kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
why am i mentioning this?
we need the same determined attitude to risk reduction in the textiles sector and i could add shipbreaking as well. in the textiles sector we have over four million people mainly women who ought to be able to feel that they can return home safely after the end of a working day having earned a decent living wage.
so my group will not be supporting the amendments to write these issues out of this resolution.
the action plan is certainly to be welcomed. that strengthened role for trade unions i think we would all agree is extremely important within this as is their ability to organise freely and to hold management to account.
equally some of the other measures that we have talked about in terms of corporate social responsibility need to be enforced.
that has implications as others have mentioned for the prices actually paid by the buyers.
there we saw thirteen deaths mainly people hit by trees and loss of property.
well because i think that it shows what can be done to reduce disasters and risks when government and civil society work together with international help.
i do not think that we should step back from naming companies who have yet to sign up.
similar consultations have taken place with representatives of major european garment companies and retailers concerning factory safety as well as with experts from the ilo and development agencies.
sustained and progressive improvement of working conditions should be ensured with all sides taking their responsibilities and working together.
we have immediately expressed concern and sympathy and we have taken a series of initiatives.
as well as training rehabilitation and redeployment of injured and unemployed workers.
we would like to see more companies join this initiative.
we hope that members will pursue the matter with members of the bangladeshi parliament many of whom have close links with the garment industry and can thus provide leverage and make a difference.
we expect europe based companies to exercise corporate social responsibility in their activities and openly adhere to the international corporate social responsibility guidelines the oecd guidelines for multinational enterprises if applicable the ilo tripartite declaration on multinational enterprises and social policy or the un global compact.
the ilo has a key role to play as a tripartite organisation and the guarantor of internationally accepted standards. this joint statement now needs to be implemented through a clear and time bound action plan.
european and international companies should respect labour standards throughout their supply chain in line with internationally recognised corporate social responsibility standards and in dialogue with workers' representatives.
about and i will be very strict in this.
including through the generalised system of preferences through which bangladesh currently receives duty free and quota free access to eu markets under the everything but arms' scheme in order to incentivise responsible management of supply chains involving developing countries. more generally we have raised with the government of bangladesh the importance of addressing working conditions and social inequalities.
trade working conditions training assessment and occupational health and safety in bangladesh and in a global perspective.
we will consider expanding our funding for projects to provide the necessary support.
the implementation and extension of the national tripartite plan of action on fire safety adopted in march;
similar concerns prevail in other countries and also need to be addressed.
they have already signed a kind of charter but we have to be very concrete in this and they can take responsibility for their supply chains.
express again our sincere condolences to the families of the victims.
some examples of the projects which we already fund include supporting the government and employers' associations in order to provide compliance audits in factories and training for labour inspectors and factory compliance officers and working closely with the bangladesh fire service and civil defence directorate as well as with unido and the ilo on
it aims at preventing further tragedies notably through the assessment of structural and fire safety of all export oriented garment factories and associated remedial actions;
let me underline however that while today's discussion for obvious reasons focuses on bangladesh the purpose is not to name and shame that country.
we have expressed encouragement for responsible management of supply chains involving developing countries.
end. we will encourage and support bilateral cooperation between the eu and bangladesh to promote the development of a better preventive culture of occupational safety and health.
as i mentioned earlier we must not underestimate the scale of the problem and the fact that it is not restricted to bangladesh or to the textile sector.
in dhaka the eu delegation held meetings with the government eu retailers and officials of the garments manufacturers and exporters association to discuss factory safety in the ready made garment sector.
to achieve these objectives we plan to continue holding constructive dialogue with the bangladeshi authorities and further strengthen our cooperation with the
we have been able to build on projects that we are already funding in this field and we have also welcomed and encouraged the efforts of the ilo to bring together the various relevant stakeholders to work together to tackle the problems of factory safety in bangladesh. we have said that we are considering appropriate action
europe based companies should also exercise due diligence to ensure respect for human rights within their supply chains as outlined in the un guiding principles on business and human rights.
this is a step in the right direction.
this is a period of intense engagement as shown by the initiatives taken so far to help bangladesh bring about change.
we have given a clear signal that the problem is serious and should be addressed urgently.
too. they need to take responsibility for their supply chain.
