kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
however it also showed us how disorganised and weak we are in the face of new challenges. member states closing borders without coordination applying different travel conditions providing contradictory information and competing for supplies among themselves look like complete chaos a dangerous chaos with human lives at
we need a coordinated european response.
for me it's all in for the union and for the climate and i think that the youth want that from us they want to see passion and commitment for the planet.
but what do they see if they look at the meeting of the heads of state?
they see delay tactics at the expense of our climate and of their future.
the heads of state of europe cannot come to an agreement on climate politics.
therefore i ask you the german presidency don't shy away any more from your responsibility on the climate and the postponement of climate action.
and if you can't deliver just give climate policy back to the normal democratic legislative procedure because we are ready and why aren't you?
this is the way that we will make social process progress in europe and especially now when every country is experiencing downward turning economies.
we need to create incentives for the member states not to let the burden of a recession fall on the people most in need and here the european semester is a golden opportunity for us to create these incentives. austerity and tight budgets are not the way to manage the crisis.
making sure that people have decent lives is the way.
this means securing a roof over their heads and food on the table.
thank you very much to you klra dobrev for doing a really great job on this report and making sure that the european parliament has a strong social and sustainable voice on this issue.
thanks for your support.
this investment in young people is not only as some of you said an expression of solidarity it is also an essential condition for ensuring the future development of a highly competitive social market economy aiming at full employment and social progress.
this initiative is well targeted as you know targeted at specific regions and groups of young people and we have specific results indicators that act as an additional driver of quality.
we will also address the challenge of simplifying implementation rules and reducing the burden on both managing authorities and beneficiaries.
the commission is also monitoring the quality of employment for all age groups under the european semester with particular attention being paid to issues related to labour market segmentation.
your report is very timely as we are now in the process of elaborating our proposals for the future funding of youth employment under the next multiannual financial framework.
it is also about an inclusive society and a dynamic society.
honourable members i look forward to working with you on the future multiannual financial framework proposals to securing a prominent place for investing in the future of our young generation.
for the future the commitment to quality offers for young people has been reinforced in the pillar of social rights.
with support provided to more than.
although its success depended to a large extent on national factors such as implementation capacity.
there are member states which have not yet implemented much needed educational economic and social structural reforms to address the challenges they are faced with.
seeing several positive results achieved until now i hope that an updated youth employment initiative can be a better driver for policy reform in the fields of education public employment services and improved synergies with employers in order to provide a better future for our youth.
one six million young people and operations amounting to more than eur four billion the youth employment initiative has had a considerable impact on employment in recent years;
however the report rightly points out that the youth guarantee and the youth employment initiative are no substitutes for macroeconomic and other national policies to promote employment in general and youth employment in particular.
while acknowledging this achievement i also need to underline that there is much more to be done in order to enhance and improve the implementation of the programme and ensure that it successfully complements the national youth employment initiatives in particular by reaching out to those at risk of exclusion.
on the basis of results obtained specific measures should be undertaken in order to better respond to the specific needs and issues in each member state.
one four million young people who were not in employment education or training to get a job placement an apprenticeship or a traineeship.
the assessment clearly shows that the pace of implementation of the youth employment initiative does not correspond to the one initially foreseen taking into account the various options for implementation.
young people in the uk are still three times more likely to be unemployed than the general population.
those hardest to reach groups must be identified more effectively otherwise for all out efforts we will still be left with a lost generation.
madam president in the years after the financial crisis almost one in five young people in the uk were not in education employment or training neet' which is often a phrase i do not like.
this is why i think it is no more than normal that the eu member states have together committed themselves to protecting young people through the youth guarantee.
i want to remind member states that it is not about lip service but the future of their young people. secondly i think the youth employment initiative needs to be transformed from an anticrisis instrument into a more stable financing instrument for tackling youth unemployment.
we owe it to young people to keep assisting them.
we need not only to maintain the initiative after two thousand and twenty but we need to increase the funding.
one bricklaying apprentice in birmingham said yesterday we saw people leaving the man in charge of stock just left he was the first to go.
i saw another man going and more people just with their bags packed going'.
four hundred apprentices thrown into absolute turmoil by the collapse under the tory government of the carillion construction firm.
