kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the danish presidency is fully supportive of this process and will use its time in office to advance it as much as possible.
the growing burden of diabetes must therefore be addressed through prevention early detection effective management education and research.
our discussion this afternoon and the resolution which you will vote on tomorrow will help increase awareness of this challenge to our collective health. i therefore look forward to hearing your views on this issue and to reporting back to the council.
according to the world health organisation type two diabetes which represents between eighty five and ninety five of diabetes cases can be prevented by basic changes in lifestyle including healthy diet and regular physical activity. what can be done within the eu to face up to this challenge?
the biggest challenge in this context arises from the fact that we live longer and do not live healthily enough.
the implications are obvious mounting pressure on our health sector and a situation where fewer young people are entering the labour market to pay for rising public costs.
at present around thirty million people in the european union are diagnosed with diabetes.
mr president honourable members of the european parliament commissioner i am grateful to this parliament for taking the initiative in organising this debate and in drawing attention to this important issue.
this means that ever more europeans develop diabetes and other chronic diseases.
they continue to work tirelessly to raise the profile of the effects of diabetes on the health of citizens across the european union. throughout europe chronic diseases in general impose an enormous challenge to patients and their relatives and society
this calls for a new and coordinated approach and increased cooperation.
at present diabetes can be neither reversed nor cured. current therapies do not prevent the progression of the disease. equally they cannot eliminate the threat of long term complications.
the work in the council is one of many strands of work which are contributing to these efforts but more could and should be done.
prevention can be very effective.
patient empowerment is also the topic of a conference organised under the danish presidency which will take place on eleven and twelve april in copenhagen.
in fact chronic disease is one of the main priorities of the danish presidency in the field of health.
a wide range of stakeholders including politicians government officials health ngos healthcare professionals and business organisations will be represented at that forum and the danish presidency is proud to support
it is expected to be finalised next year.
in december two thousand and ten the council launched a reflection process on the issue of chronic diseases.
this figure is expected to rise to around forty million by around. two thousand and thirty around ten of the eu member states' health care budget is spent on the direct treatment of diabetes.
health issues are first and foremost a matter for member states.
in addition the commission has also financed action through the health programme to support member states' responses to diabetes prevention and care and to improve european capacity for monitoring the diabetes epidemic.
in this framework the commission encourages action by food producers media and advertisers on food reformulation and commercial communication standards.
by addressing obesity we address diabetes and many other chronic diseases at the same time.
we further support research and innovation to address diet related diseases more generally with the joint programming initiative a healthy diet for a healthy life'.
we know that not all diabetes is preventable but when it comes to type two diabetes we do know what the main causes are being overweight obesity and a lack of physical activity.
more than half of adult europeans are overweight or obese.
it was in this spirit that back in two thousand and seven the commission developed a strategy on nutrition and physical activity to support national efforts to prevent obesity.
as such the european commission fully endorses your call to member states to develop strategies on diet and exercise to prevent type two diabetes as expressed in your resolution.
the rate of obesity has more than doubled over the past twenty years.
this being said as you know the commission believes that it can provide most added value by focusing work on the challenges and causes common to many chronic diseases such as obesity rather than focusing on the individual diseases one by one.
the strategy works first by fostering an exchange of experiences amongst member states encouraging joint approaches and coordinated actions.
as such we welcome your resolution's call for coordination of diabetes research across the european union.
special attention is given to juvenile diabetes and factors related to childhood.
through the eu education policy the commission is also supporting physical activity with initiatives such as the eu guidelines for physical activity.
what is the mechanism?
i am not interested in computer predictions.
what do they actually do?
i am not interested in the ninety of so called scientists who say so.
the montreal protocol's technology and economic assessment panel is expected to provide an encouraging assessment of the availability and affordability of alternatives as well as of the economic and environmental costs and benefits of moving towards low global warming potential alternatives for ozone depleting substances.
therefore by approving this regulation we will also make an important contribution to the international climate talks.
the new regulation will not only reduce emissions in the eu but will have a direct impact globally.
this is crucial because unless other major economies follow europe's lead global production and consumption of these extremely powerful greenhouse gases will continue to grow.
we have not seen much concrete action yet.
i hope that this piece of significant european legislation can have an inspirational effect on these other big emitters too. thank you very much for your cooperation.
