kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
it actively supports the pilot project introduced by parliament which is aimed at providing easier access to a wide range of unclassified documents held by eu institutions.
we take the view that the current rules and practices strike the right balance between transparency and the protection of personal data. as regards the suggestion to establish the post of transparency commissioner i can assure you that first vicepresident timmermans who regrets he is unable to be here in person
to this effect the commission launched a public consultation on one march two thousand and sixteen with a view to submitting a proposal in the second half of this year.
this transparency standard should become part of the culture of all eu institutions as far as bilateral encounters with lobbyists elected politicians and top decisionmakers are concerned.
the commission also welcomes parliament's clear support for our intention to present a proposal for an interinstitutional agreement on a mandatory transparency register covering the three main institutions.
at the commission information on more than ten zero such meetings has been published.
one thousand and forty nine two thousand and one as regards the proactive publication of documents i would like to recall that the commission has established a solid practice of document registration and publication in its document register.
the overall success of the project depends on building consistency between the institutions' document management systems including the need to avoid duplication of existing tools. the commission also makes constant efforts to comply with its publication requirements as defined in the sectorial legal bases.
in that agreement the commission together with the other two institutions committed itself to further improving transparency in legislative procedures and to setting up practical arrangements for cooperation in future international negotiations.
the commission calls on the colegislators to adopt its proposals on access to documents aimed at extending the right of access to documents to all eu institutions bodies offices and agencies.
is the commissioner who ensures compliance and improves administrative practices in the field of access to documents.
the commission is convinced that across the three eu institutions involved in lawmaking the same standards of transparency should be applied.
madam president honourable members this commission as president juncker committed to this house has made democratic change and transparency one of its ten political priorities. our decisions affect millions of european citizens and therefore must be taken as democratically and transparently as possibly.
i refer to the resolution that we adopted two years ago that i had the honour of drafting.
i am actually quite surprised to see that when it comes to transparency in trialogues we are actually taking a step back compared to the text that we adopted in.
i notice that despite all the nice words in all three institutions there is still not a culture of openness and transparency.
finally i think there are three things that we should do which were in the previous resolution appoint a transparency officer in all institutions including in the parliament and the presidency of this house has so far refused to do so;
the trust of citizens is at an alltime low and we need to get it back. at the same time in this debate i often get the feeling that we do not trust the citizens because we are afraid to show the work that we are actually doing.
i note that the follow up to that resolution has been wafer thin.
there is a culture of secrecy and trying to disclose as little as possible.
two thousand and fourteen so we were more inclined towards transparency in two thousand and fourteen than we are in two thousand and sixteen when the trust of citizens is so low.
we should also realise that transparency is the rule.
when britain leaves the eu precisely nothing will change regarding our trading arrangements with the usa.
he overlooked the fact that the uk is a major trading partner of the usa and yet we have no trade deal.
it only cares about big business and the interests of international finance.
we have a servile relationship. the american political establishment is not our friend;
the british people should stop deluding themselves.
of particular concern is the investor state dispute settlement mechanism that would allow private companies to sue governments in tribunals should those governments try to protect their national interests.
the european union talks a great deal about democracy and transparency and so its dealings should be open to the scrutiny of the european citizens that it claims to represent.
last week president obama came to london where he threatened the british public against voting to leave the european union in the referendum on twenty three june.
so far i have had over twenty zero emails from constituents concerned about ttip which will open up our public services and the national health service to us corporations.
how low has britain sunk when a foreign leader can come to threaten us in our own capital while our prime minister looks on approvingly?
it is in the best interests of the british people to vote to leave the european union on twenty three june and to implement that decision as quickly as possible.
we do not have a special relationship with the usa;
he overlooked the fact that the usa is one of the top ten trading partners with the eu and yet it has no trade deal with the eu.
we are committed to transparency openness and accountability.
we should open the doors of the european institutions to show that decisions are taken democratically.
citizens have the right to know what their representatives do on their behalf and how eu funds are spent in a fast simple and user friendly way. for instance a common search and access point between the three institutions like we have with the your europe portal could make it easier for the public to find information. the people of europe should be able to be involved in participate in and influence eu decisions.
this does not mean direct democracy.
in europe we live in representative democracies and of course openness goes with responsibility.
