kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the guy quint report showing that there will no longer be parts of the european budget that are ring fenced from parliamentary control;
our basic rule book in the european union the treaties signed and ratified by member states can only ever be modified by the unanimous agreement of each and every single one of those member states.
the brok report showing the new opportunities for national parliaments to participate;
there is a wider lesson to learn from this.
they never manage to mention the spanish referendum the luxembourg referendum.
that has to be part and parcel of the answer and that after all is what the union has agreed to do.
i know that the british conservatives over there are not interested in that.
and it is incumbent on us to do what we can to address the concerns that were expressed by the no' vote.
i notice they only quote the referendums that have given a no' result.
that is a very high hurdle to reach.
the dehaene report looking at the extra accountability of the executive branches of the institutions and how we will operate a possible transitional period;
all the other member states because it is the member states not just the european institutions involved in this have agreed to try and address those concerns to make it possible to achieve the twenty seventh ratification.
that is the way it is.
that is the central message we can give out tonight whether it is through the leinen report showing the increased role for this elected parliament within the institutional system;
it is very easy to block any step forward any reform of the european instructions. those eurosceptics over there only need one victory out of.
we are talking on the day where we have achieved the twenty sixth parliamentary ratification.
twenty six ratifications through parliamentary procedures twenty six yeses' to the treaty;
but whenever there has been a no' result it has been impossible to override it without coming back and addressing the concerns that were expressed and asking the country in question whether or not it wished to reconsider; whether or not it wished to change its mind.
i would suggest that in that situation of twenty six yeses' and one no' it is not as some people have suggested undemocratic to look at that result and ask the one country that has said no' whether or not it is willing to reconsider in light of the ratification of the others. it remains their choice to do so or not.
the reports we are discussing tonight will also help to ensure that with the treaty in place its implementation will be swifter and smoother. good cooperation between the institutions will be critical in securing the maximum benefits from the treaty and the commission is committed to working in partnership with parliament and the other institutions to make this happen.
mr dehaene's report calls for political and gender balance to be taken into consideration together with geographical and demographic balance in the appointment of eu top posts.
for example it underlines the importance of ensuring adequate scrutiny of the union's external action and we are certainly open to identifying the appropriate methods to do so.
the substantive concerns underlying the vote deserve to be taken seriously and that was exactly what happened at the european council last december.
mrs guy quint's report tackles another important issue how to organise the union's financial planning cycle for the best use of the eu budget putting the money where the political priorities are.
the commission's thinking is very much in line with the recommendations of mrs kaufmann.
the great strength of the report lies in the clarity with which it shows that implementing the treaty is not reinforcing one institution at the expense of another the european union can only deliver what citizens expect if all institutions are strong and cooperate effectively.
so far we have received and replied to around four hundred opinions and we have also massively increased the number of direct contacts with more than five hundred meetings between commissioners and national parliamentary bodies since the commission came into office.
in their different ways the five reports all show a strong self confident parliament looking for ways to maximise the potential of the treaty for improving the effectiveness efficiency and accountability of eu action to the benefit of voters and citizens.
this parliament has pioneered the use of inter parliamentary conferences and has found some very practical ways to build up a real parliamentary network.
the balance between stability and responsiveness in budget planning is critical to effective eu planning and the commission will return to this in the budget review.
we want to strike the right balance between a procedure that is easy for citizens and one that means that initiatives will have legitimacy and weight.
unfortunately that has not been possible.
taken together these reports illustrate how the treaty of lisbon would deepen european democracy and deliver results to european citizens.
parliament's reports add up to a comprehensive analysis of key aspects of the treaty.
the underlying approach is to be ambitious for what the treaty can achieve for the eu an approach fully shared by the commission.
for example on the minimum number of member states we should also more closely reflect the type of procedure foreseen in the treaty.
at a time of economic crisis it is more important than ever to have a europe that works well that has the right systems to ensure democracy.
this commission as you know has the highest number of women commissioners ever. still this is not enough.
on this as in many of the other issues raised including comitology and delegated acts we look forward to more detailed exchanges with parliament on implementing all of the issues raised.
the importance of ensuring that the next commission will enjoy the full authority of a democratic mandate;
but it also showed that they remained convinced that this treaty is right for europe.
i also hope that we will have more women in the european parliament and in top eu posts.
