kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
do. because you are right i operate within a mandate that i am given and i can only operate in that mandate.
i think mr schulz said it first but it was repeated very often we need to be very clear headed about what we do and very determined on what we should do.
there are pictures that you can take on many occasions where those of us who are given positions of responsibility have to engage with people who we probably would not wish to.
us. but we also need to listen and if there is anything i urge upon all of us it is to take the time to really listen i will say this to member states as well to what people on the ground are saying to go to tahrir square as i did to talk to the young people in egypt to talk to civil society in tunisia and to engage with the people of libya wherever we can to discuss what they want for their future and do everything we possibly can to back them.
people mainly do their very best in circumstances that are very difficult and i think we should take pride in the president of the council trying to be the representative of the member states. i want to just also say something about labels. we hear a lot about a marshall plan somebody even called it an ashton plan.
one final thing about publicity and listening.
room. again that is what i think is important because more than anything we need to listen.
for a lot of refugees who arrived at the tunisian border their home was egypt and some member states have been working closely with the tunisians to provide transport by sea or by plane to get people back home and also to watch over those who will be heading back to africa.
whether we would prefer the african union to have held its summit somewhere else is another question;
we could have a big debate and perhaps we should about a subject that i started to write about in the press which is isolationism versus engagement.
we were the first out on the resignation of mubarak and i have done a huge amount of press.
ensuring that whatever is done can be done properly is something i think this house would be very keen to see.
the good news is that in some places we are getting messages that they are coping well and support is getting through but there is of course much to do.
but in the end we go to meet the african union largely where the african union suggests.
my belief is that if we can make the country more stable people can stay at home which is where they want to be.
isolation is effective in some circumstances but engagement is better.
there are people in this house who have years of experience who have come through revolution and change and who have a huge amount to offer.
it is now time to send him back into the cold fully and properly.
work. perhaps the things to avoid can be just as important as the things to
i have also listened to what honourable members have said about the issues of refugees. we have worked hard with member states to try and support getting people home.
whether indeed we would have made some remarks to them on many occasions that perhaps they should.
so one of the challenges for the eu and i am very open about this is that by providing stability in our southern neighbourhood we enable people to stay where they wish to stay with economic prosperity and democracy rather than feeling that they have to flee because of violence lack of opportunity or other issues.
having said that as i have also made clear we may have brought gaddafi out of the cold.
the common theme of course is the desire to see change in libya that puts the wishes of the people at the forefront of the energy of the european union and the international community.
but what i am also very mindful of is something that the secretary general of the arab league said to my delegation visiting him yesterday we have to define what we need because a no fly zone by definition means different things to different people.
do. i agree that we need to review what the eu does what tools we have available to us whether we have enough whether we need to think again about what we are able to
but there is much more to do.
so i think it is unfair to show a picture of herman van rompuy performing his responsibilities as president of the european council on behalf of all of us in the host country with the person who was hosting the event.
we have to be sure that whatever options are taken they are taken with the full knowledge of what we are doing and with the support of the people who are going to be affected by that. in that context i refer again to the need for our continued discussions and dialogues with the
there are pictures of many people. there was a picture shown in the same group of our esteemed alde group leader.
we are all visiting these countries and they have so many visitors from across the world and that is great though i think sometimes we need to give them space and time to be able to work together to plan and then have an even more informed conversation with
no let us have a libyan plan or an egyptian plan or a tunisian plan owned by the people of those countries in which we engage and offer our support. i do not want to make a plan that we arrive at and about which we say guess what we have come to bring you our plan for your country.
i have done more press i think than anybody else in the world on all of
it is a real challenge and what i would say to the gentleman who held up the photos is of course if you are the president of the european council and you go as president to the african summit which is held in libya you will find that there is a picture of the president with gaddafi.
but i have also done far more without the press in the
that. let us actually be the people who offer the support to ensure that their plan is able to be everything that we would want it to be to support democracy.
of course they are done in conjunction with our partners.
but let us be honest let us not throw down challenges with photographs or other things where people did this and people did that.
that mandate allows me to do some things but it mainly requires me to gather together the institutions and the twenty seven countries in a concerted and joint effort.
we have to make sure first of all that the humanitarian aid and support goes in and gets to the right places.
