kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
and indeed in our dialogue with iran we ask nothing more than that they live up to the international agreements which they have willingly and voluntarily signed and that is a fundamental part of the way in which we have to approach these questions and members have both by naming individuals and by describing
and as part of that the talks on world trade organisation membership which have been going nowhere for a long time could be a way in which we could find the kind of debate and discussion and support to enable the regime to move forward.
but i do so recognising that my predecessor javier solana spent six years in dialogue six years offering to continue that debate;
it is very important that we continue to offer the approach that says meaningful dialogue'.
mr president i think this has been an extremely important and timely debate first of all because we have reiterated the commitment that we have in the european union to the importance of the values of human rights.
so dialogue but not as an excuse for inaction on behalf of iran but rather as a means of making sure that we develop the strength of that relationship and that we achieve what we believe to be important.
many members have talked about the importance of sanctions but i think particularly intelligent smart sanctions the critical importance to all of us of ensuring as we begin to think about what next and if we do and as we do consider the possibility of sanctions that we do so recognising that they must be aimed and targeted specifically to achieve what we wish and that no one in this house wishes to see
two thousand and ten that is important too in terms of communication and looking at how we use communication and technology effectively. it is difficult to think about blocking access if at the same time we block the access to the information that people wish to get and that i think is something we have to be mindful of. and in terms
repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door'.
i think it would be important to consider whether we should pursue that.
that makes that debate very important but also requires us to invest energy and time within it.
there is no doubt as i have said that though we wish to take forward the meaningful relationship with iran through dialogue ultimately if iran rejects this then under the dual track policy that we have the question of sanctions arises and indeed as a consequence of that meeting consideration of the appropriate further measures has already begun.
i have made it clear and i continue to make it clear that i am open and ready to have the dialogue and i described in my opening remarks the potential of this great country but we do so in the certain knowledge that we cannot continue to use dialogue as a way of preventing action.
that is the only way that we will show the ordinary people of iran that we back their protests.
people are dying in the streets almost every day in protests against this fascist regime. only yesterday as you have heard a kangaroo court in tehran called for the death penalty against five protesters arrested during the ashura riots on twenty seven december.
no more talk;
we need tough sanctions.
in this context i will continue in my capacity as high representative the role of my predecessor javier solana in the international talks with iran.
the use of violence against demonstrators seeking to exercise their freedom of expression and rights of assembly is not acceptable.
i sincerely hope that during the time of my mandate i will return to this house with a more positive picture of relations with iran.
the films and books coming out of iran are impressive the level of education of women is high there is a capacity for public debate and the young population is vibrant and active.
the eu has spared no opportunity to ask the iranian government to respect those international obligations which they freely and voluntarily adhered to. we issue public statements and use other diplomatic means.
the widest possible unity is key if we are to achieve our objective.
but in effect iran has now rejected a draft agreement proposed by the iaea and has been refusing to pursue talks on the nuclear issue.
we will make full use of the upcoming review of iran which will be held at the un human rights council in geneva in early february.
in addition iran continues not to cooperate fully with the iaea and not to respect its international obligations.
our concern is that international norms and standards on civil and political rights must be respected.
we need a serious engagement in meaningful talks from tehran's side. our objective remains to build confidence that the nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
i also note with deep concern that many arrests seem to have targeted human rights defenders and journalists and that many detained are denied access to legal representation and contact with their families.
this is a country which has enormous potential and our readiness to engage with iran constructively has been made over and over.
another recent issue is the detention of another twelve members of the baha'i religious community.
the threat to the society has been reflected in the turmoil that followed what many in iran saw as a fraudulent election last year.
iran must live up to its international obligations and treat detained persons in accordance with international human rights standards.
i shall continue to make that case.
these people must be assured a just open and fair trial in accordance with international standards.
the confidence deficit was further increased by the revelation that iran has been building another enrichment facility without informing the iaea in due time.
in this respect i am deeply concerned over the reports of violent suppression of demonstrations and arbitrary detentions in tehran and other iranian cities during the recent ashura commemorations at the end of december.
the eu and its negotiating partners are all committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the iranian nuclear issue and to that end we must continue to implement the dual track approach.
it is vital that the eu and the international community stand united behind the negotiating effort including by supporting that effort through appropriate measures.
