kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
no one or almost no one is implementing them and no one is ready to finance them.
and this is why i believe it is time to get back to the basics of what made the european project possible and brought us together simple natural things.
the commission is best placed to identify our strengths and weaknesses when planning work. but you should be careful because what you are proposing to eu citizens and member states is that they should believe that brussels knows better and that politicians in brussels are closer to the citizen' interests than an mp from their constituency. it is a difficult job and you will commit to this through policy coordination in.
you know what is needed to encourage investment attract capital and boldly cut bureaucratic expenses.
instead of influencing policies in the world we will be affected by them.
if the message we are sending to our citizens and to the world is not that the eu is a pragmatic association of ideas capital and values we will not become the global player we want to be.
mr president the commission's programme contains some worthy priorities sustaining economic growth preserving and creating jobs improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy sources.
as well as other pro european nationalists from wales catalonia and flanders are contributing to good government in our own countries but our ambition is to play a full part in eu decision making too taking our place as normal independent member states so that we can exercise the full range of governmental powers at home and
motion on behalf of the efdd group.
all parties should engage in good faith in a dialogue to restore the necessary conditions for democratic elections and primarily the government of burundi should reach out to all domestic stakeholders by restoring confidence through concrete measures. the eu supports all efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the political crisis in burundi and especially the work of the east african community
up. it is first and foremost for the government to ensure these conditions are met and to stop the
we are not alone in questioning the credibility of the elections.
this year's legislative and presidential elections were to be a key step in cementing the long term democratic development of burundi.
developments in the last few days have done nothing to ease our concerns.
at this point i would like to pay tribute to the dedication and commitment shown by mr martin and his team during these difficult weeks.
their security and safety is paramount and it is essential the situation does not spin out of control. these concerns also encompass the regional aspect.
met. unfortunately our assessment was that these conditions were not in place.
we cannot ignore the fact that the third term issue is at the origin and the centre of the crisis and we continue to urge all including the president to put the higher interests of the country first. in order to preserve the best chances for the election to succeed there is a need for a broad consensus on the issue. the idea of the electoral observation mission and of our financial support to the elections was to contribute to an inclusive transparent peaceful credible and fair process that will give confidence to the political actors and electorate and would ensure acceptance of the outcome.
we have supported the east african community's call for a postponement of the elections and we take note that earlier today a presidential decree was signed fixing a new calendar for the elections.
last month. in the current climate the commission has to plan for all possible scenarios and of course to consider the adoption of possible additional measures including those related to eu development cooperation with burundi. but in all these considerations we need to give attention to the impact which different measures could have on the extremely poor
that can only be done with consistent and continuous attention to the needs and aspirations of citizens not least their human rights and fundamental freedoms. since the last debate in this house there have been a number of developments which unfortunately give rise to considerable concern on the part of the eu.
if domestic stakeholders agree on acceptable conditions for holding the elections then we are ready to redeploy the actual observation mission and support the process.
credible. it is therefore vital now that the east african community's conclusions should be followed up with concrete action. this includes a cessation of violence by all parties and the disarming of youth
i would like to turn now to the political situation and to our reaction.
elements. we must keep this in mind but at the same time we need to leave space for burundians with their regional and african partners to find viable solutions to be current
as commissioner mimica said when he addressed this house in april it is important for burundians to know that they have champions in the outside world supporting their ambitions to achieve long term democracy and resilience.
the african union and the east african community are also refraining from sending an electoral observation mission at the moment. but this is not the end of the story.
but this timetable will not be relevant unless it is accompanied by urgent and serious efforts to build consensus and to take all the steps needed to make the elections
you already know that the decision of the ruling party to nominate president nkurunziza as a presidential candidate promoted a serious division across society and across politics. the situation deteriorated rapidly with the attempted coup on thirteen may.
additional humanitarian aid is being considered to cater for the specific needs of refugees hosted in tanzania including health assistance to stop the possible surge of diseases and epidemics notably cholera.
may. i would like to take up some of the conclusions of that summit because they are important to our approach in the weeks
in particular we noted continuing restrictions on independent media and freedom of expression and assembly excessive use of force against demonstrators a climate of intimidation for opposition parties and civil society and a lack of confidence in the election authorities.
