kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
and if it is to be strasbourg then let those who want further integration understand.
for others it is a symbol of franco german collaboration.
in eliminating just one trip to strasbourg in two thousand and twelve we succeeded in completing our parliamentary business without any disruption. in fact we carried out the two sessions in one week very effectively. if we are to interpret the court of justice opinion on our visits to strasbourg as requiring twelve monthly visits of the same length then presumably this year we will be forced to visit in august.
this interpretation is absurd as are the strasbourg sessions themselves and it is time that the council and commission now take up our mandate to allow the european parliament a single seat.
mr president the severity of the eurozone crisis means that we must all look to options to restoring stability including eurobonds although as this report states they are not the miracle cure.
i believe that it goes too far by calling for fiscal own resources as well as common eu debt.
the report also states that the refusal of a federal solution has a cost.
i say the cost of accepting federal solutions is even greater.
there can be no question in our mind that the single currency was a step towards a federal superstate.
these countries should think carefully about whether a far reaching economic and political union is what they really want.
anybody who thinks i am impartial on this subject cannot have been round for the last five years.
but i think the exchanges show the need for a debate in this house on this subject.
but they got it absolutely right when it came to government debt and the rating of government debt and in fact quite often the credit rating agencies were simply following what the markets were saying anyway about that particular government's debt.
all we are doing in this case is really shooting the messenger rather than tackling the fundamental problems of debt.
five years after the financial crisis we have not tackled the fundamental problems.
it is time we made sure that explicitly there are no more taxpayer bail outs of failing banks and that banks have an orderly wind down procedure to make sure taxpayers do not pay for it; that directors are liable or more responsible for failing banks and pay the price and finally that accounting standards are sorted out to stop banks and others booking profits up front but not booking losses until they are actually made.
i think that it is important that the cohesion policy supports the new eu energy priorities in regions.
it is also my opinion that such energy projects would greatly contribute to regional development and to the creation of more jobs.
in this respect it is important that more investment goes not just to the centralised energy sources but also to other forms of energy efficiency and energy infrastructure.
mr president it is hard to improve on what my colleague martin callanan said on this issue that seeking to address the debt crisis by regulating the credit rating agencies is like seeking to improve the weather by regulating the weather forecasters.
you do not improve the underlying problem by tackling the way it is reported.
but what particularly strikes me today is the timing of this report because if i heard him correctly the president of the commission yesterday assured us that the debt crisis was over the existential threat as he put it to the euro has been lifted and we could all look forward to a period of prolonged growth.
the president of the council said the same thing.
could it be that we still suspect that the underlying debt crisis is in place and untackled?
that is europe's tragedy that the euro far from breaking apart will remain in place condemning its people to poverty immiseration and emigration.
this modest proposal slightly to reduce the amount of travel between the two seats of this parliament was thrown out by two to one.
let me remind colleagues of one of the lines in the us declaration of independence.
the american patriots laid as a grievance against george iii the fact that he had called legislatures to meet in places unusual uncomfortable and distant'.
that was seen as a cause for separation as i suspect a lot of our constituents and people in different countries will see this extraordinary waste this duplication of this monthly peregrination.
but what is absolutely unjustifiable at a time of austerity is to be pouring away hundreds of millions of euros on the trip in between.
after the vote my colleague sitting next to me on this side said very loudly in french the english have arrived late and now they want to change things'.
mr president i voted for this report considering that an increase of two percentage points in the government debt to gdp ratio in the eurozone in only one year is a warning that we should concentrate on credible long term strategies for budgetary consolidation.
however member states are not all in the same situation; they have particular economic and social conditions.
therefore i call on the commission to facilitate the implementation of differentiated fiscal strategies adapted to the particular microfinancial risk of each country.
i commend in particular the fact that regulated financial institutions are encouraged to develop their own rating capacities while being required not to sell assets automatically in the event of a downgrade of their creditworthiness by an external credit rating agency.
off. so how can you then come down like this when you're throwing money around at a government that may be corrupt?
then the whole point conflict of interest. well i understand it in business terms but i can give you some more conflicts of interest that eu money is often used in and it doesn't get investigated.
you then find out because there's such a huge amount and it always would be the case with such a huge state with such huge money that sometimes it goes in directions you don't like. sometimes it breaks the rules.