rather the european union must now aim to work with the bangladeshi governmental authorities constructively as partners to ensure that labour conditions are improved and that this kind of tragedy can never happen again. the eu retailers and importers must also monitor their supply chains more closely and ensure better adherence to ilo and health and safety standards.
threatening trade restrictions through the eu gsp as some have suggested is an incredibly retrograde step and would further impoverish the millions of people who depend on the garment industry for their livelihoods.
madam president all of us in this house would wish to send our condolences to the people of bangladesh following the horrendous disaster at the rana plaza factory in dhaka.
as the government of bangladesh knows only too well this tragedy could easily have been prevented if the building's negligent owners had adhered to the standards already present within bangladeshi law.
we have to understand that not only have people lost loved ones here they have lost their means of sustenance.
i also strongly welcome the accord on fire and building safety that a number of european retailers have signed but deeply regret that many retailers have not joined this particularly american retailers.
i would like to know how far the commission would go in that respect.
i understand that there has been some confusion about this point but the president has said that for the sake of good order today and i am pleased to see so many flags in the chamber;
whilst you might well be wanting us to vote we have a small problem with this because we do not know what we are voting on and we do not know which way we should be voting.
mr president if i understood you correctly you are indicating that the presidency does wish to apply the recast procedure to the krahmer report today and the cashman report.
in that case my group requests that we delay the vote until tomorrow so that we can study the implications of this.
its chance of influence is in amending legislation put before us.
it seems that in the way we have interpreted the recast procedures we have castrated ourselves.
could you inform the president that if this parliament is to demonstrate its true virility we need to review these?
is it the case that the president has ruled that we will apply the recast procedure to the vote on the krahmer report today and the vote on the cashman report tomorrow? if that is the case my group requests that we delay the vote on the krahmer report until tomorrow so that we can investigate the implications
of the application of the recast procedure to that vote.
could we call upon mr corbett and other luminaries to devise some rationing system so that we can actually get to lunch?
i understand from this discussion that we have to go forward with simplification.
therefore we need a european strategy to frame the national efforts aimed at providing socio economic inclusion for the roma education training opportunities and job assistance especially for women.
the social integration of roma lags behind being considered utopian by many both in the administration and in the community.
one five million members of this minority romania is home to the largest roma community in europe.
when we speak of opportunities we also mean economic opportunities. there is indeed a social and economic necessity coupled here with a moral imperative. secondly parliament's report makes a convincing case for the need to adopt a holistic approach to tackling the socio economic situation of the roma.
thirdly i welcome the focus in the report on the importance of using eu funds in the most appropriate
although we have made progress in this area more needs to be done.
lastly i have taken good note that the report advocates focusing on the territorial dimension of poverty and in particular in underdeveloped micro regions.
it is therefore high time for determined action at both national and eu level.
the commission will carefully look into this interesting proposal.
firstly the commission agrees that the roma issue is one of the most important strategic challenges that europe faces and at the same time it provides one of the most promising opportunities for the continent.
fourthly i agree with parliament that we need to put in place a strong mechanism to monitor national strategies for roma integration.
it suggests focusing on a number of priority areas such as education employment housing and healthcare. these are indeed areas of critical importance for the successful integration of the roma people.
way. it is essential to underpin policies with sufficient financial resources.
this could provide vital resources and devise incentives for implementation by allocating funds on a competitive basis defined by the criterion of how the proposed project or intervention supports and implements the objectives of the strategy.
the role of supervising coordinating and monitoring must therefore be fulfilled by the commission and to this end it would be worth considering retaining the roma task force as a permanent body.
establishing a new body to coordinate and supervise the strategy would be unnecessary and would create a wasteful overhead.
the eu level effort to alleviate the poverty and social exclusion of european roma must therefore place its primary emphasis on the fulfilment and promotion of the fundamental rights to employment housing healthcare and education.
in this way i believe we are able to send a message to the commission the council and the member states that must be reckoned with and we have therefore made a great step towards an eu level effort to alleviate the poverty and social exclusion of our continent's largest ethnic minority.
this way on the one hand we could depart from the general practice of large contributions maximising their returns from the unabsorbed funds and on the other hand a direct link could be created between the allocation of financing and the reproduction of results.
