kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
it is our duty to assess the situation of the rule of law in each member state and to raise concerns when we see systemic problems.
the justice system is a sophisticated and complex structure calibrated on the basis of legal traditions and fulfilling the principle of the balance of powers in the state. such a system is built over decades and can be destroyed in a week or overnight.
that is why we are so vigilant and that is why we have raised the concerns at this moment.
we are assessing objectively the romanian system on the basis of evidence and facts.
we are offering dialogue and support.
this is what we do.
what we do not do because we must not do that is interfere in individual cases just to respond to the question of ms nicolai. the independence of romania's judicial system and its capacity to fight corruption effectively are essential cornerstones of a strong romania in the european union.
after ten years of hard work romania has a professional judiciary and the population of romania has been clear in its support for the fight against corruption.
i am confident that all the romanian authorities fully realise this and will do what is necessary to bring the draft laws into line with the constitution and send a strong signal that will help rebuild trust.
if we feel that those values have been breached in any way it is only right firstly that we should discuss it here in the european parliament and secondly that there should be some type of sanction if an independent analysis shows that that is the case.
there is need for clarity on this.
we have received reports from journalists who are watching this debate carefully that they are now being harassed and many others including the nobel peace prize nominee can dndar who is living in exile in germany and who is currently on trial are also being affected by this situation.
the issue really for us today is to understand what we do about it and the council went some way to explaining that mechanism twenty november and i want to say more about that in a second.
a process to prevent this abuse is needed to resolve the issue which will become ever more important as databases are increasingly directly and automatically consulted.
but let us be very clear what is happening and again we have support from both the commission and council in recognising that these notices and the systems have been abused to let us be very clear harass and detain political opponents and dissidents.
my questions then come back to the commission and council can we provide more detail on what has been done to ensure the rights of eu and thirdcountry citizens and whether there is a better mechanism to ensure that necessity and proportionality checks are carried out on interpol alerts from certain countries.
i understand the limitations and the legal limitations but i am happy that in the initial responses from the council and commission there is a clear recognition that we cannot see these potential abuses of interpol red notices happening on our territory;
could the commission also provide guidelines on a common response on how best to handle extradition requests from third countries.
the countries involved include russia china and iran let us be very clear.
the commission also explained some of the limitations to what can be done and again we must address that today.
madam president we have heard very clearly from the council and from the commissioner a very clear recognition of a potential abuse of interpol red notices and it is refreshing to hear that very clearly.
this was shown by the result of a commission questionnaire in two thousand and sixteen regarding members states' use of interpol red notices. over the years these notices have indeed resulted in the arrests of numerous criminals.
whether a member state accepts an interpol red notice pending a decision on an extradition request falls solely within the competence of the member state. i would like to emphasise that an interpol red notice will never be the basis for a decision to extradite as that decision will be the subject of judicial review in a separate judicial procedure.
and here we say to the governments in moscow and ankara that expressing an opinion is a human right.
this would have been very laudable had the events of last weekend in spain not happened.
the responses that we had from the commission about dialogue and the rule of law were frankly toothless.
these were people who were going to put a cross on a bit of paper in a box.
but one cannot lecture on other governments' human rights records when this institution and the european union turn a complete blind eye to what happened in catalonia last sunday.
do not lecture other governments until you get your own house in order.
they are however not obliged to act upon them.
if there are abuses of interpol's system it is for interpol to put in place the necessary measures to prevent such abuse.
the commission will continue to follow this important question closely in cooperation with our member states.
the arrest in brazil of one of the most wanted italian mafia criminals is an example of the added value of interpol red notices.
it will also not be allowed if a person fears persecution by the country establishing the notice.
since february two thousand and fifteen interpol has presented a new framework for processing personal data. the processing of notices and diffusions' against refugees will not be allowed if the status of refugee or asylum seeker has been confirmed.
i understand that interpol has completed the process of reviewing its procedures and tabled a draft resolution to its general assembly last week.
a large majority of member states indicated that the upload of interpol red notices into national databases is done only after further examinations and checks.
however when the interpol system is abused by undemocratic regimes to silence and persecute legitimate voices and human rights defenders we must all be deeply concerned. the exiled turkish journalist can dndar is now facing a red notice request in germany after the turkish government submitted a request accusing him of propaganda.