the massacre caused defections in the army the government and the diplomatic service.
gaddafi has lost any legitimacy to lead having committed crimes against humanity against his own people.
it also raises the world price of oil to levels dangerous for the world economy. it is therefore imperative that the conflict ends immediately but gaddafi must not prevail.
we can imagine what it will mean if gaddafi succeeds. we will be witnessing a situation worse than that of rwanda to the shame of all humanity. resolute action is needed now.
the mandate of the high representative is to come forward with the ideas that are put to her to discuss those with the institutions beforehand and to put forward on friday to the european council the views that are being expressed.
i will go from this to discuss with the president of the european council whose representative is here and i will discuss this with the president of the commission.
we will also take the views through the institutions ready for friday and the foreign affairs council which meets tomorrow.
i am not avoiding that but it is absolutely right and proper that member states take the decision on recognising a government.
i am simply telling you that the way we should do this is to do it properly for the benefit of these people and the people of libya.
we then report to the president of the european council for the conclusions of the european council which rest within his hands for the foreign affairs council to meet and discuss and for parliament through its president to put this forward.
then the european council will take a decision.
i am simply saying that you have to pull all those things together and then make a decision.
i mean no disrespect to the transitional council but again we have to do this properly and make sure that we do what we are confident and comfortable with.
if we recognise the interim council officially it allows humanitarian and other needs as well as the strategic necessities of the time to go to that interim council.
how will we interact with these countries?
as i have always said gaddafi remains the fidel castro of africa although not even castro would have resorted to such savage violence as we have seen recently from the gaddafi regime and his sociopathic sons against civilian protestors.
now of course he stands accused of terrorising his own people. gaddafi spent a lot of money and time courting the west trying to make us think he was a changed man.
that has not happened of course.
with vast oil revenues at his disposal he was able to dispense largesse in return for political acquiescence throughout europe and africa not least in my own country the united kingdom particularly under the previous government.
we should now seriously consider recognising the transitional national council in benghazi as the legitimate libyan government so that it could invite military assistance in without the need for recourse to a un resolution.
this would prevent further civilian massacres and give the pro democracy rebels a real chance.
fortunately most eu citizens in libya were safely evacuated and this was done efficiently but it was clear to me that most eu member states were only interested in helping their own nationals.
these are important votes we have electors we are responsible for and we should get on with the vote.
on the evidence of this debate nobody is properly counting the cost.
in fact the gravy train of eu subsidies has started already.
this is a problem how it will be met is by massive subsidies from the british taxpayer and the other eu taxpayers.
however a very important step on the path to european integration remains.
the bosnian authorities must address this urgently.
two thousand and eleven i would also like to take this opportunity to thank doris pack for her work on this issue. important developments have taken place since then and we have reason to be cautiously optimistic.
let me briefly mention some of them.
bosnia and herzegovina will need to be in a position to adopt implement and enforce eu laws and rules in a more efficient manner than has been the case so far.
institutions that have a role in eu integration should be properly financed and specific policies also need to be funded.
it has therefore been encouraging to see the different steps taken by the political actors since then in an effort to progress towards the eu.
crucially eur one hundred million of macro financial assistance from the commission cannot be released until this framework and an agreement with the international monetary fund are in place.
the european union will need to see credible effort made in this regard for bosnia and herzegovina's stabilisation and association agreement to enter into force.
in its conclusions of last december the council urged all political leaders in bosnia and herzegovina to live up to their responsibilities and to develop a shared vision of the future of their country.
finally i want to take the opportunity to underline that establishing an effective coordination mechanism for dealing with eu matters is crucial.
i am happy to be able to give you a more positive assessment of the situation than that given in last autumn's progress report and reflected in the council's conclusions of december.
certain developments have been encouraging and that is very welcome.
a global fiscal framework for two thousand and twelve two thousand and fourteen must also be developed to ensure sound fiscal management.
we expect the newly established council of ministers to deliver on a range of issues economic as well as political in an effort to ensure the proper functioning of the state and to enhance the european integration agenda.
the most pressing need now is for agreement to be reached on a state budget for two thousand and twelve and for it to be adopted.
i know that we can count on the support of this parliament in this regard.
