kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
we are really concerned at the moment that what we are seeing is a bit of a clampdown on some of those who dare to criticise some of the things happening there.
on our last delegation visit there i chair that delegation we made it very clear that we felt that interim measures had to be put in place well in advance and agreed well in advance and of course that has not happened.
against this background we welcome your excellent report on the security challenges in the mena region and the prospects for political stability'.
countries from all sides of europe are contributing.
in this context i must mention the efforts of lebanon jordan and turkey the burden they are carrying is enormous.
in fact it is the exact opposite in the long run a democratic environment is the only cure for radicalisation.
young people must be inspired by values that reject violence create peace and build inclusive open societies.
we must look at all issues from a broad global perspective; we need to develop all round policies responding to the emergencies but also dealing with their deep causes; and we need to keep strengthening our cooperation with all relevant regional actors for complex threats require coordinated responses.
as stated in your report fighting terrorism must go together with supporting genuine democratic reform in the region.
the eu is committed to ensuring that human rights are mainstreamed in all its activities.
the situation in syria and its neighbourhood is a strong reminder of the urgency to reignite an inclusive syrian led political process on the basis of the geneva communiqu. we fully support the un special envoy staffan de mistura and along with the un we have launched an urgent humanitarian appeal for the region.
moreover i fully agree that the engagement and empowerment of women in the public political economic and cultural spheres is key to fostering stability peace and economic prosperity in the long
in this sense the report is very much in line with our commitment for closer co operation with the league of arab states and the union for the mediterranean.
i fully agree with your conclusion that the conflicts in syria iraq yemen and libya and the increase in tensions in the mena region are major sources of destabilisation that the risks these developments entail for european security are serious and that it is a huge challenge to effectively enunciate and implement a coherent conflict resolution strategy. i also agree with your conclusion to effectively deal with this challenge the european union and its member states must think strategically in the medium and long term.
after the mid april tragedy member states asked the european union to act against the human traffickers' networks to save more lives. in the space of two months we set up and launched the operation.
all communities must be given a chance to contribute to the social economic and political life of their own countries. entire religious and ethnic groups christians and others are being forced to flee from lands they have inhabited for centuries. this has little to do with a clash of civilisations'
crisis management is important but it is not enough.
this is why supporting education is so important.
our problem most of the time is a lack of political
mostly this is about providing opportunities to the youngest members of society.
the review of the neighbourhood policy that is on the way is an opportunity to introduce changes that will help the eu to be a stronger player. we intend to propose ways and means to further the european neighbourhood policy to allow more tailor made offers and solutions specially designed for each partner.
we are also ready to cooperate with iraq and other neighbouring countries on security and counter terrorism issues and to move towards implementation of much needed political and socio economic reforms.
we need a truly global alliance to fight our common battles. as the report states regional challenges call for regional solutions.
you have very accurately described the main political developments in the region over the last four years and well highlighted the areas in which the eu could play an important role.
this is a report about the security challenges in the wider region yet it does focus very much on daesh mentioning daesh twenty one times.
there are forces of progress within israel and we must reach out to them and assist them in their efforts to have a constructive debate within israel and with palestine.
we also call in the report on some states to refrain from exporting terrorism.
i am not sure it adds much value either. we also call for the eu to provide a safe haven for christians in particular from the middle east in the eu.
if we are trying to criticise sectarianism we should refrain from it ourselves. the plight of any refugee regardless of their ethnicity or their religion is equally dreadful.
i would personally like to see much more vocal criticism of israel's actions in the region given that it is a recruiting sergeant for radicalisation.
diversity is the core feature of our european history and it is our strength but we should also show respect for diversity when we look outside our borders.
all this should be done in a comprehensive manner and not just with a focus on the hard security issue.
only inclusive democracies can navigate such tough times.
everyone has a responsibility to contribute and everyone should be given a chance muslim christian jew or nonbeliever sunni or shia arab or kurd.
they form the ever widening basis of a new generation of terrorists.
eleven million children lack possibilities for education.
as a result this ancient community will disappear from the region where christianity was born mainly as a result of the determined efforts of muslim extremists to cleanse this area of all other religions.
but this is a week where we also hope there may be genuine progress in another set of long standing negotiations which at times had seemed intractable the reconciliation talks in libya. what marks both sets of negotiations is the real human suffering caused by lack of agreement and the huge political obstacles existing which obstruct agreements from being achieved.