that is not support for apprenticeships that is a disgrace and this tory government needs to look to itself and start looking after people.
nobody is telling them anything or giving them any support whatsoever about whether they will have apprenticeships next week or the week after or will be joining the back of the queue despite their best efforts to get on.
then we saw people high up in the office with their bags packed leaving.
if this scheme is so great use it to eradicate unemployment in southern europe.
high taxation red tape and restrictive employment laws are a barrier to small and mediumsized businesses taking on more staff.
if using billions of taxpayers' euros to train youth was hugely successful why do we still see youth unemployment rates of forty in greece?
funding training is admirable but it does not help skilled youth find worthy employment when there are no jobs.
if you want to help our youth promote freedom for our smes to run their businesses the way that they see fit with access to funds for investment and growth.
inactivity among young people as well as untapped potential remains a reality across the union and as your report and also the report of the court of auditors highlight not all young people have benefited equally from these initiatives.
we know that young people with disabilities those with a migration background and young parents with caring responsibilities remain much more at risk of becoming neets.
the commission will also continue to support mutual learning and dissemination of good practices among member states.
as regards monitoring the youth employment initiative progress we continue providing guidance on a regular basis and requesting member states' feedback on data collection and monitoring.
it can also invest in the reform of services and the setting up of the so called one stop shop approach offering young people a single contact point for all formalities and assistance provided by several services social employment or education.
together they have created new opportunities for young people and acted as a powerful driver for structural reforms in all member states.
the aim was to disseminate good practices take stock of the lessons learned so far and come up with proposals for the future.
there are now two million fewer young unemployed in the union and one million fewer young people who are not in employment education or training.
in order to offer policy guidance to member states and stakeholders we adopted a proposal for a european framework for quality and effective apprenticeships.
we need to ensure that they really help young people to get a solid foothold in the labour market.
as the court of auditors pointed out we need to reach out further to the neets far away from the education and labour market and ensure the quality of the offers provided.
the commission is already helping member states to improve the quality of their job and training offers and to design outreach measures.
as you know there are two sides of the coin the policy and the financial support dedicated to young people not in employment education or training the so called neets.
back in two thousand and fourteen only a few member states had fully set up their implementation structures and launched measures to benefit from this dedicated funding.
the youth employment initiative has directly helped at least.
one seven million young people to receive job training or a further education opportunity.
setting up the youth guarantee required commitment and political support from member states building new partnerships as well as significant reforms of the labour market education and training policies.
given their budgetary constraints many member states were struggling to ensure sufficient financial liquidity so that measures could take off. therefore my first action as a commissioner was to address this shortage by proposing to release thirty of the youth employment initiative resources directly as advance payments to the member states.
i agree with you that we have to expand the pool of good quality offers.
the commission and the member states are committed to improve further the outcome of these schemes.
for the second phase of the youth employment initiative's implementation until of the end of the current financial framework we will pay close attention to this quality aspect.
however i agree with you that our work should not stop here.
i believe that the combination of the youth guarantee the youth employment initiative and the european social fund has contributed to this remarkable improvement.
we are also working to increase the supply quality and image of apprenticeships through the european alliance for apprenticeships and we will continue our efforts with the social partners on promoting the implementation of the quality framework for traineeships.
two thousand and twenty this additional eur.
last october for instance we organised a youth guarantee learning forum that brought together youth guarantee policy coordinators from member states and youth employment initiative managing authorities.
we need to step up efforts to reach out and to support the low skilled and those with fewer opportunities.
however the budgetary control committee would like to make a few suggestions for the future.
we believe that labour market demands and skills training should be better linked together.
we also believe there should be a quality offer made to all young people and that there should be a definition of quality;
we believe the definition so far is good but it could be improved upon. we also believe there should be more of a focus on the results of the programme.
so far example better indicators and monitoring of permanent contracts given to all young people who are on the programme.
in other words we need to make sure that although we are spending this money and we are spending it on good things we need to make sure this programme in particular is seen as effective. so in short president we would say the programme has been a huge success but of course there is room for improvement.
i welcome that this report highlights both the positive and the negative aspects of the implementation of the scheme so far.
