kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
where there are differences in interpretation the commission should consult with member states in order to clarify the rules.
we cannot produce a communication like this in two days.
i want to protect this and further promote
the shortcomings should never automatically lead to the reintroduction of border control.
this can be done by issuing guidelines or recommendations.
many of the things that are happening are a reason for joy in egypt and tunisia but there are also a lot of concerns. we need to be calm in this situation.
so in order to assess this situation and to decide on the necessary means we really need a european approach.
with all respect to the hard working people in the commission i will reveal a secret to you.
we cannot have a visa policy if we do not have border control.
term. we need to strengthen our rules not to undermine
so in order to have all this together we need a clear framework and we need a european framework.
yes there is.
there could be a major event where member states under very clear circumstances need to do
we need a european leadership to stand up against simplistic solutions and i have heard some of them here today and populism.
this is not a response to one or two presidents or prime ministers this is something that we have been planning for a long time and it is all there.
we knew long before all this started that there were some weaknesses in the systems.
we need a european mechanism with the involvement of the european parliament.
i am convinced that the current rules can cater for most situations.
parliament shares this view and in this context i have to say that we are deeply disappointed by the council's approach.
having said this it is fair to say that we concur with the commission's aim of improving schengen governance by reviewing the evaluation mechanism on the basis of a community approach.
to temporarily close borders or to add something to the existing system.
and so we come to the problem the communication from the commission.
you are blocking much of the work we are doing here in parliament.
work with us and the commission to ensure that solidarity means solidarity burden sharing means burden sharing.
make it clear that you will have a lock and you will prevent that type of opportunism which will in the end break schengen.
work with us.
do not be timid be courageous and ensure that when we fix schengen we also fix our common migration policy and we have something to be proud of.
first to the commission on schengen you want a community mechanism for collective decision making you want to move away from intergovernmentalism you want a lock on the political opportunism that we have seen from italy and from france. so please do not make the message ambiguous in the statement.
to the council you have waited since one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine for a common european asylum system you have created a situation where solidarity and burden sharing are often spoken of in this place but we are nowhere near the formal mechanism for burden sharing in the european community.
and finally the commission is looking ahead to a migration policy.
unblock it.
the possibility of introducing border controls already exists.
it should be temporary exceptional and a last resort. what is needed is a common approach a long term vision as called for by the commission to respond to citizens' concerns on security.
of people but first of all our solidarity should be with the people who are fleeing tragedy.
that said in the light of the increased pressure on some external borders and the calls from member states to strengthen the system of the schengen rules the council needs to look into how we can further guarantee the principle of free movement and at the same time citizens' need for maintenance of a high level of internal security.
over the past few months the eu and the member states have made available approximately eur ninety six million of emergency humanitarian aid and we are committed to continue to provide further support as and when the situation requires.
against the background of the recent migratory pressure from north africa the strengthening of frontex has become a high priority for the council.
we have urged member states to provide further human and technical resources as required in support of the agency's operations including hermes.
the council looks forward in particular to examining the commission's suggestions for a mechanism concerning the coordinated and temporary reintroduction of controls as a measure of last resort based on objective criteria and respecting the community method.
some member states including hungary have already said that they are ready to reallocate refugees from malta in order to alleviate pressure on the authorities there.
in short we need to put in place a strategy for the longer term.
for example the commission announced earlier that approximately eur twenty five million from emergency funds could be made available for member states such as italy and malta.
frontex is also supporting the italian authorities in second line border control activities by the briefing and screening of migrants.
along these lines prime minister orbn has recently said that we should clearly differentiate between economic migrants and political refugees.
work is under way in the council and parliament and some progress has been already achieved despite the technical difficulty and the politically sensitive nature of this subject.
in the light of the latest developments in north africa joint operation hermes was launched on twenty february two thousand and eleven following a request from the italian government.
therefore the european council in march called upon the council and the commission to submit before the june european council a plan for the development of capacities to manage migration and refugee flows as a response. the conclusions adopted by the justice and home affairs council on eleven and twelve april two thousand and eleven and the communication issued by the commission last week are important steps in this direction.
