kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
you famously said back in two thousand and six that it was only beer and football that held the country together. now i suppose with the trappings of power that has all been forgotten!
firstly in relation to environmental sustainability.
clear price signals are essential to encourage the use of infrastructure in an efficient manner as well as the use of clean vehicles.
i can assure you that she fully appreciates the importance of the issue of road transport and would like to have been able to be here.
i am very pleased to say that the motion for a resolution on road transport in the european union which was tabled by the committee on transport and tourism and which will be voted in plenary tomorrow is an important contribution to the conclusion of these proposals.
it is also essential to improve further the cooperation between the public authorities of member states. one good example is the optimisation of the european register for road undertakings and an it tool which allows exchanging information between member states.
on the contrary drivers' working conditions and road safety should be improved rather than compromised.
thirdly in relation with a fairer and deeper internal market the road initiatives should contribute very significantly to the proper functioning of the road transport market.
distance based charging is also a precondition for external cost charging and this is what is requested by the motion for a resolution on road transport in the european union.
a right balance is necessary between flexibility for drivers and operators to plan international journeys on the one hand and sufficient guarantees that enable drivers to return home on a regular basis and to have access to adequate accommodation when taking weekly rests away from home.
these problems are substantial and they are real.
these relate to fairness and efficiency.
one cannot simply ignore the fact that road transport is by definition a highly mobile activity which requires sector specific rules.
almost all stakeholders have told us that the current rules are too difficult to enforce and that there is a lot of illegal cabotage.
secondly in relation to technological innovation and digitalisation for efficient road charging europe needs interoperability of national systems.
i look forward to discussing the details of our forthcoming proposals when they are adopted.
adequate road charging can provide a decisive contribution to addressing them.
firstly reducing administrative burdens for road hauliers which in certain member states are disproportionate.
adapting the cabotage rules to this end does not however mean opening or closing national freight transport markets.
transport undertakings could fulfil the conditions of a genuine establishment in a given member state and carry out a genuine economic activity in that member state.
the commission wants to ensure that new service providers who wish to provide pan eu services will be able to enter established markets and provide one obe one contract and one invoice to users.
the commission will aim at finding truly european solutions which would combine the necessary protection of workers and at the very same time avoid the fragmentation of the internal market.
at times when enforcement capacities in member states are being reduced it is especially important to have modern and efficient tools available for the controls in respect of our rules.
to this end external cost charging needs to be facilitated made simpler and made more attractive for our member states.
secondly making sure that the more efficient tools available in the sectors such as the tachograph are used to ensure the enforcement of the rules.
these vehicles are responsible for the lion's share of pollutants and co two emissions as well as congestion on our roads.
these concerns are well understood and we agree that enforcement is key in this area as well.
solving this issue will contribute significantly to diminish illegal cabotage and periods when drivers are away from home.
distance based charging ensures that users pay for their actual use of infrastructure with account being taken of the relative share in pollution emitted.
another serious issue is the international nomadism of drivers.
however i would like to urge everyone to keep in mind the actual problems on the ground faced by our transport operators.
of course member states will remain free to decide whether access to any specific infrastructure must be charged for or not but it should not be ignored that distance based charging has clear advantages.
in relation to posting commissioner bulc wants to be very clear. one thing is that drivers operating abroad are often in a posted situation.
finally madam president i would like to highlight one additional issue which i already referred to which is the simplification of the rule on cabotage.
we also need to make better use of tachographs as well as e documents to improve enforcement.
in this context the solution cannot be shorter rests and longer driving times.
let us focus on the facts and try to avoid heated discussions and be prepared to enter a constructive debate.
status quo is clearly not an option. we are encouraged by the consensus emerging around this idea.
on her behalf i want to thank you for the invitation to participate in this preliminary debate on the commission's forthcoming proposals on road transport. we plan to adopt a series of road initiatives on thirty one may as part of a larger mobility package.
road initiatives will contribute to the three main priorities highlighted in your draft resolution.
among the main measures we are contemplating is an extension of the scope of the current legislation by including passenger cars vans and buses.
as you know she has had to return to brussels for a very important meeting relating to the issue of international aviation safety with which i am sure all of you are very familiar.