this concerns the need for bosnia and herzegovina to make credible efforts to bring its constitution into full compliance with the european convention on human rights in line with the sejdi finci ruling.
improving and strengthening the efficient functioning of the state and its institutions is essential including through the necessary constitutional changes.
being an epicentre of trafficking in human beings is a huge shame for the country.
one of the reasons i was so pleased to push hard in support of ms fajon on visa free travel for bosnians eighteen months ago with which we succeeded was to allow travel for study and business in the hope of an economic boost as well as widened horizons.
that is why the alde group is backing the amendment from the sd group reintroducing the explicit mention of the fifty two agenda' as a basis for closing the ohr and that is also why alde has retabled its amendment calling for the eu to sponsor a constitutional conference in cooperation with the council of europe across the road which has great expertise in its venice commission.
there needs to be local ownership of reforms but international support and guidance especially from the eu is still highly relevant.
without tackling crime and corruption and having an independent judiciary business will not invest.
from the point of view of the eu's existing members bosnia will be yet another net recipient of eu funds and of course an opportunity for the rest of us to import some of their interesting and enriching ethnic friction just in case we have not got enough of that already.
this mission now confirms on a regular basis that there is no threat to the safe and secure environment.
the european union needs to see a credible effort' with regard to the implementation of the sejdi and finci ruling to bring the constitution into compliance with the european convention on human rights.
in the face of last year's political stalemate the european union has consistently maintained this road map and demonstrated its commitment in a variety of ways.
one of the many important points which you mention in your resolution is the necessary constitutional changes needed to be undertaken in order to enable the entry into force of the stabilisation and association agreement.
these efforts start to show results.
a series of joint initiatives have been launched in areas ranging from the structured dialogue on justice to the fiscal and budgetary framework and on infrastructure development in transport and energy.
in february.
thirdly citizens continue to enjoy travelling to the schengen area without visas while implementation of the agreement is closely monitored.
as your resolution points out in the past year as a whole progress has been limited.
secondly in light of improvements in law enforcement we have also been able to decide on terminating the european union police mission in june this year. however follow up will be ensured by a technical assistance mission on the ground.
this demonstrates to the citizens that the european union perspective is real and tangible.
the european union perspective has finally begun to dominate the political agenda.
the recent developments show that this determination has been rewarded. after a year of stagnation there is now a new positive momentum on the european union agenda in bosnia and herzegovina a state aid law and a law on the population census were adopted and a new state level government has taken up work
the delegation has strengthened outreach and diplomatic activities.
the new chair of the council of ministers mr bevanda whom i met last week has put european union integration at the forefront of his government programme.
firstly the european union has prolonged the mandate of the eufor althea mission with a new focus on capacity building and training the armed forces of the country.
we are in close consultation with your neighbours across the river the council of europe on what this entails exactly.
i therefore want to join you in reminding all political actors in the country of the road map towards european union integration.
this in turn bodes well for the steps that we can undertake once the country fulfils all the necessary conditions.
the parliamentary committee working on this failed to come up with concrete results that is regrettable.
if you are already late for the train small steps to catch that train will not help especially if that train is already moving. we want bosnia and herzegovina to jump in but quick and well considered reforms are needed.
if bosnia and herzegovina wants to apply for candidate status in june the leaders need to deliver to us and most of all to their own citizens.
divisive nationalism and extremism can divide a country especially in a fragile region with a fresh war history such as the western balkans.
for reconciliation justice is necessary.
people should also be free to choose whether they want to see a movie or not.
mr president religious extremism like all extremism is deplorable. a group that refuses to allow women in political posts wants to base legislation and justice on a religious book and discriminates against other religions and whose followers put their children in medical danger should have no place in political institutions.
i am of course speaking of the netherlands here where the party of mr belder does all these things out of christian religious extremism.
aside from the luckily very limited group of voters for his party most other christians in the netherlands are very very moderate.
in the same vein almost all muslims in bih are very very moderate and in the same vein it would be as disproportionate to adopt a resolution here that warns of the threat of wahhabism in bih as it would be to adopt a resolution on christian extremism in the netherlands.
we will of course adopt a text on the netherlands tomorrow but without mention of this.
there is undoubtedly extremism in bih as there is in the rest of the balkans. let us warn of all extremisms that are intolerant and discriminatory.
