kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
market. from previous discussions i know that the european parliament is supporting us in our efforts to achieve this goal. let me stress again that parliament together with member states and stakeholders will be convinced that not only is there a problem but also that an effective and balanced solution must and can be found at european
as far as the collective redress proposal is concerned i think you are approaching it in exactly the right way. we have consistently said that this is an extremely complex issue. it involves not just european level measures but also very difficult issues about engagement with national
you have been really consistent in saying that consumer confidence in the internal market and cross border trading is one of the fundamental issues that we have to raise because otherwise consumers are not getting their rights of access and being able to use and exercise their choice across borders.
above all i think the timing and complexity of solutions is important because you have evoked a wide range of solutions here but it is quite clear that solutions that may involve some new european level judicial mechanisms will clearly take far longer and potentially be more controversial than picking up some of the alternative dispute resolution measures or also using the existing consumer cooperation measures that have been put in place.
i think all of us on this committee recall that in fact the enhanced cooperation on consumers was an aspect that was put through our committee in the last parliament and we would like to see that become more effective.
i think there is a vehicle there that can be used to give consumers the sort of redress that we are looking for not just in collective claims but also in dealing with cross border claims themselves much more effectively.
if we can get that sense of priority there and timing and speed to come up with the best solutions quickly i think that is the way that i commend you to think about moving forward.
we will of course support the commission in this.
the health of some of our flag carriers has been poor for a number of years and they need to have a careful look at their own business models for the future.
debating the suspension of the eighty twenty rule is very important but it can only be a short term measure and it must not be allowed to become part of the aviation policy in the longer term. the positives are obvious helping carriers especially the large national flag carriers through the present economic downturn;
but the solution is not in this and it must not become permanent.
but i do not support the use of simplified procedure in the future and i think it would be a good idea for us to have a hearing on the slot allocation directive perhaps in the autumn or winter when we come back.
we must find measures to put in place market based incentives for airlines and airports.
speaking as a pilot myself can the commission please explain why the pilots' associations were not consulted in this matter and could it also confirm that the concerns of pilots and other people working in this industry will be fully taken into account?
also not being able to fly empty planes to fulfil slot obligations is good for the environment.
the current problems are linked to the present financial crash but to claim the crisis in the aviation industry is wholly down to this would be wrong.
they must be viable business entities not specially privileged organisations and resorting to protectionist measures is not acceptable in general to me and to my colleagues.
this report is a microcosm of paolo costa's work because it is a report that clearly shows that the wisdom of solomon allied to the diplomatic skills of the united nations is often needed when dealing with such technical details like use it or lose it on the slot'.
but yet again the civil aviation industry has demonstrated its ability to be disunited on this important issue with big airlines clamouring for a suspension while low cost airlines and airports are demanding no suspension.
what concerns me is that the big airlines backed up by their various alliances will not be satisfied with one suspension but will demand others and knowing the unhealthy undemocratic influence that some of them have both in this and national parliaments i believe today is a mere start of a process sadly not the end.
if the commission feels that further suspensions are needed then they must be made part of a revised regulation fully involving this parliament and fully respecting the rights of this parliament.
i recognise the perilous state that the aviation industry and airlines in particular face.
i also understand that slots are not just about take off and landings.
what airlines need to remember is that there are other stakeholders not just them that will be affected by this suspension.
because the economic situation is not good and because we recognise the nonsense of flying empty aircraft we will support our rapporteur on this occasion but i hope our caveats to this have been duly noted for future reference not only in this chamber but by the wider aviation industry as a whole.
finally as the socialist coordinator can i thank all my team but also my fellow coordinators from other groups for the sterling work and the cooperation that we have shared with each other during the last five years.
but laws need to be enforced. they need to be implemented in practice in order to make a difference.
the rise of extremism and populism is a common concern to the whole of the eu because it leads to racism to the negation of the human being to all forms of intolerance and it endangers the acceptance of other citizens
i am referring to the council framework decision on racism and xenophobia. the transposition date was twenty eight november two thousand and ten which means that all member states are now obliged to sanction with criminal penalties intentional public incitement to violence and hatred based on race colour
we also support work aimed at raising awareness on the rights and obligations of citizens and provide assistance for capacity building through national equality bodies. moreover we facilitate the exchange of good practices and support the collection and dissemination of data.
