures necessary for an effective and coordinated response.
they also focused on possible solutions to safeguard the sustainable supply of medicines and equipment on the eu internal market.
the capitals are also in very close contact to coordinate and support each other on consular assistance to eu citizens.
specific sectors and regions of europe are suffering disproportionately from this crisis and they will need all our support and solidarity to address the impact of the covid nineteen outbreak on society and the economy. furthermore on thursday on the presidency's initiative the eu education ministers will hold a conference call to discuss an effective national response to ensure continuity of education in the light of the covid nineteen outbreak.
crisis. next week finance ministers will meet again to take stock of the situation and propose additional targeted measures if necessary.
as regards the economic and social impact of this health crisis we all realise that it is imperative to act quickly in order to prevent huge further costs. for that reason finance ministers held an informal discussion last week to discuss appropriate countermeasures. they discussed the specific actions to adequately provide financial support to national civil protection
we adopted conclusions that strengthened the coordinated approach and included a number of actions to be taken to protect public health in the european union.
in this context it should be noted that consular affairs fall under member states' competences but of course also here we are stronger if we cooperate. as to the current situation the presidency together with the european external action service conducted local consular cooperation meetings with the member states to update on changing needs to consular assistance in different third countries.
the member states had an opportunity to exchange views on the consequences of this rapid increase to assess the effectiveness of measures in place and discuss ways to strengthen the response.
steps. i know that we can count on our robust european social model ensuring adequate social protection and that citizens are not left behind in these precarious circumstances. solidarity and a coordinated approach are the key in this situation.
on thirteen february the epsco council held intensive discussions in which member states the commission the who and the ecdc explored ways to further enhance communication and cooperation at eu level to efficiently tackle this public health emergency.
through the constant monitoring of the situation i believe that we currently have a good overview of the spread of covid nineteen and i need to underline at this stage that the swift exchange of up to date information among us and further coordination of measures taken are crucial elements for an effective response to reduce the impact of the outbreak.
the key message expressed by the council which i would like to share with you is above all we need to strengthen solidarity between the member states cooperation and exchange of information.
as you probably know president michel convened a video conference with leaders this afternoon to discuss how to coordinate eu efforts to respond to the outbreak in order to protect the health of our citizens.
last but not least member states have identified a need for european monitoring of the supply of medicines and medical equipment.
we will further develop a coordinated approach to prevention and good practices for all people affected including vulnerable groups such as the elderly.
important. critical mass matters as does of course the very serious statistic in relation to
just think about the level of violence we are seeing around the world against women think about fgm think about what's happening in europe and the recent un report that says gender equality is on
do more. we must not just aim to break the glass
the slide. we must
violence. one in three women in the eu has been a victim of physical or sexual violence since the
homes. i firmly believe that through their involvement women are capable of advancing different aspects of society academia businesses and politics
in the meantime let me say that parliament has always been energetic in keeping gender equality on the agenda and for this we sincerely thank you. as a university professor politician and a mother of two sons i'm aware of how much women do every day at work and in their
dr tony holohan chief medical officer has outlined a plan to move from containment to delay to mitigation phase and the government has committed up to eur three billion to help employees businesses and medical services to deal with the coronavirus. the same must happen at european level both financially and also logistically.
why? simply because the commission doesn't possess its own stocks of protective equipment masks and that kind of stuff.
obviously the capacities in particular in the health sector but also elsewhere are not sufficient in case of further propagation of the virus.
it's long overdue.
reserves in the commission's budget are meagre.
but on this issue i would like to underline what was also said by some of the honourable members.
we need to stick together and support each other in fighting this outbreak at all levels at local level national level european level and global
i will not go into further details but i would like to assure you all that the commission will not hesitate to propose additional measures as we face this challenge in the coming days and weeks. we will also not hesitate to find any additional funding that is available.
this is one more reason if ever one was needed to have an early agreement on the next multiannual financial framework.
it is important that the message goes out to our citizens that the eu cares that the eu is doing its part to address the situation and that we will continue to do so until we win this battle.
it is particularly useful to hear your views and concerns and we fully share your sense of urgency.
as i stressed in my opening intervention we need to strengthen solidarity cooperation and exchange of information between all the member states.
we need to ensure that authorities and staff from relevant sectors such as transport health and social policy have the necessary information procedures and guidance on how to deal with cases. we should all especially thank and support our health workers who often work round the clock in their selfless efforts to save our citizens' lives.
needless to say we take the covid nineteen outbreak very seriously. we will remain focused on a thorough implementation of measures in force in relevant sectors be proactive in exchanging all of the necessary information on their effectiveness and mobilise inter sectoral coordination to develop a constructive approach in tackling various disturbances on the eu market.
generations. to mark this day we fully support the no woman no panel campaign and indeed i try not to participate in any european parliament panels or public events where women are not adequately represented. our european parliament will maintain a clear and firm political commitment to strengthening gender equality and women's rights in the european union and
challenges. investing in girls' education is essential and this is much more than just access to schooling. it is about support and freedom. also gender based violence continues to have devastating consequences and it is urgent that all member states and the european union ratify the istanbul convention. the european union must remain a model in enhancing women's rights. recently the european
climate change. it is our common responsibility to act for us all and for future
is stable. there is no increase in the number of illegal