kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
we have just voted to establish a single digital gateway to ensure that citizens and businesses have easy online access to complete accurate and up to date information.
but today following this latest development we find ourselves in a situation where we can no longer simply say that myanmar is a country that deserves the trade access we provide to it.
so at united nations level we must do the right thing and ensure that the voices we have at the table there are not allowing myanmar to go unchecked.
as part of the international community and as a set of institutions europe must ensure that it provides its support to the international community.
there needs to be a fundamental review of that relationship.
our voices must be the loudest at that table.
the laws and regulations that have been used to restrict opposition and civil society must be reviewed and amended.
we helped clear it of landmines and restart fundamental economic activities.
we now expect the dropping of all charges and the removal of all restrictions placed upon him and we invite the prime minister and the leader of the opposition to start a dialogue on the way forward.
but it is clear that the cambodian government must reverse the current trend otherwise this would not be possible.
at the general election in july following the enforced dissolution of the main opposition party the ruling party won all seats in the national assembly.
last february at the european union foreign affairs council we stressed that the cambodian electoral process could not be considered legitimate after the arbitrary exclusion of the main opposition party and so we suspended the european union financial assistance to the cambodian national election committee and we declined to observe the july elections.
for this reason we sent already in july a fact finding mission to cambodia to evaluate the situation on the ground and the decisions on any further steps will be based on the information gathered during this mission.
so the situation has not improved and we are now considering the possibility of further measures that as you know would require the council to take a unanimous decision.
one party rule authoritarian tendencies that have gained more ground in the country and the space for political opposition and civil society has not so much shrunk as simply closed.
we also recall that the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms including labour rights is essential for maintaining eu trade preferences.
the european union has been working with and for the people of cambodia since the end of the war. at first we helped rebuild the country.
the election took place in a highly restrictive environment and it was clearly not representative of the democratic will of the cambodian citizens.
over the last year the legal system has increasingly been used by the authorities in the country to suppress critical voices not only from the opposition but also from civil society and the media and at the foreign affairs council in february we stated that we may consider specific targeted measures if the situation had not improved.
we urge the cambodian authorities to drop all remaining politically motivated charges against activists and lift the ban on the political activity of one hundred and eighteen senior opposition members.
the recent release on bail of opposition leader kem sokha is a positive first step even though he was released under very restrictive conditions.
we also call on the cambodian government to guarantee the safe return of all exiled opposition politicians civil society activists and human rights defenders who have fled the country to avoid arrest.
today we support job creation and vocational training and we would like this partnership to continue in order to continue to benefit the people of cambodia.
at the one thousand nine hundred and ninety one paris peace accords the cambodian government agreed to a legally binding obligation to maintain a pluralistic and democratic system so we now expect the cambodian authorities to restore free political debate and competition and to respect the space for a free and independent civil society.
if we continue to see this negative trend without any changes as i said we are ready in the council to take appropriate measures.
this celebration certainly contributes to a positive vision of the eu and to major awareness of what the eu actually is. but as information about the eu grows do the expectations of the citizens of the eu grow?
i know that people come to the celebration with the hope of a better europe.
there is no other way to dissuade our partners from an opportunistic approach than to show our unity at every occasion.
it is important that we make the citizens feel part of a secure stable and prosperous union able to stand up for its interests in the international arena.
it is extremely important that we do not destroy these fragile feelings by adopting measures that go against the fundamental rights of people and their personal development.
it is evident that we try to fill this day with the strongest meaning but it is not the same for many ordinary european citizens to whom the european institutions still seem quite distant and irrelevant.
this is something that makes people feel that their nation is part of a big family and it makes them turn back in time and imagine how this family started.
i think this division this ideology is unhelpful as we try to move towards sustainable agriculture and i wish we would be less ideological in our discussions.
mr president as we have the luxury of some time i want to respond to a sense that i'm getting from this debate and which a lot of us would feel that organic agriculture is portrayed as the holy grail and conventional agriculture as problematic.
equally organic livestock farmers need to use animal health products when animals are sick.
i want to support the point made by my colleague who talked about the importation of food into the european union where it may be produced using products which we are banning inside the european union.
however they would welcome any decision in this direction taken by individual member states at national level.
