kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
what kind of rights are these when they are rejected out of hand in the name of solidarity?
but we in ukip reject mr barroso's plan for european integration because we know that individual member states are not an irrelevance.
because the way i see it a mandate by the european parliament for a political programme is a much more solid base than a nomination on the basis of a backroom deal between national governments.
a majority of my group however is willing to give you the benefit of the doubt but we will reserve our final judgment until we have seen the full package of commissioners' portfolios and the full details of your political programme because do not forget and i hope you hear the irony in this that the president of the european commission is a politician and not a civil servant with job security.
but that is not nearly as relevant mr barroso as convincing the european citizens in the next five years.
i also happen to believe contrary to you if i listened carefully that the emergence of a real opposition in this house is very welcome and a healthy sign that european parliamentary democracy is vital and mature.
regardless of the outcome of the votes this process has strengthened european parliamentary democracy because contrary to what some in this house fear obliging a candidate to campaign has not weakened but strengthened the position of commission president.
i did not support you back in two thousand and four and unfortunately in five years you have not done enough to convince me.
that is how democracy works and that is how we work.
we will call on initiatives from you and your commission based upon the majority of this parliament not by trying to impose minority positions and we will discuss and scrutinise your proposals and take decisions based upon the majority of this parliament.
we as parliamentarians are saying that we want europe to have leadership in the world but we can never have global leadership if we cannot ensure leadership of the european union. we will give you our support and we will scrutinise the proposals and we will discuss with you because we have confidence in democracy and the majority we have in this parliament. good luck tomorrow.
the main challenges of our time.
i have made an honest and loyal offer in discussions with your group and i look forward to working on it with you including on the appropriate legal instruments.
i can tell you very frankly that it was a very hard fight to get some member states to send competent women to the commission because they did not want to send women.
that was the most important issue five years ago and the truth is that these clarifications have taken much of the heat out of the age old debate on public services in the internal market. i did not say that there are no more problems.
we needed to fully assess the situation to make sure that the remedy was not going to create a bigger problem than the one it set out to solve.
the diversity of labour law in the member states means that a laval situation can arise in some member states but not in others.
you of all people know that member states social partners and trade unions stick to their labour law acquis.
mr pidla has carried out that analysis and that is why i can now propose a solution trying to get a broad agreement in this parliament.
i will point out that my commission has done very important legal work on clarifying the application of state aid rules to public services.
on the contrary i recognise them. i am committed to completely assessing the situation and i will not hesitate if necessary to go further.
you cannot say that i am saying different things to different groups because this is the same programme i am presenting to all
programme. of course it is a compromise but europe only works as a compromise.
time. you are missing the
family. let us be honest about
i made that proposal.
about it. if you want a strong commission that has all the rights and initiative to defend european interests at least give me the benefit of
as you know the initiative on that comes from the member states.
challenging policy sectors that we all agree upon.
but i have to say that as gdp sinks and as our spending increases we are facing across the period to two thousand and fourteen the prospect of a fresh budgetary crisis and at that time i
maybe my biggest appeal to you not only about coming back to parliament would also be to be a bit more critical of governments when they fail to live up to their commitments because even if we look at the lisbon strategy ninety of the lisbon strategy has failed to be implemented because member states have failed to take action to make us the most competitive and the most dynamic economy of the future. i know it is difficult to try and pinpoint any one individual state.
i would not dare to do so but if we are leading by example and if we are putting down ideas between parliament and the commission about the ways we can see of regenerating new growth and about being innovative within the new economy then the member states must also step up to the plate and take those actions.
you. but it is possible that i have got this horribly wrong. it is possible that you are the right man after all because yesterday in the daily telegraph a poll asked if lisbon goes through without a referendum would you want britain to stay part of the european
no'. but once again you could not accept a democratic result oh no the irish have to vote again!
you have pushed on with your obsession with climate change which has led to massive costs and no material benefits whatsoever.
well you might argue that there is not much democracy left in the european union now but there should at least be some degree of accountability and i would argue that on the eve of what may well be a fourth rejection of this treaty the one that kills it off for good this parliament should not install you as commission president for the next five years until we have that result.
