kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
i would like to thank the rapporteur mr rangel and this house for the opportunity to discuss the implementation of the treaty provisions concerning national parliaments and for the important amount of fact finding and analysis that fed the preparation of the report.
the fact that the yellow card mechanism has only been triggered three times so far may be an indicator that our efforts to check the compliance of envisaged legislative proposals with both principles well before their adoption actually are working.
on the specific example of the european semester the commission shares your views that national parliaments should be more closely involved in the preparation and approval of the national reform programmes and of the stability and convergence programmes.
while the treaties provide that national parliaments ensure compliance only with the principle of subsidiarity the commission also checks to complaints of its initiatives with the principle of proportionality in a thorough manner.
finally i would like to underline that the commission is always happy to contribute to inter parliamentary events and will be open to contributing to a european week such as is envisaged in this report.
they can effectively prevent the gold plating of european legislation and improve the institutional capacity to implement european legislation at national level.
but the core function of national parliaments is in the area of european decision making and this remains democratic scrutiny and monitoring of their national government's activity in the council and in the european council and this is the shortest way to influence european decision making. national parliaments are even more relevant for the process of european legislation through their role in the transposition implementation and enforcement of european legislation at national level.
but today let me add one more issue and invite national parliaments to get involved in launching national debates on europe's future as they can indeed be an excellent vehicle for engaging citizens in shaping the future of europe.
they are irreplaceable in the better law making agenda.
i think this is important that we will continue to do this.
next week for example the agriculture and rural development committee of this house is organising a joint meeting with the agricultural committees of the national parliaments which will provide a very useful opportunity for members of national parliaments to contribute to the preparation of the common agricultural policy and the commission's legislative proposal. so i think that this is a good example
can i conclude by again thanking paulo rangel for his report for his work? and i hope that this report will contribute to the strengthening of the role of national parliaments in a manner in which will make sure that european policy making is closer to the people.
since becoming commissioner i've always tried to include in my visits to member states a visit to the national parliaments and a participation in its various committees.
if we can do more of this in relation to the relevant national committees and the european parliament and the european commission i think it would be very helpful.
there are best practices at the national level that are worth looking at.
these sensitivity is understandable where power relationships are involved and the lines of competences are fuzzy.
regular contact between the different parliamentary levels is a key step in the right direction.
secondly i don't believe that the national parliament will jump in the air in excitement just because they have a couple more days. thirdly if you want technically to adopt it it has to be said that we do sometimes do it. and finally and most importantly we are often criticised for being too bureaucratic
one of my responsibilities as vice president is relationships with national parliaments so i'm pleased to hear in your speech that you believe the relationships are much better now.
i'm not sure that that's all down to me but i think we are making an effort in our relationships and dialogue with national parliamentarians.
i mentioned yesterday in the debate on the future of europe with president macron that there is a tension there as other colleagues have said.
so we need to try and find an informal way as well as formal structures as to how we improve it.
one of the ways we could it is in our own political parties where we could try and strengthen the relationships we have with our own colleagues because this can be difficult.
if we could have more time and indeed more willingness things might be better.
the last point is we will not have a stronger european union without cooperative national parliamentarians who speak up for europe and talk it up in their constituencies and in their national parliaments.
let us therefore encourage zimbabwean organisations in their human rights work and do all we can in this house to pressure the government to release all those human rights activists who are detained.
the zimbabwe and human rights commission is unable to freely go about its work while ngos continue to be raided and obstructed and human rights activists are harassed and arrested.
the days of hyperinflation and land expropriation now appear to be over but few are claiming that the zanu mdc coalition has brought real positive changes to the country or that the expropriated farmers have been adequately compensated some of whom live in my constituency of london.
as this resolution makes clear the corrupted justice system still overwhelmingly favours zanu pf.
mugabe now approaching ninety years old and in power for thirty three years continues to oppress dissidents both in the political realm and in civil society.
the eu has been following this case very closely and is in regular contact with the lawyer representing mr machisa.
despite noticeable improvements in the general human rights situation in zimbabwe since the signature of the global political agreement and the creation of the government of national unity two thousand and eleven and two thousand and twelve saw sporadic arrests of human rights defenders and activists. the recent arrest of the zimrights director okay machisa
the eu is also coordinating closely with international and as was mentioned regional key partners to strengthen civil society and improve the political space in zimbabwe.