the rise of extremism and populism is an enormous concern for the eu as a whole because it fuels racism xenophobia homophobia and all forms of intolerance. it affects human rights it endangers the freedom of movement within the eu.
but let me make clear that the investigation of individual situations of racism or xenophobia the application of national laws transposing the framework decision belongs to national authorities.
the commission most of all supports activities aimed at preserving the memory of the mass violations of human rights during the period of nazism and stalinism.
and let me say in that context that i was so unhappy so sorry when i heard the racist attacks directed against the italian minister of integration mrs ccile kyenge.
you know that in addition to legislation the commission also lends its support to activities to prevent acts of intolerance from happening in the first place.
it also endangers the values on which our union is based which means it simply destroys our societies.
that is why we all collectively and individually have the responsibility to fight it without compromise.
in the next multiannual financial framework such activities will be promoted through the rights equality and citizenship programme.
the commission has always condemned any manifestation of racism and xenophobia as well as any other form of intolerance because they are incompatible with the values and principles on which the union is founded;
in particular it is for national courts to determine according to the circumstances and context whether a situation represents an incitement to violence or hatred.
remember the commission's third annual report on the application of the charter of fundamental rights where we took stock of the rising intolerance in the eu?
ladies and gentlemen we do have laws in place.
under the new citizenship programme i have increased the amount of financial support for remembrance projects and i hope that the european parliament and the council will agree with this proposal.
in order to see if that is the case the commission will present a report on the member states' compliance with the provisions of the framework decision by the end of this year.
a key role is played by the fundamental rights agency.
it is why you are elected.
firstly as far as extreme political parties are concerned these are a matter first and foremost for each and every individual member state.
right wing extremism has no place in modern europe. it threatens the fabric of our societies.
to work together and cooperate.
but there is no doubt that right wing extremism is on the increase.
intolerance and excessive nationalism were the cause of endemic conflict in europe over the last few hundred years and led directly to the destructive wars of the twenty th century.
but let me state this all political extremism is unacceptable be it left or right wing.
the social context of the current crisis is therefore critical to returning to a consensual and harmonious society where we recognise and strive for a common good.
where it has existed it has had difficulty gaining any serious level of support.
and that should not be simply a passive act.
it is not for the council to prescribe a single response a single solution or a single recipe.
secondly we should at the european level speak out against right wing extremism and in particular where this manifests itself in racist or xenophobic views we are all obliged to respect the basic values on which the european union is founded
where action is required it is for member states to do so within the framework of their own constitutional arrangements and where it concerns the activities of extreme groups their own national legislation.
we have grown to consider that in europe such extremism is something of the past.
as we all know right wing extremism very often comes together with hate speech and hate crimes or is followed by these phenomena.
extremist parties were thankfully marginal to our political life;
it promotes and feeds on racism and xenophobia and it constitutes a challenge to the democratic process.
the european union owes its origins to those of vision who saw that the ending of conflict on this continent would depend first and foremost on overcoming extreme nationalism. they sought to put in place structures which would enable nation states
clearly we must not let up on our action to ensure that we emerge stronger and more prosperous from the economic crisis.
we can only speculate as to the reasons why. obviously the financial and economic crisis has played a role.
we all share a duty to stand up against extremism in whatever form and wherever it occurs.
we need to challenge extremist views and actions which risk undermining those values.
that is why we are here.
such a scapegoat is never difficult but it is always wrong.
there are several ways in which we can respond to this trend.
the third issue comes from moral human decency.
that leads us to a second reason. there is inbuilt in politics a tendency towards opportunism. we politicians tend to cherry pick issues and push the difficult decisions to the sidelines.
by not standing up for human rights we open doors which might be hard to close at a later stage in history.
i usually sit here in this room between a catalan and a greek and i and the rest of us should stand up for them and their democratic and social rights.
we should be ready to help our sisters and brothers in need. when we turn away from this principle we open up to human catastrophes.
this cherry picking creates illusions and illusions create disappointment.
when we look at the election results leading up to the in one thousand nine hundred and thirty three we see that the expectations of part of the german middle class and working class were shattered.
it is a tendency across europe and we need to act jointly before more citizens become victims of extremists.
in germany it came to light that there have been systematic killings of citizens of turkish descent by extreme right sympathisers and we all remember the horrific murders on utya norway.