he is one of an increasing number of individuals facing this type of persecution from afar.
the kazakh government is another serial abuser of the red notice system with more and more dissidents and opposition leaders being targeted or simply being unfortunate innocent bystanders.
interpol red notices are a useful tool to seek the arrest of suspects and serious offenders.
it is first and foremost for interpol and its member countries to address weaknesses in the system.
it is for eu member states to assess what action they take when they encounter a red notice and to carefully consider such notices in light of their originating country.
let me assure you that the commission has followed and continues to follow this issue very closely.
however irish workers and community activists are fighting back.
the commission should know however that it is conspiring with the irish government in a lie to pretend that the money given to bail out the banks is not state aid while at the same time hammering the public sector.
in view of the seriousness of the situation that should now be upgraded to a twenty four hour general strike to bring down this appalling government which has no mandate for these policies and to halt the policy of the commission and of the irish government to slash and burn the living standards and services of working people.
tens of thousands marched in protest last friday; thousands of workers marched in dublin today;
part of the problem is that interpretation of the myriad rules can vary from one inspector to another. the other part of the problem is that some of the rules are mindless in the first place.
as a net contributor the united kingdom will be forced to give up much more of the rebate whilst other countries will be the main beneficiaries. eleven.
i am very concerned that this leaked document may have consequences for transitional payments at the end of the current programme in.
forgive me for raising a pressing matter recently brought to my attention.
this will have a huge impact on british agriculture and structural fund programmes in this current cycle.
this crazy directive is not only causing job losses across the uk but it is also cruel and inhumane and it is another small reason why the uk is better off out.
this punitive and non sensical directive bans the use of strychnine which has been used to control the mole population in the uk for the past seventy years. this was the case until the eu got itself involved.
madam president would you agree that political discrimination is not only unlawful but is also an attack not just on me but also on the functionality of this place and most important of all on the voters and the entire democratic process?
figures show that approximately one in ten people in the eu are affected by this.
the concept of an eu strategy which aims to improve cooperation share research and spread best practice is an opportunity to utilise the knowledge and resources the eu has available.
mr president across the uk nearly three million people suffer from diabetes. with obesity on the rise and an ageing population the estimated cost of diabetes on the healthcare system is expected to increase to nearly ten of our annual healthcare budget.
this is not isolated to the uk.
while healthcare is a member state competency and responsibility i believe the sharing of best practice will be hugely beneficial.
this is an epidemic we can take control of if we act together.
they know far better than to throw away their freedom.
iceland having devalued because it was not in the euro has exported its way to growth and enjoys a rate of growth which is the envy of the eurozone stricken economies and because it did not make this terrible mistake of assuming the bad debts of private institutions it will begin once this icesave dispute is cleared with a debt to gdp ratio which is the envy of europe.
sixty seven of icelanders in the last poll are now against eu membership because they understand what it would mean their resources plundered their seas emptied their democracy vitiated the oldest parliament in the world turned into a local authority chamber. icelanders are a shrewd and canny people with wisdom bred in the bone by hundreds of years of struggling in difficult conditions.
this is what happens to you if you remain standoffish about europe. ' well who is laughing now?
mr president there was some rather ugly schadenfreude in this chamber following the collapse of the icelandic banks.
over the last six years the number of people in my own constituency diagnosed with this condition has increased by almost.
there are thought to be thousands more who have the condition but do not yet know it.
two nine million people in the united kingdom have been diagnosed with diabetes.
it is therefore vital that we become more proactive in combating this condition through education and increased awareness with an emphasis on healthy diet and exercise as a means of prevention.
diabetes is on the increase in northern ireland as it is across europe.
in this light therefore it would be completely unjustifiable to defend any increase in the eu budget.
mr president along with my political group the european conservatives and reformists i would like to see a significant reduction of the eu budget. i therefore cannot support this report as it defends the size of a proposed larger eu budget which at this time i cannot justify to my constituents in wales.
a number of eu member states are implementing harsh austerity measures which have had a devastating impact on people's livelihoods.
all eu institutions need to demonstrate the ability to tighten budgets at this difficult economic time.
two thousand and five under the leadership of prime minister groevski macedonia has made progress in the fields of parliamentary cooperation economic development inter ethnic reconciliation decentralisation human rights and public administration.
