kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the headlines in my national press were what is the point in electing meps if they don't turn up to work?
so what i am asking here is whatever you are discussing today for the rest of the people of europe could we start at home start here and actually apply something that makes sense?
it is also one of the most difficult times and it was made worse by the rules of this parliament and you should be ashamed of yourselves.
we want to enable working parents and carers in reality these are mostly women as we heard before to remain in employment and make progress in their careers.
our new initiative will of course be based on an analysis of the current situation in all member states including also the implementation of the parental leave directive. your report is therefore particularly timely. the commission services are currently carrying out conformity assessments
working parents and care givers need better designed arrangements to reconcile their work and their private lives and the commission is committed to just that a new start' for working parents and carers.
therefore labour market participation of all parents and carers can only be improved if we allow for a better sharing of caring responsibilities between women and men.
the commission is also engaging more broadly with stakeholders both the social partners and the general public have been consulted in february two thousand and sixteen and the commission is currently finalising the second stage consultation of the social partners.
our new start will allow workers with children or dependent relatives to better balance caring and professional responsibilities.
i sincerely hope that the commission will take full consideration of these priorities in their forthcoming proposals. now this report is against a background of a failed attempt so far at agreeing an updated modern maternity leave directive and of course in the expectation of a new proposal from the commission on work life balance and hopefully some kind of carers leave directive. indeed i was encouraged to hear the commissioner talk about a new start for parents and carers.
today we are assessing the implementation of the parental leave directive.
some of the political messages we put forward include family rights including parental leave are equal in terms of individual rights and accessibility.
secondly we believe that these rights should be individualised as far as possible and that a significant part of the leave should be transferable.
but we have left some flexibility for member states in conjunction with social partners.
i believe this is a reasonable and a sensible approach it allows us to strongly indicate our position in regard to gender equality and work life balance without insisting how individuals lead their lives. we are sending a strong political message but we are giving some choice.
we call for a paternity leave directive;
we say it is essential and urgent.
we ask member states to extend the period of parental leave currently at four months;
that is in particular for parents of children with disabilities.
this is very important and recognises the special circumstances which those parents face.
we also call on the commission and the social partners to increase the age of the child for which parental leave can be taken;
again this builds in flexibility and allows for a life cycle approach.
we welcome the fact that some member states have gone beyond the minimum provisions and enabled same sex couples and parents of adopted children to benefit and we recognise the need to extend that.
in my own country if there is a shower of rain the price of cattle drops automatically. i think there is certainly a need to look at the guidelines both in terms of establishing trends over a long period of time and also in the actual punishments you are going to apply.
in the case of price fixing for example quite often small enterprises further downstream may be affected by the consequences of companies having done this and through no fault of their own fall foul of these particular fines.
to that effect i will be submitting some questions to commissioner almunia on the issues that we are talking about tonight.
i am looking forward to seeing them. perhaps i just need to be up to date on that but i would be reassured if that was the case.
what if the commission was to think about adopting different approaches?
what if the commission was to think about the social impact for a minute?
secondly we have heard tonight that all the focus is on fines and fines that are imposed on companies which violate the terms of competition.
we may have to be inventive about what we do.
we asked you to come forward with proposals that would cover issues like individual responsibility which you mentioned transparency and accountability of firms shorter procedures the right to defence and due process and mechanisms to ensure the effective operation of leniency applications
but also corporate compliance programmes and the development of european standards.
i would like to know if the commission intends to come forward with such proposals.
are you actually going to do it if you get back into power this time?
i would call it legislation by stealth.
madam prime minister i hope the latvian presidency will achieve that and put the european motto into practice.
it should never happen again that attacks take place and we realise afterwards that the killers were known to the intelligence services.
what irritates me president juncker is that in the meantime in the absence of an agreement on pnr the commission is simply pushing ahead funding the creation of an eu pnr with eu money and creating a fait accompli.
but how serious are priorities if there is such a huge backlog in the council so many legislative proposals still pending and so many blocked for many many years?
they are available to law enforcement and security authorities so i can reassure those who are worried about that.
we send in a legislative proposal and it disappears never to be heard of any more.