i absolutely agree with what has been said here if violence becomes a legitimate means of political action it is the end of our civilisation. that is the reason why zero tolerance against extremism be it from the right or the left
behaviour.
that is the basis of the democracy which we have been building on this continent for so many decades.
i have heard speeches about young people who have lost their lives.
they must not be left unchallenged because they are incompatible with our democratic values and they destroy our societies.
i have heard a lot of contributions in this house.
the dangers in europe are there. intolerance and discrimination whatever their shape and form are dangerous and must not be left ignored.
it is true that a young musician was killed in the street in greece but it is also true that three bank employees were burned in their office. it is also true that in other member states human beings are chased as if they were
ladies and gentlemen it starts with hate speech and it ends with killing.
fortunately we live in a democracy where freely elected institutions create law and where independent courts judge on the basis of those laws.
hospitals are forced to perform abortions;
during the last six months we have had about a dozen churches burned set fire to and vandalised.
we had an opposition politician in poland assassinated and the leader of the opposition receiving death threats.
check the facts and control your zeal madam commissioner.
commissioner reding i know your desire for equality maybe you can tell us when we are going to debate left wing' extremism just in the name of equality.
a key dynamic in politics is the relationship between the centre and the periphery.
it is no surprise to political observers in britain that the far right only ever takes seats from the left our labour party not the conservative party.
when prime minister gordon brown infamously labelled the respectable labour voter gillian duffy as a bigot simply for expressing genuine concerns about immigration and economic policy that differed to his own he became a recruiting sergeant for extremists.
the blame for the rise of extremism lies at the feet of the political class that refuses to take account of the opinions and concerns of the electorate and the people to whom they should be accountable.
left activists have been attacked in the streets. immigrants have been hounded and have been killed and here we have a debate where speaker after speaker of the right uses their speeches to equate the far right with the far left.
now the greek government the greek establishment is trying to wash its hands of responsibility for golden dawn but let us not forget that until recently it stood idly by;
it did nothing while golden dawn acted with impunity.
let us not forget it tolerated a close cooperation between its police apparatus and this band of criminals.
let us not forget that its vicious austerity pushed millions of people into desperation into poverty and created the breeding ground for golden dawn's reactionary politics strengthened by their own racist and anti immigration policies.
anti fascists can have no truck with and no trust in the capitalist so called fight against fascism. they need to build committees from below to defend immigrants to fight against the far right and attack the roots of this disease.
no part of the population should be singled out or used as a scapegoat because the slightest concession to our shared values is already a defeat for the union and for european democracy.
madam president i think the last debate on the subject of the roma people really sums up why we are in the situation whereby extremism is on the march.
people like the unelected commissioner here just live on another planet.
your two flagship policies the single currency and open borders are creating a perfect breeding ground for the far right.
the austerity measures imposed by the european union have driven large numbers of people in the cradle of democracy into the arms of extremists.
yet you still do not listen.
moreover i hear a call to speak out clearly against all forms of extremism.
a number of you have referred to specific situations and problems facing individual member states.
i will not address the rise of any particular extremist parties but i will simply reiterate the importance of standing firm in the face of all forms of intolerance racism and xenophobia because extremism is the opposite of all that european integration stands for.
right wing extremism on the other hand feeds off prejudice and creates fear. let us together challenge all forms of extremism.
madam president one of the characteristics and maybe also one of the problems of liberal democracy such as we know it in europe is that it allows the expression of opinion.
it allows the expression of nearly every sort of opinion up to the point where the bearers of certain opinions which are not particularly appetising might just start organising themselves in a manner which becomes intolerable to democracy.
this is about considering a crisis as a welcome opportunity for revolutionary social behaviour which will result ultimately in death as it has done.
so we seem to be witnessing across europe a trend which says if nothing else helps violence will.
this is something that the democratic states and the democratic institutions of a united europe will have to counteract with all the means at their disposal.
but we need the full strength of all the laws in order to counteract this phenomenon which will ultimately put the cohesion of our societies at existential risk.
we raised this question in the human rights dialogue last march.
its recommendations will be fed into the next session of the human rights dialogue.
we are delivering practical assistance in these areas.
we have made it clear to indonesia that this problem has to be tackled seriously based on respect and protection of beliefs without discrimination.