you have a superpowered commissioner a powerful accountant a real superman of accountants who's going to rip open a nation state's books to check through them.
if you can pay someone and you allow them to go forward to spread your propaganda you think that's okay. but if you're paying someone randomly millions like this and then they do things with it in a way that most likely does seem unethical you then want to clamp down with superaccountant. it is hypocrisy. the truth is that when you have such a massive amount of money slushing around even the greatest of organisations
which maybe this might one day be cannot possibly run it effectively efficiently without corruption.
it boggles the mind as to what might happen for example if we had a remain' uk.
you can't even get your own accounts signed
what about the conflict of interest of british political figures who've made money employed legally working within the commission and other things?
you soak up billions of pounds or eurosworth of taxpayers' money into the centre you then take that money and politically motivated redirect it into projects in countries you think it should be redistributed to.
you decide what to do to the czechs.
it's nightmarish to think a nation state could be in this situation and to think that a supranational governance like you could throw money like this millions upon millions into something that you then afterwards realise might well be going to friends and family and being completely misused.
mr draghi's membership of the g thirty is beyond inappropriate.
there is no system in place to ensure an ethically appropriate level of distance between the ecb decision making and supervisory processes and their friends in the g thirty bankers' club.
the ecb is charged with directly supervising many of the financial institutions that are represented in the g thirty including goldman sachs jp morgan and many more.
the ecb appears to believe that it is beyond the basic norms of public scrutiny accountability and transparency and it faces no consequences for its outright rejection of the ombudsman's report. so this parliament needs to address this situation as a matter of utmost urgency.
as an example and i want to commend ombudsman o'reilly for insisting that ecb president mario draghi resign his membership of the secret bankers' club the g thirty the outcome of the process of investigating and reporting has been that nothing has changed.
lastly transition may affect most those who can afford it least those who can't invest in energy efficiency or low carbon solutions.
just like in the digital transition some jobs will disappear others will be created and many jobs will change.
also therefore we are putting a premium on investment.
we can anticipate skills needs and help workers change jobs by funding retraining and upskilling from the european social
we need to decisively tackle climate change and there are more benefits besides those clearly related to environment and health. already today the transformation is creating growth green growth.
social fairness should be part of all our climate policies right from the start.
we should not think about corrective actions post factum in order to remedy the consequences.
and with the european pillar of social rights we direct policy attention to support for individual transition through investing in skills and lifelong learning and upskilling and re skilling but also through investment and adequate social protection.
it should be seen not as a pet project of the elites.
katowice is a city in poland's region of silesia one of europe's most coal intensive regions and as such silesia perfectly illustrates the social economic challenges but also opportunities of transition to a lowcarbon economy.
these challenges might not be equally distributed between regions sectors and between people. emission heavy industries need to rethink their industrial processes and if they don't there are job losses social exclusion and depopulation in the region.
the success of the transition to the low carbon economy depends on the support of our citizens;
this is why cop twenty four started last week by signing the silesia declaration on solidarity and just transition a declaration endorsed by the european union as a whole and twenty eu member states individually a declaration which stresses that environmental and social developments must go
but change will come with its challenges and costs.
our policy should be progressive and should not punish the poorest. to avoid polarisation to avoid inequality we must base our policies on solidarity.
instead we should include social and fairness considerations at the outset from the moment we design our policy responses.
and we base our approach on partnership.
our proposal for the new mff has a strong focus on investment and innovation with programmes such as horizon europe the invest europe fund the european regional and development fund and the dedicated modernisation and innovation funds under the eu emissions trading system.
workers in declining sectors need guidance and re skilling and we have to realise that some people won't be able to upskill or re skill they need social protection and that means adequate social protection.
term. the paris agreement is good for the planet and for the people but it can only be made a reality and a success with the people on board.
by empowering citizens by taking action in industrial policy finance and research and by ensuring social fairness.
the report also touches upon a number of other important issues for which the views of parliament and the commission largely converge.
citizens often turn to the committee as a last resort because they feel that they have exhausted all other avenues and we both the commission and the parliament can demonstrate that we listen to their concerns and take them seriously by offering proper responses and where possible showing them existing solutions at european or national level.