if they are and tonight's debate must encourage that it will be a victory for patient diplomacy where i am proud that the european union is playing the leading role in both cases.
in a third conflict in the region between israel and palestine seemingly the most intractable of all this parliament should welcome and encourage the more active role in political diplomacy which the high representative is prepared to play there.
i look forward to the debate with her in september.
we have to impress on the countries of the middle east and north africa and their populations that europe does not want to return to colonialism.
we have to learn lessons by being consistent in our support of respect for democracy and for human rights amongst the countries despite any considerations of alliance.
but we need to articulate them in a way which shows the countries of the region that we want to support peace prosperity and development for them and their peoples in their own interest first and not just through the prism of managing issues which are problems to us. our response to the mediterranean refugee crisis is a true test of our good intent in that respect.
we need a better security response.
we have to be careful in our own words and actions not to add to the narrative of extremism which is ultimately self defeating by generating radicalisation rather than diminishing it.
for example at parliament's middle east and north african working group which i am proud to chair the european external action service recently told us that reports that terrorists were entering europe under the cover of being refugees are not supported by one shred of evidence.
let us learn by what i started with the value of patient diplomacy rather than ramping up the rhetoric as we deal with the countries of this region.
one thing we must do as europe is to engage with political islam not to agree with them but to talk with those who represent political islam if we are truly to have a dialogue to pursue the common interests of our continent and
the main answer for him seems to be the european union as well as large helpings of motherhood apple pie and blinding statements of the obvious.
i seriously question the point of this sort of unfocused report and the associated hand wringing.
in any case given the difficulties the eu is having in sorting out its own internal problems i think a little more modesty would be useful.
the eu's main resource is money it has been endowed by our taxpayers with over generous financial resources. however at the moment we are clearly not getting a good return for our money.
we should try and use our resources on a more targeted and wiser basis.
there i specifically pick up what was said about the middle east peace process.
we have leverage on the palestinians and we should use that leverage to bring them to the negotiating table.
this report seems to be extremely windy and very worthy but i am afraid that it does not have any practical or sensible solutions to the middle east.
quite frankly i think the european union should not be involving itself in this matter.
one of the things i find interesting about north africa is that the countries we have not interfered with such as morocco have a stable government and an emerging democracy.
the more we keep out of interfering in those affairs the better.
but what we should be concentrating on is the threat from isis coming across the mediterranean from north africa.
we should not be encouraging people to come across.
this must be stopped for the good and safety of europe or we will have even more problems being imported into europe itself.
at the moment all the european union seems to do is squabble with russia over crimea which is not at all sensible.
we look forward to structural reforms.
we introduced the emissions trading system because it was seen as the means by which industry could achieve carbon reduction goals at the least possible cost and in the most flexible manner.
it is true that the price of carbon is down because of the economic downturn but it is also down because mistakes have been made in the structure of the scheme and those mistakes need to be corrected.
our price is set much higher now than it would be even if back loading is introduced.
that is how the commission introduced this in the first place.
but from the very moment it was introduced we were learning by doing'.
we look forward to the commission bringing forward proposals to implement what this parliament has called for by a very large majority which is the achievement of a forty co two reduction by.
at the moment we are in a position where germany and other countries are actually investing in unabated coal fired power stations lignite power stations the dirtiest of the lot and industry especially the generators are asking us to give them a clear signal about the pattern of investment in the future.
we will come back to these other things but we need to do the first things first.
ms jordan said we should devote our time to structural changes.
scheme. would it not look just a bit foolish if europe did not get it right with its own emissions trading scheme when we have actually now managed to get some of our very big competitors to adopt or start adopting a market based system? so this is also
it is not about removing allowances;
of course if this is part of the legislative measure we are taking this is a guarantee. it could never be changed unless we came back to
doing; this is actually one of the areas where we are leading the
mr ferreira mentioned that we should also have a regulatory approach.
so that is basically what it is
tomorrow. it is very interesting to discuss structural measures but that takes time. europe needs innovation now. our competitors are moving and they are moving fast. the call that we get from investors is this please ensure that we get a stronger
well we have been asked to do it by you yourselves the european parliament.
