kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the opposition to this directive is based on the fact that if we approve this eu law in practice when it comes into force it will bring about a reduction in tobacco consumption.
after all the right to life is number one in all the charters of fundamental human rights. but i believe that it is possible to protect both lives and jobs.
course. what we are doing is introducing a measure which will reduce the number of smokers which will save lives. and let us not be flippant about
so this is the article on which this directive which we are proposing which is building on the current directive is
smokers. what scientific evidence is there to prove that with a ban on flavours there would be reduction in
it will be effective because the opposition to it by the tobacco industry has been
these things have made a huge difference to my life'. of course e cigarettes have got to be properly regulated.
our amendment introduces these controls.
they can save millions of lives.
they have not worked.
advertising should be controlled.
miss. we must shoulder our responsibility towards european citizens and help protect our children from smoking.
that shows this is a balanced proposal.
in my country five hundred and seventy children start smoking every day.
i do hope we will start good negotiations and have a quick resolution.
we are lagging behind the united states. we are lagging behind many latin american countries.
there is lots of evidence.
therefore why on earth would you make them medicinal? why would you make it harder to stop people smoking?
you are not going to stop people smoking by banning ten cigarettes.
twenty so in effect what we are doing is we are criticising places like mcdonalds for supersizing their product but we are encouraging the tobacco industry to do the same.
as regards the menthol cigarettes issue a million people in the uk smoke menthol cigarettes.
they are not going to stop overnight if you ban them they will go to conventional cigarettes and you will increase the size of the black market.
firstly the banning of tens. to me it makes no sense.
finally e cigarettes e cigarettes are proving according to latest research to be the most effective way of stopping people from smoking.
our own scientific committee on health has said that menthol cigarettes act as a local anaesthetic to reduce coughing and actually allow smokers to inhale more deeply.
he did that in december last year.
maybe products such as these have something to do with it nice pink lipstick products aimed at recruiting young girls as smokers products called allure' with flowers on them chocolate filter papers.
the key aim is to stop young people from being recruited as the next generation of smokers.
the group leaders all asked commissioner borg to put this legislation on the table.
you can hardly see them on these tiny little packages.
please do not listen to those siren voices calling for you to move the warnings to the bottom.
the size of the warnings in canada large pictorial warnings were brought in just over ten years ago and the number of young smokers has halved to twelve with twenty nine in the eu.
the warnings should be at the top of the packet visible at the point of display and not hidden at the bottom by the displays.
it would to me be totally unacceptable if now this parliament held up this legislation.
if we put them at the bottom the displays will all hide them.
i hope we can have a sensible calm debate on this issue and not some of the misrepresentations we have seen in recent weeks.
it has been a long slog to get here with thousands of amendments but i sincerely hope today that this parliament will do the right thing. before going into details about the vote maybe we should just pause for one minute and remember what this law is really about.
we have got to stop the tobacco companies using gimmicky products like these to recruit young people and we have to make sure that the warnings are highly visible on these packages.
let us get rid of the flavouring. slim cigarettes targeting mainly young women if you do not believe me read what the tobacco companies themselves say about slim cigarettes.
we know it is children not adults who start smoking and despite the downward trend in the number of adults smoking across our countries in the last few years the world health organisation reports worrying upward trends in a number of member states amongst children.
the council has already agreed a common approach.
in fact it was a condition of his hearing.
i have heard many people argue about the negative impact on revenue from tobacco but what about the cost to our health services?
introducing seventy five health warnings and getting rid of flavourings which make smoking more attractive to children is the minimum we should do.
this legislation has been constantly delayed and still now there are more attempts to weaken and delay it.
i hope the british conservatives will follow their government's line and support many of the measures proposed including on e cigarettes and if they fail to support their government they should at least listen to the voices of concerned constituents doctors cancer researchers heart charities respiratory societies and the world health organisation all calling on us to protect the next generation from death disease and
more importantly what about the human cost?
it is important because one in two regular smokers are killed by tobacco and we have a responsibility to do whatever we can to stop the carnage.
i hope that governments across the eu will also introduce standardised packaging as soon as possible and i am disappointed that the uk government has scrapped plans to do so.
however on e cigarettes i think this is a very contentious issue.
i did not know that michael o'leary had a clinic to help people stop smoking on all his flights. if that is the case i compliment him. i rather suspect that this is another product to keep people smoking perhaps stop.