the swift and effective implementation of the eu regulation as of two thousand and fifteen will prove that ambitious measures on hfcs are feasible. with this domestic legislation the eu has gained global leadership on this issue and we are prepared to use this role in order to make progress
i must say that i am particularly grateful to parliament for supporting the commission in maintaining the proposed level of ambition in the sometimes difficult trilogue discussions.
the eu will actively contribute to this event which should provide an excellent opportunity to address the concerns of those developing countries that have so far been slowing down the progress of the negotiations.
an international workshop on this will also be organised as part of the montreal protocol work this july.
furthermore it is also encouraging that there is broad support among stakeholders for the compromise reached which in the end was also accepted by unanimity in council.
these reports confirm the commission's view that continued vigilance is needed to safeguard the substantial past achievements of the montreal protocol but i am also glad that all those substances identified are already covered by the eu reporting system.
this is what we need in order to address f gases not just in europe but also internationally.
i think we have taken a very important step and i thank you once again for your good cooperation on this.
madam president i believe that the european union agency for the cooperation of energy regulators has a key role for the transparency of the wholesale energy market.
acer estimates it needs another forty five fulltime staff to effectively monitor energy transactions and thus prevent fraud and market manipulation which has a negative effect on energy prices and consumer trust.
when will the commission come forward with concrete and detailed information on how and when the mandate and powers of acer will be expanded and will the commissioner guarantee that such a proposal would be accommodated by the much needed increase for the acer budget keeping also in mind that new responsibilities must also come with additional resources?
i need not tell you that maintaining running and supervising the energy infrastructure of europe is no small feat.
real infrastructure bottlenecks between european countries prohibiting the free flow of energy across borders due to the lack of transmission capacity as you know;
commissioner when will the commission provide acer with the necessary financial resources to handle its obligation on the remit?
it is a thing we take for granted and indeed rightfully so.
and artificial energy bottlenecks where available transmission capacity is intentionally under utilised or blocked outright fragmenting further the internal energy market.
that is exactly why we need a strong active and engaged acer that can supervise it all and tackle the problems faced by europe as we move towards an energy union and a true internal energy market. the remit of course is the most pressing issue at hand but before us lies a long list of obstacles to be removed before we can achieve the energy union that europe needs
that is my first question.
the energy union action plan foresees the reinforcement of the european regulatory framework.
acer plays a key part in creating the seamless internal market as it deals with crossborder issues and enhances interconnections within the eu.
building a well functioning well connected internal energy market will bring down retail prices in europe contribute to the fight against energy poverty in my region the northwest of england and across the eu while at the same time strengthening eu energy security.
it has so far ensured that the level of funding allocated to the agency is sufficient and will be vigilant and propose additional funding when these prove necessary. when carrying out its assessment the commission will also consider the energy
the commission is committed to ensuring that the agency is adequately equipped to perform all its relevant tasks.
modern analysts might call it an emergent property'.
the famous scottish economist adam smith described the behaviour of markets when thousands of economic operators make deals and decisions based on their own economic self interest.
he calls for thirty additional staff. i am sure that he is right in his diagnosis but i am not quite sure that i share his prescription.
it is a general rule that legislative interference in markets almost invariably makes them perform worse rather than better.
he called it the invisible hand'.
rather than increase the staff we must question the scope of remit.
above all it must ensure that we increase cross border energy flows to deliver a genuine functional single market for energy.
as previously mentioned acer has been given increased responsibilities within the third energy package.
so my question to the commission is what vision does the commission have for the development of acer's tasks and responsibilities?
madam president we need a european energy union in order to strengthen our energy security and achieve our climate and environmental objectives.
this can only be achieved through a strong system of governance which ensures that member states do not pull in different directions and pursue contradictory policies.
as a result of this crucial actions related to its remit are being postponed at a time when action must take place faster than ever before in order to build a true european energy union.
this is precisely why we have an agency like acer.
however it is crystal clear that it lacks the resources needed to meet all those responsibilities.
the tools do not mean that everything will be done and if you had the tools then everything would be fine. but without the tools without the funds to have the staff it is impossible to do the task.
so i would see that as square number one.
concerning the special purpose vehicle itself in the interests of eu solidarity those countries that are not in the eurozone but wish to join the stabilisation mechanism should be able to do so.
since writing this oral question i am pleased that the commission has indicated its intention to involve parliament in economic governance surveillance procedures and forthcoming legislation and the committee looks forward to participating wholeheartedly in that involvement.
