kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
public authorities are free to decide how best to manage the execution of the works and the provision of the services and they are never obliged to use concessions.
they are the ones who decide how to perform their public
tasks. other key principles have been inserted or made clearer such as transparency equal treatment the freedom to define services of general economic interest etc. the final text ensures key factors to guarantee a healthy economic environment the transparency of the procedure
and equality of treatment of economic operators with the same rules applying to everyone. finally the agreement takes into account the complexities of national situations for instance in terms of public public cooperation.
two more sentences from mr juvin the text to be voted tomorrow in plenary has survived despite many misunderstandings and false
debates. no the directive is not going to lead to the privatisation of public services.
this was an erroneous and abusive interpretation.
the award of a concession is not in itself a privatisation as concessions do not lead to the definitive sale of an activity by the public authority.
but again those allegations are deceitful as public authorities remain free to decide how to manage their services as they are also free to define the award criteria including characteristics linked to the quality of the services.
reform is not only needed it is long overdue.
in this day and age it is unacceptable that there are still numerous cases of contracts being directly awarded without any transparency. when a third of businesses associations and public authorities have said they are aware of such cases it is no wonder that the existing legislation is not providing the right framework.
in fact if you look at the majority of people they have some form of a disability whether it be my colour blindness and not being able to use the tube map in london or whether i have one leg shorter than the other.
this is what the european union should be about.
it is wonderful in what is a very flawed world that this is something that seems to be continuously improving and does give hope.
we all have disabilities one way or another and we all have something to offer.
i come from a country where fifty years ago people were put in institutes on the basis that you would hide them from your family in case someone thought that you were the source of evil that created this.
the regulation covers fifty zero companies which are yearly involved in cross border insolvency procedures.
it is important for them that we clarified the rules on jurisdiction of the courts the recognition of judgments and the applicable law in these cases and i consider the extension of the scope of the rules to hybrid procedures and company restructuring as an important step forward.
yes we need to have more efficient law making that focuses on crucial things but i find it difficult to understand why issues like the participation of women in the labour market and the fight against poverty which is directly linked to this would not be seen as key ones on which the eu should tap the full potential of its ability to move things forward.
in the uk more than half of mothers rely on grandparents when they go back to work but not everyone is lucky enough to be able to rely on the help of others.
that is why i urge the commission to make sure that the council finally breaks the deadlock on this crucial issue instead of taking the easy way out and referring it to the bin.
the exports of these minerals by armed groups often finance continuing violence with terrible implications for human rights as well as arresting development in the countries concerned.
mr president i voted in favour of this report concerning due diligence for conflict minerals as important amendments such as amendments one hundred and fifty four and one hundred and fifty five were passed supporting a meaningful obligatory system.
the responsible sourcing by industry and business of minerals from conflict areas is of great importance given that the eu is one of the biggest markets for such minerals.
the misuse of the financial system to channel illicit money or to finance terrorist activities threatens the good functioning reputation and stability of the whole international financial system. this is why we needed the current europe wide response to address such risks.
one three million disabled people who are available and want to work but only half of them are employed. less than a quarter of disabled people have qualifications.
mr president i supported this motion because it is clear that much more needs to be done to make sure that people with disabilities and their carers are offered the same opportunities as any other person.
that is why it is crucial that the eu institutions step up their game to implement the un convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.
i am conscious that employers particularly in small businesses would fear the cost of temporarily losing men as well as women to these family friendly policies but i urge them to change their views on family life and family time off. employees being absent is a cost to business;
i recognise that especially for small businesses.
but i think we are going to have to accept that it is a cost to business just like rent rates holiday pay electricity costs and other benefits.
by setting up public registers we increase transparency on the financial flux. however as the recent tax scandals show we remain heavily dependent on the action of whistleblowers working in the business so we need to convince these whistleblowers to reveal cases of tax avoidance and tax fraud because member states are often not willing to do
i do not have to elaborate on how physical terrorism affected ireland for decades and there are those who still have not been weaned off it just yet but there is also another kind of terrorism that is far more widespread and far more endemic.
i am talking about financial terrorism the terror inflicted on peoples all over the world by small but disproportionately powerful moneyed interests whose actions are facilitated by captured governments.