road charging is one of the most prominent measures to implement the user and polluter pays' principles which are guiding principles of the commission to make road transport clean and sustainable.
who among us can remember a time when we did not have seat belts in our cars?
the second is that i very much hope we will manage to approve the package well in time under this mandate at least to the largest possible extent so that we will make it impossible for individual member states to be coming in all the time with national legislation with different measures which in fact do lead to fragmentation of the internal market.
that is what i understand this package to be and this is how we should see it and we should maintain it as a package.
this is about whether we will be enhancing and fostering the single market or not.
this is a blueprint for us.
we need to ensure the right infrastructure is in place if this is to be successful. in addition to this sustainably produced biofuels will continue to play an important role not only as a means to decarbonise our transport sector but also for economic growth in rural areas.
these proposals are even more ridiculous when one considers the dieselgate scandal when the eu rules were not enforced and went unnoticed for years resulting in an environmental scandal.
as each new rule is implemented the member states' ability to manage this area is reduced and as the rules become stricter so the economic costs increase costs that consumers drivers and passengers will ultimately pay.
remember the scandal of the failed emission trading scheme so beloved by brussels?
by taking further and tighter control over the road transport sector the eu is expanding its reach.
all talk of the improving emission standards rotates around the polluter pays' principle. the tighter the rules the higher the cost.
just to bring you up to date in relation to the business that commissioner bulc has been involved in over the last few hours i can confirm that after this evening's meeting in brussels between the european union and the united states that the european union and the united states will continue to work very closely on aviation security.
this would compromise road safety which would not be acceptable and indeed would be completely out of tune with the commission's policies and commission proposals.
everybody is on the same side in terms of protecting our passengers and hopefully they can reach some practical solutions in the coming weeks.
in relation to the establishment of a european road transport agency which of course is the view of the majority of this house this takes some time.
the commission plans to amend the current rules to make these enforceable within further opening or closing of the market for cabotage.
the commission plans to put the conditions in place for new service providers to provide eu wide tolling services.
i think perhaps in the short term this is an area that we should look at and do more at the level of regional and national governments whilst we are waiting for the implementation of this over arching overall agency that you wish to have. so those are just a few remarks responding to some of the concerns that have been expressed during the course of this debate. i think you will see that the commissioner is very sympathetic
the commission intends to come up with these sector specific rules as part of their own initiatives which will lighten the administrative burden for road hauliers but guarantee workers' rights and respect for drivers.
more fundamentally we are also considering proposing rules that underpin non discrimination of foreign vehicle owners as part of the road initiatives.
this decision follows the adoption last march of amending laws in germany and the commission came to the conclusion that these laws have addressed its concerns by removing discrimination based on nationality.
drivers should be allowed to take some rests in their cabins if they choose to do so but within certain limits to cater for social rights.
some argue that these rules do not provide significant or sufficient flexibility and that they do not guarantee that drivers return to home on a regular basis.
this creates uncertainty for drivers and for hauliers.
the commission plans to modify the current rules to take these concerns into account. existing rules are unclear and interpreted differently across europe about sleeping in cabins. at the moment a few member states prohibit drivers from taking the regular weekly rests in the cabin while others allow it.
on cabotage the current rules which are based on three operations within seven days cannot be enforced.
the commission decided today to close the infringement procedure initiated in june two thousand and fifteen against germany regarding the introduction of a road charge for passenger cars.
for example the daily rest time of at least eleven hours weekly and the rest time of forty five continuous hours for the week.
of course the commission will now continue to monitor the correct implementation of this law and the application of this law is very important.
in relation to the posting of workers the posting directive applies to all economic sectors including transport which means that drivers are posted when being abroad but given the highly mobile nature of the road transport sector there is a need for sector specific rules for the road transport sector.
besides better service to users this will also reduce the cost of tolling and give the possibility for other ancillary services to be provided as well.
this does not mean excluding drivers from the social rules.
this could include for the first time passenger cars which are excluded so far.
i am not going to prejudge what commissioner bulc will say to you on the thirty one may but what i will say is that member states in the meantime can continue with better enforcement regulations or rules if they wish and they do have systems in place that they can enforce better.
this would be clarified also in the legal proposals of the commission.