i still believe that it was a sensible thing that you asked for.
a test. the world is watching what we are
then there will be no carbon price.
we are not voting about the future of ets we are simply voting about saving the ets.
to those who are asking for a real fundamental reform of ets i agree but we need time for that.
we are talking about buying time.
did you read the financial times this morning where industry is asking to support backloading industries like shell eon and edf.
they see that coal fired power plants are now the cheapest option for energy and that is increasing in europe.
china is looking at pilot projects so they want to join us later on as well.
australia is in favour because they want to link with us;
we are talking about a backloading proposal that is only buying time to have a discussion for a real fundamental reform of ets.
that is the problem we are having and that is what we are talking about.
the carbon price will collapse to one euro if we vote against the backloading proposal.
because they see that their innovation is being killed in europe.
then we will have killed the ets.
if that is your purpose be honest about it and say so. what we are doing now is buying time for the debate. let us have a discussion on the fundamental reform of ets.
why are you in denial?
so all this debate is a lot of nonsense because it simply is not happening.
there has been no statistically significant global warming now for over fifteen years.
the hypothesis is dead in the water.
we know do we not that the hypothesis that man made global warming was going to cause totally apocryphal boiling in two thousand and fifty now is completely nonsense.
there is not a single independent scientific institution which does not acknowledge that fact.
and commissioner you say that the weather is getting worse and worse;
but in the case of a politically created market set up through legislative action such as the carbon market policy makers and legislators arguably have an even greater responsibility to act than in other markets if the assumptions on which their legislation was based have meanwhile fundamentally changed.
i hope that you will do so tomorrow because the sooner we get clarity on backloading the better so that we can focus on what really matters for instance the two thousand and thirty framework and deliver the predictability that our industries also need for the medium and longer term. the backdrop to all this is that climate change is getting worse.
that is the real alternative;
secondly as regards the concerns expressed about electricity prices and the risk of carbon leakage the commission has analysed the expected impact of backloading in an impact assessment including to the extent feasible on individual sectors.
let me stress this very clearly backloading is expected to counteract any further fall in the carbon price in the short term in other words to stop the bleeding.
the commission understands this concern and i can therefore be very clear on this point.
first the concern that backloading would set a precedent for future intervention of the same nature.
but i wish to stress that backloading in itself which is what we are discussing today will have no effect whatsoever on the amount of free allowances given to our energy intensive companies or on the total amount of allowances put into circulation in the years two thousand and thirteen two thousand and twenty the third phase.
to a large extent backloading is the decision about whether we continue to regulate power generation and industry at european level or whether we act as bystanders witnessing an increasing fragmentation of the regulatory landscape and the internal market.
this means that even with backloading the impact of the crisis will still be reflected in a considerably lower carbon price than originally expected.
just as policy makers and legislators in the past few years have been busy responding to the crisis and addressing its many negative impacts on our economy so it is time to address the impacts it has on the european ets.
because emissions rights can be traded they will tend to end up with those businesses and factories that need them most for their activities and therefore are ready to pay the price if they need more than what they have received for free.
this approach is cost effective for society and was therefore designed to be a key tool in the eu's efforts to meet its climate objectives.
do not forget that a lot of allowances are given out for free.
it was also meant to implement the polluter pays' principle enshrined in the treaty and to give companies in the eu's internal market a level playing field.
the basic idea of the eu ets is very simple to make the right to pollute our climate a scarce resource that has a price so that companies think more about how to reduce emissions and integrate the cost of doing so into their investment and operational decisions.
where profitability is not just based on pushing the bill onto future generations and where innovation in less polluting processes and technologies is rewarded and pays off for companies also in the short term.
and that is why the commission has also put up for discussion a shortlist of options for structural measures that could provide a solution to the surplus in the medium term.
let me finally stress one particular aspect that is at stake and which should be of particular concern to members of this parliament and european policymakers.
according to those who are most into this market you can see it in the press as late as today they expect that you will see a very limited increase in the price if this parliament adopts this proposal tomorrow. this brings me to my last point.
this has resulted in the build up of a huge unexpected surplus of allowances that undermines the proper functioning of the system which as i said was designed to work through scarcity. in short the protracted crisis has dramatically affected the eu ets just as it has affected so many other areas of economic activity in europe.
