kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the irish are the authors of their own misfortune their government mismanaged their economy and fuelled a house building boom unrelated to reality.
the only sensible thing that the late and unlamented labour government did was to keep britain out of the euro.
the irish government horribly mismanaged our country and it is a sad day for the irish people that we are mentioned in this chamber in these particular circumstances. but we are in a situation where we need solidarity.
we are all very much interlinked let us not forget that.
can i just ask some questions?
because in these emotional times we need some cool heads and clear information. where stand the bank stress tests this evening when the irish banks appear to be absolutely overstretched and stressed out?
secondly there is a question for the ecb to answer about what its mandate is.
those banks from germany and france and other countries who invested in irish banks need to look at what they did and why they did it. lastly there is political instability this evening in ireland.
they see it as the root of all evil and they cheer at the prospect of the collapse of the eurozone.
but these people are wrong and they live in the past.
the current troubles are not caused by the euro;
loose cooperation on the basis of unanimity is not an option anymore. colleagues we are on a ship with a giant hole in its side;
but national governments still seem to think that it is enough to set up task forces and working groups and talk about maybe seeking closer cooperation and then again maybe not.
the good news is that they seem to be acting more decisively and more quickly in the case of ireland because swift action is needed and very welcome.
this is not just about rescuing single countries it is about the credibility of the eurozone.
it is about the world testing us.
are we willing and able to act?
the confidence of the world in the eurozone is essential for the stability of our currency;
the money in our pockets depends on the confidence that others have in us.
finally a word about the austerity measures.
they are much criticised and some people even say that they will damage the economy.
of course we have to act with caution but these measures are necessary to sanitise public finance in the long term and are also a sign of solidarity between countries in the eurozone.
madam president i read the committee on economic and monetary affairs' report on the european central bank's annual report with great interest.
the report acknowledges that huge disparities between member states of the eurozone contributed to the problems we are witnessing.
i strain to see the sense in calling for stronger coordination of economic policies within the euro area. the knee jerk reaction has been to increase economic governance but it is limitations of enforced commonality that have led particular member states into financial crisis combined with extraneous reasons as yet beyond our control.
perhaps the system does not allow for the necessary economic elasticity and self determination to enable governments to deal with idiosyncratic problems effectively such as rates of inflation.
the report lights upon this point noting that the crisis and subsequent bail outs and stimulus packages led to far reaching austerity measures which heavily constrain the capacity of governments to act'.
one argument is that you cannot have a single currency without further homogenisation to iron out differences between member states and levels of wealth.
yet any realist knows that this will not happen.
it is contrary to human nature which logically should shine forth in a democracy however inconvenient.
i raise my eyebrows at the statement that the adoption of the currency by estonia shows the status of the euro' suggesting that this will encourage other member states to seek membership'.
ideological clinging to the euro will see monetary problems resurface in boom time and bust.
a single currency only works in a tight knit federal environment.
perhaps with this being the commission's ultimate intention they have put the cart before the horse.
although the uk is not in the eurozone we suffer the effects of contributing to bail outs and through the intricately entwined economics inside the union it is no use waiting for the i told you so' moment.
as president of the european central bank why have you and the european commission utterly capitulated to the speculators and assorted sharks on the international financial markets? you allowed them to engineer a panic in the markets over the irish crisis a panic designed to get you to intervene to guarantee the bond holders the billions that they gambled in bad debts.
because they threatened you that they would attack portugal and spain next you and commissioner rehn utterly capitulated to a market dictatorship that is unelected faceless and unaccountable. can i ask you to justify this?
private speculators and bondholders gamble tens of billions in private deals with private developers and private bankers in ireland for private profit and when the gamble fails you support the pathetic government in ireland to saddle working people pensioners and the poor with the cost of this gamble.
now you have sent in the imf as the shock troops for neoliberal capitalism to make the irish people pay.
however at a time when the euro is facing new crises every day and it is generally accepted that new forms of governance and new rules are required for survival it is hard for the ecb to weigh in on outside global issues.
yet that could be precisely the problem.
until now most of the large global players have succeeded in working together to seek solutions to the problems of the global financial crisis.
the coordination in areas of financial services regulatory reform particularly in areas like derivatives has been unprecedented.
but when it is national currencies that are being defended as opposed to multinational banks there is a strong danger that multilateral coordination is going to break down.