two thousand and thirteen we have also acted promptly through statements and declarations in response to prolonged and unjustified detentions of human rights activists and against unfair treatment of not only human rights activists but also journalists and civil society.
nine eight million in support of civil society organisations alone.
zimbabwe's civil society is competent and as far as groups of human rights defenders and democracy advocacy are concerned it is remarkably cohesive.
has triggered a new wave of concerns amongst civil society organisations that this could be the sign of a closing of democratic and electoral space.
the eu is actively working to support a large spectrum of civil society organisations and human rights activists in zimbabwe through its various financial instruments.
i am often asked what the european parliament in the european union can do to defend human rights and fundamental freedoms around the world.
well we can do a bit by raising awareness in debates like this today but we have to follow this up with some diplomatic pressure.
for instance in the case of eu development cooperation this has been currently suspended so this is the sort of pressure we can and are using.
these concerns were already addressed in ms joly's report in december.
we in this house are asked to give our consent or not to this text as negotiated by the commission and ratified by the council.
however the idea behind giving such consent is to give two years to the commission to see how far it can go in making progress on this important issue of non discrimination.
urges all parties to revise the unsatisfactory clauses accordingly during a third revision of the agreement including the explicit introduction of non discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation within article.
remaining silent is a tacit acceptance of such oppressive legislation and regimes. we do not believe that political dialogue can be carried out in the future on this issue if it is not already addressed specifically in the cotonou agreement. the commission was aware of these concerns and although it did not press for the issue during negotiations i do recognise that it did try to explicitly include it in a declaration and that it has been proactive in raising the issue with acp colleagues.
i have also arranged round tables with acp ambassadors but i have had no success in putting the issue of sexual orientation on any common mutual agenda.
four ' i remind you that there are no financial implications and a revision is planned for.
two thousand and fifteen i look forward to the debate and thank the commissioner unreservedly for his commitment and determination to uphold human rights and european values especially when those values do not seem to grasped so willingly by our acp partners.
the lives of women men girls and boys are being taken away simply because of who they are. we would not accept this in the eu and we should not accept it elsewhere certainly not within our agreements.
giving consent to this particular agreement could give the impression that we are backing away on this.
therefore i have suggested the following text consents to the conclusion of the agreement;
expresses its strong reservations about parts of the agreement which do not reflect the position of the european parliament and values of the union;
eight. four it has not been reworded in accordance with parliament's wishes and only includes the wording of article two of the un declaration on human rights.
two thousand and nine most of them have not been addressed in the final text such as the issue of the readmission of illegal immigrants promotion of fair trade the fight against tax evasion and tax related aspects of development.
there are many good points in the agreement including some strong wording on achieving the mdgs guaranteeing food security policy coherence for development sustainable fisheries recognising the african union and regional integration as well as the role of local authorities and civil society but we do have some concerns.
mr paka mentioned the whole issue of transparency in financial transactions.
i welcome the input from ms striffler in relation to the importance of regional integration and reinforcing the concept of human rights.
ms gabriel thank you again for your support and for highlighting the multi dimensional approach and the role of epas in regional integration and how we need to take account of this in the revision for.
i thank everyone for their participation.
however commissioner you are right that is exactly what we should do.
i understand the dissatisfaction concerning in particular the non discrimination clause and the non inclusion of a specific reference to non discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
to us. our partners should understand that we need to be credible in the eyes of our citizens;
i have been personally involved in trying to step up dialogue on non discrimination;
it supports better policy coherence for development as a key element of the partnership and recognises the need for mutual accountability.
egyptians deserve better and need better.
very restrictive ngo laws make the work of civil society including eu based organisations nearly impossible.
add to that the recent wave of arrests of gay people and the intimidation of lgbt people.
considering the increased focus on security managing migration and now the eu egypt partnership it is shocking and disappointing that the epp and sd groups have blocked this debate for three years and even now colleagues have ensured that this house does not express itself in a resolution this month. i consider this to be a cop out.
they face systematic torture enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and all of this is happening with impunity.