in order to achieve the aims of the council recommendation the commission supports and works together with member
the commission recommends that member states promote an annual celebration of course on a voluntary basis of a day of the european union in schools.
this is the context of the council recommendation on promoting common values inclusive education and the european dimension of teaching.
third encouraging a european dimension of teaching;
and fourth supporting teachers and teaching.
we need to change the way we farm not only for nature's sake but because we are destroying the very land we depend on for our survival.
the commission is handing out socalled emergency waivers' for farmers to use pesticides that we know are damaging to human health or the environment.
the chemical dependency of our farming system is the root cause of this devastation.
the report we are debating highlights significant shortcomings in the approval process for pesticides and the control in their use across the eu.
there are also clear conflicts of interest here with industry dictating much of the approval process too much power is in the hands of agribusiness. organic farmers everywhere are showing the way towards a truly sustainable farming system that provides a secure livelihood and a healthy future for all of us and for the ecosystem we depend on.
but this lack of clarity over the facts does not mask the definite increase in concern expressed over increased repression of the political opposition in uganda.
seventy five over the next three years before the elections in two thousand and twenty one the international community must watch closely and call on the museveni government to investigate all human rights abuses to uphold the rule of law and freedom of speech and to fight hard to prevent election fraud and corruption.
the deterioration of the fundamental freedoms of expression assembly and association in uganda is indeed worrying as are president museveni's efforts now to entrench his power by changing the law to allow a president to hold office over the age of.
an investigation into the alleged abuses has been launched by the police. the speaker of parliament decided to set up an another committee to deal with this issue.
the way forward for us is to make them stronger and to build a strong more effective multilateral system.
the european union delegation and member states ambassadors on the ground followed the situation extremely closely and issued a joint statement on seventeen august calling upon all forces in uganda to respect the rule of law and individual rights.
uganda has unfortunately a long history of violence and conflict and we know very well that its people deserve some peace and the right to peacefully express their opinion.
the allegations of torture are serious.
accountability is essential to build the foundations for peace.
i think that it is important for me to say a few words on the system that we have built together to assess human rights violations and ensure accountability and bring perpetrators to justice.
it has strengthened universal justice beyond power politics and beyond geopolitical interests.
we've made this position very clear to the ugandan government and we will continue to engage with it so that responsibilities can be established and perpetrators are brought to justice.
so the court may not be perfect but the best way forward for us is not to dismantle our global institutions.
the commissioner mentioned schools but if the schools were free on that day they could do all the celebrating that week in line with germany.
so i think we should look to formalise it.
therefore europe on the move will aid this growth by making traffic safer encouraging smart road charging reducing co two emissions air pollution and congestion fighting illicit employment and ensuring proper conditions and rest time for workers.
the last elections are very instructive in this regard being widely considered by foreign observers as an undemocratic charade.
the european union and the member states have to take the lead in the un general assembly and the upcoming thirty ninth session of the united nations human rights council and step up their efforts towards the establishment of an international mechanism to back investigations into alleged atrocity crimes and to seek justice by prosecuting those responsible for atrocity crimes.
madam president well this new measure will establish an improved easy to use version of the your europe web portal.
so i was very pleased to vote in favour today as the enhanced your europe portal will help citizens and organisations quickly find the information they need to carry out key activities across the eu such as starting a business or obtaining proof of residence.
the socialists and democrats took the lead on parliament's input and secured an excellent result including better access for disabled users and more security and safety in relation to personal data.
but it is very worrying that the uk government has no idea as in so many other areas how to replicate such an effective tool for individuals and for businesses after brexit.
i have to say i disagree with your language.
i think to use the words intelligent' versus stupid' in this debate is not helpful.
frankly there are a lot of farmers who were up earlier than we were trying to be intelligent farmers under very difficult circumstances.
the point i make is that sometimes you need products.
and please understand that conventional farmers do not want to use just any products because they are costly and we are working towards reducing the need to have these but it is this ideological approach that you cannot use any product which will result in real problems in the food supply chain.
mr president one year on the myanmar government has failed to take any credible steps to investigate the crimes against rohingya and hold those with blood on their hands to account. instead they are focused on targeting two brave journalists who dare to expose the military's atrocities.
it is a crucial step towards ending impunity.