our own government in ireland has long been captured and is now held prisoner by the ifsc dancing to its every tune.
this is the same financial centre which is so low down on the scale or so high depending on your perspective that it was described by no less an outlet than the new york times as the wild west' of finance!
it is good to see something being done about it but the idea that the european union can do anything about it given that it is a type of financial terrorist itself well that is a joke is it not?
i would rather hold up this meeting here as a symbol of the immobilism the resistance to change that all bureaucracies evolve over time.
in fact if you want a perfect physical symbol of what milton friedman calls the tyranny of the status quo think of the trunks outside our offices. they date from a preemail age when it was necessary to move paperwork back and forth.
why do we still have them?
because an industry has grown up around their transportation the lorry drivers the removal men and so on. what we see is that the european union exists primarily for the benefit of its own employees and that is why it is in practice impossible for a government fundamentally to reform the deal in brussels.
this is the classic tyranny of the status quo it is why the british government is making such paltry and unambitious demands. we know that whatever we say whatever our citizens believe the system will continue to exist for the benefit of those lucky enough to be employed by it.
we had a european union or a european community that ireland joined whereby we actually managed to gain some more rights but it seems now the european union is about pushing back on that.
in particular on paternity leave my wife and i had a baby eight months ago and because i decided i would do the right thing and stay at home and help her i was pilloried in my national media for being lazy for not trying and for being a bad politician etc. so i think the first thing this institution could do if it is serious about this would be if someone is missing on maternity leave or paternity leave kindly not to mark them down as absent don't care lazy couldn't give a bloody damn'.
can you kindly have something put in place so that if someone does care about their newborn and they want to stay at home and take care of them it is recognised in here and you are not put down as a layabout for trying to do the right thing and then your media attacks you and in particular the female members of that media.
unfortunately i cannot support this report because of the last minute amendment that was pushed in to impose a mandatory as opposed to voluntary system.
it showed that it is virtually impossible to comply with such regulations and companies in the us now avoid most of these areas completely.
there is a parallel with what happened to the fbi in north america it began acting exactly as in this report against money launderers and terrorists and of course it eventually became a kind of federal police force for the entire united states.
i have to say quite apart from feeling less free i do not feel any more secure handing powers of this kind to the same dolts who gave us the common agricultural policy the common fisheries policy the overregulation of small business and the rest of it.
i would rather we had intelligence and security services collaborating voluntarily and globally than placing such collaboration under the jurisdiction of the european union.
voluntary due diligence has been shown to be inadequate and a narrow focus only on smelters and refineries would only serve to undermine our eu foundation industries in the long term.
we have voted for effective and mandatory rules that apply to all the key actors involved in the trade of minerals across the supply chain.
i voted for the report today to show that we are willing to follow through on our applause in this chamber with real action to improve human rights in conflict regions around the world.
them to check on the presence of conflict minerals in their supply chains.
due diligence obligations are tailored to the company's individual circumstances size leverage and position in the supply chain.
at the time i was a member of the irish parliament and given the huge mortgage crisis that was unfolding the government of the day which is still the government of this day was forced to introduce new more modern more fitting legislation so they said.
despite clear warnings from those who were trying to assist people in mortgage distress in their dealings at the time with the banks the government in the legislation gave the banks the final veto over whether or not a deal could be made whether insolvency could be declared. it has been a disaster so much so that now the government has been forced to move again.
they will remove that veto but in the meantime what of the damage they have done over the last two years all the unnecessary added stress they have caused?
but it is ironic that the european union that actually led to the financial crisis in ireland is now going to create rules to solve it.
mr president i gave my support to the regulation on information accompanying transfers of funds given that we need stronger measures to tackle tax avoidance and fraud. this means establishing public registers to increase transparency on the financial flux and have better protection
at eu level for whistleblowers given that we are almost completely dependent on them to alert us on the cases of fraud or where taxpayers' money is abused.
we also need a coordinated response from the law enforcement bodies in the member states and a standardised procedure for financial institutions and payment service providers to combat money laundering.
it is simply unacceptable that billions and billions of euros simply continue to fall through the cracks every year.
so let us start here and the next resolution we pass on russia should not be something that looks as if it comes from the eeas but something that comes from the european parliament.
