kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
the one hand there is almost unanimous support for their importance to the economy to employment wealth creation innovation and flexibility and their overall sheer size within the economy.
if positive rhetoric could be converted into orders and cash in the bank then the union's smes would be in great shape. however the big challenge which is addressed in this resolution is how to convert warm words into useful deeds without just throwing money at smes money that is not available in today's economy.
there are many constructive suggestions in this resolution.
big projects like the european patent and the digital agenda need to deliver for these small businesses providing jobs and a future for people in wales and the whole of the eu.
mr president the small business act is precisely what we as politicians and legislators should be focusing on as we look for ways of fostering new growth and re energising our economies.
but now is the time to be bold to be more ambitious and to achieve more.
i have seen so much creativity in wales as it develops into a hub of activity for new businesses in the highly profitable global gaming world and a centre for cultural excellence with regard to film and programme production yet i find myself asking questions about how to foster and encourage this development.
these are the principles behind our sme policy as presented in the review of the small business act for europe.
of the real economy and create two thirds of the jobs in the private sector.
after all commission president barroso said in this house in july last year red tape is strangling smes'.
the first principle of the review creating a right environment should not mean proposing new rules such as european private companies and state aids.
it should mean ripping rules out by the hundred.
mr president this review's ten principles include helping smes to benefit from opportunities of the single market but the eurozone is collapsing so how can it provide more opportunities?
mr president i would like to congratulate my colleagues on their contribution to this very useful resolution and to state that i agree with all that has been said so far.
to put it simply illegal trade is one of the biggest obstacles to the emergence and growth of europe's small businesses.
i am pleased to say that our new government yesterday announced measures to help smes which were broadly welcomed by the business community today measures relating to vat prsi travel tax and internships.
a very large number of passengers will be affected and just like all of you the commission wants to make sure that those passengers are treated fairly.
all passengers whose flights are cancelled have a comprehensive set of rights.
a few days ago ryanair publicly announced that it would reduce its operations by cancelling thousands of scheduled flights disrupting the travel plans of passengers across europe.
let me recall that these rights include the right to reimbursement re routing or return as well as the right to care and in some circumstances the right to receive financial compensation.
as guardian of the treaties the role of the commission is to oversee and monitor the implementation of eu law in each member state.
for this reason the commission immediately issued a statement underlying in particular that ryanair just like all airlines operating in the eu must fully comply with eu air passengers' rights.
president and honourable members the single aviation market has many benefits but also many obligations.
firstly we recalled that the passengers must receive correct and complete information about their rights in due time in order to be able to enforce them including on re routing and compensation.
indeed for september and october ninety eight of affected customers have had their claims processed.
mr president and honourable members let me also use this opportunity to remind you that in two thousand and sixteen the commission issued guidelines on the existing rules to make it easier for passengers and national authorities alike.
i hope that we will soon be able to make progress on this for our passengers travelling across the eu.
for november to march two thousand and eighteen the figure is at seventy five and we expect this to go up rapidly in the coming weeks.
i am pleased to report that the ryanair has already responded by giving a number of assurances addressing the issues we have raised.
i will be pursuing my contacts with ryanair in the irish civil aviation authority during a visit to dublin in a few days and the commission will of course remain in close contact with all national enforcement bodies to further follow up on this issue.
secondly ryanair has to ensure that all communication channels are working properly and that passengers can communicate with staff.
thirdly another important issue is the complaint handling process.
we are in direct contact with all the national enforcement bodies to make sure that passengers' rights are respected and i specifically welcome the enforcement actions already taken by the uk civil aviation authorities and further actions by other civil aviation authorities including in ireland and spain.
together with my colleague commissioner jourov i have written an official letter to ryanair to underline our concerns and highlight the obligations under eu law.
the commission has asked the national authorities to be vigilant on this issue and to try to cooperate with each other in order to ensure that passengers can fully exercise their rights.
it is essential that they receive correct and complete information about their rights in order to be able to enforce them.
the eu is the only area in the world where citizens are protected by a full set of passengers' rights whether they travel by air rail ship bus or coach.
there is a serious question mark over their management certainly in the compliance area when it comes to eu rules and regulations.
it is not a safety issue as some people would like to think or would like to link it to and we should be clear on that.