the human rights situation in egypt cannot only be relevant for us when it hits home however terrible the brutal murder of giulio regeni might be and i too echo the ongoing calls for justice in that case. but countless egyptians face grave injustices and violations of their rights and we must address their fate too.
civilians are still tried by military courts and we have now seen twenty two cases of death sentences.
that is also unacceptable.
journalists and bloggers are harassed and i want to highlight particularly the ongoing imprisonment of alaa abd el fattah and they cannot work freely and that is unacceptable.
no short term cooperation in the field of anti terrorism or migration management' can compensate for these gross violations nor can they justify the eu's ongoing silence.
we know what a boiling point can be reached if the needs of young people are not addressed.
i share the concerns outlined by the high representative over the economy and the ticking time bomb of youth unemployment but we cannot let egypt be the sole decider in our partnership excluding any cooperation on the rule of law and fundamental rights.
mr president this house has shown extraordinary patience with egypt which is considered a key partner by many in the house.
i have two questions to the commissioner.
my thanks also go to the committee on women's rights and gender equality for their views and contributions to this debate.
the commission is looking forward to further cooperation with parliament including the committee on women's rights and gender equality on this important challenge.
twenty some have summarised it as less than we hoped but more than we expected.
on the positive side the eu has achieved references to gender equality and women's empowerment which is a step beyond johannesburg.
we have also achieved a dedicated section on gender equality and the empowerment of women with key political messages on a range of areas.
this is part of the importance attached in rio twenty to help small producers often women access credit markets land tenure health care social services education training and technologies.
this applies to the need for gender sensitive indicators and to poverty eradication as well as to the means of implementation including finance technology and capacity building.
the importance of gender equality and women's empowerment is essential in key areas such as food security and nutrition sustainable agriculture water and sanitation energy and education.
as you know the issue of gender played an important role there.
empowering women and preserving their rights is indeed both an intrinsic sustainable development goal and a means to achieve the green economy we aim for.
rio agreed on the need to empower rural women in order to enhance agricultural and rural development food security and nutrition.
introducing the gender perspective in the areas relevant to the green economy will be important for an effective follow up to rio. twenty the commission will take this into account when developing its follow up actions on rio.
these elements are now reaffirmed as central to sustainable development and the outcome document when laying down our common vision and our renewed political commitment.
the call by the european parliament to ensure mainstreaming of gender equality and women's empowerment is well founded and it has been reflected in the rio outcome document.
we have seen this in different contexts.
female workers are very much under represented in the growing renewable sector in general and in science and technology in particular.
i feel that there is a need for initiatives to encourage women to study and seek employment in these sectors.
such initiatives should promote women's entrepreneurship in the green economy.
moreover women should be equally represented in political decision making bodies and involved in environmental policy making and the transition to the green economy in order to strengthen equality and democracy.
in developing countries in particular issues such as access to clean water and dependence on biomass for energy have differing effects on men and women.
it is therefore imperative that modern green technologies be made available to developing countries and that these countries have access to the resources necessary to invest in the green economy.
finally i would recommend that member states strengthen and invest in local public transport systems. these investments should be focused on sustainable transport development.
they should do so in order to enhance living conditions and promote social inclusion as well as to bring about positive effects on the environment.
as regards assessing the potential benefits and strengthening alternative forms of lending it is the commission's standard practice as part of the better regulation agenda to conduct impact assessments in support of our proposals. this includes an analysis of the potential benefits and costs to different stakeholders including smes. this was also the case for the crr and crd iv proposals in.
we will also launch a comprehensive package of measures to support venture capital and risk capital financing in the eu. we will explore ways to build a pan european approach to better connect smes with a range of funding sources.
we have just closed a target consultation on the potential impact of the banking regulation on the financing of the economy which covers the impact on sme lending as well as issues of proportionality and simplification.
early next year the european banking authority will provide technical advice to the commission.
smes are the backbone of our economy they represent over ninety nine of businesses and help provide millions of jobs and deliver crucial services to our citizens.
if the commission is serious about assisting smes for the future it must prioritise addressing the foundations of the problem rather than sugarcoating the situation with taxpayers' money.
teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime'.