in the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe david cameron's mps eighteen of them sit with sixteen members of the united russia party from the duma.
mr kowal let us as you say tell it like it is and let us start at home in the european union where people play games with politics.
i believe that the european parliament should stop business as usual' with the putin regime.
i think we should use all the measures at our command to put pressure on the putin regime for genuine reform. we should stop discussing fruitless treaties and start being unsafe.
i think the eu should stop playing it safe.
you have said that the european union is losing respect.
but mr kowal says that we should tell it like it is and our resolution would be a credit to cathy ashton.
yes because we do not tell it like it is.
this house has recommended that the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe should regard the duma delegation as illegitimate.
we have also begun a process on common steps to be fulfilled before we could consider launching negotiations on a visa waiver agreement.
on. as cathy ashton has stated the eu looks forward to working with the incoming russian president and the new government in full support of our shared modernisation agenda.
it is a good thing that both authorities and protesters want gradual evolution not revolution.
the next step we have a strong consensus in the eu that we must engage with russia critically yes but also constructively.
the key issue for us now is how we can support this reform process.
this approach has been quite successful recently.
which should cover both economic and political reforms.
you have also given high representative vice president ashton several opportunities to address the plenary on these crucial issues.
the new civic and political awakening in russia has already led to some political reforms with the first duma reading of bills introduced by president medvedev to liberalise political party registration rules and presidential candidates' registrations
osce and council of europe observers gave a clear evaluation opportunities were not equal during the preparations and procedural violence occurred during the voting and counting process itself. we agree with their preliminary report and will remind russia of its international commitment to free and fair elections. high representative vice president catherine ashton issued a statement the day after the elections with five main elements. she recognised the clear victory of vladimir putin
the process is encouraging and will have consequences especially in russia's many regions.
our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims and with the belgian people.
the partnership for modernisation is another one.
to ensure free and fair elections.
all of this will be of mutual benefit.
the next major step in our strategic partnership apart from all the ongoing regular work will be the next eu russia summit due to be held in russia just before the summer.
the russian presidential election went largely as expected.
with medvedev and the government led by mr putin we have been able to build more constructive relations and to achieve results.
without russia we cannot solve the regional challenges in our common neighbourhood in syria or iran or most of the pressing global challenges such as climate change and the environment.
these are encouraging signals.
many projects have already been prepared and launched including technical and regulatory modernisation as well as reforms of the judiciary and civil society involvement.
the bilateral initiatives just mentioned provide us with an excellent basis to build
restrictive measures are a sensitive instrument that should be considered in specific situations and in accordance with the respective eu guidelines.
if you are an establishment stooge you have unlimited access.
in germany in two thousand and one there were attempts to ban the mpd on the basis of evidence that was found by the constitutional court to have been fabricated by state agents.
these elections were not fair.
we are speaking today about the elections or so called elections;
if observers come to elections in london this may they will find hundreds of thousands of non existent ghosts voting by post without any kind of id check.
baroness ashton became one of the most powerful figures in post democratic europe without a single vote.
in the same way the recent presidential elections are neither fair nor democratic.
events in north africa and the middle east are showing that sooner or later people will rebel against corruption and will come out on the streets to demand to be treated with respect.
can we rely upon the promises expressed by mr medvedev or mr putin for electoral reform? i think we have to seek the opportunity to try to bring together the russian opposition with the present leadership to work out a national compromise but it should be a constructive compromise to set a date for new elections after the new reform.
this new culture of information consumption is now the main challenge to the regime representing an alternative to the propaganda.
instead navalny found his audience on the internet among those who have few memories of their country before putin.
in its attempt to repress and discredit any kind of opposition in the past few years the russian regime has employed various means most prominently the control of traditional media.
after that the bolsheviks took over and under their enlightened leadership fifty million people were killed.
let me cite you one example to show that the bolshevist manners have survived in this country unfortunately. when i was sixteen there was an anti soviet demonstration in tallinn which was obviously declared illegal by the soviets and their militia was commanded to attack us.
and later they sent commissars to school to explain that the youth had protested because they were promised us dollars. mr peshkov explained it forty years later in the same way.
mr putin's educational background is bolshevist even worse he was a kgb officer and it is pointless to believe or hope that he has even the slightest desire to develop democracy in his country.