that goes without saying.
and of course we also have the relevant national authorities.
for years its ceo has prided himself on the company's disrespectful treatment towards its workers.
the episode demonstrates that promoting so called competitiveness to the detriment of workers' rights cannot and will not succeed.
ryanair refuses to negotiate with trade unions it forbids its workers on many bases from organising and remember this debacle of cancelled flights is the direct result of pilots and other workers fleeing ryanair.
therefore we across the eu institutions have to stop pushing ahead with our aggressive competition agenda in the transport sector and acknowledge first and foremost that flights cannot run and planes cannot fly if we do not have pilots and workers to service them.
it refused to disclose correct information on compensation rights until its hand was forced but we shouldn't be surprised by ryanair's disrespectful behaviour towards its passengers.
how many people actually claimed their rights?
when there is a problem we need to talk to a human being and perhaps that is something we could stitch into a regulation.
but the cancellations were of such a scale that people did begin to question whether there was more behind this than simply a rostering error. so ryanair has work to do.
i hope he has heard the emotion of many colleagues in the chamber who have expressed the upset caused to passengers and the fact that we need to take this on board.
operating in thirty three countries;
ryanair is a very large airline. the statistics if you bear with me are these one hundred and thirty one million customers this year;
an unblemished safety record of thirty two years.
this would be an exercise that would be useful to us to see if the legislation is working effectively.
the council is however aware of its obligation.
similarly eu airlines should be more proactive in providing clarity to their customers regarding the rules on compensation and assistance.
i can only hope that we can unblock the new proposal on passengers' rights in the council and get it up and operational as an important tool for even stronger enforcement of passengers' rights.
for the time being there is no reason to initiate any infringement procedures against ireland and as i said i'm confident that they will do the work that they have to do.
the eu has the highest aviation safety standards in the world and i'm also confident all national authorities follow this closely including ireland.
president and honourable members the single aviation market has propelled european mobility forward bringing europeans closer together and providing a solid foundation for more jobs and economic growth.
there are concerns regarding the development of social conditions of mobile workers in aviation and i am very committed to moving forward on the social dimension of aviation and it will be the focus of my portfolio and an aviation strategy next year.
this is exactly why we put forward guidelines last year to provide clarity and certainty and yes i do travel low cost as a commissioner and as a private citizen.
this very unfortunate event has only further cemented the importance of these rules and the need for their full implementation and it is in this spirit that i'm inviting you to see the challenge in front of us as well. a challenge that we are actively addressing to the benefit of passengers.
it is the responsibility of the irish authorities to oversee ryanair as an irish airline and i'm confident that they are closely monitoring that ryanair respects all its obligations.
and enforcement bodies concerned to make sure that european rules including those on passengers' rights are strictly respected.
i'm not here to really speculate on the root causes of ryanair's decision.
if they discover wrongdoing i'm also confident that they will act accordingly.
mr president honourable members first let me thank you for this very rich debate and i would like to assure you once more that the commission will be in close contact with all national authorities
successful reforms played a key role here and the commission along with national authorities has ensured and will ensure that these common rules are respected by all players big or small. it is thanks to the eu that all passengers have a full set of rights when flying.
the purpose is to understand better the facts on the ground and how they relate to existing legal obligations and eu policy for the future.
our work will take into account the case law of the eu court of justice including the recent one on the home base of air crews and the determination of the place of work.
so let the system do the job.
member states have designed national enforcement body called naps which are responsible for the enforcement of eu air passengers' rights. the sanctions for infringements of this regulation are laid down by member states.
i issue a special statement before every holiday summer and christmas and we can still look to see if anything else can be done so that people learn about their rights.
and i really welcome your support honourable members on this point.
the abrupt cancellation in the six weeks from september to october two thousand and seventeen by ryanair of thousands of its flights in the eu has caused major disturbances for passengers.
any eu airline not adhering to these rules must be held accountable.
there are complaints that in a number of cases the airline has given little or no notice of such cancellations.
it is deeply regrettable that the passengers were left in such a position.
in the european union some nine hundred and eighteen million passengers travelled by air in two thousand and fifteen and this figure is increasing steadily from year to year. ryanair has grown to become the largest eu airline by scheduled passengers flown and
furthermore there have been claims that the limited information dispensed by the airline with regard to reimbursement rerouting or return as well as the right to assistance and the right to compensation may have been misleading to passengers.