if the ecb looks to protect the euro above all else the fed to protect the dollar and the chinese the yuan we will all lose out.
since its inception the ecb has done the difficult job of balancing different cultures and methods of monetary policy.
i hope that even while it is under intense internal pressure it can use its expertise in these areas to enhance cooperation beyond the eu to a global level.
and will we express our solidarity with these affected peoples and also make every instrument available to help them?
at this time we should be having a timely debate to show solidarity with these people so i want to know why it was postponed particularly as there was a lull in proceedings today;
six years ago and we have still not found a solution for the banking crisis! the americans did that immediately.
basis. i have already heard that some people are ready to make agreements on that to compromise
law. that is what we normally do if we do not agree with the council we say ok you can start with that system but within a year within two years within five years the whole ega has to fall under community
that i can understand so you are intervening.
let us be honest we have already said a few times that the proposal of the council is not acceptable and that we need another one.
solution. we are not ready to accept any solution just because we have to have a solution quickly because if we have a bad solution it will be hard to get a better solution afterwards.
it is a european banking system and therefore we need a european solution and not a sum of national solutions.
it is not our responsibility it is not our fault that we do not yet have the banking union.
but the banking system is no longer a national banking system.
why is it important to have a strong european solution?
something has to be done on this issue very decisively.
parliament is ready and open to accelerating these negotiations and achieving a deal before the european elections.
i have some understanding for the constitutional concerns of one member state concerning the transfer of contributions from banks to a european fund but we cannot accept an intergovernmental agreement that takes out other crucial elements of the single resolution mechanism and leaves them to the discretion of the member states.
the trialogues with the greek presidency are the only format for negotiating for this parliament and i would like to welcome the helpful contributions made by commissioner barnier during the debate on tuesday.
but we are not concluding our first reading;
the single fund has to be up and running from the start of the single resolution mechanism through a swift mutualisation of bank levies instead of ten years of national compartments.
our line that was agreed in the economic and monetary committee will get the full backing of this house.
it could also seriously undermine the effective application of the resolution tools.
our group really wants to protect the taxpayers from having to pay the bill again for failing banks.
it shows the right way.
mr president we feel a strong sense of urgency to complete the banking union before the european elections.
this underlined the great importance the greek presidency attaches to this regulation.
he clearly indicated the willingness to work constructively on a common agreement but the greek presidency cannot negotiate when they do not get a substantial mandate from the ecofin council and there is a clear urgency the markets are watching so we have to get it right from the start.
we moved the supervision on commonly agreed rules away from governments giving more objectivity.
but now the council is suggesting the reverse leaving crucial decisions on resolving failing banks up to the member states.
constitutional requirements and also unless we are convinced that it is legal.
completing the banking union is the number one priority for the ppe group in the last months of this term.
the epp is aware of the great responsibility resting on us.
we want to ensure that bail in will be applied to make sure that shareholders and investors have to pay but it should be equally applied to failing banks irrespective of the member states in which they operate.
the single resolution mechanism is the final brick we have to add in order to restore credibility to ensure a safe and stable financial system with better access to loans for our businesses and households and to protect our citizens and their deposits from failing banks.
we will be firm but constructive in the negotiations.
we are keeping the door open and this should serve as a wake up call for the council.
the negotiating table is here in this house not in the council building.
his initial proposal for a single resolution mechanism is the right basis;
mr president we have heard from the group presidents reinforcing the position taken by my committee and our debate earlier this week.
in the trialogues i have and will continue to maintain that all issues are on the table for negotiation.
we have had three trialogues where the greek presidency has had no negotiating mandate beyond that of the council position.
there are limits to how long we can go on explaining one another's position to each other.
i have taken the initiative on my own shoulders and put ideas forward beyond those in the parliament position.
the commission has helped but it takes two sides to move.
i cannot lead colleagues on a one way journey and i do not have any appetite or intention to do so.
it is not the best and worst of one side only.
co decision means we must try to find the best of both.
we can show you today that we can vote just one side's position.
we can come back again and we can vote a fair compromise but we will not come back and vote the council position or some almost identical version thereof.
let us be realistic we are talking about a very significant shift in sovereignty within the eurozone and we are talking about very large amounts of money.
we have the makings of a deal that would provide much needed certainty to the eurozone banks.