will the eu and imf loans rank pari passu or will only the imf loans benefit from exclusion in any eventual restructuring of the borrowers' obligations.
at times this is becoming too much of an excuse for pronouncing conclusions aimed at markets without realising that a less than fulsome follow up negates the conclusions or even does more harm than good.
as part of the new economic governance surely this has to be fixed in the longer term and i would say automatically not as part of a politically determined excess deficit procedure that takes away the zero risk weight.
should the imf be topping up an eu rescue or should it be the other way round?
is the spv active now or must first calls use the eu budget mechanism?
they were in fact sleeping as greece and others ratcheted up debt much earlier on but there are reasons for that embedded in the zero risk weight applied to sovereign debt in the capital requirements directive.
i said it earlier when it was taking too long to come up with the detail on the greek rescue and the committee has in fact been demanding more details for months.
there is a fundamental question to face here that if there is a general eurobond with a common interest rate then one of the most powerful incentives for fiscal discipline market forces is lost.
on eleven may the european stabilisation mechanism was established utilising the eu budget.
indeed more generally as was raised in committee yesterday we would like to know more about this off balance sheet vehicle member states' accounting treatment of it and the advice for setting it up.
how will the coordination between the stabilisation fund and the imf operate?
can you confirm that the rules of the spv are being changed to permit this?
had that not been there banks would progressively have been weaned off riskier bonds and spreads would have reflected better the fiscal positions of member states and we would not be bailing banks out again via the stabilisation mechanism and indeed the forthcoming stress tests would be a whole lot less stressful.
i said this about the banks' stress tests where we need transparent and credible assumptions as well as results published.
we are the devils that look at the detail and we want more of it.
mr president in so many matters nowadays the expression the devil is in the detail' is quoted.
but i think that here we have the opportunity to turn what is a problem in the capital requirements directive into a useful tool in the future.
it had taken so long to deliver on the earlier promises that this was not enough so on seven june the more general european financial stability facility was created.
there are potential knock on effects as a result of these new instruments for the eu budget and also for borrowing by other eu institutions such as the eib.
will allocation be made on the twenty one basis reflecting the pledged amounts and what is the relationship between the respective interest rates?
what message does that send to the citizens at the same time as asking them to cut back on spending?
it is quite clear the first lesson to learn as mrs thatcher used to say is that you cannot spend more money than you have got coming in.
but how can we send that message out when we ourselves here have just voted to go back to twelve sittings a year in strasbourg?
so stop spending more money than you collect in taxes.
but the most important lesson we should learn is that what people call public investment' is quite often spending even more taxpayers' money. what we should be doing as politicians and governments is getting out of the way and letting the entrepreneurs invest in growth and jobs for they are the people who can produce the goods that we seek.
but be that as it may it is quite clear that the governments of these countries and the eu as well should be looking to see how we can sort out public finances.
all twenty seven member states face different challenges in their economies none more so than in opportunities for youth employment.
many of these measures being proposed today seek to micro manage initiatives which need to be carried out at regional and member state levels.
moreover these proposals are in danger of duplicating work already being done by member states including comprehensive plans being implemented by my own uk government through their youth contract and apprenticeship schemes.
the lack of youth employment opportunities together with the massive levels of debt which member states are carrying means that we need to look for effective solutions to these structural issues.
for instance the european job youth guarantee for unemployed people can be no substitute for the real issue at stake that the eurozone economies must now take a dose of thatcherite medicine as the only remedy for economic sustainability.
mr president the eurozone crisis gives me no pleasure and unemployment and recession are evils that nobody deserves but they are a consequence of the profligacy and irresponsibility of some governments which avoided the choices that many other governments had to make in the one thousand nine hundred and eighty s.
which conservative could oppose a statement that fiscal consolidations based on cutting unproductive expenditure rather than on increasing revenue is the correct one and will aid growth and job creation?
however it is never going to be possible for the eu budget to reduce macroeconomic and social imbalances throughout the eurozone.
this report highlights those desirable structural reforms.
mr president credit rating agencies have been widely blamed for their role in the financial crisis of.
in actual fact this may in reality increase the volatility for example by necessitating more severe downgrades than would previously have been necessary.
do we really believe that a proscriptive and rushed approach by restricting these people to a view for only three times a year is going to decrease volatility?
