kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
let me here also stress the work of the fundamental rights agency.
you know that the commission is currently preparing its annual report on the application of the charter covering.
this awareness has led to a tangible improvement in the fundamental rights situation in many of our member states.
very soon we will receive the two thousand and thirteen report on the application of the eu charter of fundamental rights and as i told you in my introduction after the debate the college had yesterday on a rule of law
mr president the debate shows that we have triggered a process of awareness raising about fundamental rights across the eu.
firstly it does the impossible which is to call the european union a community of values.
when it does it it does two things it tries to keep up to date with what that means and secondly it then makes the rapporteur fall into controversies.
i think we have to settle on a report which commands enough support across this parliament. we take the view that louis michel has produced a challenging report but a good report.
but do we want to produce a report which is merely cosmetic which does not make us think and which does not really tell our citizens what fundamental rights are?
let me give you three quick examples. we would never have talked about the balance between security fighting terrorism and mass surveillance in the past yet this is now something that many of us across the political spectrum can debate and sometimes agree on. we do not want our citizens to suffer mass surveillance of their data;
we want them to be protected against terrorism.
we need to find the balance.
how many of us would disagree with this in the european union of today?
it is of course a question of balance and of how we do it but i would go further and say that anti discrimination is something that we should extend to other areas.
overall he has done a good job challenged us and come to the conclusion that we are a community of values.
that is what we should be.
in any democracy the political rights freedom of expression freedom of assembly and electoral rights should be pre eminent. why?
because they are the key to all the others their recognition their extent and their limitations.
indeed many of the personal rights were established only with the exercise of these political rights.
however the eu regards the personal rights chosen or determined behaviour freedom from constraint prohibition of discrimination freedom of movement to be paramount.
if there should be a conflict between say freedom of expression and one of these personal rights freedom of expression would be the loser.
what they are really saying is that the political rights were simply vehicles for campaigning for their range of personal rights.
madam president i strongly believe that we as the european union must set an example of how much human rights mean to us and how determined we are to protect them in our own home europe.
of course it is the duty of each national legal system to observe the rights and liberties provided for by the eu treaties and the charter.
but we should be able to both monitor and sanction each and every member state if they fail to carry out their duty.
when a majority of member states has the power of verification on just two countries such a mechanism becomes a political weapon.
this was crystal clear on at least two occasions firstly when the eu decided not to use the tools provided for by the treaty for a wide scrutiny on hungary;
it is high time we ended the double standards when it comes to judging how well one member state upholds the rights enshrined in the treaty or how well their justice system works.
recent events demonstrate that elections reconciliation and security should remain our priorities for the coming months.
the electoral process must continue.
it can set an example of recovery and stabilisation.
there was an attempt to murder one of the top christian leaders there.
on the basis of these decisions the council will have approved this year a total amount of eur.
i have to underline that it would have been impossible for the council to adopt them any earlier than thirty october.
six the council exceptionally agreed to engage in such a procedure under extreme time pressure following the commission's warning that it would otherwise run into serious cash flow problems at the beginning of november.
as you know the council successfully completed this written procedure accepting the draft amending budget and its amending letter as proposed by the commission.
therefore member states' contributions based on their general national income have to be urgently increased.
this is normally a sort of routine budget offsetting what is wrong on the revenue side but this year it is not that routine because we feel the consequences of the crisis and efforts of rebalancing in many member states. therefore imports are down customs are down and we have
we are overcoming the bottleneck and see it as the second best solution.
we see the concern across europe.
this is also a measure of responsibility otherwise we might stop payments in cohesion and rural development at the end of november.
only in january.
in the last year of the financial perspective when all the projects are gaining maturity and all the capitals are sending their bills to brussels for compensation for eligible projects.
i see that this was a very constructive approach thank you minister and now i see the same acceleration in parliament.
so both should not be mixed.
this is the nature of this revenue type of budget;
madam president it seems to me that this debate should be more a question of procedure than a question of substance.
can i take this opportunity therefore to encourage the commission to review the way that information is communicated to the other institutions?
it seems obvious to me that because we are working within the constraints of a smaller budget;
i am satisfied that the council has taken the right appropriate and responsible decisions and i am confident this house will do so too.