therefore a referral to the icc for the full scope of human rights violations is rohingya's main hope for justice.
the international community may take responsibility must take responsibility and i ask you madam high representative to take the lead.
failing to do so sends the signal that myanmar can continue to commit these atrocities against the rohingya and other ethnic minorities in northern myanmar. the longer we wait the more time myanmar officials have to destroy evidence in rakhine state.
we call for justice for the rohingya people and for all those who stand up for their rights and investigate and report on these crimes against humanity. we demand the immediate release of the two reuter journalists.
all our eu programmes are conditional upon respect for human rights and i think we should not hesitate to use that leverage including in respect of uganda in order to stand for our principles and to the stand with the people in uganda who are worried as is the human rights commission there.
what do they say about this? they appreciate it they like it they call it elections'.
there cannot be another scenario from our side we must firmly demand that the cambodian government give back the voice and the rights of its people.
we must put an end to impunity. to achieve this the european union has to finally move from statements to actions.
i was pleased to hear the commissioner say that this debate should be conducted in public and that all scientific studies should be made public.
i would like to ask mr huitema if he agrees with the commissioner and with me that we should make our policy on the basis of public science and that secret science is not science.
although this development is positive the situation in cambodia is still extremely serious given the gross disregard of its international human rights obligations and the serious attacks on democracy namely the complete silencing of political opposition along with the broader climate of shrinking space for civil society.
i'm particularly worried by the situation of human rights defenders especially in light of the charges against five members of the cambodian human rights and development association.
as europeans we must always be aware of the violations conducted by our own companies in cambodia. attacks against indigenous peoples including land grabbing affect many communities. it's our responsibility to develop a trade policy that prevents corporations from harming these less developed countries and fragile states.
following the eu's decision to suspend direct budget support to cambodia i wish to remind this house and the eu in general of the importance of dialogue and peopletopeople contact in these contexts.
if we are to ensure an effective data protection framework that adequately supports and protects individuals the rules of the institutions bodies and agencies must be adapted accordingly.
we are also grateful to our own parliamentary research services for this rather large tome of a document which is an impact assessment of legislation which is world class.
i think we all agree with that we have good legislation.
what this report is about is making sure it's being implemented effectively.
other colleagues have spoken about where the problems are in implementation and they are at member state level a lack of coordination perhaps a lack of trust and they are things which can be rectified.
i hope that the work of our rapporteur and colleagues in this chamber will allow that to happen because it is really important.
and i would point out that when we say we should ban this product or that product without saying what the alternatives are and what the consequences are it doesn't make us look good as legislators.
so i would ask us to be very conscious of our language because clearly commissioner you are right where a product has a problem it should not be used but we also need to make sure that we have sufficient replacement products or systems so that farmers can manage their plant health look after diseases and control weeds
i am afraid that is where we have failed because we are not reassuring those who produce our food that we have them in mind when it comes to discussions and debates and legislation on plant protection products.
the eu has a good basis for preventing this from happening the common position which is unique in the world and its eight criteria.
it is also positive that the role of the eu defence industry has been highlighted.
just as the single market and the free movement of people facilitates legal trade by greater measure it also facilitates illegal trade.
despite the british prime minister david cameron claiming credit for the stricter application of coarm criteria this will do nothing to limit the use of illicit weapons by those who wish to challenge our very existence. in fact none of the handwringing proposals in this document will stop the flow of weaponry into the hands of terrorists
two thousand and fifteen this should further contribute to convergence of arms export policies as they are now being put into practice. let me now briefly widen the picture outside the eu.
interaction channels with parliament and with ngos and civil society on arms export issues have been opened and have developed over the years. this is an invaluable achievement and it illustrates that transparency and dialogue can fruitfully take place without prejudice to the respective responsibilities of national and eu stakeholders.
in addition to this tangible action on the ground all diplomatic opportunities are used to encourage countries that have taken no steps towards the treaty to join it possibly enabling them to benefit from the eu assistance programme where needed and requested.
we urge the two remaining countries to ratify it as quickly as possible.
it is based on national responsibility of eu member states on licensing decisions together with well developed information sharing on licence denials and risk assessment.
in support of this objective the council and the european external action service provide an information sharing platform which is the dedicated council working group on arms exports and an it platform enabling to exchange details on license denials.