the commission should report annually on the progress of the strategy evaluate the results and submit its upgrading proposals to the council.
here determined action is needed both at national and eu level.
this will help us ms jrka to keep roma inclusion high on the political agenda.
for this coordination work we do have the european platform for roma inclusion which is a unique mechanism for involving the stakeholders.
this house has called for an eu strategy and the commission is responding to this request.
in the member states to tackle the social and economic problems of a large part of the eu's roma population.
we also agree i think that the primary responsibility for roma populations lies with the member states in which these roma populations are moving and it is for that reason that the commission is drawing up this eu framework combined with national roma integration strategies because we need both
this must not be a case of a very good report by parliament and then an interesting framework from the european union;
the communication contained a concrete list of actions to help member states make their policies for roma integration more effective and to define the main challenges ahead discrimination poverty low educational achievement labour market barriers housing segregation and so on.
she has been doing it by trying to integrate the whole house and getting a paper proposal which represents the meaningful input of parliamentarians from all political parties and i think that is a real
it is a priority for the eu and it needs commitment and the joint efforts of national and local authorities civil society and the eu institutions.
leads to a new path for persistent economic and social actions for those who are marginalised and we know that poverty is a very big problem in europe's largest minority.
we need to know where we are all going together and we need to know where each individual member state will go in order to adapt specific policies to the problems of the roma in that member state.
i would also like to assure you that in drawing up the framework the commission will pay special attention to the need to monitor developments and follow the process and the progress on the ground and here i appeal to parliament.
we all agree i think that we need effective policy planning and implementation that we need a strategic approach.
this must be a work in progress and a measured work in progress a monitored work in progress so that we can see where we are going in future and in this regard we will continue to work closely with the member states and with this parliament as well as with all the stakeholders.
as you might remember on seven april two thousand and ten the commission adopted a communication on the social and economic integration of roma in europe which was the first ever policy document dedicated specifically to roma.
this situation is neither acceptable nor sustainable and therefore the commission is working on an eu framework for national roma integration strategies which it will present in early april.
it will help us to take the necessary steps to improve the situation of the roma people and their social and economic integration into society.
then came the assessment of the commission's internal roma task force which was set up on seven september two thousand and ten and which very clearly showed that there is no evidence that strong and proportionate measures are in place
the commission also considers that it is very important to learn from the lessons of the past and to make sure that the efforts of all stakeholders at all levels from the eu down to the local level are very well coordinated.
i think it would be important to reinforce the role of this platform in the future.
it will be taken into consideration in the elaboration of the work that the commission is doing at the moment.
i would like to thank you very much for all your valuable comments. they reinforce my and my very good shadow rapporteurs' view that political slogans will never become a reality without a proper legal basis financial support and incentives as well as an eu mechanism to coordinate the actions of the stakeholders ranging from local governments up to the council and harnessing the advantages of multi level governance.
i am very grateful for this.
i am aware that this european strategy is not going to solve the problem;
we understand our responsibility in this and we are fully in favour of our common partnership.
it is also about building a community of values that we can all share and that we can all enjoy to be able to really challenge the difficulties that we have been discussing here over the last six years.
when the time for the debate on the eu strategy on the atlantic arrived i fully expected it to be proposed that a stretch of that ocean should be reserved for the water borne branch of that noble tribe.
we could then make this person president of the commission.
in my view this is not necessarily a moment of celebration i prefer to see it as a moment when we have to be wise and to look at what we have achieved so far and what we want to achieve in the future.
mr president besides supporting my colleague jo leinen in his request that the person designated as ambassador to the eu will not be accepted i want to hear you mr president as president of this parliament and on behalf of this parliament to clearly condemn
mr president i would like to share the concern of many of us at the resumption of massive heavy shelling in eastern ukraine where nine people have been killed twenty six wounded thousands of civilians have been displaced and hundreds of thousands of civilians are without basic supplies. i don't know if it is a coincidence that this weekend on saturday president putin and president trump had a phone call but the eu should react.
mr president can i respond to the somewhat bizarre communist intervention from the german member jo leinen who wants us to ban and bar oh isn't this just the european house of democracy!
can i just point out that it would be somewhat bizarre to bar and ban ted roosevelt malloch from any engagement with the european union given that he hasn't even been appointed yet.