mr president i come from ireland and we have this week under the direction of our health minister james riley decided that ireland will be tobacco free by.
so if this directive under the direction of our rapporteur helps to stop young children like mine from smoking let us give it every bit of support and let us discuss some of the details as the rapporteur has.
i am always touched or surprised or puzzled when on the ryanair flight e cigarettes are encouraged' let us say.
so i have kept my promise and the council has kept its promise too.
this sends a clear signal that the legislators are determined to take strong and effective action to protect people and the internal market from illicit products.
we would like to reduce the number of smokers by two over the next five years that is to say reduce the number of smokers in the european union by.
today an electronic cigarette is less strictly regulated than a shower gel or a bar of soap despite being a product designed to inhale nicotine and other substances directly into the lungs.
that is why i believe there is no place for characterising flavours in tobacco products.
certainly the time has come to take decisions and to deliver together on our commitment to strengthen european law on tobacco products.
secondly the commission proposes to prohibit tobacco products with characterising flavours.
we should approve this directive because it is the right thing to do but it is also what the citizens of the european union are expecting us to
of tobacco consumption ' and to reduce continually and substantially.
i count on parliament to successfully pave the way for negotiations to proceed so that we can deliver this important law to our citizens during the current parliamentary mandate.
in this legislative vacuum member states are taking different regulatory approaches which will hinder the smooth functioning of the internal market.
consequences.
so i look forward to a good debate today.
so first the commission is proposing a large mandatory picture and text warnings covering seventy five of the front and the back of cigarette packs and placed on the top of the pack.
the commission has delivered.
the only purpose is that someone must have persuaded someone else that it is good for the industry.
another much debated issue has been electronic cigarettes.
by twenty one june with compromises which were sponsored by the irish presidency the council took a common approach on this tobacco directive.
there are two choices before us today on e cigarettes.
this would not be a positive move for public health.
fellow meps we must legislate today in the interests of citizens not tobacco companies.
many smokers have switched to e cigarettes from tobacco often not expecting to quit tobacco in the process including the taxi driver who brought me to parliament this morning.
the first is to regulate them as medicines which will increase costs reduce product variety and in many eu countries make them less widely available than tobacco!
the other choice is amendment one hundred and seventy which would keep e cigarettes as consumer products but tighten up the regulation to include marketing restrictions strict labelling requirements and an under eighteen sales ban.
by over regulating products such as e cigarettes we would make it more difficult not easy for people to quit.
i am pleased that in this chamber the objective seems to be very similar we are all interested in the health of our citizens.
one of the key elements in this directive is electronic cigarettes.
nevertheless this directive is about protecting people's health.
their main role is as a tool to give up smoking and we need to recognise the importance of the different means people use to give up smoking.
this is why if amendment one hundred and seventy on e cigarettes is not adopted my group will be voting against giving the rapporteur a first reading mandate.
i understand why people do not want to see electronic cigarettes go unregulated. the amendment put forward by my group will allow electronic cigarettes to remain in use as a tool for quitting smoking.
the amendment will better control electronic cigarettes in the same way as cigarettes are controlled by including health warnings by not allowing the sale of products to under eighteen s and by ensuring a list of ingredients is submitted to the competent authorities. while people continue to smoke we must support those who wish to give up.
like so many elements in this directive e cigarettes are controversial.
i think the legislative review is an essential instrument to keep improving public health in the face of a scourge.
we do want to see three quarters of cigarette packs covered with health warnings and a ban on flavourings and an end to the attractive slim cigarette formats.
it is clear that less than a decade since their first appearance they have already become a multibillion dollar industry with the major tobacco giants snapping up the key e cigarette companies and with glamorous movie stars appearing in advertisements former playboy models now advertising cigarettes and huge full page advertisements.
this is why we should be clear that these e cigarettes are not a pathway to giving up smoking.
it is all about markets.
the point is that government should really only be thinking in terms of helping to overcome catastrophic and extreme events on farms such as floods or drought and not meddling in pricing or controlling supply and demand.
and evidence presented to them suggested that sectors that have not benefited historically from direct payments are better prepared to operate in world agricultural markets and the pig and the poultry sectors along with a horticultural sector were ahead of other sectors in terms of having business knowledge and recording systems to understand their production costs.