we all assessed that the meeting was positive.
on the nuclear issue we regret that tehran has not followed up on the last meeting between javier solana and jalili the chief negotiator on one october in geneva.
iran is an important country with a deep history and rich culture and a remarkably talented population.
if iran sets out on a more constructive course on the nuclear issue and on regional stability in general it could play an important role in the middle east and gulf region which would reflect its rightful place and proud history.
these are universal human rights that must be respected and those detained for peacefully exercising those rights should be released.
we work through the united nations the general assembly adopted a resolution condemning the situation only last month.
i would like to state very clearly my support for the delegation that would have gone to iran from this parliament.
it would have strengthened them.
they wanted that.
so i really feel very sorry that this delegation visit could not take place.
several members here have talked about sanctions.
i hold no brief for the regime of the ayatollahs in iran or for its anti democratic stances. but i would say two things one is that there is repression of non violent freedom of speech even in europe and even among eu members. furthermore the activities in iran and the events in iran are being used quite cynically by the united states and its allies to foment a war movement against iran and i think that response would be entirely disproportionate.
i have decided to use most of my time for this intervention to highlight the names of people who reportedly are in detention in iran some convicted to death for criticising the political regime or for defending civil rights.
what funding does the commission provide to human rights ngos working in iran?
only through a united and coordinated approach will the eu's diplomacy eventually succeed. renewed sanctions must now be targeted and must be extremely damaging to the regime in tehran.
but equally we should recognise that iran's people and the iranian regime are not the same thing.
since ahmadinejad stole the presidential election last year we have seen many dissidents and brave young protestors take to the streets.
these people need our support because they identify with our values of freedom democracy and the rule of law.
indeed such is the desperation in iran that opposition leader mir hossain musavi hardly known to be a democrat in the past has said he is prepared to sacrifice his own life for the future good of his own country.
meanwhile outrageous human rights abuses continue unabated as juveniles and homosexuals are executed routinely.
we meps in this house long to see a democratic and free iran which no longer exports terrorism via hamas and hezbollah and takes its rightful place in the international community.
thanks to new media we have all seen the clips of the brutal way the iranian regime cracks down on citizens who speak out peacefully for democracy and freedom.
recent arrests of human rights reporters by the intelligence office of the revolutionary guard show that the iranian regime takes an increased interest in closing off the country.
we commemorate a man who too marched the streets peacefully and said a time comes when silence is betrayal'.
president barack obama broke off his holidays over christmas to speak out against yet more brutal attacks on citizens after ashura.
in the proposed two track approach to iran balancing the nuclear question and human rights the united states is increasingly emphasising human rights.
europe should take a stronger leadership position here not only when it is politically safe to do so. the disaster in haiti is a terrible tragedy and i am glad you are taking action.
however the man made disaster that is ongoing in iran has not been met with leadership and coordination from the european side thus far.
last month a delegation of this parliament was supposed to visit iran but the regime did not want us to see with our own eyes its own weakness and division.
is iran's current regime which has lost its legitimacy and is divided internally a credible actor in negotiations? what measures do you propose in the nuclear question that will target the government without harming the population?
are you willing to call an emergency talk in europe on iran?
to ensure that human rights will remain europe's priority how will you use the eu instrument for human rights?
i believe we need to support citizens civil society and journalists.
the shelter city' programme proposed by the czech presidency might be a useful tool to support iranians under threat in europe.
in the hearings with commissioner kroes i asked her whether she is willing to work with you to make free speech on the internet an integrated part of europe's foreign policy.
it is the business of cuts cuts and more cuts that will damage people's lives and drive economies further into recession.
not content with the capitalist crisis and austerity throwing a generation of workers on the scrapheap the european council wants to effectively scrap a programme that has offered them some assistance.
it is a budget proposal not to create growth but to impose austerity policies with the introduction of so called macroeconomic conditionality tying cohesion funds to the implementation of commission diktats.
mr president minister creighton told us that europe has to show it can get on with business but what business does the minister want us to get on with?
there are sixty eight zero romanians living in britain. over the course of the last five years in just one police area the metropolitan police there have been believe it or not twenty seven zero arrests of romanians.