the plan is to show everybody that the ship is steady that everything is going well that all the irish have to do is to correct their rather silly little mistake and indeed your working document is written as if the treaty were already ratified.
way. so maybe i got it wrong maybe you are the right
you have been the governor for the last five years. you have been in charge of overseeing that the constitutional treaty was pushed through.
but there is a rather important point being missed here you have been the boss;
union? and by forty three to twenty six for the first time in over thirty years a massive majority of britons said they want us to leave this european union if mr barroso gets his
but things went wrong did they not? the french said no' and the dutch said no' but you refused to accept these democratic results and you took part with many members of this parliament in the absolute deceit that is the lisbon treaty. you told us that the flag and the anthem would be dropped but i have not seen much evidence of that. no you rebranded it as the lisbon treaty but you could not stop the irish from voting and the irish said
if the irish people say no' for a second time then we simply have to respect what they say and you have to go as president of the commission.
but above all it is the fact that you ignored that irish referendum that you said the irish cannot stop this treaty for that reason alone i simply cannot support
where in all of this given that you are in charge is the principle of democratic accountability?
us. now you are telling us we have to have a commissioner for immigration taking away from nation states their most basic right to decide who comes to live work and settle in their countries.
i also believe that the eu will operate more effectively if the lisbon treaty is passed in my country.
these guarantees are important to us.
those opposing the treaty in ireland are spreading scurrilous information about the minimum wage to be eur.
mr president one of the most corrosive criticisms of the eu is that it is more concerned with its own internal systems than in demonstrating leadership on global issues or acting in a way that adds value to citizens' lives.
nowhere has this tendency been more apparent than in the preposterous discussions we have been forced to endure over whether and when to appoint the president of the commission.
the anniversary today of the collapse of lehman brothers is a timely reminder of the parlous state of the european economy and especially that of the uk.
unemployment is on the increase wherever we look and we are just weeks away from a crucial global summit on climate change.
in these circumstances it was absurd to seek to delay the appointment of the president of the commission beyond september.
i read president barroso's political guidelines with great interest.
i warmly welcome the opportunity the ecr group had for a vigorous discussion with him on it.
first our central priority must be restarting economic growth and building long term competitiveness.
in the short term this means less economic intervention and resisting protectionism.
then we must ensure a return to sound public finances and work to secure further market liberalisation to restore trade and business confidence and ensure there is proper investment in skills and human capital as well as in innovation and research.
the commission has a vital role to play in making sure the eu institutions do not undermine economic recovery through imposing unnecessary and excessive burdens on business.
nonetheless it is regrettable this success was not more pronounced and more work is certainly required.
we need to have a senior vice president of the commission responsible for this area of work.
i urge you president barroso to make such an appointment if you are elected tomorrow.
on the issue of climate change it is the case that the eu has shown leadership in international negotiations in this area and it must continue to do so.
another area i wish to highlight is the commitment to reshape the eu budget with a root and branch reform.
such a reform is long overdue and it should have been a binding commitment.
i have grave concerns about the commission's reported plans in the field of immigration and asylum and as far as the uk is concerned retention of national control over our borders continues to be essential.
there is a real risk that key financial businesses will relocate outside the eu to the benefit of no one other than our competitors.
i do not hide the fact and confine myself to pointing out once again that the eu has continued to function perfectly well without the lisbon treaty in the past three or four years.
there is no reason why this could not continue to be the case.
finally i quote a paragraph towards the end of president barroso's manifesto.
i want to concentrate our limited resources on where we can have most effect and where we can bring most added value.
' in other words i think that means that the eu might do less but it must do it better.
president barroso if these were to be your watchwords in the next five years it would be an excellent basis for progress but in any event you do deserve a resounding vote of support from us tomorrow.
i am sure of many others on the left as well.
the problem is however that you used pretty much the same rhetoric when you came here five years ago to look for the commission presidency then. at that time you made a number of promises in relation to social europe on renewing the social agenda for five years that have not been met. you might recall for example saying five years ago on services of general interest i do not exclude the possibility of a framework directive'.
we do know what a framework directive means and for us that is a very important commitment that we would like you to enter into.
telling us that you do not exclude the possibility of one is simply not enough this time.
when we looked at your document last week we looked for specific concrete commitments but we found virtually none.
