kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
in the event that no international agreement including international maritime emissions in its reduction targets through the imo has been approved by member states and or no such agreement through the unfccc has been approved by thirty one december two thousand and eleven the commission should make a proposal to include international maritime emissions according to harmonised modalities in the community reduction commitment with the aim of its entry into force by.
this law will impact on a variety of areas including the standards of european flags ensuring improved inspection procedures for ships. what we have now is more transparency and stricter inspections.
essentially this package will deliver safer vessels meaning a lower risk of environmental disasters and loss of sea life.
in fact there is now contradiction between them. i will try again.
so we come to the situation of a vessel with a dangerous cargo finding its way into a port by manipulating these contradictions.
what happens if it then results in a serious incident closing a major port? would the compensation mentioned in mr sterckx apply to all of that and in any case who pays?
these reports need a real overhaul.
finally the fernandes report endorses various imo recommendations.
fine the uk has already signed these but the eu wants to add its own fleet database to which i and others would object.
i say would' because the fernandes report is to be adopted without a vote.
how democratic is that?
whatever happened to the comments made here this very morning that this is an amending house?
for me the significance of this package will be felt for many years to come.
it is a testament also to the work of all our rapporteurs and meps who over the years have pushed for such legislation.
mr president there are many similarities between cyprus and ireland both are island nations that suffer from the legacy of partition foreign occupation and conflict.
for reconciliation to take place in cyprus turkey must reveal the truth about the missing people and in relation to the further crime of the relocation of victims' remains by the turkish authorities.
prevent many cypriots from both communities from leaving their painful past behind.
it has proved to be a successful confidence building measure between both cypriot communities and thus also strongly contributes to reconciliation in cyprus.
we have made clear our readiness to help. we support the efforts of the un envoy espen barth
in an attempt to bring some degree of closure to relatives friends and the communities of the one four hundred and thirty three missing cypriots from both sides of the island might i respectfully suggest that the time has come for a fresh approach to this tragic issue.
the committee on missing persons established thirty four years ago has to date identified five hundred and sixty eight victims from both communities.
mr president in two thousand and eleven i co authored a successful written declaration concerning the work of the eu funded committee on missing persons in cyprus.
this would allow the families after forty one years to have closure regarding the painful loss of their loved ones.
criminal attempt to conceal evidence.
turkey under numerous judgments of the echr as the occupying power in the north of cyprus is obliged to assist the cmp to identify all the remaining skeletal parts in order to establish clearly the cause of death.
today our resolution seeks to make a further specific plea related to the issue of the four mass graves in ashia ornithi village where it is believed that the graves of one hundred and six individuals brutally murdered in one thousand nine hundred and seventy four during the invasion by turkey have been tampered with and some of the human remains exhumed and destroyed or relocated in a probable
madam president it is the intention of the commission to set default values for the use of tar sands not just from canada but from any source including venezuela for example for the purpose of reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of fuels as required by the fuel quality directive.
but sadly ceta does come up with some other demands and political goals which we find deeply worrying. i will mention two of the most troublesome the first being the negative list in the negotiations on trade liberalisation.
normally in negotiating ftas you name the services that you are ready to liberalise. but under these proposals all services are open except those specifically excluded at the outset.
as greens we think there are some services particularly those dealing with the general public interest which are too sensitive and too potentially vulnerable to be negotiated under this negative list' approach.
the other area of concern is around procurement.
we are concerned about the impact that ceta will have on procurement. to give just one example the ontario green energy act would be illegal under ceta.
that act promotes the production and feeding of renewable energies and directs investments into local economies.
canada is for instance opposed to the eu's gmo policies.
i believe that it is important that we voice all these concerns and urge the commission to remain firm in the principles and policies of this place.
as far as the british national interest is concerned the coalition government consistently neglects trade relations with the commonwealth of which canada is a founder member.
to paraphrase the commentator ruth lea because the trade commissioner negotiates trade deals for the whole of the eu the brutal truth is that eu membership constrains britain's economic prospects.
madam president the negotiations for the eu canada trade agreement have been driven by major european and canadian multinationals who want market access to vital public services so that they can profit at the expense of workers and consumers.
the investment chapter would outrageously give corporations the right to sue governments when social or environmental policies cut across their profiteering.