public access is not about wikileaks and it is not about whistleblowers. privacy has to be respected while ensuring transparency. and yes laura the trilogues and international agreements must be more transparent but we need to ensure a climate of mutual trust
and the space to think.
this is necessary to achieve results in negotiations.
personally i committed to be open about my work.
it is therefore most unbecoming for a number of eu institutions including parliament that maximum public access for all unclassified documents even nowadays is not fully guaranteed.
the most basic reasoning for such change is quite simple.
however we would also have concerns about the proliferation of bilateral trade agreements.
here i refer to paragraph twelve of the resolution which urges us to look again at the situation of the bric countries.
this may indeed as the resolution suggests render the original objectives of the doha round impossible to attain.
ninety of the british economy has nothing to do with trade with the eu and eighty of that economy is trade within the uk but we have to apply all of these eu laws one hundred zero of them.
the same is true of the dreadful fund managers directive where again eighty of fund managers are only in the uk.
for that reason ireland would probably insert a declaration with the text of recital twenty three which refers to the application of penalties in accordance with national law.
i concur absolutely with paragraph eleven which calls for rigorous global implementation of air pollution regulations.
we need global agreement and global implementation.
the issue of non co two emissions is significant because it may indeed be a less costly way of tackling climate change.
surely it is time to turn off this legislative sausage machine.
if it works it would be good for consumers in terms of energy prices but the energy challenge for europe is great.
we are losing significant investment internally in the country due to the absence of an agreement on this issue which the commission is aware of and the member state is pursuing.
i hope it is resolved to the benefit of the sector very shortly.
it worked with equitable life it took a long time to get results but at least it did have an effect.
can i also say that the first port of call for many citizens when they have a problem with the european union or indeed back home is their mep and some meps are more accessible than others.
we would direct where appropriate our citizens to the committee on petitions. there also is the pilot projects initiative which works between the commission and the member state. while i have had some good experience where this works effectively i do not think it is open or transparent enough because i have had another experience where nothing happened and we had to go to the ombudsman.
mr president we are now three months away from the next round of negotiations on the doha development agenda and it is already very clear that no substantial progress will be made.
let us recall that ten years ago at the launch of these negotiations we were told that these would be win win negotiations.
the deadlock in the negotiations underlines the fact that development and poverty eradication are not compatible with the interests of the major players in the global economy particularly in the case of this deep economic crisis.
the wto has never been and will not become an organisation that facilitates trade in the interests of workers and small farmers.
it is an undemocratic institution that primarily represents the interests of the major corporations.
its policies have resulted in privatisation lower labour standards and an increase in exploitation.
the wto has failed the test of the doha development agenda.
it is important that we get the best possible commissioners.
in that light i just want to refer briefly to a suggestion made by commissioner oettinger about flying flags at half mast for countries with excessive deficits.
mr president i supported the report that calls for enhanced access to documents because enhanced transparency is crucial to enable citizen participation in and democratic scrutiny of the european decision making process.
i am glad that there was a broad consensus in the european parliament that much more needs to be done to increase transparency in the legislative process while ensuring data protection.
the new legislation should be simple user friendly and easy to understand for all citizens.
it is important to focus on public access to information and not just on sharing information between european institutions.
we should not protect' citizens from too much information or confusing information.
amendment fifty one would also mean that the authorities could not inspect vehicles that have passed a roadworthiness test in the past three months. this would be highly restrictive potentially undermining road safety.
this threatens to place additional operational burdens upon farmers many of whom use public roads only occasionally and maintain their machinery to a high roadworthiness standard.
this type of regulation is wholly unacceptable as it would remove the flexibility with which inspecting authorities can allocate resources and react to new trends and violations.
this report would also make tractors with a maximum speed of over forty km h eligible for roadside inspections.
however i have concerns relating to the proposal to set such common eu wide minimum standards for vehicle checks in the form of a regulation rather than a directive.
these proposals for the testing of light trailers would result in unnecessary burden and costs in particular for caravan owners in wales for farmers who transport a small number of animals locally and more generally for smaller micro business operators who use trailers to transport goods around wales frequently.
i do welcome the fact that some of the areas of concern within the proposal for periodic roadworthiness tests have been addressed including the recognition that historical cars should be exempt from this legislation.