citizens will be able to call on the commission to bring forward new policy initiatives.
i think mrs kaufmann that you can be proud of helping to establish what i call establishing and charging the power lines between citizens and the european institutions new power lines drawing them up and charging them.
maybe it is because i recognise what my husband would call stubbornness in your insisting on these issues being dealt with in this parliament that i also feel very much at ease and have established excellent cooperation with all of you.
today's vote brings to twenty six the number of member states whose parliaments have backed the treaty.
i admire very much your commitment and could i say perseverance.
this debate i think offers a good opportunity to remind european citizens of the role of the treaty of lisbon in delivering a more democratic and coherent european union.
however these methods can only be agreed once the vice president and high representative has taken office.
and the need to respect the role of the parliament.
the legal guarantees and the decision on the size of the commission show the respect given by europe's political leadership to the result in ireland and the will to understand the reasons why they voted no' and respond to those concerns.
improving the gender balance should be an objective when the next commission is appointed an objective that can be achieved if there is strong political support from the next parliament.
let me turn to the report of mrs kaufmann which explains clearly how the citizens' initiative can bring a new dimension to democracy in the union.
so a pragmatic and flexible approach is needed finding a sensible way forward which will take into account the need to avoid any institutional vacuum this year;
that is an excellent message for us to take into the european parliament elections as well as being an excellent launch pad for preparing for the implementation of the treaty itself.
the reports are particularly valuable in deepening our thinking on how the treaty should work in practice.
finally mr brok's report covers an area in which both parliament and the commission have made important strides in recent years relations with national parliaments.
the report pays particular attention to the issue of transition and there would have been many advantages in having the treaty in force before this year of institutional transition.
so as the report implies the treaty's new provisions on national parliaments will be fully in tune with the trend of recent years and i think will reinforce the european parliamentary family still further.
mr dehaene's report sets out a lot of important detail and the commission very widely shares the interpretations it makes of the treaty.
the commission as you know has set up a completely new dialogue mechanism with national parliaments and this is an area where a lot of progress has been made. since two thousand and six the commission has sent to parliaments not only consultation papers but also legislative proposals inviting them to respond.
at a time of intense pressure on public finances we must have the right procedures in place to deliver best value for money.
there are however a few areas we should discuss further.
the treaty would give to the eu's democratic institutions most obviously this parliament the powers they need. it would help the eu to act with greater unity and coherence on the world stage. it would allow europe to deliver more effectively on the key challenges we face today in areas like climate change and energy security.
the dehaene report sets out a model which will help us all to find the way forward.
mr leinen's report shows how the treaty will affect the work of parliament and the report covers very thoroughly the implications for parliament of new policy areas new powers and new procedures.
the irish referendum was a sharp reminder of the need to anchor the case for europe within the national debate.
without them we all lose out on their knowledge experience and ideas.
this is one of the areas where the commission intends to act swiftly once the treaty is in force also on the basis of consultation to understand stakeholders' and citizens' expectations.
mr president i am just curious to hear this argument that somehow national parliamentary ratification is not legitimate because if that is the case let me just take the example of my own country which has never ever in the whole of its history ratified an international treaty by means of a referendum.
so i do not understand this argument that national parliamentary ratification is somehow undemocratic.
can i just as avril has finished wish her well as she retires from the european parliament.
to be fair to her she really gave the fossils a good whacking after the lisbon treaty vote in ireland and will be well remembered for a fantastic turn of phrase.
my body and brain wanted to go home and sleep but it has been too good to miss and too important because i am irish not to be here.
you can vote for the views of a few angry old men and i say that of men and women but mainly men of the extremes in this parliament and the extremes in this european union on the right and on the left and you will get plenty of noise and plenty of colour photo opportunities and headlines but there will be no work done in this house.
we have had a better discussion since the no' vote and i urge them to vote yes' for their future for my children's future and for the future of the european union.
you do not have to be a militant federalist as i am to see this but you do have to be a good democrat to get the point first that we
need an integrated europe to shape our response to globalisation and secondly that a post national democracy is not a substitute for but a supplement to historic national democracies.
work an interdependence which is clarified and entrenched in this treaty.
this treaty is a great constitutional step forward for europe and i am proud to have been associated in its drafting.