what we did find thanks to google is that the guidelines themselves presented as a transformational agenda are by and large nothing more than a recycling of existing commission texts and the existing policy agenda.
three broad points on your guidelines firstly they simply do not address the seriousness of the severe unemployment and social crisis that we are facing and which will worsen in the months if not years to come. secondly we think your words about a crisis exit strategy are premature.
you have modified that in what you have said to us today. but what we should be talking about is an entry strategy a strategy for positive intervention in the labour market not just at member state level but at european level.
the crisis is calling for much bolder and more far sighted policies than you have in mind.
instead what the number one priority of the new commission must be is the launching of a modernised and ambitious new european social agenda.
you have said again today that an implementing regulation without touching the directive is the way to
the problem is in the directive itself which repeats over and over again that member states may''.
also forgive us if we judge you on your track record.
laval did not happen yesterday.
what have you done in the almost two years since the laval judgment sent shock waves through the trade union movement?
one final question will you commit yourself today to doing everything possible to bring about a proper gender balance in the next college of the commission?
mr president there is a saying that if you are not at the table you are on the menu. the next decade will decide where europe is going to be.
the current leading generation in western europe had a holiday from history. we grew up in peace.
but history is knocking on our door.
unfortunately europe does not have a culture of achievement.
the european dream is to retire to the french riviera as soon as possible.
if we do not innovate and develop an entrepreneurial culture as you designed europe will be on the menu.
i count on your leadership.
if you fail there you will fail everywhere.
remain open minded and do not propose a european tax because it will provoke a pitchfork revolution against europe.
i have never seen a demonstration in favour of a european tax.
it is simply a bridge too far and you will only feed public anger.
i count on your sense of realism to get europe at the table and not on it and i wish you good luck in your second term.
many of your commissioners socialists included and provided by the same national leaders are also responsible for lacking enough vision courage competence and will. thus today we are not just confronting you but those nominating you as the only candidate for one of the most important european positions.
obviously they did not do so out of respect for your qualities and strengths but for what they consider to be your weaknesses.
not because they believe you will work for the achievement of an ever closer union with a powerful social appeal but because they think you will call them individually to ask for their national blessing in advance of each european commission initiative.
we believe in equality for all people in europe.
we support independence for the nations and the regions of europe that are not currently member states in their own right but that aspire to be and we campaign for equal rights for speakers of all languages whether they are official eu languages or co official languages and whether they are spoken by the majority or the minority in a member state.
mr barroso you talk in your guidelines and you have talked again today about the need to create a feeling of connection between the eu and its citizens but this can never be achieved until the eu recognises the real nations and peoples and that subsidiarity operates at all levels and not just between the eu and the member state government. if the european union is to effectively support us through the economic crisis
lead the way as it must in fighting climate change protect public services defend human rights and contribute to international peace and disarmament then it needs the input of all of us and that includes wales scotland catalonia corsica flanders and many others.
across europe at this moment there are discussions consultations and referenda taking place and i am not talking about lisbon but about proposals for constitutional change and for greater autonomy in these countries.
i regret that you have not acknowledged recognised or addressed these current developments in your guidelines and you have not brought forward proposals for greater involvement of countries and regions which have legislative powers in eu decision making something which we in the efa see as crucial.
mr barroso your political guidelines provide little illumination as to your plans and drag out much of the same rhetoric used five years ago.
of course we need a strong and vibrant internal market bringing jobs and prosperity but this must go hand in hand with improved social rights in europe for workers and citizens not at their expense. despite strong pressure from this house to correct this imbalance and calls for a review of the posted workers directive for social impact assessments and for a more ambitious economic recovery package we are still waiting.
earlier you referred to union membership and the right to strike as sacred. across the uk unions are once more in talks over strike action in response to problems associated with the posted workers directive with fears of the undercutting of wages and undermining of collective agreements. your answer to my question on this issue last week sounded like warm words yet you admitted that the directive falls short of its aims. the problems lie in implementation and interpretation by the european court of justice ecj.
you promised to make amends through a new legal instrument but the ecj judgments have shown we need to strengthen the directive to stop the undercutting of wages.
at this time of financial crisis we need clear legal guidelines and mr barroso we need the same wage for the same work at the same place regardless of gender.