you need to respect your constitution.
they used to say that these youngsters only cared about their iphones then came march.
then came march two thousand and seventeen totally unexpected.
they used to call them the putin youth young russians who had grown up with him in power.
everyone thought he was untouchable.
you need to release your political prisoners or march two thousand and seventeen will be another winter month which goes down in russian history.
overall evidence shows that these kind of measures against journalists have a negative effect on free speech in the country.
we believe that the russian authorities have a responsibility to safeguard the fundamental rights of all their citizens particularly in view of the presidential elections next year.
state authorities have a particular responsibility when dealing with young people and minors a responsibility to always protect them against any physical and mental trauma.
the statement called on the russian federation to abide fully by the international commitments it has undertaken including in the council of europe and the osce to uphold the fundamental rights and to release immediately the detained peaceful demonstrators.
it was the largest anti governmental demonstration in the last five years.
journalists too were arrested while covering the events and subsequently released.
the response by the authorities to peaceful demonstrations was disproportionate and punitive.
any actions against reporters who are simply doing their job represent a violation of freedom of the media an incursion into the public's right to know and a clear breach of russia's international commitments.
these events raise strong doubts about the state of these fundamental rights in the russian federation.
we issued a statement on the events the same evening.
opposition leader and founder of the anticorruption foundation alexei navalny was also detained and sentenced to prison alongside many other peaceful demonstrators.
all political actors in the country have the right to play by the same rules on a level playing field.
for touching untouchables he was held in pre trial detention tortured and died there. the dark revengeful face of the russian judiciary system was shown in his being convicted
i kindly ask the chamber to recall his name in the resolution by accepting my amendment.
there is something that we can do and also split the kremlin from its citizens. that is the way to proceed.
nevertheless we cannot allow this to silence our condemnation of president putin his leadership and foreign policy particularly aggression regarding ukraine and syria. following the revelations of corruption against prime minister medvedev in a video published by alexei navalny last month we saw a wave of protest against the government largely from a new generation of russians that wish for a better and better governed future for their country. the large number of arrests including navalny himself reminds us all that presidential elections are looming next year.
i encourage the european union to continue to press for the release of navalny and to keep up the political pressure in the council of europe in response to the trumped up convictions we have seen levelled against navalny in russia largely aimed at preventing him from standing in the presidential elections next year.
we are yet to see the exact response from the kremlin following these protests and the attacks this week but past experience suggests to me that political capital will be sought by president putin from this.
this is what we need for fair taxation a level playing field in the single market and to meet global challenges such as climate change and development.
on this basis options which could gather a higher level of support in the short term should be explored.
we should look at that as a pilot project maybe for two or three years to see if the forecasts of flight of finance and transaction relocation really transpire.
i have my doubts because of the small amounts involved.
the truth is that enterprises and households are suffering right now as a result of the financial crisis caused by the financial sector because of high vat levels and high taxes on labour.
regarding exemptions i fully agree with commissioner emeta that exemptions create distortions and room for loopholes.
we did this in the spirit of compromise a compromise which i regret is not yet in place despite the fact that the ftt would have minimal impact on conservative funds.
this compromise can better secure the pensions of europeans by incentivising them to follow prudent investment strategies.
think about that.
instead of being a top performer belgium is heading towards recession.
he depicted the belgian economy as a rose garden.
the economic dialogue with belgium was no more than a good news show intended for domestic consumption.
those who live in denial are punished by the facts later on as was the case with mr vanackere so the proposed form of the european semester is an exercise in irrelevance.
likewise it remains to be seen if france will take orders from brussels on budgetary policy. french public opinion is mainly in denial about the oversized welfare state.
member states are also recommended to do things they already know and when this is not the case they simply ignore it and live in denial.
the imf and the oecd have been making the same recommendations for years.
his doctor will tell him you have to lose weight' but obviously the patient knows this already.
the remedy looks very simple exercise up calories down but you have to do it.
country specific recommendations make sense but add little new.
the number one recommendation for france is that people should work longer but the first thing mr hollande did was to cut the retirement age.
when public sector unions are confronted with facts they start striking and the political leadership of france does little to raise the much needed awareness.
its economy is shrinking at a much higher pace than the eurozone average. serious budget cuts are needed.