i will fight to the finish to see that it is brought into force and put into effect successfully and quickly.
some were afraid that by preparing the proper implementation of a treaty badly and urgently needed we might offend certain citizens of the union.
i believe that on the contrary we are offending the citizens by hiding the truth about what europe really is and could be and by refusing a frank and rational dialogue with them. likewise to show respect for a minority opinion while ignoring the majority decision is offensive to both the given majority and the general principles of democracy we all claim to cherish.
one has to give that text a clarifying interpretation which puts in light its spirit thus allowing for the best implementation.
that is precisely what today's reports are doing.
they speak about one the parliamentarisation of the union;
two the communitarisation of the european institutions;
five concentrations of instruments and policies for the good of institutional efficiency;
and six the improvement of representation transparency and participation at european union level. along those lines we will be able to see emerging a demos which will fill with substance the present shell of the european procedures making them relevant to the citizens.
the only thing which remains to be done is to find a solution to bridge the elections to the new parliament and the coming into force of the lisbon treaty.
i hope that the sense of responsibility and solidarity of our irish fellows will help us to achieve that and to keep to our historical timetable.
this is a result of the social norms that exist there and i think that we must work hard to ensure that those social norms are cast aside.
i welcome the call for effective mechanisms in haiti to establish protection for children who may fall victim to abuse and child labour as a result of the restavek system whereby hundreds and thousands of children are sent to families other than their own. most of them don't go to primary school.
one in four girls and one in five boys become victims of sexual abuse before eighteen years of age and eighty five of children are subject to violent discipline.
it is imperative to see that resources are spent on community based services to strengthen the ability of families and communities to care for their own children.
the legislation must be put in place to detect and investigate child slavery cases traffickers must be brought to justice and labour laws must be updated to address child labour. the european union can also help haiti to break free from its cycle of extreme vulnerability to natural disasters and make it more resilient.
the international community can and must help the haitians in their fight against poverty and help them make education accessible to each child's biological family all over the country.
so what is the haitian government doing to protect these children?
haiti has half a million children at risk in slavery and being trafficked.
corruption is endemic and this has to change.
what is holding them back?
after all on the other side of the island in the dominican republic things are not so bad.
so it cannot just be geography.
the children of haiti deserve care education and protection from their government.
poverty unemployment poor health services and lack of education must cease to be the reality for haitians.
well when a government's budget puts more into cleaning offices than providing health services you know something is wrong.
madam president heaven knows haiti has its problems. years of corruption natural disasters and earthquakes would test any country so what is unique to haiti?
the haiti custom known as restavek holds the most vulnerable children as slaves and servants for host families.
my first speech to this house was after the two thousand and ten earthquake when children were being sold into slavery. but today we still see the terrible plight of children there.
the ruling elite has enriched itself fabulously especially in the oil and gas industry while ninety of the population of azerbaijan live in acute poverty and have seen no benefit from the natural resources of their country.
they routinely deal with the regime to facilitate doing business and the corporations make massive profits from the exploitation of the natural resources properly belonging to the people of azerbaijan.
western governments and multinational corporations act as usual with great hypocrisy in this regard.
western governments should be asked why they do not demand that the oil well be used to transform the lives of the people instead of propping up this regime.
two thousand and seven however the situation of media freedom is only getting worse.
it is certainly an essential partner in efforts to ensure european energy security.
in our two thousand and eight report we stated that azerbaijan has made good progress in economic development but continues to show a poor record of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms democracy and the rule of law'.
azerbaijan is one of the six partner countries under the eastern partnership and we attach great importance to respect for the common values underpinning this relationship.
we have just started the preparatory work for the two thousand and nine report.
in line with the council's decision the start of negotiations for all the southern caucasus countries will be conditional on sufficient progress in meeting the necessary political conditions namely the rule of law and respect for human rights the principles of the market economy as well as sustainable development and good governance. each year we draw an in depth and balanced assessment setting out progress made by each partner country
this will constitute an important and additional forum for communicating our messages.
negative developments also include the continued persecution of human rights defenders opposition activists and journalists in addition to further deterioration of media freedom.
azerbaijan will also benefit from assistance under the european initiative for democracy and human rights.
at the same time the commission is mobilising a wide range of tools to assist azerbaijan to meet the challenges of a new agreement.