we build a huge haystack of personal data but information is not being shared and information that is not being shared is useless information.
we should not make the same mistake as in two thousand and five when we adopted the data retention directive under great pressure and it was subsequently scrapped by the courts last year as we know.
the council is a legislator so legislate.
finally i would call on the latvian presidency to make the adoption of the horizontal anti discrimination directive an absolute priority madam prime minister.
alde welcomes the special summit on the security package next month and we consider that sharing information must be the first priority.
but there is no proper legislative framework with all the required legal safeguards.
on the particular issue of pnr the facts are that pnr data are being collected and shared in europe today.
we do not want any more grand designs for the future;
alde wants real security for citizens not fake security and politics of symbolism.
i wonder if this is the commission's idea of better law making.
prime minister i welcome your programme and in particular the importance you have placed on the financial services sector and the need to get the framework right.
this is important legislation that has been on the table since september two thousand and thirteen and the main concerns and possible solutions are well established.
therefore i would like your commitment that your presidency will work with us to conclude on this issue.
a quick second point you place great emphasis on developing relations with central asia.
latvia from fulfilling its destiny of being a free country again and violence was used on the streets of riga.
we know from experience that there is only one way europe moves forward and that is if the three institutions responsible for moving europe forward work together hand in hand with a joint programme and with joint ideas about the future.
in the ability of the latvian presidency to perform that duty.
they did not choose to become members of the european union because they wanted somebody in the european commission because they wanted somebody in the european parliament or because they wanted to be part of institutions.
they wanted to be members of the european union because they shared the values upon which the european union is based.
that was the european family they wanted to belong to and they have made these ambitions come true.
if you had told me in that cold january in one thousand nine hundred and ninety one that this was going to happen in january two thousand and fifteen i would have probably called medical services to have you committed but here is what has been achieved thanks to the ambitions of the latvian people to be free.
i was there i witnessed it and it is a moment of great pride and joy for me to be standing here today twenty four years later seeing in this institution the latvian presidency with its ambitions its talent and its ability
unemployment is high across all parts of the eu but even those people in employment are feeling squeezed and vulnerable.
for instance where is your commitment to take action on zero hour contracts to protect those who are under contract without any guarantee of paid work?
it is our responsibility to show by our actions that this eu works for everyone.
on behalf of the british labour delegation i welcome much of what you will be prioritising for the coming months prime minister especially on issues such as energy security and the implementation of the investment plan. however much like the commission work programme it is not what is in the programme that is disappointing but what has been left out.
we must take action in this area otherwise we will miss a vital opportunity.
where is the commitment for a full revision of the posting of workers directive to help those who have seen wages being undercut?
the question i would like to ask is why will no one in the council or the commission put forward a real plan to reform the eu's exploited social model?
we need more investment in the employability of female workers and young people especially in the context of emerging technologies and new sectors where growth will take place.
i hope to have a constructive debate on closer coordination of economic policies in the emu in early. two thousand and fifteen i hope to see commitments to the streamlining of existing procedures within the european semester and increasing the involvement of national parliaments in the process. i hope to see the strengthening of national ownership of structural reforms.
the latvian presidency promises to be a challenging one yet i am convinced it will be a fruitful time for the union.
i wish you a fruitful presidency.
i know there are many challenges on your table.
we will need to work together all three institutions to have an isds that will at the end of the day attract much needed investment to europe.
you promised to put the spotlight on labour market issues.
you had to receive a bail out even before you joined the ailing currency that is the euro against the wishes of your people of course.
you have lost twenty of your population since one thousand nine hundred and ninety two so much so that the baltic is now depopulating faster than anywhere else in the world. your brightest best and young are fleeing west in their droves.
well considering that one in every thirty latvians lives in the uk that is pretty easy to answer.
you have a brain drain an ageing population which means that there will be a skills pensions and healthcare crisis not far down the road.
greece's possible exit from the euro dealing with the instability in ukraine encouraged by the european union of course and finally a continent coming to terms with the islamic extremism that we witnessed last week.
your economy tanked in two thousand and eight followed by one of the worst recessions on the planet.
you are still the fourth poorest country in the eu.
the union needs bold action within and beyond its borders.