these oil deposits produce more than three times the carbon emissions of conventional oil and their exploitation is also extremely damaging to the local environment and a threat to the first nations communities who live in the region.
there is an urgent need now for united action by the european and canadian trade union movement with environmental and indigenous activists to fight together and resist this proposed agreement.
madam president my group can see many benefits in an ambitious comprehensive economic trade agreement with canada. however we have four red lines. firstly on the extraction of oil sands which damages local diversity we insist on the eu's right to use the fuel quality directive to inhibit their use.
i was pleased to hear what the commissioner had to say on that matter.
secondly we find it hard to imagine parliament approving a trade deal with canada while canada pursues a challenge through the wto on the eu's trade ban. here i cannot accept the commissioner's point of view that we should keep the two matters separate.
i would certainly not vote for an agreement unless this dispute is settled before we reach the final stages of this deal. thirdly we would not be able to accept any limitation on canada's ability to use the trips flexibilities to export cheap generic medicines to developing countries.
this is an important source of generics for developing countries and we should not bow to pressure from the pharmaceutical industry to make it more difficult for canada to provide generic medicines.
this was a point that mr papastamkos was making about the difference between provincial and federal regulations.
they must be dealt with before this agreement comes to conclusion.
that said if we find that the final text deals with these issues and is ambitious in reducing tariffs on eu spirits on eu machinery on eu automobiles and other areas we will be happy to back such a free trade agreement.
in making women more economically resilient they are less likely to be the target of human trafficking. however the quality of jobs should also be taken into account to ensure a structural solution.
another issue i find of great importance that is also recognised in this report is the economic empowerment of women through the provision of early childhood education and care services an infrastructure which despite the objectives formulated in two thousand and two at the barcelona european council is still deficient in many member states including my country.
the new financial regulation provides a number of opportunities for the commission to reinforce supervision and control structures and to strengthen its cooperation with its guidance to member state authorities.
the council's recommendation therefore reaffirms a number of elements which should be followed up and implemented by the commission.
a major part of the intended improvements will only be visible over time.
as the court rightly points out eu policy objectives need to become much simpler and rules made much clearer and easier to implement at member state level.
of course the achievement of results from eu policies must remain the overarching priority when setting up programmes while bearing in mind the need to avoid excessive administrative and control burdens.
we must ensure that limited funds are spent in the best and most effective way for the benefit of all our citizens.
i am convinced that both our institutions must work together to achieve progress towards the aim of achieving a positive statement of assurance from the court.
however the recommendation reiterates the wish of the council to see year on year improvements in financial management systems and lower error rates.
of the eu budget. in times of economic and financial crisis when many member states have to cut their national budgets and keep their expenditure under strict control sound financial management of eu funds is more important than ever. the citizens of europe expect us to be particularly attentive
the debate here today and the continuous efforts of member states and the commission to improve financial management systems and to bring down error rates is important to ensure credibility in the public perception regarding the programmes and actions financed from the eu budget.
let me turn to the recommendations.
the council recommended granting discharge to the commission and outlined the reasons leading to this recommendation. the council's recommendation welcomes the court's clean opinion on the reliability of the annual accounts and the court's statement of assurance on the implementation of the two thousand and eleven budget.
it considered that this was the result of numerous efforts made by the commission and of course by member states over several years.
these efforts are particularly important for the programmes and actions implemented under shared management by the commission and the member states.
we must continue encouraging all financial actors involved in the management of eu funds to fully assume their responsibilities and to further strengthen their efforts to reduce the error rate.
the ongoing discussion on the programme for the new mff provides a good opportunity to achieve major progress towards simplification with due attention being paid to the control and prevention of errors.
speaking here in front of you today i am glad to see that many of the elements stressed by the council in our recommendation have also been expressed by the european parliament in your recommendations.
the allocation of eur fifty two million for a house of european history' epitomises and exemplifies how the eu and its institutions spend our money.
the project has been approved without any proper debate. the decision has not been subject to adequate scrutiny and it should not be accepted.
that item is a eur fifty two million allocation to build a house of european history'.
i suggest that this house of european history be renamed the house of eu vanity.
the european parliament has already built one museum to celebrate itself the parliamentarium in brussels.
the bureau of the european parliament approved this project unanimously and i would note that our group is not represented on that bureau.