however it has to respect the necessary confidentiality with regard to the member state concerned as recognised by the court of justice.
unmet expectations can lead to frustration and the argument that the eu is simply not up to the task.
here i am therefore pleased to reaffirm the commitment of the commission to continue our good collaboration and to bring forward the eu added value in the resolutions of petitioners' concerns.
to allow us to deliver on our policy priorities. we will give priority to pursuing the most important breaches of eu law affecting the interests of citizens and businesses.
in return the six hundred and seventy replies that the commission sent back to the parliament in two thousand and seventeen testify to our engagement to support the critical work of the committee which the commission takes very seriously. all commission replies are prepared with care and are widely consulted upon among its services.
this will allow us to act firmly and quickly when infringements obstruct the key eu policy objectives and to ensure timely handling of infringement procedures.
two thousand and seventeen like its predecessors in previous years the report gives evidence of the wide range of issues that petitioners bring to peti's attention each year and of the committee's efforts to ensure that the voices of those petitioners are really heard.
as the commission stated in its two thousand and sixteen communication national courts are the common courts for upholding eu law and contribute effectively to enforcing it in individual cases.
it is our collective duty to inform citizens of the possibilities and limitations of eu law in order to stem unfair accusations that the eu doesn't want to listen and or is unfit to act.
these often lengthy procedures are conducted between the commission and a member state and are not designed to provide for individual cases.
according to the treaties where citizens' rights under eu law are affected at national level they must have access to rapid and effective national redress mechanisms.
while this is understandable though lamentable it is impossible to answer citizens' calls that go beyond our competences and eu law.
appropriately ranked officials with expert knowledge of the issues discussed participate in the committee's meetings with the aim of providing the most meaningful and up to date information in a timely manner.
the main objective of infringement procedures is to ensure that member states give effect to eu law.
the report calls on the commission to make proper use of its powers stemming from its role as guardian of the treaties and for a timely handling of infringement procedures. the commission's new enforcement policy sets out a more strategic effective and proportionate approach to infringement policy
one key development is that we will launch infringement procedures without relying on the eu pilot mechanism unless recourse to this mechanism is seen as useful in a given case.
more generally the commission proactively disseminates information on infringements and publishes it on the centralised platform of the europa website.
the commission shares parliament's view that the right to petition is both a fundamental right of all eu citizens and a key element of participatory democracy allowing for citizens' active engagement in the fields of eu action.
as for informing the parliament about ongoing eu pilot investigations and infringement procedures related to petitions the commission strives to give as much information as possible in its written replies to parliament.
this is a concrete example of how we can collaborate to bolster citizens' confidence and trust in the european project. however we should also recognise that there are often cases where the expectations of citizens supersede the powers of the eu.
first of all these digital businesses are allowed to provide services in the country without any physical presence.
third the value in those services is created because of the users' use of respective digital internet networks. so these are the three characteristics that distinguish digital services from the traditional services.
the countries will be able to define the revenues that accrue to that country and these revenues will be taxed as regular corporate taxes.
in this situation even though we are all and the european commission of course as well interested in developing a common global solution and are prepared to work in the framework of the oecd to achieve such a solution because the prospects for getting this
however the emergence of the digital market and digital services poses important challenges to this traditional model of taxation because it turns out that digital companies can provide digital services actually with very little or no physical presence in the country of destination.
companies were physically present in individual countries and that was the reason for them to pay taxes.
mr president ladies and gentlemen the package we are discussing today aims at filling an important gap that exists in the taxation system of the european union and especially in the member states namely a large proportion of revenues produced by internet companies digital companies are not taxed where the value is created.
as a result the commission proposes that instead of using a physical presence there should be a definition of a significant digital presence which is defined in the draft directive by three criteria which are well explained in the document and on the basis of these three criteria
secondly they rely heavily on intangible assets such as user data.
nine two billion as a minimum acceptable amount consistent with the programme's needs and ambitions.
in fact if we listen carefully to the request we see this is not really a request for postponement because the reasoning is against the agreement as it is.
even if we vote differently on specific amendments it's my hope that the whole house will be able to give support to this report in the final vote.
on this sensitive file from all political groups.
i have the impression that some of my colleagues would like to take over the role of legislative committees.