the responsible and measured way in which the government has dealt with the recent ethnic tensions between the albanian community and the macedonian slavs in the country is testimony to macedonia's progress.
we believe that an eu strategy at the level of consensus on the public health aspects would help to improve cooperation between the member states and provide a mechanism to share best medical practice between healthcare professionals from across the european union in primary prevention diagnosis management and monitoring.
mr president i voted in favour of the council and commission statements on addressing the eu diabetes epidemic. healthcare provision is primarily a member state responsibility but the modest proposals put forward would have a positive impact in the field of diabetes research.
i support the calls for continued research funding under the european framework programmes.
with an ageing european population these figures are expected to increase.
so we must stop kidding ourselves in the eu that iceland wants to join.
so it is with the utmost urgency that we must assist in tackling the problem that is the two hundred and fifteen million children across the world who continue to engage in labour activities which should be abolished. by its very nature a labour intensive often family run enterprise cocoa farming can in some instances pose a major problem.
i recognise that there are work activities which are acceptable for children to participate in as long as the opportunity remains for educational activity. however cocoa farming has been shown to pose major risks for child labourers often without the opportunity for education.
in particular it states that parties shall make primary education compulsory and freely available to all.
i therefore support the resolution voted on today opposing the use of forced child labour in the cocoa industry.
i do not need to spell out the importance of this in the development of young children into responsible literate adults who can play active roles in society.
every euro that we take out of the private sector to create jobs is a euro that would have otherwise been spent on creating actual wealth.
how can we carry on in a system where in order to pay for these constantly rising budgets simply in the time that i have been speaking my constituents have handed over something like gbp?
mr president three things are certain in life death taxes and constant rises in the eu budget.
our gross and net contributions as a country are shooting up and it is not just us. at a time when all twenty seven member states are looking to find cuts in their domestic spending all of those savings are being swallowed up in their higher contributions to brussels.
the only jobs we are creating here are the jobs of people whose job is to destroy genuine job creation the licensors the inspectors the clerks the compliance officers the whole regulatory machine of eu enforcement.
those members who do not read english might like to look at frdric bastiat on the question of creating jobs the question of seen and unseen costs.
whilst healthcare is a national competence it is sensible that a joined up approach is taken and that sharing best practice and enhanced cooperation between member states particularly in research and in the development of new tools to diagnose diabetes at an earlier stage are put into place.
i therefore support the joint resolution which seeks to address the eu diabetes epidemic as i believe that an eu strategy would be beneficial in this instance particularly with the additional strain this disease is putting on the welsh healthcare budget in current economically difficult times.
with the increase in obesity and an ageing population this number has been projected to increase dramatically over the coming years.
both type one and type two diabetes are treatable and as type two is linked to lifestyle factors it can be addressed by effective preventative strategies such as increasing exercise and making adjustments to diet.
it would be equally beneficial for member states to share their knowledge on disease management and treatment guidelines so that the best preventative and treatment regimes can be adopted.
ultimately we must continue to use our trading power to eradicate these abuses and hopefully show other countries that educating their children instead of putting them to work at such a young age is the real way to achieve growth and a more vibrant and intelligent economy in the future.
by refusing to sign trade agreements with uzbekistan which continues to use child labour in cotton picking it will make other regions in the world realise that in order to continue trading with the eu they do have to reach basic minimum standards of rights.
mr president child labour in any sector is something that the eu should play a part in eradicating around the world.
this report cites the statistic that two hundred and fifteen million children across the world are currently engaged in child labour a shocking figure in this day and age.
as a result cocoa farms have traditionally been worked by the family unit children included in order to reduce labour costs. therefore i believe that the only way to break the cycle of child labour is through combating such poverty.
in recent years there has been some progress through programmes and initiatives aimed at combating the worst forms of child labour.
this is the only way that countries such as the ivory coast can progress through the building of roads hospitals social centres and in particular schools to give the children and their parents a chance of a better future.
mr president it is estimated that approximately two hundred and fifty zero children many against their will work in the cocoa plantations in west africa.
this is a country ravaged by years of civil war with the majority of its citizens in extreme poverty.
these councils and organisations have not seen a penny of their money back since the bank's collapse in october.