this is the second year in a row that that agency has had its discharge postponed and fixing the endemic failures and poor leadership at that agency is now vital.
this failure of oversight across the budget is the reason why we believe there needs to be a full time budget control commissioner in the next commission term.
the eu's agencies also continue to prove troublesome in their use of taxpayers' money with many serious problems with conflicts of interest and poor tendering processes being detected by the auditors.
when the court of auditors released its annual report last year the european commission's official response was that the report showed that the situation was stable.
these accounts represent taxpayers' money not european union institutions' and they have a fundamental right to expect that their hard earned cash will be spent wisely.
that is why we will be voting against discharge this week.
ecr meps remain of the belief that until all of the european union's accounts are declared legal and regular we as elected representatives of european taxpayers should not sign off any of the union's accounts.
parliament has supported our position on this in the last few years and i hope will continue to do so.
the court of auditors has for the eighteenth year in a row refused to clear the eu budget but this has never led this parliament to actually act.
the level of irregularities has actually gone up to almost four so the question here is when is the european commission actually going to be held to account for this abominable failure?
when the auditors talk about significant material errors breach of public procurement rules claims for non existent animals and incorrect activation of entitlements they are actually describing the way in which european taxpayers' money is being misappropriated.
because whatever blame we want to put on the beneficiaries it is actually the commission which asks for our taxes to fund the budgets and which should therefore ensure they are properly spent before releasing them.
mr president once again we are being asked whether or not we approve the management of eu funds by the european commission.
however i would like to mention that the court of auditors also completed a very important special report the same year.
madam president there is reason to be satisfied with the implementation of title eleven of the budget.
with the olaf investigation almost finished we know for a fact that it will be published in a couple of weeks and with some of the issues still requiring clarification i want to see whether the investigation will provide answers. i want everyone to understand that it would harm the environment agency even more if we granted discharge now and then it turned out that we should not have granted it.
they must conduct their daily business in a way that is absolutely transparent;
in this respect looking back on the financial year two thousand and eleven we can be satisfied that there was clear progress as regards several agencies that had not proved their effectiveness enough the previous year.
they bring together the expertise that is needed in policy making they inform citizens of the union and they coordinate and respond to critical and sudden situations and scenarios as was last witnessed in the case of the horsemeat scandal.
it is our duty to make sure that the agencies do everything they can to avoid conflicts of interest and to have more effective administration and better budgeting.
it is the only rational thing we can do.
therefore we must be clear and sure about granting discharge.
mr president european union agencies do a very important job.
they are running on european taxpayers' money after all.
in fact the information that i have points in this direction.
despite the improvements achieved over the past years the commission remains vigilant as the situation could deteriorate.
this reporting instrument will be further improved in the future.
the commission has included the necessary instruments to measure performance in its proposals for the next programming period.
the commission counts on the presidency and on this house to support the commission's proposals aimed at ensuring the cost effective financial management of the eu budget including the simplification measures. i can assure you that the commission will demonstrate its firm commitment to achieving all possible improvements which are expected by this house for the benefit of eu citizens and to making the eu programmes a success.
the principles of economy efficiency and effectiveness need to be better reflected in the design of the programmes.
the commission therefore welcomes the priority action requesting a comprehensive report on how the eu budget is actually protected by the commission with a detailed presentation of preventive and corrective mechanisms and their results in financial terms.
moreover the national authorities do not necessarily endeavour to fulfil their role and responsibility adequately as the court stressed in its report.
we all know that this debate does not always attract the most attention in the house but we have to be very clear that it is a very important political debate. it is the only time of the year when agencies and joint undertakings undergo public scrutiny of their
we should not underestimate the political power that we have as a parliament in this task.
i decided to focus on three elements in particular.
first of all the effectiveness of agencies whether their overheads are not too high whether the administrative burden they are undergoing is not too high and whether we do not have too many small agencies that are just not fit for their task simply because they are too small.
secondly i focused on the independence of agencies.
they have to be independent independent from the commission from the member states but also from industry.
i focused on that as well.
thirdly conflicts of interest.
this was one of the main elements we discussed last year and it will be discussed further in the ayala sender report.
let me focus primarily on a few individual agencies and especially on the environment agency.
in a few weeks' time the current executive director will step down after being in office for ten years.
she has an incredible track record.