how can we vote in favour of such an amending budget when the commission has not established priorities for spending from the budget in case the european union is called to honour the guarantee?
this is not a token.
colleagues i call your attention to the fact that the guarantors of this financial stabilisation package are actually the member states many of which are themselves in the midst of a financial crisis.
where are we planning to find the money if the guarantee has to be honoured?
we are talking about eur sixty billion.
implies that if a member state is not able to reimburse the loan the european budget would be used to cover the debt.
so we should be ready for this unlikely bad scenario.
our western world rightly howled with outrage at the murders at charlie hebdo.
in january a catholic priest leading a church service was murdered;
christian students were specifically separated and murdered. as a christian i am reminded of the words of the apostle paul in two timothy indeed all who desire to live a godly life in christ jesus will be persecuted'.
let us remember when such attacks occur in africa they are every bit as tragic as those closer to home.
perhaps in our western mindset it is easy to forget the terrible persecution suffered by christians around the world on an almost daily basis according to the charity open doors.
in mandera kenya a bus was hijacked and twenty eight christians forced off and shot. in december thirty six christians were separated captured and beheaded.
and perhaps the attack on the westgate shopping centre in nairobi is better known.
the specific targeting of christians and the executions were noted also from previous attacks as in mandera by the end of last year.
but let me come back to the latest attack in kenya. this gruesome attack is the latest and most deadly in the string of terrorist attacks perpetrated by alshabaab in kenya over the last eighteen months.
the king of jordan reminded us all of this very fact during his remarkable speech to this chamber.
the eu condemned unreservedly the indiscriminate attacks atrocities killings and abuses of human rights which are perpetrated by these terrorist organisations against christians but also against other religious and ethnic groups that we should not forget in the course of this debate.
this is what high representative vice president mogherini referred to in her statement of three april when she said by attacking students in the college near garissa killing one hundred and forty seven young people and injuring many more the terrorists showed their determination to undermine education to provoke division between different faiths to deprive the country of a future of economic and cultural growth of stability and dignity for all its citizens'.
we can never allow these values and fundamental principles to be challenged or compromised.
and against the very nature of what makes us human beings regardless of our religion or belief.
as recalled in the eu guidelines on freedom of religion or belief adopted in june two thousand and thirteen all persons belonging to religious communities or minorities should be able to live practise their religion and worship freely individually or in community with others without fear of intolerance and attacks.
we need to work together including on the protection of minorities both on open conflicts and on the root causes of some of these crises including the economic and social situation of the younger generation in many of these countries.
today on its southern flank the european union is facing an arc of conflicts and crises with spillover effects throughout the region and cooperation with our partners in the arab world is essential if we are to address the regional challenges and threats which they and we face.
further engaging with third countries on all fronts is key this includes bilateral regional and multilateral cooperation with governments on security education and human rights issues but also with local communities including through supporting inter and intra faith dialogues.
we need to avoid falling into the logic and perception of a clash and religious confrontation.
he said that the recent attacks in some countries against christian and minority communities are an offence against humanity as well as against islam.
despite the fact that representatives from the kenyan muslim community came out stronger than before condemning the attack there is a considerable risk that it also will lead to further division and antagonism between religious communities which is clearly the aim of the perpetrators.
this applies to people of all faiths or none and this definitely applies to christians.
what is it that has taken place since then? what have the services done in interaction with the services and state representatives of kenya?
what is it that we can do in terms of institution building? what is it that is needed?
the root causes pushing vulnerable individuals into extremism marginalisation poverty unemployment discrimination and exclusion have to be addressed in a serious and coordinated manner.
marginalised youth and individuals have to regain self worth and optimism not by extremists luring them into fantasies of heroism and reputation but by governments providing relevant academic and social education leading to a decent job and life.
i recognise that we are facing an enormous challenge.
madam president terrorism must be condemned whatever the ideology behind it be it political or under the pretext of religion. al shabaab isis and al qaeda clearly target all civilians no matter what religion.
singling out christians in kenya is a tactic aimed at stoking ethnic and religion tensions.
violent extremists and terrorists succeed when people start mistrusting each other because of social boundaries and stereotypes.
it is about all citizens versus extremists.
we must stop these religious divisions and stand up together against terror and hatred. we must stand for respect and diversity.