the council fully agrees with the view held by almost everyone here that the free movement of persons within the schengen area is a major achievement. those member states that have asked for the revision of the schengen system have also underlined that they were proposing this with the intention of preserving the free movement of our citizens which is one of the cornerstones of the union.
to conclude from a wider perspective our southern neighbours will be assisted by all available means in their transition to open democratic and prosperous societies.
we cannot of course stand idle in the face of events on the other side of the mediterranean.
developments in the southern mediterranean in particular in relation to the tunisian migrants arriving in lampedusa have also raised questions about controls at internal borders.
this in turn touches on the issue of freedom of movement within the european union.
the eu and the member states are ready to assist both those displaced as a result of the latest developments in north africa and those member states most directly concerned.
in general the management of migratory flows in the eu and in individual member states requires the effective management of borders. as far as the management of external borders is concerned frontex has an important role to play in a number of ways including the monitoring of the eu's external borders and providing operational support.
of course our immediate priority is to deal with the effects of the dramatic events in the southern mediterranean but we also have to draw lessons for the future.
that will require not only agreement amongst ourselves but also consultations with our neighbours and in particular in partnership with the countries of northern africa and it will need to take into account a wide range of factors such as international protection migration mobility and security.
apart from the specific measures intended to address this particular situation the council remains fully committed to the further development of the common european asylum system.
some of the issues which i have set out will help in creating such a strategy but i look forward to discussions which can lead to a comprehensive approach to migration fully in line with our global approach to migration.
the council also welcomes the commission's decision to mobilise supplementary funds needed by frontex to continue its planned joint operations.
they have served to underscore the importance of looking at the whole issue of how we manage migration and refugee flows.
improving the security and governance of the schengen area in a time of increased pressure is a means to this end.
the council has also invited all member states to continue their support for unhcr the international organisation for migration the red cross and all relevant actors the efforts of which are paramount in helping those displaced as a consequence of protracted violence in libya. those member states more directly affected by these developments are receiving contributions of funding equipment and technical expertise;
secondly schengen needs solidarity and solidarity is also about sharing the responsibility burden sharing and sharing responsibility is also relative to the size of the member state.
so yes twenty five zero people are nothing they are a drop in the ocean for the entire union but one thousand people arriving in the southernmost member state are a lot.
so the pressure went onto the internal borders and therefore the external borders are a common concern.
on the current system people who arrive in one country remain in the country where they arrive because our laws including the dublin regulation ensure that they have to remain in the first country of arrival.
if our external borders are weak then we will have problems on our internal borders and we need to look at that.
precisely because they are a common concern it is the responsibility of all the member states to ensure that the external borders are strong.
mr president yesterday indeed was europe day and in the courtyard here we had armed soldiers we had the luftwaffe band and imperial eagles we had the flag being paraded being raised the european anthem;
it was the display of militarism and eu nationalism. i thought and hoped it was all just a bad dream but today we have got you mr barroso.
you begin of course by reiterating the fact that the free movement of peoples is the embodiment of the european project.
you then go on to say that it is the duty of member states to share the burdens of migratory flows into europe. you advocate a common eu immigration policy but of course you know that you are losing because the row that has blown up between italy and france shows that when there is a crisis between the theory of european integration and the practicality of nation state it is the nation state that wins.
so you are worried that you are losing and in your defence of your position in your defence of your beloved acquis communautaire your body of law you resort to intolerance you resort to nationalism you make me realise that what i saw yesterday was actually for real.
you attack those who want to control their own border policies.
you attack them as extremists but worst of all oh worst of all you attack them three times for being populists.
the power of the ballot box.
i put it to you that populists are actually democrats and you abuse those who want to fly the flag of populism.
adopted in two thousand and thirteen the marrakesh treaty which allows for copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired persons was a landmark move to enable visually impaired people to access books with the same ease as sighted readers.
europe's non discrimination law for people with disabilities is one of a string of eu actions that have brought tangible benefits for those who live with a disability in europe including those who live in britain.
persons who are blind visually impaired or otherwise print disabled sadly continue to face many barriers in accessing books and other print materials which are protected by copyright and related rights.