her personal authority might even be greater than that of the agency itself.
she has built the environment agency into an example of how to run an agency.
year after year she collected positive audits and positive reports from this house but last year we saw a radical change.
in the end we did grant discharge to the agency with very good reasons but it was a very difficult procedure.
but is that not going round in circles? first we create smoke then the smoke leads to an investigation by olaf then we discover that there is no fire but still there is an olaf investigation and now to complete the circle some of us say that we should not grant discharge.
i strongly believe that an olaf investigation in itself is absolutely no reason for refusing or postponing discharge.
it would be absolutely disproportionate if we decided tomorrow during the vote to refuse discharge right now and to postpone it until later on.
i am not sure if the question is about my so called rhetoric.
i was on the contrary expressing myself with exemplary precision and clarity.
perhaps it epitomises what is wrong here and i am afraid what is wrong with the honourable member that he simply does not understand how utterly inappropriate it is to be spending money on yet another museum of european history a subject which is best studied in universities at this particular time when so many of
my constituents and i suspect of his constituents are finding it difficult to make ends meet.
it is supremely tactless and inappropriate.
the congolese victims of sexual violence include women men and boys who have also suffered rape sexual humiliation and genital mutilation. resolution after resolution has been passed. the time has come for us internationally to demand an end to these atrocities.
it is reported that there are one four hundred and sixty zero internally displaced people most of them facing violence and let me give a voice to those who do not have a voice those who suffer such violence.
to ensure the protection of civilians including humanitarian personnel under imminent threat of physical violence in particular violence emanating from any of the parties engaged in the conflict'.
we are talking about rape violence trading and so on but the united nations troops there are not covering themselves in glory and are actually doing a disservice.
i am extremely worried about the role of the united nations troops in the congo at present the moroccans the pakistanis and the indians.
the situation is that we have a beautiful people victims of european colonisation victims of tribal conflict victims of international blindness and we cannot be blind any longer.
mr president that the situation in the democratic republic of congo drc is deplorable and that the effect of the conflict upon the people there is tragic goes without saying.
however there are a number of important points that must be reiterated here and in our joint motion for a resolution.
we must remember that the violence in the drc like so many conflicts of its type is often driven by greed but also stems from and is fuelled by poverty.
increase a man's prosperity and give him purpose and you will reduce his desire to kill or be killed.
secondly we must ensure that any military presence in a foreign country is designed and implemented to reduce suffering and violence not exacerbate it.
if there is evidence that western missions are not living up to this standard then their presence and practices must be urgently reassessed.
finally history has shown us that in internecine conflicts such as in the drc a political solution is the only hope for peace.
dialogue and engagement are the only roads toward such a solution. with the post lisbon creation of our external action service the european union must take its place on the international stage as a more proactive facilitator of dialogue and a sponsor of peace.
we note that the constitutional court reviewed the blasphemy law in two thousand and ten but found it not to be in violation of the constitution.
let me add that several projects are funded under the european initiative on democracy and human rights on freedom of religion and belief and protection of minority groups. be assured that the eu will continue to use every opportunity including the next eu indonesia human rights dialogue to continue to raise the relevant issues with our indonesian counterparts.
we also use other available opportunities to discuss human rights issues through traditional diplomatic tools.
the right to freedom of religion or belief is guaranteed in indonesia's constitution.
the eu has established a constructive and cooperative engagement on human rights in the form of a regular human rights dialogue with indonesia which allows for an exchange also on very sensitive subjects. we had the sixth human rights dialogue last june and we are planning for the next meeting later in this year.
it may amount to torture under international law.
they were punished with eighty three lashes in front of a jeering crowd. such humiliating degrading and inhuman treatment is an outrageous breach of their human rights.
lgbti people in indonesia are experiencing grave violations of their human rights.
mr president indonesia is a longstanding and important partner of the eu and this is a partnership that is based on the shared values of human rights democracy and the rule of law.
it is against this background that we share our concerns here today.
concerns about what seems to be a growing intolerance against religious ethnic and sexual minorities in indonesia;
concerns and outrage about the situation in aceh where two young men were publicly lashed for the simple reason that they were in love with each other.
we cannot stress enough the need to protect all human rights and particularly those of minorities.
therefore this resolution of the european parliament is not only criticism it is not only concerns;