just to take to speak about the rumours bit of business first which was mentioned by a few people regarding the road initiatives i did state in my opening remarks on behalf of commissioner bulc that it is important to make clear that the rests will not be shorter and that driving time will not be longer in the proposals that would be put forward.
there is another meeting scheduled for next week because of the great importance and urgency of the issues to assess risks and provide practical solutions and approaches to the proposals that were put forward particularly by the united states which would have a very strong impact on citizens and on businesses and on people between the european union and the united states and indeed globally from a point of view of security.
but in any event the commission plans and i want to confirm this to adopt all of the road initiatives on thirty one may as part of the mobility package.
in relation to other matters i agree with most people who recognise that transport is economical it is environmental and social in terms of all its dimensions.
mr president i think it is not just rumours that the commission is pleading for a temporary exclusion for drivers from the posting directive when they perform cabotage.
for me that is a big problem firstly because it wants to get rid of the limits of three operations and stretch this to unlimited operations for a number of days and secondly because under the proposal a driver could be paid lower wages than the minimum wage in the country where he is working because currently
i think that proposal is shameful.
i believe it has a detrimental impact financially on our british small and mediumsized businesses and individual car owners. following the commission's white paper entitled roadmap to a single european transport area' with its view of a sustainable mobility here we are again seeing a onesizefitsall policy
a vision of harmonisation of transport for all member states.
do not misunderstand me.
the safety of road users and the environmental impact of fossil fuels needs to be addressed but the present situation is a knee jerk reaction that many cannot afford or have the facility to accommodate.
however once again i feel this motion put before us pushes the anti vehicle agenda.
yet in the uk the public have completely rejected any attempt to bring back payasyougo road pricing.
i am so glad that the people of the uk have voted to leave the european union and i believe this motion is all about control rather than the individual's choice.
well i didn't refer to that in my speech but obviously we do not support social dumping. the proposals here by the commission and by parliament will address these issues in an equitable manner.
i support equality i support fairness and definitely there are huge opportunities here for us to get a good and better transport system in europe.
the large scale exploitation of slave labour in communist china's prison camps has become an open secret.
the commission is therefore open to revisiting the question of the most effective way to apply pressure on countries that make use of prison labour in violation of fundamental human rights principles and of the conventions of the international labour organisation.
however we have to acknowledge that there are limits to this approach which so far has not produced any notable change in chinese policy as regards laogai.
the commission fully agrees with the european parliament that the laogai system is completely incompatible with universally accepted concepts of human rights as well as china's ambitions to become a modern and developed society.
i can assure you of the commission's fundamental attachment to human rights as well as to the core conventions of the international labour organisation including the one on forced labour.
and article nine which states that no one should be imprisoned without a proper trial.
in this context the european union has underlined that the laogai system violates several articles of the international covenant on civil and political rights and in particular article eight which prohibits forced or compulsory labour
however it is extremely difficult to accurately establish whether and which goods imported from china into the european union have been produced in laogai. in response to previous queries by the european parliament as well as civil society organisations the european union has consistently raised the matter with china in recent years
the maintenance of this system is also wholly incompatible with china's stated commitment to ratify the international covenant on civil and political rights which it signed twelve years ago.
to date the european union has preferred to use an approach of positive engagement with china rather than making use of an import ban.
we also have to recognise that china is not the only country where the issue of prison labour is a matter of concern.
even in these challenging times china and europe are natural partners.
this role also entails responsibilities such as respect for fundamental rights and core labour rights.
unlike the united states the eu does not have a horizontal instrument in place banning the import of goods produced using prison labour.
in the light of this the commission as i mentioned in my introduction is open to considering an effective way of preventing imports of goods made using prison labour and will further pursue this in close dialogue with the european parliament.
it is crucial for the chinese leadership to live up to these challenges.
the commission is ready to study the effectiveness of the united states law in preventing such imports given the difficulty in identifying them.
a policy of engagement and dialogue with china is the best way to move forward to resolve these issues notably in the context of our human rights dialogue or the eu china high level economic and trade dialogue.
it is a fact of course that china does execute thousands of its citizens yearly for various reasons from major capital crimes something we might find understandable to economic sabotage and even pimping.
there is another issue which i raised in the past with commissioner mandelson which is the worry that forced labour camps may be producing goods.