two thousand and eight they triple a rated the us mortgage backed securities which ultimately caused the collapse of institutions such as bear stearns lehman brothers and aig.
it needs to consolidate.
consolidation based on cutting unproductive expenditure rather than on increasing revenue. i believe the eu should follow its own advice and lead by its own example not only with the total of the european budget but for example with the circus that is strasbourg.
it costs twenty zero co two tonnes and it is basically leading us to look like a joke and very indecisive at a point in time when we need to be showing real solidarity with the people suffering across the whole of the eu through this crisis.
it is totally unproductive and the court ruling recently is ignoring the will of this house and of eu citizens across the whole of the eu.
the eu needs to learn its lesson.
do we not want to remove rather than add to the stains on our reputation as meps?
no one can justify the wholesale waste of money time and carbon emissions.
democracy is government for the people by the people of the people.
no administrative device is going to quell the fact that by conducting our business the way we do we invite and earn the contempt of our electorate.
however i have some concerns about the report particularly from the issue and point of view of moral hazard.
ecb president draghi's commitment to backstop the euro has given a temporary respite to the euro and the european sovereign bond markets but clearly more long term fiscal union is now being planned to prevent the disruptions we have seen since two thousand and eight in the bond markets. debt mutualisation or joint and several liability through the so called stability bonds is therefore a key concept to prevent a further run on indebted eurozone member state governments.
mr president the eurozone crisis which i actually wrote about as inevitable a decade ago is an existential challenge to the european integrationalist project. it is therefore not surprising that european leaders the ones most committed to further political union will do whatever it takes to resolve this matter.
the ruling does not make sense to me or my constituents.
yet its members are fully aware that parliament does not meet in strasbourg on a monthly basis as the treaties require.
there is no satisfactory answer. member states and the european parliament arguing whether we need to troop to strasbourg eleven or twelve times a year appears to our citizens as if we are rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic.
it would not improve the situation of young people and by forcing member states to guarantee jobs would increase tensions within the labour market.
hand in hand with ambitious reform of the uk benefits systems the conservative led government is ensuring that work always pays more than welfare.
one way of doing this is to have more companies offer work placements.
we need to help young people into work and to give them the support they need.
i believe the commission's recommendations for a youth guarantee scheme is little more than another handout.
the conservative party in the uk is committed to creating jobs in the capital and beyond.
mr president through their notation credit rating agencies have a substantial impact on the financial economy of any country and definitely on the daily life of citizens.
i commend the limits introduced on cross shareholdings and especially the fact that a member or shareholder of a credit rating agency must publicly declare any share he or she holds in another agency that these shares cannot exceed five and that credit rating agencies are not allowed to hold a stake of more than ten
mr president this is the third piece of eu legislation on credit rating agencies since the financial crisis of.
i hope that we will now give the existing legislation on rating agencies time to settle down on a global basis.
however today's report introduces blunt tools to try to change behaviour in very sophisticated financial markets.
clarifying the liability of ratings agencies is sensible and attempts to broaden the market participants if done properly should aid competition and lead to improvement in the quality of analysis.
two thousand and eight the world's regulation of these often global research institutions has moved on.
the only way to restore prosperity is to look beyond europe to the parts of the world that are still growing.
the private sector in europe is shrinking and our demographic situation is dire.
so who is generating the revenue that is to pay for all the things that we want to spend?
our treasuries are empty our credit is exhausted and you do not have to look far to see the reason why.
people stay in full time education for longer and longer.
we have the most generous workers' rights anywhere in the world. we have plenty of rights but fewer and fewer workers.
work is becoming a lifestyle choice.
for forty years this chamber and the other eu institutions have been passing more and more intrusive laws depreciating the private sector.
they retire earlier and earlier as a percentage of their total lifespan and in the few years in between they are likely to be working for the government.
now forced by the financial crisis many of the member governments are looking to retrench and yet we have the extraordinary situation where every penny they save at home and more is being swallowed up by these constant increases in the brussels budget.
if we cannot do that within the common external tariff we should seek the wider horizons which our fathers took for granted.
but whatever the truth and whatever the view of that it is quite clear that we have to move towards one seat.
for them it is a symbol of franco german reconciliation.
mr president there are those in our constituencies who see politicians as out of touch and those politicians who try to justify the fact that we meet in two places in brussels and strasbourg are seen as even more out of touch.
but let us agree on one seat.