mr president ensuring that the vehicles on our roads are as safe as possible and improving eu road safety is of course something that is of grave importance.
protection of this environment is absolutely vital.
far too often farmers have to contend with policies from these institutions which are contradictory and not suited to the local environment or local farming practices.
in my constituency of northern ireland we have a rural development programme funded by the eu administered by the department of agriculture which should be used to support the agrifood sector and the rural economy.
that is not how rural development programmes should be targeted.
yet instead we have had millions upon millions going to gaelic athletic sports club.
mr president i am sure that every member of this house would support the growth of a sustainable and economically viable bioeconomy.
the rapporteur also focuses on rural development.
i represent a constituency that is one of the most scenic and most beautiful areas of the united kingdom. i am sure that members of this house will have watched pictures of the beautiful fermanagh lakelands during the g eight summit.
my constituency also has an economy with agriculture at its core.
so it is certainly a model worth pursuing particularly now at a time when we are trying to look at every opportunity to develop the economy and to create jobs and growth.
in my own constituency the kerry group which is now a multi billion transworld agrifood business started off as a small cooperative in listowel.
mr president as has been said different business models work well in different circumstances and different member states.
mr president the possible introduction of roadworthiness testing for tractors and light trailers holds inherent dangers for farmers and businesses across the eu.
while it is encouraging that the committee on transport and tourism's report would exclude light trailers with a maximum mass of up to two tonnes from tests the decision to place trailer caravans within the scope of the proposal threatens to deter people from partaking in what is a low cost and enjoyable hobby.
many of these enterprises would be significantly inconvenienced as a result of having their trailers subject to regular mot testing.
farmers too would face additional operational burdens despite rarely using their tractors on public roads and by and large ensuring the upkeep of their machinery to safe and suitable standards.
in northern ireland smes represent almost ninety nine of businesses contributing to our economy.
bioscience is a passion of mine and i would hope to ensure that any future legislation actually helps fund those initiatives to gain more jobs in the future.
sadly the scientific world is often held back by populist media scares which lead to ill thought out legislation here in this house.
as well as these current jobs this is an area of huge potential for growth as this report recognises. science research and innovation in areas in which we are already world leaders are going to be crucial in the coming years yet we should not just be thinking about how to attract companies and encourage start ups in these areas.
mr president innovating for sustainable growth a bioeconomy for europe' is a laudable objective as it is estimated that twenty two million people in the eu are employed directly in the bioeconomy.
in new areas of research we need to be very sure that we are being responsible and where appropriate explaining the positive aspects to our constituents so that they are aware of the benefits that bioscientific investments can have.
we should also be looking at what might be seen as historic eu weaknesses and try to provide certainty that we are really overcoming them. our attitudes towards gm and stem cell research will be key to future success.
in my own constituency of northern ireland the coast and marine areas have an important connection with our social cultural and economic development.
opportunities for sustainable growth in this sector have been well documented as well as the potential for fishermen to use their assets and experience to exploit opportunities in other developing offshore industries.
the marine environment is a key asset in terms of biodiversity recreation tourism and the transportation of goods and services to and from our ports.
mr president in light of the economic crisis we are currently facing across europe coupled with youth unemployment being at an all time high it is right to explore any initiative that encourages the growth of the maritime economy.
investment in airport infrastructure must be taken seriously even if the demand does not exceed supply. we have to build for the future.
the european union urgently needs increased airport capacity in order to avoid the risk of losing competitiveness relative to the regions that are experiencing rapid exponential growth.
ireland as an island nation depends largely on aviation. new economic challenges are arising from regions of the world where much more permissive legislation is allowing companies to build huge new airports that divert a lot of travellers from european hubs.
two thousand and six i and the parliament as whole have long supported measures to establish minimum standards for working and living conditions on board ships.
while early ratification of the mlc and the transposition of the amended directive are important creating an adequate legislative framework is not sufficient.
substandard ships are unacceptable both in view of the workers' rights and also for the sake of ship safety security and environmental protection.
given the global nature of the shipping industry it is appropriate that such standards be applicable to the entire industry.
this report is about implementing an oecd agreement.