the flight compensation regulation sets a minimum level of quality standards for passenger protection adding an important citizens' dimension to the liberalisation of the aviation market.
it currently operates from eighty four bases connecting thirty three countries across europe and north africa.
the national enforcement bodies in each member state must act to verify that airlines are respecting eu rules and that passengers' rights are protected.
a large number of them were left stranded at airports and many had to cancel journeys or reroute their flights.
these rights include the right to reimbursement rerouting or return as well as the right to care and in some circumstances the right to compensation.
the worst part of it all is that ryanair loves it they love the rumours about standing room on planes or charging to go to the toilet because they see criticism as free advertising.
ryanair literally wants to charge you for absolutely everything.
in terms of instruments we are looking at how we can better align the instruments we have on the humanitarian side which work fast with instruments on the development side which sometimes require more time.
i am willing to go are you willing to go?
these are staggering figures that we are talking about and they have huge development implications for developing countries because if that money were to work and remain in those countries and were a part of those countries' economies rather than sitting around outside them in our banks that would have huge implications for development. what are we doing in our trade relationships to prevent corruption from being a part of our trade
one three trillion which is the entire debt of italy has come from india into swiss and european banks as black money.
the proposal will take one step forward by having member states commit these modules to be available provided they are not needed at home for immediate deployment inside the european union or at the request of a third country outside of the european union.
requires countries to identify modules civil protection modules which they are willing to deploy in a disaster outside of their borders.
as of today we have one hundred and twenty four such modules registered at european level plus eight coordination modules and the proposal means that we will be able predictably to match the needs of a country in a disaster whether this be floods forest fires or summer or winter storms or an earthquake and then
between two thousand and two thousand and ten over sixty of all trade unionists killed in the world were killed in colombia yet we are supposed to believe that real efforts are being made somehow.
does this not have any impact in terms of your assessment that these people are operating in good faith when it comes to the question of human rights?
i find it hard to see how you can say that real efforts are being made in colombia when the killings of trade unionists continue at the same pace that they have continued.
i would definitely discourage a sub culture of working towards self sufficiency methods.
in my meeting with the minister for foreign affairs of pakistan she did bring up the question of alleviating constraints to free trade as another way to help people in a very difficult situation.
the corresponding figure for grass based production in europe especially in my own country and others is twenty kilograms of co two per kilogram of beef.
each member has one minute to put his or her question and thirty seconds for a supplementary after the commissioner's reply. the commission has two minutes to reply if only one commissioner is to be responsible for answering and if more than one commissioner is to reply each commissioner has one minute speaking time. we welcome this morning commissioner de gucht our former colleague
the first point i would like to make is that the very first priority there is to reach a comprehensive settlement.
secondly i would ask you for a response to the decision by the british trades union congress to campaign against the eu india fta and mode.
commissioner de gucht earlier on you said that the colombian government was acting in good faith in the human rights field.
however the colombian high court of justice has now established definitively that that government was working hand in hand with the death squads responsible for killing hundreds of trade unionists including by directly fingering trade unionists to be murdered. i would like to ask you how many more trade unionists and how many more human rights offenders have to be killed before your attitude is changed and before the fta is halted?
four it decided to oppose it on the grounds that it will be almost impossible to enforce employment rights for indian workers.
will the commission also be challenging this at the wto and will it be raising it in the context of the deep and comprehensive free trade agreement?
mr president i understand that the commission is currently challenging canada at the wto over ontario province's use of local content requirements for renewable energy sources.
just one sentence if we can only negotiate with those countries that are corruption free then from tomorrow i will have a part time job.
whilst free trade might be shown in economic textbooks to make the world as a whole richer would you not agree that trading with countries like china with an artificially low exchange rate deliberately depressed wage rates and a brazen disregard for patent rights leads to unfair competition job losses and destruction of industry in the developed world particularly europe?
indeed the conditions and pay rates in china's factories are inhumane and allow china and its collaborators and multinational companies to use chinese goods to compete unfairly with goods produced in the developed world.
has the commission raised the question of working conditions in china with that country and with multinationals?