the indonesian government is committed to ratifying the optional protocol of the convention against torture and is pursuing initiatives to build better community relations in papua.
i would also like to mention the case of the torture of papuan prisoners and the lenient sentences imposed on the soldiers convicted by a military tribunal in relation to recent cases.
we discussed this issue in the human rights dialogue and underscored the need for dissuasive punishment for those who commit torture.
following the attacks last february against the ahmadiyyah the european union issued a statement expressing strong concern and emphasising the need for an effective response by the government.
i would like to conclude by mentioning that we are also supporting indonesia in addressing the underlying causes of religious violence such as the spread of islamic extremism in schools and in society generally. in this regard we plan to fund a cooperation programme with indonesia aimed
we emphasised the government's obligation to protect all religious communities and stressed that the police should be trained including on human rights to respond to threats and violence against religious minorities.
the indonesian government informed us that aceh has agreed to abide by international obligations and is in dialogue with local authorities and civil society to harmonise local by laws with human right standards.
we follow closely developments concerning the implementation of sharia based laws in particular in the province of aceh.
we are also working with the indonesian government to foster inter faith dialogue.
it is therefore very regrettable and unfortunate that they do not seem to have acted fast enough in dealing with this intolerant behaviour by some of their people.
madam president indonesia is a beautiful country with deep traditions of pluralism cultural harmony religious freedom and social justice but regrettably we are seeing an increase in extremist attacks against religious minorities including against the ahmadis who consider themselves muslim but who are not recognised as such by everyone.
we see attacks on christians buddhists and against progressive civil society organisations.
on video clips placed on the internet we have seen well documented human rights violations when an angry mob set fire to churches killing a number of people.
however the government needs to do more to promote tolerance and protect religious freedom across this vast and geographically fragmented country.
in particular indonesia's political leaders should no longer turn a blind eye to those who seek to sow hatred and violence through exacerbated religious tensions and differences and they must criminally prosecute all those who are carrying out such atrocities against minorities. as well as lifting the ban on ahmadis the government should revise all decrees and the
we in europe expect such high standards of indonesia precisely because it is a pluralist democracy.
this cannot be the situation.
there are often severe punishments for both men and women convicted of engaging in homosexual relations some countries even mandating the death penalty.
i call upon these governments who tacitly sanction or turn a blind eye to these acts of violence and discrimination to honour their obligations as signatories to legally binding international human rights instruments and conventions which should be at the forefront of all eu agreements with these countries in africa.
i welcome therefore the concrete steps taken by a swathe of sub saharan african countries who have pledged to reform their existing laws decriminalise homosexuality and improve social conditions and sexual health conditions for lgbt people.
indeed a hallmark of a modern progressive society is one which does not discriminate or stigmatise on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
mr president unfortunately over thirty countries on the african continent consider homosexuality to be a crime.
teresa this resolution is for you and for all the women who suffer for their sexuality.
this baby was left to rot next to her for weeks.
when teresa's father found out she was a lesbian he beat her and then he tried to burn her.
teresa managed to leave and escape and in two thousand and six she came to london where she now lives.
the following day three policemen came and they beat her and they raped her and one of them urinated in her mouth.
teresa is not exceptional. i was unfortunately told by the uk lesbian and gay immigration group that teresa is typical of women in north africa who are lesbians.
this dispels the myth that speaking up about sexual orientation and gender identity is somehow un african.
around the world the eu uses the full range of tools available to it to protest against human rights abuses and to offer practical support to end discrimination against lgbti persons.
moreover the eu has been funding projects supporting the human rights of lgbti persons for example in cameroon and zimbabwe.
the eu position is very clear no the human rights of lesbian gay bisexual transgender or intersex persons are not a question of different cultures or beliefs or about introducing new rights for a group of people.
in africa we have used both public statements and work behind the scenes to argue the case for justice and human rights for lgbti persons.
to ensure that the eu continues to do the right thing eu delegations meet regularly with lgbti human rights defenders and keep a close watch on their situation.
we have also used our political dialogues in namibia in nigeria and in gambia to raise our concerns about the human rights of lgbti persons in those countries.
they are about the same human rights being applied to every person everywhere without discrimination.
when such crimes are committed the perpetrator should face justice and where there is institutionalised criminalisation this should end.