i do not disagree with many of the views on that.
secondly i believe we have to protect the eu budget from being called upon to shore up banks in a currency that many member states have no intention of joining.
i do however agree with the need for clarity on who will make the decisions when a eurozone bank fails and i appreciate the concern that a few large countries could call the shots in the operation of such a mechanism.
but we must also be careful not to go the other way and put in place a structure so rigid that it would fail to respond appropriately to the many different ways that a bank can fail at any time or in any place.
unfortunately for some people today's debate and vote are not about trying to move forward or to find a solution they are about institutional power play and posturing.
perhaps we should try that in a few other policy areas as well.
we believe we need to respect the rules of the single market we believe we need to respect the state aid rules.
however we have tried to approach these issues looking at the bigger picture which ought to transcend the petty institutional wrangling that some people want to take part in.
the eu head of delegation in hanoi reiterated the eu's concerns on eleven january and again in march at the occasion of an eu dmarche on the death penalty. presidents barroso and van rompuy raised human rights concerns when meeting the general secretary of the communist party of vietnam in january.
we must of course take into account the very long journey that vietnam has travelled in the last few years. there has been progress in many areas.
furthermore our delegation in hanoi in coordination with member states attends trials of human rights defenders visits prison facilities and interacts with local human rights activists.
vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world at the end of the eighties and within a quarter of a century vietnam has lifted millions of people out of poverty and made progress as i said.
following the sentencing of bloggers last september high representative catherine ashton expressed her serious concerns calling on vietnam to respect its international obligations and to release the convicted bloggers immediately.
we have indeed noticed with concern a more restrictive approach on human rights notably concerning freedom of expression and the media.
finally eu representatives especially the eu special representative for human rights should consistently raise these and other concerns in the human rights dialogue meetings in order to achieve concrete progress on human rights and democratisation.
the availability of the internet and new technologies has helped people to access information to freely express themselves to assemble and to document human rights abuses which can then be shared with the rest of the world.
governments that seek to retain control are afraid of empowered populations highlighting corruption injustice and speaking out for justice freedom and opportunities.
on top of the consequences for individual dissidents and human rights defenders a new decree on internet management would legalise content filtering censorship and sanctions by the government against vaguely described prohibited acts'.
this decree would oblige internet companies and providers including foreign ones to cooperate with the government in the surveillance and tracking of cyber dissidents.
as the eu is also in the process of working on a free trade agreement with vietnam it is essential that european companies seeking to do business and to create jobs in vietnam will not be met with surveillance and censorship and are not forced to perform these acts either.
i do want to utterly condemn any breaches of human rights in vietnam and particularly the curtailment of freedom of speech but that is not the purpose of my presentation this afternoon.
i want to say are you aware mr president that there is a high level delegation of parliamentarians coming to brussels next week from vietnam? and the week after that there is a delegation from this parliament going to vietnam.
now once again it seems to me that we have taken the inappropriate step of arranging this debate in advance of finding out what other committees and delegations in this house are doing.
and it leaves these other meps embarrassed or in a difficult position in negotiations that could have helped to uncover some of these breaches of human rights and could have helped to resolve this situation.
we have legal instruments in place.
ecommerce and rapidly increasing volumes of small shipments are a major challenge for authorities.
in consultation with stakeholders the commission is preparing the necessary guidance.
in the meantime the transition will have to be properly managed.
increased surveillance and security will be a direct threat to the peace process if the controls are located on the border in ireland.
this is not counting farms that straddle the border nor houses where you enter the front door on one side of the border and leave it through the other side.
there are two hundred and seventy seven roads crossing the border in ireland.
if the might of the british military could not close the border eu customs officials will not be able to close it;
so bringing back customs posts on the border in ireland will be unworkable as well as politically unacceptable and also an invitation to smugglers to set up shop on the border.
the integrity of the customs union demands that a solution be found which keeps the north of ireland in the eu and in the customs union and the only way to achieve this short of irish unity is through designated special status within the eu and it is something that the irish government and this parliament must insist on.
but also every chain is only as strong as its weakest link and again the rapporteur is absolutely right to recognise issues with socalled forum shopping where goods are shipped through the area where it is perceived that customs controls are the most lax.