the civil protection systems of our member states are organised somewhat differently but they have one thing in common namely that they bring together firefighters and first responders for action inside or outside
in other words we make our capabilities known and available and then the eu military staff are our link to nato.
the defence policy of the union is the responsibility of the high representative.
i note that there is a trade delegation from pakistan visiting india today for official negotiations and i understand that the indians are due to put forward a proposal whereby they would withdraw their objections at wto level.
secondly in the foreign affairs council yesterday the eu india free trade agreement was due to be raised.
was it raised and if it was what was said?
we have them on our side.
i hope that by then we will be in a position to conclude the negotiations but of course it will be very important to achieve the necessary level of ambition.
you have to look at the specific case of course.
and the difficulty of monitoring those?
unfortunately i think that there again we will fail not because we have not been making proposals we have been making numerous proposals but simply because we cannot reach an agreement on that.
i would like to raise an issue that has caused significant controversy in this house namely that of acaa an agreement on conformity assessment and acceptance of industrial products between the eu and israel. this agreement has already been kept on hold in this house for more than a year even though it is purely technical in nature and concerns mutually accepted standards that will facilitate trade in pharmaceutical products.
to give you a very recent example we had negotiations with libya on a cooperation agreement and as soon as the problems occurred in libya we immediately stopped those negotiations.
whilst we are extremely ambitious about what we are seeking to achieve what sort of time frame can this parliament now start to expect?
is there a fuller role that we as parliamentarians can play to try and bring about a successful conclusion to those negotiations?
we will continue to support actions and initiatives of this nature.
this is not about changing the material law on intellectual property rights in europe.
thank you for that helpful response.
we try to contribute to that.
it could also for example be the result of making a profit.
i did not of course attribute it just to depressed wage rates.
it will be the biggest demonstration for decades a human chain inspired by the baltic way twenty years ago.
the eu has consistently said that each country must be free and independent in making the relevant choices regarding the economic and political relations it wishes to have.
decision making role.
the proposal also aims at ensuring that national regulatory authorities in charge of nuclear safety are independent from any governmental decision making body and any other organisation that would have an interest in nuclear matters.
is not constrained by national borders we need a community wide framework aiming at achieving maintaining and continuously improving nuclear safety in the european union. this is the objective of the revised proposal for a directive that sets up a community framework for nuclear safety.
moreover close cooperation with the international atomic energy agency has ensured consistency with international practices.
de facto their transposition into binding community legislation would bring legal certainty.
the fundamental goal of the proposal is to establish binding legislation the only solution that offers guarantees that political and industrial commitments to continuously improve nuclear safety are followed by concrete measures. these international atomic energy agency safety fundamentals and the obligations of the convention of nuclear safety
and at the same time to be combined with a policy for energy security.
those three legs energy policy climate policy and energy security must function together.
it is important that the existing nuclear power plants are managed in as safe and secure a way as possible but it is also important that we have clear rules to ensure that the future power plants of the european union are as secure and safe as possible.
this is not only a matter of preparing the ground for more nuclear power.
i respect those who are hesitant about or are against the use of nuclear power but whatever opinion and whatever view we have on nuclear power there can be no disagreement on the need for the rules to be as safe and secure as possible for the nuclear power we have.
it is from this perspective that i would like to present this report on the community framework for nuclear safety.
so this is the time for action.
i have tried to position my report in three ways.
first of all to give a clear structure on the responsibilities of member states and governments licence holders and national regulators.
secondly i have been very clear about the independence that the national regulators will have and i am strengthening the requirements on national regulators meaning that they must be able to act when they see any risk of a nuclear power plant not fulfilling the security rules.
us. with regards to the women peace and security field let me just underline that it is highly important when working in conflict prevention and peace building processes to integrate effectively a gender perspective in all operations and missions from the inception phase.
this covers all sectors from education and health to agriculture transport justice and employment.
awareness raising and training of commission staff have also been promoted.
finally let me recall that last september together with the united nations we launched an unprecedented spotlight initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls. the initiative focuses on particular forms of violence against women and girls that are prevalent in specific world regions femicide in latin america trafficking and economic exploitation in
let me stress here that our second gender action plan covering not only development but also all external actions more widely is mandatory for all commission services working with partner countries the european external action service as well as eu member states.