this remains our objective but to reach that objective some minimal conditions needed to be
he has our full confidence and it is important that all forces support his efforts. on five june the spokesperson of high representative vice president mogherini issued a statement calling on all parties in the dialogue to work with mr djinnit and with the envoys of the african union and the east african community in order to find a consensus on the road ahead. this is the message we are giving out locally as well as internationally.
for this reason we suspended the electoral observation mission and indeed our financial support for the elections.
that is why high representative vice president mogherini decided to deploy an eu election observation mission led by the chief observer david martin mep.
this is the overarching principle we all need to follow.
as high representative vice president mogherini said in her statement following the events of thirteen may our first thoughts must be with the citizens of the country.
this means we now need to concentrate on getting those conditions in place.
militias. conditions proposed by the eac to ensure safety and respect for fundamental freedoms need to be followed
last week the catholic church decided to withdraw from the process and two members of the election commission resigned.
the international conference on the great lakes region and the african
violence. obviously the eu will need to review its options in the longer term but i want to stress the delicacy of the current moment. delivering successful elections will not be an easy task. all burundi's partners need to support african efforts led by the eac and the au and focus their efforts on calming the political
indeed we deplore any act of political violence.
so the conditions for credible elections do not look good;
were seriously considered so i welcome the fact that we are fully engaged in the country.
and the consequence of his attempt to achieve a third term has been violence on the streets not by the demonstrators but by government backed militias the imbonerakure who have tried to put down these peaceful demonstrations and forced demonstrators off the streets.
so any assistance we can give is very welcome.
a third thing that needs to happen and the commissioner mentioned this is we need to make sure that the media is reopened.
can i also thank the commissioner for his kind comments on my role as the chief observer and reciprocate by saying that while in burundi i was very impressed by the level of engagement of both the external action service and the commission in trying to find constructive solutions to the very serious problems that burundi faces. while i was there article eight discussions took place and article ninety six actions
if they do restore conditions for credible elections i would recommend we go back to burundi but at the present time it is not possible for the european union to observe these elections.
they need to be restored.
when they are still going through some hardship themselves? do you think that would be greeted with universal joy by the taxpayers of europe?
we have got a commissioner here.
i will ask the anti trafficking coordinator to liaise closely with the european parliament and to keep you informed on these developments. the criminalisation issue merits a debate in itself but it is stated in article nineteen of the directive that the commission will in some years submit a report to the european parliament and the council assessing the impact of existing national law criminalising the users of services which are the objects of
their stories are of course horrible.
this is indeed a good christmas present.
there are other examples as well.
i think we can be satisfied with the agreement that we have today.
i have met some of these victims children men and many women in the sexual slavery business.
today when this directive is adopted we will have a better tool to help them.
it should be punished accordingly and it is now defined in the same way in all member states.
this is the first eu criminal law instrument after the entry into force of the lisbon treaty.
the next major step should be to explore the crystal clear relationship and connection between trafficking in women and prostitution.
on the other hand we talk about prostitution as sex work' as a service. we talk about pimps and brothel keepers as entrepreneurs and we normalise prostitution.
human beings disproportionately women are treated as though they were commodities even livestock to be transported used and often abused.
they migrate for economic enrichment or because economic forces have removed their means of maintaining their livelihoods.
migration is the by product of global capitalism that sees people not as human beings but as factors of production that are expendable.
economic migration is as much a form of human trafficking as illicit migration organised by criminal networks.
the human traffickers are the governments that quite deliberately unleash supposedly blind economic forces in the service of global capitalism.
we should be proud of the historic step that has been taken today both on human trafficking and indeed on the european protection order.
finally the complexity of this cause in relation to children and women because we were moving into criminal law should not have been a reason to stop a very good report.
we are very proud in our group that this has happened across the house.
it is a very proud day for the whole parliament.
this is the reason for intensified actions and adequate measures to protect individuals from the practice of trafficking for different purposes to prosecute traffickers and to provide effective remedies for victims at national and eu level.
the current legal framework will effectively deal with complex transnational problems and will coordinate joint efforts at both national and eu level when addressing this profound human rights abuse and a particular form of violence against women.