what happens in practice is that the european union has one seat at the table and then norway and switzerland and the other independent countries have their own seats so in fact far from getting a seat at the table the member states are surrendering their seat at the table where the law is actually made in exchange for a voice over how to implement it when it has come down.
mr president one of the things that we are often told is that we need to be in the european union in order to have a seat at the table.
it is extraordinary when we are raising taxes and cutting civil service pay around europe that our own employees are exempt from both of those things that their salaries keep rising and that they pay no tax.
something that struck me in the years that i have been doing this job is how many of these eu directives and regulations are there to give effect to guidelines or rules that come from an even higher more international level this one being a very good example.
we are in a pre revolutionary pre one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine situation where decision makers are immune from the consequences of their own decisions.
since we did not get an explanation of the vote i would like to use my last five seconds to say something about the roth behrendt report.
although the premise of information sharing between member states is to be welcomed it is possible that these databases would simply accrue cost duplicate information and store data in excess of what is needed.
i am nonetheless supportive of the proposals that would ensure that vehicles with dangerous defects could be temporarily banned from the roads.
they cover powered two and three wheelers light trailers tractors and older cars. it does seem to be a case of just trying to harmonise because of a political super state rather than because of any real need value or urgency.
i feel that this proposal is completely disproportionate to any problems it claims to solve.
if you take motorcycles in particular eu studies actually find that less than one of motorcycle crashes are directly caused by defects so this proposal really is not needed.
furthermore these efforts are fundamental to increased transparency and comparability across all the member states.
therefore i commend the report's desire for increased monitoring of these agencies so as to evaluate maximise and learn from ongoing eca projects and exchange experiences.
mr president in two thousand and twelve thirteen british businesses received gbp.
i am therefore a strong believer that member states' export credit agencies are vital in fostering the domestic export industry and i am wholly supportive of the commission's efforts in establishing a framework for the annual reporting of eu member states on the activities of their ecas.
ecas are a hugely important instrument for enhancing trade across europe and internationally.
mr president as one of the many meps in this chamber with a scientific background i am hugely concerned about the quality of scientific analyses in many of the commission's proposals.
good legislation should be based upon solid evidence and data;
lessons need to be learnt.
in particular i like its aims in the area of reducing the papers drivers have to carry with them all the time.
mr president i am concerned that the proposal of these new measures on the technical roadside inspection of the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles is in the form of a regulation and not a directive.
once again what works in one member states may not always work in another.
in the uk our roads are already among the safest in europe and whilst i repeat that ensuring the highest standards of road safety possible across the eu must be a priority we must also ensure that the legislation provides the flexibility necessary for member states to implement these regimes according to their own requirements.
the current version fails this test of subsidiarity and so i hope the text when returned from committee and council discussions reflects these concerns.
dictating company structure and rigid methods of corporate governance could mean we end up in an even worse situation should that business model prove to have weaknesses in times of stress.
in the banking sector there are still those in plaid cymru who claim that the uk cooperative bank has a solid funding base something that its customers and the bank of england would disagree with as it is subject to the latest funding crisis in the uk banking sector forcing its move from a cooperative to a publicly listed entity to recapitalise its balance sheet.
there is no silver bullet for overcoming the current financial crisis but i believe we should be supporting a free market economy that can adapt to changing circumstances.
it is precisely those sectors of the economy which have more diversity that are going to weather the crisis best.
some business models work better than others in different circumstances.
we cannot know what challenges we will face in the coming years and should allow companies to work out what is best for them and their customers.
mr president international aviation by definition crosses borders. therefore while i am always cautious in the battle of competing eu and member state competences aviation policy is one area where clearly a coordinated policy can add value and make logistical sense and an eu common aviation policy brings tangible economic benefits for all member states.
a common rigorous and strong external aviation policy would help to extend that particularly by opening up new opportunities for eu airlines internationally. given that heathrow which is probably the world's busiest airport globally lies inside my london constituency i fully support all initiatives to boost international aviation and to make it more efficient less noise and air pollutant and more cost effective.
to this extent i welcome the report's call to examine the lack of a level playing field across international airports.
it goes without saying that it is essential that we wean ourselves off our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels but we cannot say a resounding yes' to it without ensuring that it actually does contribute to lowering our carbon emissions in a sustainable manner.