after this introduction i will briefly comment on three issues involving some of the more specific key concerns that i know some of you have raised in the discussions.
no the alternative to securing the european ets is a patchwork of twenty seven different national regulatory systems.
the assessment shows clearly that the impacts of backloading are expected to remain well within those projected by past analysis.
it will not bring the price or the impact on the risk of carbon leakage anywhere close to the levels expected and politically accepted before the crisis when the legislation was adopted. today the carbon price is around eur.
i appeal to you as the european parliament to support the european ets as a common european tool.
i know some of you argue that the ets is a market and that we should therefore leave it alone.
the market urgently needs parliament as well as the council to approve the proposal.
i really hope that those of you who are still in doubt will bear this in mind tomorrow.
we all believe in the single market and member states have invested huge amounts of money and resources in opening up the services market but have they told their businesses about it?
have they encouraged enterprise?
we already know that small enterprises have been the main engine of job creation over the last decade.
now where are the jobs going to come from?
my message to both the commission and council today is that all twenty seven member states have got to start taking job creation enterprise seriously at the level of the single market.
have they encouraged online trading?
have they promoted the single market?
i want to put this to both commission and council and will read out the headline that we have agreed a bold single market act and small business act to create jobs'.
competitiveness process. we have to identify success factors and we also have to see how to tailor them to the situation.
now is the time to start delivering on them.
madam president if we want the europe two thousand and twenty strategy to be a success then the employment guidelines have to be implemented effectively and national reform programmes put in place and given the priority they actually deserve. we have to make sure that no one is left behind. unemployment rates among older people and disabled people are disgracefully high.
i am pleased that both texts refer to the need to implement anti discrimination laws in the workplace so that jobs are open for all.
we have had months of introspection and debates about what shape the europe two thousand and twenty strategy should take but we have the employment guidelines.
yes it is up to member states to set specific targets and adhere to them but the european union has an important role to play in improving the exchange of best practice.
i would like to reject very categorically the notion that the commission is doing business as usual.
a group of commissioners has been working to develop innovative financial instruments. the first example of this is going to be an outline for supporting developing energy networks in europe.
europe. we have to ensure that the divided recovery which we are experiencing does not turn into political divisions in the coming period.
it. we have launched the microfinance facility.
for us economic growth is the priority and all other policies in this phase serve this.
the most important thing is that we get the picture right both about the documents and also about the economic situation in the european union.
we are experiencing a very fragile and divided recovery.
this lesson has to be learned.
i could obviously use stronger expressions here but let us just stick to this one.
beyond fifty or even.
this is absolutely necessary in order to develop the energy markets and the necessary infrastructure that is vital for
involved. the commission is obviously against the concept of a two speed
we need to maintain and strengthen the recovery and we have to address the current division.
looking wider it is in the semester that monitoring of the stability and growth pact and macroeconomic surveillance can join up with the europe two thousand and twenty strategy and the integrated guidelines.
where parliament already has been given a role it must have the time required to fulfil its democratic mandate.
the european semester offers a structure into which the existing tools of the integrated guidelines provided for under articles one hundred and twenty one and one hundred and forty eight of the treaty should be incorporated with the strong involvement of parliament.
processes must be transparent and accountable if they are to connect with and have the support of citizens.
this means that the semester can provide a coherent framework for the various economic governance processes in the union in a mutually enhancing fashion.
the two thousand and twenty strategy confirmed five eu headline targets which constitute shared objectives guiding the action of member states and the union as regards promoting employment improving the conditions for innovation research and development meeting our climate change and energy objectives
as part of meeting these targets the commission developed and presented seven flagship initiatives containing the actions it proposes to take to strengthen the single market and to boost growth and jobs the digital agenda for europe innovation union youth on the move resource efficient europe an industrial policy for the globalisation era
this is essential if we are going to be able to remain competitive globally not least in the face of rapidly growing markets in asia.
this is the major challenge for europe in the years to come.
let me emphasise some important elements concerning economic governance.
it is clear that europe has to overcome a number of serious challenges if it wishes to remain competitive with the rest of the world.
i am convinced that this strategy will play an important role in helping europe recover from the crisis and emerge stronger both internally and at international level by boosting productivity growth potential social cohesion and economic governance.
it can be an opportunity for a breakthrough for a solution and to make progress.