margaret thatcher once said we are simply asking to have our own money back.
as a conservative mep for london i cannot possibly agree to these terms.
two thousand and eight the icelandic government is dodging its legal obligation to pay minimum compensation to these and other british debtors.
mr president i voted against this resolution not because i believe iceland should not become a member of the eu but because the resolution states that money owed by iceland's landsbanki after the collapse of icesave must not be an obstacle to accession.
local authorities in london are suffering from painful cuts after the economic downturn and thirteen years of wasteful labour government.
a free trade area means that goods and services and capital circulate without restrictions.
in a customs union of course you are dragged into a common commercial policy and a common external tariff.
we are linked into a market of similar industrialised economies having cut ourselves off from our natural hinterland of producers.
i am not sure that we understood then and i am not sure even now after forty years that we fully appreciate the distinction between a free market and a customs union.
i never tire of pointing out to this house that we have confined ourselves in a cramped and declining customs union while standing aside from the bits of the world where the growth still is not least the wider community of english speaking democracies.
it is the kind of deal that switzerland enjoys with the european union and one cannot help noticing that the swiss seem to be doing pretty well with it.
the final settlement of the beef hormone dispute will create further momentum towards greater economic and commercial integration between the eu and the us.
mr president whilst in principle i can support measures which enhance cross border coordination and the sharing of best practice across the eu in the field of civil law i am unable however to support this resolution on judicial training.
at present there are already a number of online tools and initiatives available which aim to resolve cross border legal problems that may be encountered.
it seems therefore that this would duplicate initiatives which already exist. moreover the proposal for the establishment of erasmus of judges' networks seems to be wholly unnecessary and a complete waste of eu resources.
mr president i welcome the positive statements in the enlargement report for the former yugoslav republic of macedonia.
i feel that many other accession countries including serbia which was accepted last week by the european council for eu candidate status could look to the example that has been set by macedonia's engagement with the eu over the last few years.
the two countries have faced similar problems in their recent history and need to come to terms with both their own population's problems and their on going disputes with their neighbours.
however the sensible way that macedonia is dealing with its neighbours and the eu as a whole in order to overcome that dispute can provide a good starting point on which others including serbia could model their approaches over the next few years.
once again further political integration is cited as a prerequisite for dealing with the economic and social woes of the eu.
i would contend that rather than being the firm foundation or the cornerstone of any future recovery the desire for political integration is the sinking sand that has led to the eu facing economic collapse.
yet ideology still blinds reality and while that remains the case the much needed recovery will not occur at a satisfactory pace. the report states that austerity being imposed in member states should not be replicated in the eu budget.
do as i say not as i do' seems to be the message that emanates from this parliament so often.
it is time to cut the waste from the eu budget.
target resources effectively to promote growth and importantly lead by example.
we consider programmes such as the eff to be useful tools but note that in the member states that have suffered most in the financial crisis the implementation of these projects is difficult due to pressures on the budget to co finance.
the report foresees a commission proposal that would allow increased payments to be made to those countries that are suffering most from the global financial crisis namely those that are currently benefiting from support mechanisms in order to ensure the continuation of the eff programmes on the ground.
we welcome the fact that despite this the amount that the eu contributes to these programmes will be no higher than the amount put forward in the commission's original decision i.
we believe that the report highlights some important issues in this complex and divided country.
particularly important is the need for the central state and its institutions in sarajevo to be strengthened and respected before it can progress further and we support the proposition that eu presence in the country should be increased.
the fight against corruption in the country must also be continued robustly and the report calls for reform in many areas particularly of the judiciary and education systems and in the protection of minorities which of course are extremely important topics.
the bih government must also address the rise of imported wahhabi extremism in the region and must investigate the security threat that it poses.
i hope that it will send a message for reflection to the politicians in the country and it will stimulate them to engage with the reforms which the country urgently needs.
mr president there is a constituency within the united kingdom whose advice to iceland would be to learn from the uk's mistake and stay out of the eu.
another opinion this parliament should consider is that if you apply for membership of any club you usually precede your application with a clear demonstration of your eligibility for membership by complying with the existing rules of the club. in respect of fisheries management specifically regarding mackerel iceland has ignored such a commitment and wants to rewrite the rules before it joins the club.