we have not got the figures from across the rest of the country. whilst with immigration you can get good people coming from other countries you can also get bad people. the point i made in my speech is that i am afraid that romania and bulgaria are in the grip of organised crime. we do not want those people coming into our country.
the recession in two thousand and twelve and the relative stagnation in economic activity forecast for two thousand and thirteen remind us all that these efforts must be continued.
effective management of the processes involved in european semester two thousand and thirteen is of course an important focus for our presidency.
i expect that the european council will reinforce strongly the five headline priorities of the commission's annual growth survey including doing so in light of the presidency synthesis report presented by the tnaiste to the general affairs council on monday.
as you know the irish presidency has placed particular emphasis on the single market and external trade agendas highlighting priority measures that will have a real impact on the economy.
substantial progress has and is being made towards achieving structurally balanced budgets.
that is why as the presidency we have attached such importance to the youth guarantee which has just been agreed by the council.
our view is that this must not deter us and that we need to manage it together if we are to succeed. we will of course work as always in full respect of the respective roles and prerogatives of the institutions in order to achieve a positive outcome. i look forward very much to working closely with all of you to make that happen.
this means pursuing differentiated growth friendly fiscal consolidation;
i expect that the eib will continue to play a crucial role in this regard.
it is not for me to go into the substance of this issue right now but i do want to be clear on two points.
our work on the eu us trade relationship has got off to a good start and we will be working hard to get a formal council mandate for fta negotiations in time for the june foreign affairs council.
we are all well aware that there is a very real public concern about the merits of these policies with some arguing that their social cost is too high and that they are not working. coming from ireland i think that i am more than aware that fiscal consolidation policies have real and sometimes very difficult effects.
since june two thousand and twelve work has been underway building on the report towards a genuine economic and monetary union' which was submitted by the president of the european council in consultation with the presidents of the commission the eurogroup and the ecb.
promoting growth and competitiveness;
the financing needs of the real economy must remain a further crucial focus in terms of eu level actions supporting growth and jobs.
this week's discussion will be open without conclusions and will be looking in particular at ways of making the relationship more productive.
and modernising public administration.
the european council will take stock of this ongoing work.
secondly we are fully committed to concluding work on the mff as soon as possible during our presidency.
we must also continue with the implementation of the measures contained in the compact for growth and jobs.
while acknowledging that different member states face different implementation issues we expect that progress will be supported by the eur six billion youth employment initiative agreed by the european council last month.
the european council will be addressing the european union's relations with russia.
this underlines that young people simply must have the prospect of meaningful work if we expect them to be able to realise their full potential within society.
securing consensus here was a key presidency priority for us.
this is in line with president van rompuy's intention to ensure that the european council regularly focuses on relations with our key strategic partners.
the public will not thank any of our institutions if together we cannot plan legislate and deliver the programmes which bring europe home to so many of our citizens whether that be through erasmus cap or cohesion funding.
tackling unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis;
this means restoring normal lending conditions and unlocking productive and growth enhancing investments.
it is crucial that we keep up the momentum behind national level reforms in these areas underpinned by the goals of the europe two thousand and twenty strategy supporting growth that is smart sustainable and inclusive.
it will look particularly at progress towards a more integrated financial framework and lay considerable emphasis on concluding the legislative process on the single supervisory mechanism.
we are fully aware that our institutions must work in very close cooperation if we are to deliver on this ambition.
restoring normal lending to the economy;
let me now say a few words on economic and monetary union.
firstly we look forward to engaging fully with the parliament on the mff.
there is for example very considerable growth potential which can be realised if we deliver on the combined proposals of single market act i and single market act ii. we need together to make progress on these proposals as quickly as possible.
if we want to return to sustainable growth and create jobs we have to continue to restore stability and that includes putting our public finances in order. we must continue with structural reform without which there can be no sustainable return to growth.
a number of key decisions have been taken and legislation is underway or in the process of being finalised.
that close and intense engagement will continue and indeed intensify in the weeks ahead.
this means in particular eu level actions that will support the more country specific orientation of the european semester process.
this has to continue.
at the same time we cannot nor do we ignore the impact being felt on unemployment levels particularly amongst young people.
this synthesis reviews discussions within the council on the annual growth survey and is firmly supportive of its orientation for actions by member states supporting competitiveness growth and jobs.