this but you know very well that you need more national contributions to make this fund really work. let me underline that i believe that investments should be driven by a powerful vision for a competitive economy in europe focusing on citizens' well being.
we need new products and new services and this also applies to the digital agenda.
the digital agenda should become a leverage for well being in europe by providing new solutions. last but not least do not forget about jobs and quality jobs. in the end europe must remain a continent
you have also spoken of the fact that we need further digitalisation of europe.
the council is amending legislation and negotiating and none of that is assessed. there is no impact assessment. i mean that if we are to have better regulation there is no impact assessment in the council;
mr president madam prime minister i am disappointed that the programme of activities of the latvian presidency fails to offer in any real sense an alternative to the fiscal austerity policies which have been championed by all the european institutions for far too long.
there are now serious questions to answer in terms of how this investment package is going to be funded for example.
what we really need is a rejection of austerity policies.
it was easier to come out of the economic crisis.
would you agree with me that the difficulty that we find when we try to impose legislation and rules on equality is that often we focus too much on equality of outcome whereas what we should be looking for is equality of opportunity because not everyone is equal in whatever task they undertake to perform?
you have the right to have an equal opportunity but some will do better than others.
that is something we are determined to do and it is something everybody in britain should be determined to do.
this is why now after both the government and representatives of the opposition have announced that they have started a dialogue we are hopeful that things can be put on the right track.
however the high representative vice president was concerned about a lack of transparency and serious delays in the publication of the voting results and the detention of members of the opposition.
we support the country's development in energy and water sectors and we are active in the area of governance. the eu supported djibouti's cautious but steady approach to electoral and political reform prior to the legislative elections in february.
she believes that it is important that djibouti makes further progress towards opening political space and allowing alternative views in order to sustain development and stability. this would be in line with djibouti's stated attachment to democratic principles as well as to the rights and freedoms enshrined in national regional and international instruments relating to human rights and to elections.
the high representative vice president strongly encourages both the government and the forces of the opposition to privilege dialogue over confrontation. she believes that appeasement and a constructive genuine dialogue of all parties including civil society is the right way ahead.
but this must be accompanied by diplomatic pressures to release the political dissidents and free up the instruments of political opposition and democratic engagement.
it has contributed significantly in the fight against terrorism and maritime piracy.
nevertheless it remains beyond doubt that there are serious deficiencies in its governance and that djibouti's authoritarian leadership regularly suppresses fundamental freedoms and restricts the actions of civil society and political opponents.
to this extent we have numerous concerns about the allegations of widespread fraud in the recent elections by violence against demonstrators and by the alleged ongoing detention of around sixty political prisoners.
my personal dream is also to see djibouti somaliland and somalia stand side by side in the horn of africa as safe prosperous independent nation states. i believe we should do everything in our power to help the countries of this region to get there.
nevertheless we must also take into account the reports of election observers in djibouti who regarded the vote in february as transparent and further noted that it was the first vote to feature multiple opposition candidates which of course is something we should celebrate.
in my role as rapporteur for the horn of africa i have always been clear that this region's stability security and prosperity must be accompanied by the construction and consolidation of truly democratic institutions and by the authorities' full respect for human rights and the rule of law.
djibouti is a small state which could flourish and which deserves our full support in the european union.
mr president as perhaps one of the few members of this house who has actually visited djibouti i can advise colleagues that having been to this country it does have a lot to recommend it by way of a marvellous combination of french and somali cuisine and culture on the red sea.
the political parties and the people of djibouti have shown commitment to the future of their country by participating in those elections. however i am concerned about the current situation in djibouti which is a key player in combating terrorism and piracy in the region.
i strongly oppose the repression of political opposition and call for an immediate release of all those imprisoned.
the government must prevent such deplorable acts and punish the perpetrators.
and lastly the information and communication technologies policy support specific programme of cip launched calls for proposals for two thousand and seven and two thousand and eight with a focus on pilot project testing ict based innovations where smes receive more than thirty of the total budget.
but if the honourable member wishes i could hand out some of the tables with the relevant information from fp seven here today because i have them with me.
in particular the entrepreneurship and innovation specific programme serves mainly as a policy support programme.