mr president the prospect of being jailed for thought crimes is shocking. unlike most of the people here i can tell you that from personal experience.
the british government has tried to jail me three times under anti free speech laws that state that telling the truth is no defence.
so i am very sympathetic to chinese and especially tibetan dissidents forced into slave labour in communist prison camps.
steps must be taken to prevent the goods they make being allowed to undercut manufacturing and workers in the west.
but if one accepts that items made by forced labour constitute unfair competition it is impossible to avoid the same conclusion about goods made by sweated labour by workers who are not allowed to organise into trade unions in a country where there are no environmental protection costs.
the truth is that all manufactured goods from china constitute unfair competition.
trade with china far from being free costs millions of jobs and destroys our manufacturing base.
mr president before the end of this year the governor of the irish central bank will sell a sovereign bond worth eur five hundred million and then he will immediately destroy that money.
at the time we did it to prevent contagion in the eu banking system.
for the next five years after that we destroy eur one billion per year;
but those times have passed. we in ireland are drowning in debt with our debt to gnp ratio at approximately.
the irish people will immediately start to pay interest on the disappeared eur five hundred million and in twenty four years' time will still have to repay the eur five hundred million to the bondholders. but this is not a once off.
and for the next eight years we destroy eur two billion per year.
for the next five years we destroy eur five hundred million per year;
they were desperate times and desperate measures were called for.
the victims of hs two who have had their lives destroyed have not been awarded adequate compensation.
it will only be supporting a minority at the cost of a majority. what passengers want is an affordable reliable comfortable and efficient rail network system that delivers from south to north and from east to west.
the enormous impact it will have on many constituencies from construction work and subsequent blight will affect hundreds of acres of land.
we already have a network in place but it is desperately in need of improvement and some additional lines are needed in some areas.
there are still unanswered questions on plans and costs yet the project is still moving forward against any public wishes.
i do not want to see our precious environment ruined by this destructive rail line.
so the socialists and democrats are calling for three things first country by country reporting of profit;
secondly a europe wide approach to tackling tax havens; and thirdly the blacklisting of companies who engage in tax fraud and the financial advisors who help them to do it.
but we also need commitment from the rest of the eu from the commission and the council.
tomorrow the commission must indicate that plugging the tax gap will be at the heart of its priorities and member states within the council must listen to the anger of their citizens at the end of this week and work together to overcome national differences and agree on strong joint measures.
tackling tax fiddling could release one trillion euros across europe money we can ill afford to lose.
let us seize this opportunity to stop tax fiddling and back the citizens of europe and the smes who pay their taxes not those transnational companies who do not.
i do not think we are doing enough for young people to encourage them to become entrepreneurs to give them the confidence to know that they too can start a business.
we need to invest in our education system;
we need to ensure that young people's minds are open to the fact that they can be entrepreneurs and that they can have the ability to start their own business even if it is only one or two employees that they may have.
we also need to include suitable modules in our third level sectors and in our colleges and universities to get young people thinking that they too have the possibilities to become entrepreneurs or business starters and employ people as well as themselves in developing our future economies.
mr president i too rise to speak on the issue of luxleaks like my colleague ms dodds and how we should respond to it as a parliament.
luxembourg may well be the worst case but it is far from being the only one.
we must focus on the wider issue of how it is that we have created in europe a system which gives effectively an incentive to every member state to become its neighbour's tax haven and that makes it so easy for multinational companies to evade taxes by shifting profits from one country to another.
the total amount lost to national exchequers by tax evasion and tax avoidance is greater than all the public deficits of national governments in europe added together.
we are also trying to see if we can achieve the same level of cooperation with switzerland and also although it is not so advanced with turkey and armenia.
for the japanese economy it also represents very little.
but they are i believe transitional differences.
so the commission is doing a lot to make life easier for businesses across the continent implementing the internal market. in fact the resistance sometimes comes from the national administrations with for instance gold plating of directives and so on.
customs ensures that food and feed items can only enter the european union market if there is assurance that they are safe for consumption.
i should like to underline here that all the checks carried out up to now by member states of japanese food imports demonstrate negligible levels of radioactivity which are significantly below current european or japanese standards. let me inform you that the commission will propose to the standing committee on the food chain next friday a revision of our norms to align these with the japanese norms.