because we have considerably increased the spending on heading one a something which i welcome and fully support;
in the longer term however we need to think hard about measures we can take to reduce the risk of finding ourselves in this position once again.
certainly this house as a responsible scrutiny body needs better quality information and that information needs to be more readily accessible to the members.
more specifically at the beginning of december two thousand and eleven the un working group on arbitrary detention found that the preventive detention of mr ts exceeded the limits established in international human rights standards and in bolivian legislation.
we asked the bolivian authorities to ensure a fair and independent trial for mr ts and mr tadi and we also asked for an independent investigation with international experts into the deaths of the other four europeans back in.
in two thousand and nine four europeans died in a shooting and two have been kept in pre trial detention since then in bolivia.
but cases like this highlight the very real problems that still remain.
eld ts and mario tadic have been in prison since april two thousand and nine without trial and for eight months without any formal or informal charges brought in a court.
two thousand and twelve for example member states are required to establish effective and reliable mechanisms to encourage the reporting to competent authorities of potential and actual breaches of anti money laundering rules.
similar requirements are in place for law firms and audit firms and in other areas of eu law such as market abuse collective investment in transferable securities and trade secrets.
the current discussions that you are holding in this house contribute to the reflections on the possible eu response.
financial institutions and other entities have to put in place procedures for employees or persons in a comparable position who report breaches of those rules.
likewise provisions on whistle blowing are included in several directives or regulations in the area of financial services.
for instance the protection of whistle blowers and journalistic sources was one of the issues discussed during the negotiations on the trade secrets directive last year.
furthermore i know that the commission yesterday adopted a very important communication on further measures to enhance transparency and the fight against tax evasion and avoidance which also addresses the issue of protection of whistle blowers.
it is important for me to say that we are confident that we on behalf of the council are ready to cooperate very closely with this chamber with the european parliament.
when acting for the purpose of protecting the general public interest whistle blowers play an important role in disclosing wrong doing and dangers to society and therefore they deserve legal protection. it is crucial that they can signal and sound an alert without having to pay for it with their job their reputation and even their life.
of parliament's call for a clear legal framework on the protection of whistle blowers before the end of june this year.
the council has not yet discussed the matter as such but it has in a broader sense discussed integrity policies in the public and in the private sector across the eu.
provisions also exist let me underline at the level of member states and notably in the context of the council of europe recommendation that i have mentioned earlier. as far as overarching or horizontal legislation at eu level on the issue is concerned it would be up to the commission to consider the possibilities and i have taken note
i look forward to hearing the views of the vice president of the commission on this issue.
we have clearly defined priorities and i rely on you that we can bring tangible results because i think this is more important than ever before.
the compromise provision offers protection to whistle blowers when revealing misconduct or illegal activity provided notably that they have acted in the public interest.
in our work at the level of the european union several pieces of legislation include provisions on whistle blowing;
in all of our member states.
even though these whistle blowers have uncovered cases of tax evasion it is also clear that they are not the only ones and that the need for whistle blower protection goes way beyond just the issue of tax evasion and fraud.
it is a matter of the rule of law.
no area of eu law can function perfectly without whistle blowers whether it is the environment transport the internal market or other areas.
the quality of our democracy depends on it; that quality is measured by how we treat those who speak out in the public interest.
the commission must win back the trust of the people and this is a great opportunity for doing so by presenting legislation on whistle blower protection and presenting horizontal legislation.
parliament has been calling for this for months and the council is also now ready to consider it.
i am glad that it is on the table for the commission and that it is considering monitoring.
but monitoring is not enough.
after the case of the luxleaks whistle blowers what more evidence do we need that there is a need for eu legislation?
there can be no doubt either in the commission or in the council that this house will not accept revenge prosecution of whistle blowers.
there can also be no doubt on what is now expected from the commission and the council.
i want to stress that we do not want to intervene in member states' competences that is not what i am calling for but there should be no doubt that right now europe is failing big time failing whistle blowers who dare to stand up and speak out.
commissioner we need as a bare minimum a strong clear and coherent eu legal framework to protect whistle blowers.
secondly i think it is important to bear in mind what vice president katainen has said namely that the commission is assessing a possible legal base for the horizontal legislation on this very important issue.