whilst working as the shadow rapporteur in the committee on culture and education for this file i consulted with a wide cross section of stakeholders disability experts ngos working on disability issues and representatives from the author and publisher fields who were largely in agreement with each other and stressed the importance of the speedy ratification of the treaty.
with brexit the disabled communities will lose a crucial platform to defend their rights. we must guard against that.
the marrakesh treaty has been an important priority for the commission for a long time and we would like to support the statements made by the rapporteur of this file mr andersson.
to participate in the exchange of books and other print materials in formats accessible for the beneficiaries as envisioned by the treaty.
doing so will benefit people with brain disabilities and it will benefit everybody else.
on the other hand protection of intellectual property is crucial.
i am a firm believer as are most of my colleagues in this house in equal opportunities for everybody.
rich countries have lots of books and smaller numbers of visually impaired persons.
in other words the opportunities and the world as such presented to people with visual impairments are much narrower than for others.
this will not only be a big step towards increasing the variety of books translated into braille but also towards equal opportunities.
fair education for all is a faraway dream for too many.
not only because they cannot access the same number of books as others but also because books are a key to education.
thanks to them millions of europeans and hundreds of millions around the world who are blind or partially sighted will finally get access to accessible books.
and let's make sure that member states implement this treaty properly and don't charge people with disabilities extra for enjoying the same access to knowledge that we all already have.
that list includes among others the pharmaceutical industry the film industry and other intellectual property holders because the very idea of an intellectual property treaty that is there to protect users and not rights holders is offensive to them.
this equal right means that member states should not charge blind people's organisation any compensation for making books accessible.
over those ten years we had to overcome relentless resistance from those who wanted to stop or water down the treaty.
they called the access of blind people to books and i quote an unbalanced privilege'. it is not a privilege it is a human right enshrined in the convention on rights of people with disabilities the right of equal access to information and culture.
mr president this treaty has been ten years in the making. it took the tireless work of human rights defenders such as james love to initiate the treaty and it has taken the rapporteur the entire parliament including former members and the commission to get member states finally to accept it.
so let us remind the member states that this is a humanitarian treaty not a new income source for publishers.
of course not only the european parliament has been fighting for it we have been working together with blind people's organisations and with libraries as well as a great number of concerned citizens all over the world to make this possible.
buy their books because they can get them freely through libraries with the help of the marrakesh treaty.
this is a huge step forward. what is the next step once we ratify this treaty?
this will improve the lives of a very great number of people.
i do not really understand why compensation schemes are necessary but some member states insisted on them.
some member states were let's say more protective of their publishing interests than they were interested in standing up for the rights of blind people and they were very cautious very reluctant but we are argued them down.
today when you make a copy of a book in an eu country into a format that blind people can read you are mostly not allowed to bring it across a national border because that's the way copyright is constructed.
produce better opportunities for people with print disabilities and as i said earlier it will contribute to a better society and a better economy for all of us.
well we were overly optimistic and i fear that we might have underestimated the degree of resistance that certain lobby interests would be able to push for and try to delay the ratification of the marrakech treaty.
but we overcame this resistance and this is because many people the shadows and many other meps present and not present in parliament right now did a lot of work in order to improve the access of blind people to books that they can read. we did it and i also would like to thank the commission for its sterling work on this issue and of course i would like to thank the estonian presidency and the maltese presidency for all the good things that they also did in order to make this a reality.
it has been very encouraging to hear this debate and all the speeches and i am quite confident that tomorrow we will vote to ratify the marrakech treaty so that blind people and visually impaired people and people with other reading disabilities will get a lot better access to books that they can read.
mr president this migration crisis has become the biggest political issue of recent times. accordingly we must clarify all the factors to ensure that the best solution is found for both eu citizens and the migrants themselves.
according to my maths this claim does not add up.
this is the first time that the external dimension has been brought together with what we are talking about in terms of the political debate on refugees.
i very much welcome the point that mr timmermans raised which is that we have to have a sense of urgency.
i put it to the council that they should really review the civil protection mechanism and that they should regard this as an urgent consideration.
and i say to the commission and to vice president timmermans that we really need to think not just about the politics of the relocation mechanism but also about how we will deal properly with the question of the roadmap towards the hotspots.