by means of this legal instrument we make a joint commitment to ensure that women's rights across europe are elevated to a priority level taking into consideration that this wider phenomenon indisputably has a disproportionate impact on women and girls.
i would like to point out another important issue which i propose should be included in this piece of legislation.
it relates to the socio economic aspects of this widespread problem with european countries or regions where social and economic inequalities are the most important single cause of trafficking.
thanks to our joint efforts we have achieved a positive outcome in the provision on the issue related to practices such as illegal adoption. in conclusion i would strongly highlight that the primary responsibility for combating trafficking rests with the member states.
they should take concrete actions to prevent and suppress trafficking and to protect the human rights of trafficked persons and should play a greater role in addressing this significant problem.
we owe it to these children the communities in these countries and ourselves to leverage all our power to achieve step change in this crucial area.
mr president it is totally unacceptable that more than one hundred and seventy million children under five are undernourished or have stunted growth and fifty five million children suffer from severe malnutrition.
these numbers should be a wake up call for us not only to seriously step up coordination of humanitarian and development aid but also to look at the broader picture and address the root causes of this unacceptable suffering like drought caused by climate change and political disruptions.
mr president of course i too celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the un convention on the rights of the child and i condemn absolutely without any reservations whatsoever the horrific things going on in the world like child malnutrition child soldiers child suicide bombers forced child marriages and trafficking and the issue of female genital mutilation which may even still be occurring in the city of
this means that the uk government is effectively jeopardising the allocation of eur nine hundred and nine million in funds to my region the west midlands which could be used to deliver growth in our towns and cities.
mr president i voted in favour of this motion for a resolution because delays in the programming for cohesion policies mean that in england european structural investment fund programmes might not be approved this year.
one of the key reasons is that the uk government has crucially failed to provide the vehicles responsible for implementing the funds with the appropriate delegated powers.
partners are ready and willing to act but it appears that the crucial obstacle is the uk government's continued reluctance to delegate the most minimal of powers to get these programmes agreed with the commission.
this cannot be achieved unless the commission takes stronger action to curb the commercial dominance of google in european search engines.
not only are we missing out on eur two hundred and sixty billion in efficiency gains for each year the digital divide is left gaping money that could be well used to sustain our recovery from the economic crisis but completion of the digital single market would also allow us to put europe firmly on the path of innovation
job creation competitiveness and growth.
a successful digital single market is based on competitive conditions that allow all consumers internet users and online businesses to benefit instead of one single company.
this motion is badly timed badly conceived and badly drafted.
his views are out of step with europe.
nonetheless he is entitled as anyone else to the presumption of innocence.
an investigation has just been launched and has not concluded.
it is not a crime to cut your taxes and the solution to a country having lower taxes than yours is not to try and legislate to export your costs to them it is to cut your own taxes.
i was unusual i think only in being open in voting against him; you could not find anyone who was privately in favour of him.
i was not able to support it because of all the reasons that i could give for wanting to get rid of mr juncker the fact that he presided over a low tax regime is not one of them unless he has been found to have done something illegal.
over gbp four hundred million in eu funding for the south east of england risks being delayed if operational programmes are not formally adopted in time.
procedures must be followed but there should also be some flexibility in this.
that way local authorities can begin to apply to get vital projects funded and up and running as soon as possible.
i want to send a very clear message to the commission and the national governments that they must get their acts together.
that means local projects to create local jobs train young people and improve infrastructure all at risk of being put on hold. the commission must do all it can to speed up this process to enable those projects to begin on time;
they should make sure that implementation can begin as soon as they agree in principle to the programmes.
mr president i voted in favour of the cohesion funding resolution because my home region the north east of england benefits from millions of pounds in european funding which goes to support projects across the region.
my constituency is caught in the centre of this and i strongly support the resolution's call for the commission and national governments to show responsibility in resolving this situation as quickly as possible.
the current delay in agreeing england's regional operational programme is jeopardising that crucial investment and i believe that the uk government is endangering the funds.
not only did the government unilaterally abolish the established and respected regional development agencies but to add insult to injury they have not done enough to ensure that the replacement local economic partnerships are adequately resourced or accountable.
these projects have created and continue to create jobs improve our skills base and grow our regional economy.
mr president i wholeheartedly support this motion for a resolution because i fully agree that children's rights should be at the heart of eu policies.