i therefore fully support the forty eight hour general strike in india this coming february and i urge the indian workers and trade union movement to call for the complete revocation of fdi in all sectors and mobilise the opposition to other neo liberal counter reforms.
the proposals for foreign direct investment in multi brand retailing will be a profits bonanza for the world's major retail giants but these profits will be made on the back of the destruction of the small retail sector a sector that employs forty million workers.
the growth and development of the indian economy that we have seen in recent years is only benefitting a minority of the indian population.
mr president the caste system is a reactionary medieval remnant that has been used as a divide and rule tactic by the various ruling classes in india throughout the centuries.
twenty four the torching of almost three hundred houses in dalit communities at the end of november with no action taken by the police illustrates the victimisation and attacks that they face.
many eu based multinationals profit from that system through the exploitation of cheap labour.
it was used by british imperialism and since independence has been used by the ruling indian capitalist class.
in the past twenty years since the onset of aggressive neo liberal reforms millions have been pushed further into poverty and destitution.
rural poverty which is hitting the most marginalised and poorest sections of india is a growing problem.
the indian government needs to step up its efforts in order to ensure that this discrimination comes to an immediate end. the country's two hundred million or so dalits continue to suffer appalling forms of violence.
it is going to take a long time to change those attitudes but at the same time we need to work harder to do so from an international point of view.
among these victims of social exclusion the situation of female dalits is particularly alarming. they suffer from a double form of exclusion and face multiple forms of violence and exploitation.
the act on the protection of women from domestic violence has proved to be rather inefficient so far especially as the social environment makes it very difficult for them to report abuses.
moreover the women who dare to do so face strong prejudice from those who are supposed to ensure their protection such as police forces or legal officers.
the report that some of these factories produce garments for western companies is very disturbing to say the least.
ngos or civil society groups that support the most vulnerable people in india should not be hindered from receiving funds from third countries.
let me stress once again that the commission is ready to engage in interinstitutional negotiations as quickly as possible to ensure a smooth transition to the new programme in.
we intend to consolidate and build on the current success and we plan to experiment with novel ideas responding in an innovative way to the emerging needs of the cultural and creative sectors.
i ask myself what is your proposal for the remaining. ninety? six three erasmus was never thought to be an elitist project but it turned out that people from lower socio economic backgrounds are often left outside. this has also been the case of latvia so i wish that erasmus becomes more democratic and easily accessible. we need to diversify the profiles of applicants we need to reduce the bureaucracy and we need to carefully observe how professional excellence is generated.
madam president i'm pleased to say that the committee on budgets recognised the creative europe programme as an important investment budget acknowledged the importance of the creative industries and substantially increased the mmf envelope over the commission's original proposal.
i hope and i believe that this creates room in creative europe to support projects in regional languages and dialects because they are an inherent part of europe's cultural diversity.
language and dialect is central to folk traditions and suppression is always a mistake. they belong in creative europe.
our universities in particular have had the pleasure of hosting young people from across the european union.
that is why i am pleased that this report allows for the continued participation of third countries. you can be sure that given the opportunity wales will still be an active and enthusiastic partner and that's the positive message that i would like to leave with you.
i believe the new programme will be simpler more open to all individuals from all education sectors and phases and will help tackle many of the problems we face.
and finally if we leave the eu the loss of erasmus to wales would be a huge blow.
many thousands of students and young people in wales like elsewhere have benefited from the opportunities that erasmus offered.
from the start one of the priorities of my group the greens efa group was to support the tripling of the budget to meet the target of tripling the number of people taking part because that is ambition.
the commission said we have to have ambition to empower young people.
two four billion litres of water every single day go to waste through leaks from the network four hundred and thirty two million litres in my own region of the east midlands.
when this report is considered in interinstitutional negotiations in the next mandate i call on the commission the council and parliament to ensure that the mandatory targets for the reduction of leakage remain part of this report.
i think we all agree that erasmus is the european union's most iconic programme and one of its biggest success stories.
i would therefore like to take this occasion to wholeheartedly thank you for your enthusiasm and for your support for the commission's proposal.
it has changed the lives of millions of europeans and changed them for the better.
we propose to double the budget and build on the success of the current programme.
the commission is also happy to see that our two institutions have largely converging positions on most features of the future programmes.
for example the future european social fund plus could top up individual mobility grants to support people with fewer opportunities or skill up the results of successful erasmus projects.