i also note that a recent report by transparency international shows that sadly corruption is the norm and not the exception in public life ranking one hundred and seventy six countries across the globe for corruption. we see that in the european union there are countries like denmark sweden finland the netherlands and the united kingdom which all come out in the top ten
in order to eliminate the negative influence the quality and performance of customs control on the transit of goods particularly at ports and borders is of high priority.
we need closer customs cooperation both within the union and with third countries as well as an effective sharing of statistical information related to eu import controls.
thus in addition to preventing damage to the economy we will protect the health and safety of consumers limiting the risk to societies and markets.
in the recently published reflection paper on harnessing globalisation further investment in eu customs risk management is seen as one of the means of responding to the challenges of globalisation and ensuring a level playing field.
madam president i would like to add my support for this oral question as i find it totally unacceptable for the united states canada and mexico to be seeking to challenge the inclusion of aviation in the eu emissions trading system.
i urge the commission and the council to clearly state that they intend to fully respect the properly adopted eu law in the upcoming icao discussions.
for example this sector will still be allowed to access carbon credits from other industries and the cap on aviation emissions is nowhere near as challenging as that demanded from other sectors.
including aviation here is at least a step in the right direction and ends the legislative vacuum it has enjoyed for too long to the extent that it is the fastest growing source of carbon emissions.
in any event many people believe those aviation conditions from two thousand and twelve to be modest in comparison to what we should and could have been able to achieve.
i could talk about the gbp. six six million spent last year by european commissioners simply on entertainment and luxury gifts and hotels.
it happens rather because there is no link between taxation representation and expenditure at brussels level.
i could fill my sixty seconds talking about the eighteen years' worth of unaudited accounts or the bazillions that are squandered on agriculture and foreign aid boondoggles or the tillack case where instead of any of the alleged fraudsters being arrested it was the journalist trying to find out about them who found himself banged up by the police.
these things happen not because the eu attracts particularly bad people.
i could talk about the wonderful spectacle of president van rompuy and commissioner ashton flying to the same meeting in russia in separate private jets leaving brussels within four hours of each other.
i was one of the very small number of british conservatives who were sceptical about military action but the last thing i want to do is to be in the invidious position of so many anti war commentators who have talked themselves into half hoping for the worst so as to be able to say i told you so'.
' so i am delighted now that we have got rid of a baleful regime which had committed repeated acts of war against our country the lockerbie atrocity the murder of yvonne fletcher the funding of the ira.
i hope for a peaceful pluralist and democratic outcome in libya.
libya will not demonstrate its fitness by handing him over to an international bureaucracy.
it will demonstrate its fitness by trying him and giving him justice in its own sovereign territory.
madam president i support the revolutionary movement against the assad dictatorship. the brutal character of that regime has been very clearly demonstrated by the regime's own actions.
it has massacred thousands of people disappeared thousands tortured thousands.
many horrific stories have circulated including the fact that they have used snipers against government soldiers in order to in turn force the government soldiers to fire on protestors.
however the crocodile tears of us president obama and other imperialist leaders should be rejected for the self interested posturing which they are.
the opposition movement has correctly rejected any call for imperialist intervention because any intervention like that in libya would simply be for their own interests.
only a mass movement of the syrian people cutting across ethnic and religious lines can develop the movement forward and can ensure a clean break with the regime and no strengthening of imperialism.
a democratic government representing the mass of the syrian people is needed a workers' and poor peasants' government. such a government on the basis of democratic control and ownership of the key sectors of the economy could use the country's massive resources to raise the living standards of all.
we hope that we will see the end of the socialist gaddafi regime and his henchmen but as we try to help rebuild libya let us make sure that we give the right level of support.
there is always lots of advice available at the beginning of a rebuilding exercise but let us not forget the principles on which the most successful and prosperous countries are built. let us help with projects on liberty on democracy on freedom on human rights on free trade on property rights on open markets so that the people of libya can benefit from this change of regime create prosperity locally and finally forget all the
damascus is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and is a cradle of christianity.
while private foreign sources would not need to be disclosed as has quite rightly been underscored.
in many sectors including monitoring human rights both in israel and in the occupied palestinian territories as well as highlighting environmental and cultural issues.
these are certainly very welcome changes.
on the disclosure of funding from abroad'.
as spelled out in the commission's european neighbourhood policy progress report the first version of the bill last february contained new requirements on the activities of civil society that if adopted would have substantially hampered ngo work in israel.