however the two thousand and fifteen dairy support package for example after endless discussion etc.
really that is just tokenism. farmers have always been willing and able to expand production to match increasing demand.
a willingness to recognise that there is too much milk is now required.
oneoff support packages can help to counter the impact of extreme natural disasters or catastrophic events that are beyond individual farmer's control.
public policy should not aim to control prices but to help farmers develop resilience to manage the risks.
as he knows although he did say he does not read the irish newspapers the cooperative directors are making money out of this nine million between nine of them over the last two years.
at the meeting the other day he claimed that there was something being done about the russian embargo how they are talking but they are not really listening.
madam president it is beyond comprehension how the commissioner can blame the farmers the farmers who have had a half day's work done before he turned up late for this meeting.
was he listening or did he hear what donald tusk said when he could not sleep last night and he put out on twitter eu stays the course on russia including economic sanctions'.
i have not been able to go into full detail today in relation to those member states who are generating the largest increases in dairy production but all of that information is readily available on the website of the mmo proving that it is a credible source of transparent information. as well as turning to the commission as a source of additional support for a sector which is clearly in crisis and for a longer time than would reasonably have been anticipated i would invite member states to consider if they have exhausted the full range of measures under the rural development programme.
i think a number of people have mentioned the possibility of the crisis reserve.
at a time of crisis cash flow is important and this is one of the reasons why i have been frustrated at the slow roll out by a number of member states of the targeted aid and also the fact that i am aware of the challenge that it will be for some paying agencies to have some payments made that are outstanding by the end of
rather it is something of a perfect storm as mr selimovic said earlier on which reflects increased production throughout the world at the same time as access to the russian market was lost and demand in china had been reduced. but i can assure mr nicholson and others that i am not at all blaming producers for over production but i am agreeing with him that producers have to take their share of responsibility in terms of bringing about balance in the marketplace between demand and supply.
in fact i have taken twenty three measures since last september.
yours. in relation to the mmo your vote today and on previous occasions proposed a strengthening of the milk market observatory and i have done
its activation has been suggested and i have been reluctant to propose its activation in the past because it represents nothing more than a redistribution of farmers' payments.
that. i believe that the mmo is now playing a very important role in providing up to date reliable information on the basis of which operators and other stakeholders can make important commercial decisions.
however it is something that i am prepared to consider and the ultimate decision of course will be
so is this the view of the german meps? you can see how difficult it is to get additional money when that is the particular message being advised in the system. mr husling advises me to put a cap on milk production but he also advises me to give more support to the farmers in the anc areas in order to produce more slightly contradictory and it therefore indicates how difficult it is to get solutions.
and i have already told you that a significant number of member states and regions in respect of the targeted aid package last september have not yet spent their money.
it is up to member states to trigger these mechanisms.
experts in the milk market observatory acknowledged at their meeting on tuesday that some improvement in market sentiment was perceptible against a background of sloweddown milk production in the coming months and global demand remains healthy.
the role of the mmo is to provide such data and not to substitute for the actions of the institutions.
i look forward to members' ideas about how we can go forward and how we can continue to help the dairy sector.
when i spoke in this house last month about the broader european agricultural sector i outlined the extensive set of measures that i proposed last march.
it is now genuinely in the hands of dairy farmers who may if they so wish join forces and collectively decide to reduce production.
despite my commitment to identify new markets and some encouraging export data opportunities for increased demand are limited.
in order to encourage use of this tool as an effective contribution to the crisis i have met with copa cogeca and the european dairy association and i will discuss the issue again with copa cogeca this week.
significant increases of butter exports have been reported from morocco canada and turkey while skimmed milk powder exports have also increased significantly in algeria indonesia and indeed in china it is up.
last year total private storage aid and public intervention support covered.
based on the most recent information reported to my services just fifty six of this money has been spent.
while this is not a crisis exclusively of our making we have of course been badly affected by it.
despite the deployment of a range of available measures i must emphasise that i can work only within the constraints of the legislation that is available specifically in terms of the exceptional measures available.
in conclusion let me once again acknowledge the depth of the crisis that exists in the dairy sector.
transparent price information and other related data is essential for forward planning and ensures that decisions are taken on the basis of accurate information.
the situation in the dairy sector in virtually every member state is acute and the most recent price information available from the milk market observatory shows that the average milk price in the european union in april was.