it sets unique and widely accepted standards to achieve greater responsibility and transparency in the arms trade.
like the eu guidelines these information sharing components have been recently overhauled as a result of the review of the eu common position achieved in.
against this background of national responsibility exercised within common riskassessment criteria the overarching objective of the eu common position is to promote convergence of national arms export policies.
the att entered into force in december two thousand and fourteen and so far one hundred and thirty states have signed it and seventy eight have ratified it including twenty six eu member states.
this is a testimony to parliamentary scrutiny over arms exports which is a sound follow up to transparency applied at eu level on arms export issues.
here again the eu does a lot to support the effective implementation and universalisation of the att.
the risk assessment criteria laid down by the eu common position are comprehensive and far reaching notably in terms of respect for human rights and international humanitarian law risk of diversion and impact on internal and regional stability. the daily application by national licensing officers is supported by common eu guidelines that have just been revised in two thousand and fifteen notably in order to align
at a time when we advocate further transparency worldwide notably via the arms trade treaty we believe it is important to flag that transparency does not run counter to national and regional security.
six four million budget is active in ten countries in latin america the caribbean africa and asia.
firstly in our close neighbourhood a number of third countries mainly in the eastern neighbourhood have aligned with the criteria of the eu common position.
secondly and moving to an even larger picture i have to refer to the arms trade treaty.
the legally binding framework demonstrates the determination or at least a first step towards determination of eu member states to prevent the export of military technology and equipment that might be used for undesirable purposes such as internal repression or international aggression as happened recently
i pay tribute to them now.
finding a solution to this cannot come too soon and we must now look to both international and regional forces that can offer some support.
kurdistan has announced a referendum for independence unilaterally which i think is very understandable and something that western powers after the first world war promised them in the treaty of svres in one thousand nine hundred and twenty.
isis sadly is now very well financed by gulf states and it has captured oilfields and looted money from the central bank and is fully militarily equipped but it must now be stopped in its tracks. it has now declared an islamic caliphate and is imposing a barbaric form of extreme sharia law on the local populations and minorities' heritage including christians
meanwhile the autonomous region of kurdistan has pursued its own destiny of democracy secularism and prosperity.
thus we now have three increasingly divergent entities that are jeopardising the territorial integrity of iraq and one that has offered fertile ground to jihadi terrorists spilling over from the conflict in neighbouring syria.
as part of the al maliki sectarian approach sunni arab tribes in iraq's west have faced discrimination and thousands of innocent civilians have been killed particularly in anbar province in the name of prosecuting a war against terrorist jihadi elements linked to isis. in so doing baghdad has driven a desperate arab sunni community including secular former supporters of saddam hussein into an unholy alliance by teaming up with isis to fight government forces.
and it is being joined by hundreds of eu including united kingdom citizens as fighters who are being radicalised and brutalised by their experience and pose a serious security threat when returning to their home countries.
the kurdish army has been very successful in wrestling control of the kirkuk oilfields previously in the hands of isis and securing the kurdish region's immediate borders and protecting the christian minorities of the nineveh plains.
moving forward the iraqi people in their millions chose their own leader in al maliki but the delay in forming a government has been a disaster and poses a real danger for the future of iraq.
the conflict in northern iraq has led hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee to neighbouring kurdish areas administered by the kurdistan regional government but recently the krg has restricted access to the areas under its control to non kurdish iraqis fleeing the violence.
it is right that parliament now calls for the iraqi government to focus on unity and we urge all political leaders especially the prime minister to make sure that an inclusive government representing the diversity of the iraqi population is formed as a factor of urgency. finally noting the clear link between the rise of is and the syrian civil war i call for the regional dialogue to address the problems facing the middle east including iran and saudi arabia and in those discussions to make a reality the eu's offer of assistance to help promote democracy human rights and the rule of law.
europe itself cannot advocate our agreement to promote democracy human rights and good governance in iraq and then fail to act when these objectives are put under grave threat not least because of the real problems of foreign competence as well as the threats posed by failed states within the region.
two thousand and three do you not think it is time for the united nations to call a fresh conference in order to stabilise the political and economic situation in iraq before it spirals out of control and can we have a close look at what our money has been spent on?