secondly the humanitarian situation warrants action at all levels by member states by the european union inside member states inside the european union and outside of the european union.
i want to thank this parliament for its leadership in this issue and for its strong support for the commission's position.
if we do what we have now agreed and we do it swiftly we will come to terms with this issue and we will show the european population that we can handle this and that europe is capable of handling this.
my third point in reaction to some of the remarks that were made is that if you do not want to help refugees if you do not want to do anything else but push them back at the borders please say so and do not try to justify it by pretending that the people arriving in europe are not refugees.
eighty percent of the people arriving today in greece can be classified as refugees.
that is the reality today.
heckling of course the refugee crisis comes with problems. nobody denies these problems.
these problems will have to be tackled.
we have to improve our external border control.
we need to do all this swiftly and we will be implementing this in the next couple of weeks.
just shouting from the sidelines saying that it is all bad and people should simply disappear from our radar screens is not going to provide any solution to this problem.
applause my final remark is this a number of comments were made about the situation in hungary.
i would like to announce to you that this morning the commission sent an administrative letter to the hungarian authorities demanding clarification on a number of issues pertaining to the way they have handled asylum and immigration policies and border control.
last year as you well remember we faced a crisis.
the european union will continue to be a strong reliable and indispensable partner for the un and for all who believe that violence must be met with justice and reconciliation.
our work to prevent and address human rights violations is not only as some of you pointed out a matter of humanity and values.
the european union is mobilising funds to support this mechanism with up to eur.
our military and civilian missions have a very special role to play in this regard because if we want to prevent human rights violations we must also engage with security forces in our partner countries building their capabilities and training them in respect for human rights.
we welcome the commitments made by the federal government of iraq and the kurdistan regional government to investigate swiftly all allegations of crimes committed by the iraqi forces.
justice is the only effective and sustainable response to such violence because impunity generates more hatred and often leads to revenge and more suffering. so justice is for us the only way towards reconciliation and sustainable peace.
i will mention just a few cases where we are currently at work to prevent impunity and achieve justice.
i very much agree with your report's strong focus on prevention and in recent weeks we have worked to set up a better early warning system inside the european external action service which also focuses on crimes against humanity.
our last package in support of the syrian refugees strengthens access to protection from genderbased violence for at least seven hundred zero syrians both inside and outside the country. however beyond prevention we know that war crimes and crimes against humanity are happening today and that we have a duty to address the consequences.
to achieve this goal we are bringing into play a combination of different elements criminal justice reparations truth seeking and institutional reforms.
i am also glad to see that your report does not forget to address a very important element of what we are working on here namely sexual and gender based violence.
this is a key element of our strategy.
beyond syria and iraq last year we led the resolution at the un human rights council to establish a commission of inquiry in burundi and we fully support the african group resolution tabled in geneva last month which created an international investigation mechanism for the kasai region in the democratic republic of congo.
last saturday we marked fifteen years since the rome statute entered into force and for all those fifteen years the european union has promoted the universal ratification of the rome statute.
in iraq as new areas are liberated from daesh it is important to assess any war crimes and violations of human rights.
we kept close contacts with many african states after the gambia south africa and burundi notified their withdrawal from the rome statute and today two of these decisions have been revoked.
they destroy the very fabric of society and they spread fear and mistrust opening wounds that may take decades and a lot of work to heal.
last year alone the european union's aid for the prevention of and response to this kind of violence reached almost.
it is also a matter of interest and strategy for us. crimes against humanity can spark the next war propagate conflict or the next refugee crisis;
in syria we are working for the international impartial and independent mechanism to be fully operational as soon as possible.
the eu must adopt a strong approach on this issue especially at a time of deteriorating human rights conditions and increasing conflicts around the world.
of the many pressing issues covered in this report i would like to highlight the role of women and girls in conflict.
women must play a leading role in conflict prevention and reconciliation and we must never forget the role of victims and survivors in peace building.
their testimonies are hugely important.
i meet and work with women survivors of sexual violence in the western balkans especially in kosovo women who have suffered abuse through the conflict there and who years later are still waiting for recognition support and justice.