mr president i would like to start by saying that the right to submit a petition offers eu citizens the means to address their directly elected representatives.
as a committee we raised important questions to plenary by means of oral questions and resolutions.
in my opinion our committee has an important role in raising awareness through a debate ensuring public participation and cooperation with member states and within the house through the petitions network that was launched last year.
the committee organises fact finding visits and hearings commissions studies gives opinions to legislative committees is a member of the european network of ombudsmen and had a role in revising the regulation on the european citizens' initiative.
the subjects raised in the petitions of two thousand and seventeen pertain mostly to environmental matters fundamental rights free movement of people child welfare and social affairs. our work is not limited to the handling of petitions.
here i would like to firmly state that we should stick to our mandate as a committee.
last but not least i would like to underline the importance of communication and social media presence on topics that we are dealing with and the difference between our committee and other services such as solvit so that our citizens and their enterprises can properly address the alleged breaches of european union law.
the guide is now being used by the commission in its training for new staff and i want to thank the commission for its support.
my work naturally requires me to highlight administrative issues which need attention but i also witness all of the good work of eu officials and their willingness to learn and evolve following my recommendations and suggestions.
saw an increase in overall complaints to my office.
in two thousand and seventeen i hosted an event on eu agencies how to manage the risk of reputational damage with the directors of efsa and echa.
and our ongoing work with the un convention on the rights of people with disabilities.
two thousand and eighteen while we have introduced new efficiencies my office will in the near future require a modest increase in budget to hire more case handlers so that the expectations of our complainants can be met.
in an inquiry opened in two thousand and seventeen i therefore called on the council to improve the recording and publication of legislative documents so that citizens and indeed national parliaments can be better informed and hold their national governments to account.
our inquiry into how the european medicines agency handles meetings with the pharmaceutical industry and before they submit applications for drug authorisations;
the draft toom leinen report states that greater openness on the positions taken by national governments may serve to alleviate the blame brussels' phenomenon which distorts the reality of how eu legislation is agreed fomenting euro scepticism and anti eu sentiment'.
as your report on my activities recognises further examples of issues we have worked on in two thousand and seventeen include our inquiry with the eeas to stop unpaid internships.
when so many standards and democratic norms are under pressure and are being actively undermined in many parts of the world it is now more important than ever for the eu to continue to shine as an example of good administration.
the overall award went to dg sante for its promotion of eu collaboration in helping millions of europeans suffering from rare diseases.
the annual event brings together over ninety european national and regional ombudsmen to share good practice and to have the opportunity personally to interact with meps and with commission officials at the heart of the eu itself.
our thoughts are with them and their families tonight and also with all the members of the army police and emergency services who so often put their own lives on the line to protect ours.
the eu administration has some of the highest standards of administration in the world but as a comparatively young system the eu also faces challenges which makes it vital for its institutions bodies and agencies to be as accountable and transparent about their decisions as possible.
i also very much welcome the presence of commissioner jourov at this debate.
as in previous years accountability and transparency related inquiries have accounted for the highest percentage of my office's work.
let me of course first express my deep condolences to the families of those killed last night in strasbourg and send my best wishes to those who were injured.
for example while the parliament is proactively transparent in its legislative work the council of the eu falls short of the appropriate requirements of transparency and participatory democracy that the treaties demand.
over the last five years i've been able to do so only because of the engagement and cross party support of this house.
thank you also to dg safe and the staff of this parliament for their work in alerting us last night and for protecting our security.
a few weeks ago i launched the two thousand and eighteen awards which will be presented in spring two thousand and nineteen and i look forward to even more entries so that best practice can be shared and citizens can be made more aware of the positive impact of the eu administration on their daily lives. last march i hosted our annual european network of ombudsmen conference in brussels with the topic future of the eu ensuring an inclusive and fair society for citizens'.
the challenge that public administrations face in a time of widespread disinformation is also an issue that my office has touched on.
and thank you the members of parliament for supporting my office in its efforts to maintain the high standards of public administration in the eu.
this is a good example of parliament's ability to find common ground and work together when it comes to supporting my work and the accountability of the eu system.
this was supported by the budget committee and this means that the eu is now an example around the world as it now pays its trainees;
these agencies are vital in the protection of our health and it is important that the important factual messages they send out have widespread acceptance.