the awful news of child neglect abuse trafficking and exploitation that reaches us on a daily basis demonstrates the urgent need for additional measures to protect our children.
all children whatever their social or ethnic background should receive the highest level of education and care and protection of migrant children in particular has to be scaled up because this is one of the most vulnerable groups that is suffering from the inadequate migration laws and too often falling through the gaps in existing policies.
mr president the whole cohesion project must be reckoned one of the most measurable failures since its introduction under the maastricht treaty.
the idea was to level the poorer areas up by spending more money in them.
the truth is that if you tax wealthy countries in order to pay poor countries you end up with fewer wealthy countries and more poor countries.
whole states just as individuals can become dependent on subsidy.
perverse incentives lead them to construct their affairs around the receipt of the grants.
we have heard from some of my british colleagues about how important it is to get money for projects in the uk. but of course not only are we net contributors in the uk so that they are seeing and counting only the gains rather than the tax;
these are not projects that create jobs;
these are jobs primarily designed to advertise and aggrandise the european union rather than to stimulate local growth.
if you really want to help the stricken areas of europe we should be doing the opposite of cohesion.
we should be encouraging diversity pluralism and specifically allowing them to leave the euro price themselves back into the market and export their way back to growth.
i strongly doubt that it was the interests of our citizens which guided the instigators of this motion for resolution in the first place.
has he any plans to reduce interest rates in the immediate future and if not why not?
the final question concerns suggestions that there was political interference from the ecb in forcing the irish government to give the disastrous blanket bank guarantee in two thousand and eight which has meant that the irish taxpayer has picked up forty two of the debt of the banks.
thirdly there is a lot of speculation that while one sector of society is suffering another sector which has money is actually saving money despite the low interest rates. does he believe that this is true and what can be done to encourage those who are saving to spend in the real economy which is absolutely vital?
the banking union is essential to reverse this process of financial fragmentation and thus to boost the flow of credit in order to enable economic recovery in europe.
you may ask why this goal is so important.
the ecb has demonstrated its ability to react decisively during the crisis. within its mandate the ecb has played an active and important role and contributed to stabilising financial market conditions and reducing sovereign risk premiums.
it is obvious that the banking union will not be built and completed overnight but we must now create a clearly defined perspective for the banking union and its elements with a correspondingly clear and specific timeline in order to move forward and achieve this essential objective for the economic stability and future of europe.
accordingly the commission believes that the timeline for establishing a banking union should be as short as possible.
to safeguard the singleness of monetary policy and to ensure an effective transmission of the ecb's policy intentions to the broad economy in august the governing council announced its readiness to undertake outright monetary transactions
in the same vein reform contracts in which member states commit to concrete reforms with specific timelines would also facilitate the recovery of competitiveness.
let me say a few words about the outlook for european monetary union.
in the meantime the directive on bank recovery and resolution will hopefully be adopted and will provide for a coherent eu wide set of rules.
and to foster conditions of steady growth for their economies.
it is of key importance that the existing legislation is applied forcefully during the ongoing european semester this represents a true test of the credibility of the european monetary union's governance framework.
this is fully reflected in long term inflation expectations which have remained firmly anchored in line with our price stability objective of below but close to two two thousand and eleven and two.
it calls for greater determination in further addressing rigidities in wage setting and increasing competition in many segments of the economy.
two thousand and fourteen equally important is the swift setting up of a single resolution mechanism the srm a necessary complement to the ssm and a key element of banking union.
this will allow me to cover several issues highlighted in the draft resolution.
this is a sign that a genuine structural correction is taking place and resources are being moved from the non tradable sector to the production of traded goods.
fiscal and economic policies were not sufficiently geared towards the conditions of being a member of a single currency zone.
although i have had many opportunities to discuss the ecb's policies during my regular hearings before the committee on economic and monetary affairs today is an opportunity to take a broad view on recent economic developments and monetary policy decisions as well as to discuss the adjustment in the euro area
when changes in policy rates are not appropriately transmitted to the real economy this is a matter of concern.
the latter adjustment has been much more limited so far.
it is of utmost importance that the legislation on the single supervision mechanism is finalised before the summer break now that a political agreement has been found.