while much is to be said for the positive impact of the initiative helping to fight against social exclusion poverty and emigration among the youngest sectors of society there are significant concerns that the full potential of the scheme is not being realised.
inappropriate usage of funds and member states using it to replace funding from national governments has resulted in the waste of possibly life changing funds for young men and women throughout the eu. some member states including my own ireland excluded single parents and young people with disabilities from the initiative.
we must also ensure that there is proper engagement with trade unions to ensure that young people are not being exploited in the jobs and the training that they are being offered and that those internships are not just displacing real jobs.
but we cannot deny that youth unemployment is still a massive problem within the european union and we cannot let one more day pass in which we do not put all our efforts into fighting against this because it is one of the crucial questions about whether we have a future in a united europe or not.
yes the youth employment initiative has been presented as the answer or at least partly the solution to this big problem of youth unemployment and young people all over europe have put their hopes into this initiative.
it is true that some of them have been satisfied;
but we must also say that many young people have been disappointed and that there is a big gap in implementation and the success of implementation in different member states.
we have member states where the numbers have gone down and we have member states where the numbers have not gone down and where i believe the wrong proposals have been made in order to fight against youth unemployment.
i believe that if we want these quality offers to be meaningful they should for example also be remunerated. that is why it is important for the report to very clearly state that we need quality offers and why we should have a definition at european level as to what these quality offers mean.
that really is not the case and it makes it look as if parliament is being managed.
perhaps you have not seen this but it is bad if they put out propaganda that does not look as if it represents all the views.
i know you sir and one of the reasons i voted for you and i think you are a good man is that you promised to protect minority views and i know that you do.
the house of commons committee led by hilary benn were quite happy for the meps including the british ones to be present at the next meeting.
so i am not here to downplay the dangers of populism nationalism and extremism fuelled by dissatisfaction in our societies and amplified by professionally orchestrated propaganda.
next. but the recent migration crisis unfortunately left wounds on our mutual trust. and it will take time and effort to eventually heal these
make no mistake this does not make them less dangerous. they are in our heads they influence sentiment in our societies they tamper with our electoral decisions.
any action at all. and i always tell myself how lucky we are to live in europe where apparently no russian influence is felt as none is being intensively
needed first step. it is clear the problem should be dealt with the utmost political and expert attention at the european level and it should lead
eastern neighbourhood. in this situation it is ridiculous to spend months in discussions on how to avoid any reference to a membership vision instead of focusing on what
children women and men who flee their homes to save their lives and slovakia should never hesitate to show solidarity to our friends and partners
and libya. but the eu was built to be the project of peaceful economic integration not a common military
of the berlin wall. it has been the most important contribution of european politicians of the past three decades to keep the continent peaceful
facts speak volumes about the success of european integration.
the most. we in slovakia are in favour of a more ambitious foreign and security policy
of our citizens. it seeks to spread chaos to weaken our stability to undermine the trust of people in our institutions and to make us afraid of every
it all began with young people with students whose courage to stand up against the regime had opened the door to the velvet revolution.
our neighbourhood. no matter how serious our internal challenges seem to be right now we must not give
the world today it must be clear that the eu needs to transform itself into a more powerful
let me point out where i do see a weakness in upholding the eu project.
i am here to refuse the popular game of blame it on brussels' whenever it serves to cover some pressing domestic political issue.
honestly. no common policy can be efficient if it is pushed aside any time someone deems
solving the issues together helping each other and learning from each
we have succeeded because we had a vital vision to become a part of the west and because we were granted the opportunity to fulfil this dream through the european union.
because in the middle of the overwhelming pessimism of the past few years it seems almost out of place to talk about success.
the united states about the scope of russian interference in their presidential
to give up on them. that means we cannot kill the vision of successful
them on their own. moreover if we get back to business as usual with putin's regime if we lift the sanctions without forcing the kremlin to respect international law and principles then we are willing to trade our own long term
access to your family. and yet georgia has not lost its strategic direction
is our common heritage; our precious and verified plan to survive our only meaningful
security and stability for dubious individual short term
towards the west. so let's not put this bond at risk by our ignorance and indifference that could lead
parts of europe. people there desperately long for better lives that can be achieved through reforms and a realistic vision of a better future something that the
hardware but leave this vulnerability open to attacks. honestly it would be shame to let the european project fail because of our inability to halt the dissemination of hoaxes
i consider this point especially important.