the european union has done a great deal since the beginning of the crisis to stabilise the financial situation and also to address the root causes of the crisis and lay the ground for the return to growth.
the spring european council will conclude the first phase of these processes. the key output is the guidance to member states on the preparation of their stability programme updates and national reform programmes.
we must in particular give absolute priority to implementing the measures which have been agreed.
allow me to start by looking at the european semester and the promotion of competitiveness growth and jobs.
you call that pressure?
potential.
crime. we heard suggestions that political decisions should be made on the assumption that romanians and bulgarians are bringing crime to the european
we respect your prerogative and we are greatly encouraged by the clear statement by the irish presidency to start comprehensive negotiations with
law. this will be the case
imf. you will find that it was usually the commission which was closest to reality.
union. this is stigmatisation this is against all principles of non discrimination and this is against european values.
the crisis is unprecedented and has many new features.
this statement has very clear xenophobic features.
we still have quite a serious implementation gap in implementing the measures which we know will bring growth and the creation of new jobs to the european union.
note. this morning we heard in this chamber a statement associating two nations with
to regain the trust of our citizens we have to give them hope;
i sincerely look forward to working very closely with the european parliament on the mff in particular to ensure that we have an outcome which delivers for our citizens and which delivers on our goal of regaining the trust of our citizens and of offering a bright future for our citizens.
cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy which are of enormous importance to many member states and many regions throughout the eu have been largely preserved.
we must also of course remain firmly focused on the scale of the current jobs crisis.
i think we need to focus on consolidation but coupling that with a firm focus on the growth agenda.
on the sectoral legislation agriculture cohesion etc the presidency will aim to make the maximum possible progress with its opposite numbers in parliament.
for example in relation to the question of flexibility and of perhaps a mid term review which has been mentioned by many speakers and which is reflected in the resolution.
a number of members referred to the need for a two track process.
clearly good progress on the mff will assist in this and i know that parliament shares this goal.
this usefully prepares the ground for our upcoming negotiations.
i very much welcome the statement from the commission in respect of parliament's commitment to engage and to support that process.
with the spring european council concluding the first phase of the european semester two thousand and thirteen i think it is appropriate that i conclude by acknowledging again the very important work of the european parliament towards enhancing the democratic legitimacy of our collective efforts to support competitiveness growth and jobs.
we must focus firmly on both tracks which of course are essential in terms of complementing each other.
in a period of huge budgetary austerity there is only a marginal reduction in real terms on the current mff itself agreed in much better times.
many members have rightly pointed to the massive challenge that we face in respect of unemployment particularly youth unemployment.
unemployment levels are up on this time last year and are unacceptably high now at almost twelve for the euro area and eleven for the eu as a whole. there is no stronger signal that we must redouble our efforts towards economic recovery.
these are very clearly two sides of the same coin.
the irish presidency has been keen to support all of these efforts.
we cannot realistically claim to have emerged from the current crisis until our economies are growing again and most importantly our economies are creating jobs for our citizens.
we must stabilise public finances we must deal with the mounting debt burden and we must not ignore the huge challenge of enormous deficits in member states if we are to tackle the challenge of competitiveness of growth and ultimately fulfil our commitment to delivering on the job creation agenda.
there is a substantial increase some thirty seven in spending on competitiveness and research. i know that a range of members today have specifically focused on the need to enhance provision for research and development.
i would firmly disagree with the idea that these are somehow mutually exclusive.
it is clear from last year's lessons learned exercise that the european semester should be an open and inclusive process supporting meaningful engagement with parliaments and all of the relevant stakeholders both at european and at national level.
it is not something that appeared overnight but rather something that was the product of very intensive and very extensive negotiations between the member states.
we have a really important window of opportunity now to engage intensively on these issues in the weeks ahead.
that we have to move forward swiftly and with a sense of determination to arrive at a successful conclusion in these negotiations between the council and parliament.
i refer in particular to the parliamentary week of the european semester at the end of january and the development of a stronger dialogue with national parliaments which i think we can all agree is extremely important.
we will be constructive partners with the aim of achieving first reading agreements on as many mff related files as possible within the irish presidency in other words by the end of june.
we have to show them that there is a future which can be guided and delivered by the european union by all eu member states and the european institutions working together to deal with that.