generally it can be noted that the participation of new member states is stronger in the fields of security socioeconomic research and space and weaker for example in ict and health.
but even though no account is taken of nationality in awarding contracts we do collect and closely follow the data on the geographic distribution of fp seven beneficiaries and their respective collaborative links. this gives us an important insight into the level and strength of synergies developed between countries as a result of their participation in fp seven activities.
information and communication technologies health and marie curie actions were generally the most popular fields among member states in terms of the numbers of participations in signed grant agreements.
so what does this data tell us? i cannot reel off here today a long list of statistics as we do not have time for that but let me nevertheless give you some few highlights concerning the focus of your question the relative popularity of fp seven research areas among the member states.
you can find all of this data and many other detailed statistics about fp seven implementation in the statistical annex to the commission's annual report on research and technological development activities which we submit every year to the council and parliament.
in the country that the honourable member comes from there is a marked focus on ict but relatively weak participation for example in health socioeconomic research and space.
if we look at its main instruments enterprise europe network exclusively benefits smes by providing information on access by different types of sme finance and identifying project funding opportunities and helping to find technology and business partners.
more importantly this programme aims at opening up eu wide markets for such innovations that are supplied by smes all across the european union.
the two thousand and eight call notably succeeded in covering the priority given to small and medium sized enterprises.
the report shows that overall e commerce is developing rather well in the european union while cross border e commerce lags behind.
they are completely at odds with the freedom to receive services across borders which is a fundamental counterpart of the freedom to provide services enshrined in the eec treaty. with the services directive we now have a powerful tool to substantially ease problems faced by consumers who face discrimination when they purchase goods and services across borders including over the internet.
the commission is currently working with member states to make sure that article twenty of the services directive is implemented on time and is effectively enforced by national authorities and the courts.
the only exception to this rule will be those cases where businesses can demonstrate that the different treatment applied to different categories of consumers is directly justified by objective reasons and therefore does not constitute discrimination.
for the first time in the internal market legislation the services directive explicitly requires member states to put a stop to discriminatory practices carried out by businesses on the basis of the nationality or the place of residence of consumers.
six hundred have now lost their jobs. this was a company with excellent industrial relations excellent skills a full order book and a great future.
will the commissioner investigate this matter and use all her powers to assist?
there is real doubt as to the reasons for the relocation of this company and the suspicion is that either the swiss government or one of their arab friends has brought in aids which are causing these people to lose their jobs in ireland in the european union.
we should use them as european houses making it known to citizens when there is a consultation where they can give their views on the common agricultural policy or trade or environment policy. so i definitely share your views on doing even more to mobilise citizens.
i also think that these experiments with things like the citizens' consultations lead to greater interest in the eu. as one participant said i took an interest in the eu when the eu showed an interest in me asking me what i think. i believe that in the end we will also have better policies by asking and consulting citizens.
to or going further than the future community product standards.
those measures are applicable to all companies but small and medium sized enterprises can access higher aid intensities as they are clearly the most vulnerable when access to credit is tightened.
the most relevant for smes is the new possibility for the granting of eur five hundred zero per undertaking to cover investments and or working capital over a period of two years.
the main objective of the framework is to limit the fallout of the crisis by facilitating companies' access to finance.
two thousand and eight two thousand and ten in addition under the temporary framework member states could also grant state aid guarantees for loans at a reduced premium aid in the form of a subsidised interest rate applicable to all types of loans and subsidised loans for the production of green products involving the early adaptation
use of this template will improve the transparency and coherence of the presentation of stakeholder consultations.
publishing results and providing feedback etc.
online consultation is commonly used.
first of all i would like to say that civil society is one of the key actors in democracy.
in many cases a consultation is a combination of different tools and takes place in several phases of the preparation of a policy proposal.
this dialogue takes into account our long standing policy of openness and inclusiveness and it also reflects the wide differences in the policy fields and the diversity of stakeholders.
the commission recognises the need to create a clearer access to the eu for organised civil society as well as for individual citizens and we have a long and healthy tradition of interaction with civil society organisations which started more than thirty years ago.
the commission consults civil society in a variety of ways including consultation papers communications advisory committees expert groups workshops and forums.