what guarantees can you give us that this will be the case?
however you have taken a great interest in my constituency of northern ireland.
i look forward to this relationship continuing and my constituency benefiting from it.
you will know about our past the impact of violence on investment and the need for new roads and rail links. you will know about the huge potential for the economy through the development of tourism.
to aid our economic development i would urge the commission to examine what resources will be made available to redress the years of underinvestment. as many in this chamber have said already today it is actions and delivery that count.
in the committee we had the vote which did not support him because he was accused of some violations of rules on misbehaviour or something like that.
it is not only for finland estonia bulgaria and other small states to promote gender balance. it is also for italy spain hungary etc.
if you want to vote in favour use my first excuse if you want to vote against use my second.
sometimes bigger political groups take one deal sometimes the other depending on a candidate's political background.
if we prefer to have professional auditors and accountants there to inspect our everyday dealings with financial matters we should be also consistent.
if we do we have to be consistent.
mr president as announced yesterday in the debate a political joint declaration of the european parliament and the council has been agreed as a commitment of the two institutions endorsed by the commission to proceed to the completion of the process for bosnia and albania as soon as possible.
according to the green paper the key to maintaining a sufficient workforce is to educate recruit and retain young practitioners.
the commission must put pressure on member states to ensure each country takes responsibility for training its own health care workforce and that we also have an ethical requirement whereby we do not seek to recruit health care workers from developing countries and damage their already vulnerable health care systems.
the particular issue i want to raise this evening is that on wednesday night the commission will issue a statement on its green paper on the eu workforce for health.
mr president the international political military economic and financial architecture is under pressure due to the current crisis.
it enlarged successfully to reunite the continent at the end of the cold war and now it is called upon to preserve previous achievements and continue integration once better times come again.
it is not an easy task particularly for the current presidency but also for the coming ones which will have to deal with the continuing institutional impasse over the lisbon treaty and transition to a new parliament and commission while fighting protectionist tendencies threats to renationalise common policies and potential international crises in our neighbourhood.
others have trod in our footsteps javier solana has been there tony blair has finally made it and the president of parliament has been there to see for himself the circumstances in which palestinians are now living.
week after week the collective punishment of palestinian people is maintained by the israelis.
madam vice president i ask you to ask the president to call a meeting of the group leaders and his cabinet to consider how our words can be turned into deeds.
i face the question all the time from my constituents you have an association agreement with israel.
how is it that we maintain this relationship with one side while that party ignores our interests and treats our words with such contempt?
thank you for that mr hartong. it is not on our agenda but i think it would be appropriate for the house to rise in memory of the victims of. nine eleven
of course greece has the main responsibility.
in a common union with common values and a common application of international standards and conventions there cannot be such differences as there are today.
we need to improve that. again i can only encourage you and the council to keep on working on this.
the greek government is working with its action plan. it is a very ambitious plan but it has been clear from the beginning that this is not going to be solved over a weekend.
we need to ensure protection for the most vulnerable.
we have finalised the negotiations on a readmission agreement after eight years.
i hope that the member states will accept that when we have the next council next
the best way to achieve that is to go on with the work to publish the reports and to encourage the council to start negotiating. there are too many differences between the member states today and that is not sustainable.
on greece the commission is doing a lot to help.
there are long standing problems.
that is very painful for the individual and it is also very costly for society.
that is why the commission has proposed improvements and i am very happy to know that you are working on these and that you are also seeing the need to have some sort of emergency mechanism in this.
we need to help greece because greece is under extreme pressure and that is a european challenge as well.
the commission is firmly committed to working towards a fair efficient and protection oriented common european asylum system.
asylum is one of the human rights which the european union is committed to respecting and promoting.
the commission has been aware of the deficiencies of the greek asylum system which is confronted with exceptional pressure due to high numbers of mixed migration flows on its territory and the lack of a proper functioning national asylum system.
this support combines significant financial and practical assistance for the reform of the national asylum system border and return management and more efficient use of the eu funds for migration management and also better cooperation with neighbouring countries in particular turkey.
the commission initiated infringement proceedings against greece in november two thousand and nine setting out concerns about various provisions of eu law.
since then important legislative developments have taken place in greece.