we can offer them. let
the eu is not a sinking ship and we do not have to radically reform the way we operate.
there is no doubt we defend the right cause the project of peace prosperity and human dignity.
and powers. or if one is not ready to respect common actions when they matter
political parties. it is no secret that people in our countries get hired and used to destabilise
none of it would be possible without the attractive power of peace and prosperity of the european project.
that something is rotten in the european project and it has been somehow responsible for the recent rise of extremism and nationalism.
a month ago we adopted a joint declaration of the president the speaker of the parliament and the prime minister which strongly and decisively reinforces our membership in the eu as a strategic interest without any alternative for the future of our country.
it convenient. i am content that we have abandoned the idea of some european army as a starting point because we need first to agree on what it really means to strengthen our cooperation
to take action. but russia becomes more bold in its efforts to destabilise europe and it is ready to use any situation
could express his views on the future of our european project. even the timing of my address here could hardly be better. in two days slovakia will celebrate the day when we made our first steps to democracy.
should engage more. we have horrific experience of what could happen if the western balkans stay at the margin of our attention. the security and stability of the region is closely intertwined with the security and stability of the eu so we cannot afford
i stand here as the president of a proud free and democratic country a member of the european union whose citizens can travel freely across the continent and use the same currency as countries from the opposite side of the inglorious
free and prosperous. i have no doubt that our common future will be determined greatly by our capability to accept new members by our ability to secure the stability and prosperity of
of course anti european populists and extremists cannot beat us in providing solutions to improve the lives of our citizens. but too often it looks like they beat us with their limitless confidence
of the eu. i do not think it is sustainable to limit the eu to the role of a money raising benefactor after the dust settles a benefactor trying to rebuild what has been left or destroyed by interventions of unscrupulous players on the international scene. looking at
we need real stronger leadership more confidence and devotion when acting and speaking up on behalf of the
in the end they even drive our political and policy actions.
other. solidarity and mutual trust are crucial to our success and our strength to overcome whatever comes
the eu beyond
investigated.
interference. georgia a country that has been doing its best for
we can see how often the eu is misused in political campaigns and how well it serves populists to present all victories as national and all defeats as european.
elections. then i look back home where i can hardly see
and integrated europe. we simply cannot lose our friends in our neighbourhood especially in the
mr hilary benn the chair of the committee reluctantly had to ask us to leave.
the house of commons committee on brexit was indeed in the european parliament and conducted a series of meetings with british members from the different parties with mr verhofstadt and the brexit team and with others.
they did not indeed allow participants in one meeting to stay on to listen to what happened in the next of their meetings. that is perfectly reasonable and normal.
to complain that he mr batten could not stay on for the next one of their meetings is distorting what was actually at stake.
what happened was perfectly normal proper practice and decided by the house of commons which they pretend to respect the sovereignty of and yet they clearly have no respect whatsoever for the workings of the house of commons.
i can tell you that we have very recently experienced some strange behaviour from the ep administration which might strengthen that feeling.
farmers set aside land more regularly because the european union pays them to do so.
we pay child benefit because it is socially desirable to encourage people to have children.
you will i am sure recall the old joke suggesting that the word politics' derives from the greek poly' meaning many' and ticks' meaning blood sucking insects'. the irony of an mep saying this is not lost on me but we are subsidising politicians.
european political parties do not appear on ballot papers;
they do not form governments; they do not even correspond to the political groups in this place.
they exist because we subsidise them.
if we actually needed them they would exist without subsidy.
let us save the taxpayers' money and find out whether or not we really need them shall we?
interact in a variety of ways to make this european political system operative.
let me make it clear that in many ways this political system is quite different from what is to be found in a member state.
well if we have europeanlevel elections for the european parliament as we do then logic dictates the answer yes.
at the same time the system as it exists and others have referred to this can be gamed.
the regulation should ensure that this practice comes to an end.
both these issues should be resolved in the regulation and resolved speedily.
this house cannot be neutral on human rights in belarus.