we provide targeted support under the comprehensive institution building programme.
the european union has in its various contacts taken up these issues at all levels with the authorities and will continue to do so.
we are using assistance under the enpi instrument.
since then we have unfortunately seen some negative developments including changes to the constitution the abolition of limits on the mandate of the head of state as well as the detention and subsequent condemnation of two bloggers.
this will have important elements related to the rule of law and independence of the judiciary.
lastly under the existing partnership and cooperation agreement we are proposing to set up a subcommittee dedicated to justice freedom and security and human rights and democracy.
a partnership and cooperation agreement has been in place for ten years.
discussions on the negotiation directives including for azerbaijan are now ongoing.
to implement their action plans under the european neighbourhood policy.
i do not want to pre empt our report but would like to make a few remarks particularly on the situation regarding fundamental freedoms and human rights.
depriving listeners in this country of valuable and independent sources of information.
the widespread practice of harassment persecution and conviction of opposition journalists is alarming.
i do believe that people understood that they were voting as in a normal electronic vote the buttons meant the same thing;
i am convinced that if the vote was taken again the result would be the same.
this is of course precisely the approach that the eu has taken in successive referendums.
mr president when we began our votes today we came across a procedure that we had never really encountered in this house before one whereby only yes' votes were registered.
i am tempted to adapt that old slogan what part of no' do you not understand?
the european constitution or lisbon treaty was continuously rejected in the polls by fifty four of french voters by sixty two of dutch voters by fifty three of irish voters and the reaction on each occasion was to go ahead regardless to disregard what objections people had made to hear only yes' where people had voiced their opposition.
the fact is that with six hundred and twenty one members voting the majority needed to be at least. three hundred and eleven i am very glad of the result because our candidate had three hundred and thirty four so he was elected in any case but i beg you to correct this because if this program is in the computer it is definitely mathematically wrong.
mr president i would suggest to those who are left in the house that we should refrain from further debate on this.
if the general public throughout the twenty seven countries are watching they will have very little respect for this house.
it is abundantly clear that there were six hundred and twenty one votes.
by a number of members that on the screen the absolute majority was put up as if it were a score.
it is more than the qualified majority.
it was an indication of the absolute majority.
it should not be added to the total number of votes.
it was an indication of the number the threshold needed to win his position as vice president.
now they find that if they had made none of those painful decisions if they had just carried on spending they might have qualified like the greeks for a bail out of their own and worse than that they discover that they are obliged to participate in rescuing greece.
every orthodox economist would suggest that what we need to do at a time like this is to allow some of the eurozone economies to print their own currencies again to devalue to buy themselves time to price themselves back into the market.
instead we are condemning the peoples of southern europe to years of poverty and deflation and loading the taxpayers of northern europe with an enormous debt all in order to save a few faces.
this announcement was of course misleading but nevertheless since the announcement came from the chair of the meeting it was a valid announcement and therefore i think that the vote should be repeated based on the clarification you have just given to us.
my second criticism is on a refusal to allow me an explanation of vote on the tremopoulos report.
mr president just to understand what you are telling us is that for the vote on a vice president it is impossible ever not to get a qualified majority because if you can only vote in favour or be taken down as abstention
and if abstentions do not count towards the total vote then by definition you always get a qualified majority.
on the first point the staff were here present as was the president who chaired the vote.
sexual orientation and gender identity. we have never refrained from stating our belief that all people are created equal and that no cultural societal or religious traditions can be invoked
human rights cannot exist without them. this year the eu celebrated the tenth anniversary of its
at the heart of our objectives. we continue to focus on protecting ngos and human rights defenders and expanding
the abolition of the death penalty. we have issued hundreds of statements and carried out hundreds of dmarches to condemn the use of capital punishment wherever and whenever it occurs. thanks to our constant efforts and lobbying the un general assembly sixty seventh session adopted a
that use lethal injections to execute. as we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the un convention against torture the eu has stepped up its efforts to address this unacceptable practice which still exists
of violence against women and girls. thanks to our outreach we were able to contribute to the successful adoption of conclusions at the fifty seventh session of the
in line with international standards. human rights defenders play an important role at local national regional and international levels and the promotion of
processes throughout the world. since two thousand we have deployed one hundred and
with the council of europe the osce and other regional
to justify any form of discrimination.