to ensure that the long term prosperity and growth of smes is not stifled we must put smes at the heart of all future decisions and we must ensure that harmful costly and bureaucratic legislation is repealed.
for is not the lack of money from the eu that hampers smes but the ridiculous amounts of red tape and burdensome regulations that come from this parliament.
venture capital business angels and looking at equity rather than bank debt should all be considered.
these are just some of the examples of financing options that our smes could tap into in order to unleash their potential encourage innovation and boost job creation.
going forward we must hammer home this message to make sure the right tools are in place for our burgeoning small and mediumsized businesses.
there are also other sources of funding such as peertopeer lending and using ip to leverage finance.
we need to let our constituents know about all the options available to them.
banks have strong local relationships and knowledge about micro small and mediumsized enterprises.
it seeks to make it easier for banks to refinance their traditional lending business by selling securities and bonds to the capital markets.
cmu will complement rather than compete with bank finance by adding to the diversity of funding sources.
by promoting more diverse funding channels and reducing europe's dependency on banks cmu should increase the resilience of the financial system.
i say to my colleagues today let us not wait until the next funding period until the next regulation is negotiated.
there was a renovated city centre a brand new water fountain that was unfortunately already closed down.
one hundred and sixty zero this is an example of how cohesion policy can and is going wrong because these kinds of projects have a detrimental effect on social cohesion in our societies.
secondly because many people in this room have worked for the last few years to develop tools in order to make cohesion policy work like this.
be it the partnership principle be it clear investment criteria be it the code of conduct or capacity building measures on the local level all these things have been developed in the committee on regional development and in this parliament.
on the one side in one part of the village there were poor families living twelve people together in small houses with only seventy square metres of living space.
this situation is even more unacceptable when we know that first of all cohesion policy can be such a powerful tool to really change societies and to make the european union more social more sustainable and more democratic.
thirdly that there is the need for a new dynamic to the debate on cohesion policy in the longer run in connection with the termination of the europe two thousand and twenty strategy and the movement towards a new multiannual financial framework. you have these three pillars or points on which to build a very strong position in the college and
what evidence do you have that eu commissioners are better at doing this than businessmen?
madam president amongst the positive aspects in this report such as the calls for simplification more focus on smes and results based policymaking the assessment of the previous cohesion policy programming period paints a somewhat more negative picture.
the backlog in payments as well as the consistently high error rate we have seen in cohesion spending amount to nothing more than an administrative mess.
therefore i am surprised to see the finger being pointed at inadequate funding.
the reality is that we have an over complex system that is not accessible to the end user and remains vulnerable to fraud.
i am pleased that both reports highlight new opportunities in the current structural funds programme for example the opportunity to create synergies between different cohesion policy funds and between cohesion policy funds and other programmes.
i also hope that they are using the new tools available to them which will have an impact on the geographical areas for example integrated territorial investments and the community led local development initiatives.
women are essential to the success of any regional policy. we have focused in our report on some of the challenges facing women in the labour market. historically women are more adversely affected by unemployment than men. the gender pay gap should be narrowing rapidly but it is not.
women are still struggling for equality of opportunities in science and technology as the vozemberg report which we will also be voting on tomorrow shows.
this must improve.
single mothers have additional difficulties in all these areas.
the femm opinion takes the perspective that job creation is the objective not the activity.
we voted for an opinion that proposed measures and conditions that will assist job creation.
our people do not want more central planning rules regulation targets and please no more wasted taxpayers' millions.
we must break down government to bring it closer to the people.
we will fight against the eu supported greater birmingham combined authority in the west midlands that i represent because the people do not want the power to be centralised.
the people want the power brought closer to them true democracy and underneath the fury of the people when they see this centralisation will bury this centralisation scheme in the west midlands and we will bring forth the people's desire for true democracy and freedom.
the icty has been mentioned.
we feel there is room for improvement for example on witness protection and we would like to see improvement there as well.
establishing a credible and sustainable track record in the fight against corruption;
the main outstanding challenges are the closing benchmarks for chapter twenty three judiciary and fundamental rights and chapter eight competition policy.
it acknowledges the impressive progress achieved by croatia in meeting the criteria for accession while recognising the efforts that are still necessary to conclude the negotiations.