the idea for discovereu namely to offer eighteen year old young people a ticket to travel europe has enormous potential especially if it is reinforced with a strong learning dimension as you rightly request.
the future erasmus programme will also be instrumental in creating a genuine european education area by two thousand and twenty five where learners can move freely across borders and between disciplines and where education and training systems are inclusive innovative and geared towards lifelong learning.
the commission therefore regrets that the parliament is not willing to start negotiations for erasmus before the elections while the commission and the presidency would have been keen to do so.
we also want to boost mobility for school pupils learners in vocational education and training and for youth exchanges. this will strongly diversify the profile of erasmus participants.
i know that this house takes a lot of interest in synergies and complementarities between eu funding programmes and i can assure you that erasmus will benefit from this.
it's now important that we negotiate the new programme quickly so that it will soon be a reality.
they have the potential to become new flagships of the programme together with the new discovereu initiative.
i appreciate that you support the commission in this effort. in order to help turn this vision into reality the future erasmus programme will support ambitious new initiatives such as the european universities initiative or the centres of vocational excellence.
we share the parliament's objectives to make the programme even more inclusive to make it simpler for our beneficiaries and to further exploit the potential for synergies with other sources of eu funding.
for this to become a reality we need to involve all actors including at national and regional level. what matters most is that we put funding to its best and most efficient use.
erasmus is a true expression of what the european union stands for and what it can do for our people.
with this in mind the commission has tabled an ambitious proposal for a new erasmus programme.
the commission is fully aware that the programme and its participants from universities fet colleges apprentices and high schools are just as dear to you as they are to us.
at the same time we propose to add some promising new elements.
this is why we have proposed some new features a new international window;
initiatives to enhance promotion and marketing for european books in europe and beyond;
my sincere thanks go to you ms costa for the highquality work you have done on this proposal and the excellent working relations we have enjoyed with you.
dear members of parliament i am pleased that you welcome these novelties and more generally that you agree on the ambition the architecture and the objectives we propose.
two thousand and twenty we want more europeans to be able to enjoy the wealth of our diverse cultures benefiting from their undisputed power to embody our common values and promote our shared european identity.
and also a scheme to promote a diverse and pluralistic media environment in europe including through media literacy.
to keep on connecting europe's beautiful audiovisual works with large international audiences;
we are very much looking forward to the future negotiations and our continued excellent cooperation. i am confident that we can find a swift agreement on the issues where our institutions hold slightly diverging views as we all agree on the importance and the general thrust of the programme.
promoting cultural and linguistic diversity in europe and boosting our cultural and creative sectors to ensure they remain world class are essential elements of the european project.
this would have sent a clear signal to the european citizens about the importance we attach to this programme and to the cultural diversity and richness that makes europe unique and defines our identities. it would also have helped us to put everything in place to be able to start implementing the new programme in time before it starts in.
we will do all this because we believe it is the best way to enlarge the horizons of both creators and audiences while at the same time developing good solutions to cultural issues of common concern across borders.
support for specific cultural sectors such as music books and publishing;
a stronger focus on europe's audiovisual talents especially women;
and to continue investing in crosssectoral innovation.
individual mobility for artists and cultural operators;
to live up to our ambition the commission's intention is to continue linking up professionals from different european countries through cooperation projects partnerships and networks;
two thousand and twenty one the commission therefore regrets that this programme is among the few where negotiations will not have started before the elections.
creative europe has played a major role in this which is why we want to build on and strengthen this programme after.
new innovative crosssectoral actions encompassing new technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence for content creation distribution and promotion;
but we also want to support our cultural and creative sectors in adapting to new challenges and making the most of opportunities that are opening up in times of rapid change.
encouraging creative spaces for script writing;
i therefore urge this parliament to take an ambitious stance for a genuine alignment between investment sustainability and social impact.
we must first and foremost provide support to the many initiatives aimed at alternative and sustainable business models such as cooperatives.
mr president it is long overdue that environmental concerns take precedence over purely businessdriven interests. governments can no longer gamble with the future generation's survival.
that respect i want to applaud the work of the civil society network sdg watch who are scrutinising our work and will call out any backpedalling.
prosperity in the twenty first century must go hand in hand with sustainability.