i for one have up to now been attacked by nationalist orthodox and catholic extremists at the diverse gay prides i have been at not yet by wahhabis up to now.
i hope you will support us in taking out the specific mention of wahhabism in the report and let us worry about extremism in general. otherwise it is a brilliant report and if this is taken out we will happily vote in favour.
the newly elected council of ministers is doing a good job by dealing with the burning economic issues and moving away from nationalistic discourse. unemployment and a balanced budget are the real issues that vjekoslav bevanda the chair of the council of ministers not a prime minister is right to deal with.
mr president honourable members it has been a very useful debate indeed and many important aspects have been mentioned.
there are many statements from religious leaders from all sides on an almost daily basis and we urge restraint and a spirit of cooperation and reconciliation from all responsible religious and political leaders.
let me also highlight some other important issues which have been voiced in your debate.
the commission is ready to give technical support for this and to be actively involved in the census so essential for the socio economic development.
your resolution also highlights the urgent need for all levels of authorities to strengthen coordination in all sectors relevant for the transposition of european union legislation and for financial cooperation.
the debate overall has shown that a large majority of colleagues here share our views. we are united in our joint commitment to bosnia and herzegovina's european future and we are clear in what we expect from the country in the next months in order to move forward and make up for lost time.
it will not be easy with the election campaign starting very soon for the local elections in october.
there will be many challenges ahead and we need to make sure that the politicians in bosnia and herzegovina are ready to take up a greater part of the ownership of the process.
it is time for bosnia and herzegovina to catch up with its neighbours. what we need more than anything else for this is a positive spirit towards compromise.
all of us should thus encourage politicians in the country to make compromises in the european spirit to leave the past behind and to move the country towards its european future.
we need to reenergise the process and in that way remind our constituents that the eu does not just bring regulation and red tape at a huge cost but should and can actually bring tangible benefits for businesses and trade as well as consumers and individuals.
mario monti was clear in his recent work that the single market had stalled.
this is where the real added value of the eu lies.
furthermore i think we need to go beyond the proposal right now on greening the internal market for example by using green procurement. i believe we can achieve much more there.
i believe the aim of a ccctb should be to put an end to unhealthy competition in europe.
this has been going on for fifteen years now.
i am aware that there are different positions within the commission on this question and i would like to ask you very directly is it true that among others the danish swedish german and british commissioners have fought against your proposal to introduce a social clause?
it is within the context of reforming the single market that we have the real opportunity to transform europe into a more social and sustainable union so the question is does this communication manage to point towards a more green and socially just internal market?
if this is so commissioner you should know that you have the backing of this house because achieving such guarantees would be true reconciliation.
where is the guarantee that fundamental social rights will not be overthrown by the freedoms of the market?
i believe we are not quite there yet.
no wonder that we have problems financing our welfare at this time.
i believe that the major problem with company taxes in europe is not fragmentation but unhealthy ongoing downward competition between member states.
but the problem for us arises when we read the text. it says that the ccctb should aim at removing fragmentation for business.
i am looking forward to that and thank you for inviting us to join in this very broad discussion.
the effort to generate consensus will have to show full awareness of the main concerns surrounding the single market today'.
we will work with you in the coming months on this.
now i know commissioner barnier that you indeed realise that and i commend you for your personal efforts to bring about that balanced consensus.
in his turn in the report professor monti launched a strong appeal for political consensus saying that consensus building will thus be a crucial component of a new strategy for the single market.
i note there the reference to the need for a legislative proposal which is likely to include or be supplemented by a clarification of the exercise of fundamental rights in the context of the economic freedoms of the internal market'.
i would dearly like commissioner to see the track changes text in relation to proposals twenty nine and;
for us achieving that consensus requires a new balance between the social and economic pillars of the internal market strategy.
i hope that this is the case because it would directly address our concern about the social clause.
but sadly others in the college did not share that realisation and so while there are good elements in this communication as my colleagues have said we do not think that at the moment it forms the basis for that consensus.
we are really pleased that you have taken the initiative to move it forward.
more efficient public procurement those are the things that our citizens will judge us by. if we get more of them back to work and more companies started that is the biggest single social achievement that we will make with this act.