but producers must take responsibility as well for the continuing increase in production which i have just outlined and which given current market conditions is simply not sustainable.
the maximum buyingin price was fixed at the level of the intervention price and some twenty seven zero tonnes were additionally bought into intervention.
this measure is part of a comprehensive and broadranging response and can play a significant role. it encourages action towards greater market balance in the dairy sector.
today i will focus on some of the specific measures that are providing significant support to the dairy sector and without which the current situation would be considerably worse.
before looking at the extensive range of measures which the commission has put in place i would like to reflect further on both the supply and demand sides of the equation.
in view of this the commission will be proposing a further increase in the ceilings up to three hundred and fifty zero tonnes.
this is a voluntary instrument and its use depends ultimately on producers.
the union has increased cheese exports to all top ten destinations up to february two thousand and sixteen principally by nine to the united states.
what we need is to sit down and to get some new ideas on the table. we are not going to go forward and it is not good enough mr commissioner in the depth of this crisis to blame producers;
i remember the reform coming forward from the old commission.
there is a big difference between producers and processors and there are processors in serious difficulty as well.
where is the soft landing today for those who the banks are going to foreclose on mr commissioner?
and let us be honest some member states are positively going out encouraging their farmers to produce more milk regardless they are going for market share.
now i have to say to you we have to recognise some realities here.
there is only one way that this can be resolved which is that a lot of good farmers and family farms are going to hit the wall.
the producers in the member states who are producing this milk need to be aware that they are continuing to stoke the fire and that they are continuing to make the problem worse not better and certainly voluntary cutbacks will not work.
we have a situation where the retailers mr commissioner are getting away on a coach. they are laughing all the way to the bank at the cost of the producer of the farmer and the sweat of his brow in the production of that milk.
the european commission remains vigilant in its response to crisis however its shortterm measures such as public intervention private storage and temporary state aid are insufficient. i firmly believe that ambitious revision to address long term structural problems on the milk sector as well as other agriculture sectors are the only way to correct our internal market failures.
production should be based on single markets which require at the same time to be more efficient more innovative better organised and more competitive.
let us be clear the impact of this crisis is much more than an imbalance within the supply chain and low prices.
as a last resort many family farms are turning to banks to borrow even more money with some facing the really difficult situation of not being able to continue.
this week in my local farming paper i have noticed five dispersal sales.
this is the bitter reality of a prolonged crisis and a failure to act early real families real people losing their homes and their livelihoods.
currently we are sacrificing as well our long term ability to produce milk by failing to act against unprecedented market volatility and political actions which are outside of farmers' control. this is the third event this week that i have attended on this issue.
we have rehearsed the problem.
we have reviewed the actions taken so far including that poorlytargeted aid package which many members have not even spent.
supply control and market support are two proven methods.
why are we ignoring these?
clearly the cap is broken and farmers in northern ireland are demanding root and branch review or are simply just saying that europe cannot help anymore.
short term we appreciate commissioner hogan's efforts to help the industry through a very deep crisis although we must acknowledge and accept their resources are limited and would come nowhere near offsetting the losses incurred by the industry.
when we look to the future we must encourage and support the industry to become more productive more competitive more resilient.
this is not something the state does to industry it is something the industry has to do to help itself.
madam president i want to start by referencing remarks about suicide because it came up in our committee last night and it has been said today and i just want us to be very sensitive to the mental health issues that cause suicide and to ask members to be very careful of the language
and the signals we give out and indeed to ask member states including my own to put in place measures to help people who are in a very bad place at the moment and i include in that plea the banks who may be putting undue pressure on farmers.
they are watching this debate even though they are milking their cows this morning. they now have heard a very stark message from the commissioner and from this debate.
the situation on the milk market is acute.
the tragedy is that when they decide to cut back production it is almost after the event.
madam president against the backdrop of relentless problems in the dairy sector i strongly believe that european dairy farmers need a realistic policy approach which could be based on the following four pillars.
first the power of consumers must be harnessed in support of struggling dairy farmers by making smart use of labelling awareness raising and campaigning.
participation in income support tools should be encouraged and supported with contract based supply chain relations with the retailer.
and fourth it is time the eu started seriously exploring viable economic alternatives to dairy production as it becomes obvious that we cannot continue with the current levels of milk output.
they all have legitimate roles to play;