kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
this massive exposure explains the vicious austerity applied by the commission and the european central bank to working people in the peripheral economies.
i understand that german banks are exposed to greece ireland portugal and spain the so called pigs' to the tune of eur four hundred billion.
on the restructuring of the banking sector surely the most fundamental lesson that has to be drawn from the experience of the last number of years and the major crisis is that the major financial institutions and banks cannot be left in private hands.
surely this is a very likely development given the incredible level of debts that have been loaded onto economies that are simply unable to pay.
irrespective of a potential cut in the interest rate and our so called bail out this is unsustainable and the irish state will default.
mr president the most fundamental weakness of the proposed stress tests has now been referred to.
french banks are exposed to the tune of eur two hundred and sixty billion and british banks eur three hundred billion.
it is my understanding that the stress tests will assume that the funding needs of the banks remain stable.
the pursuit of profit by these private institutions has played a significant role in wrecking our economies for which working people have paid a terrible price.
such a course of events requires the south african government first to conduct an independent investigation into the killings but also to reform the labour dispute mechanisms to meet the workers' expectations of social justice.
the european union in turn will be able to help battle economic inequality by establishing minimum social labour safety and environmental standards on imported products.
i believe president zuma and his government have acted accordingly and have got it right.
i think it jumps to a conclusion on what the judicial inquiry is undertaking and it is an emotive and subjective view.
i think it jumps to conclusions;
i condemn without hesitation and unequivocally the unwarranted killing of the thirty four miners.
we must await the outcome of the judicial inquiry but more importantly we must remove the root causes of this tragedy and the unrest. they are socio economic causes and they must be dealt with.
before the killings took place there were murders and attacks on police and security staff and other mine workers and therefore we must be careful before jumping to conclusions.
mr president as has been said this is an appalling tragedy thirty four killed and ten prior to that including police officers but i think it is a symptom of how difficult it is to make the transition from a culture of violence to a democratic
the evidence suggests that this massacre was premeditated.
workers were engaged in a justified strike for higher wages and for better working conditions.
this former leading member of the num still a leading member of the anc sits on lonmin's board and is a major shareholder. earlier this year he bid zar. nineteen five million for a prize buffalo whereas the average south african earns around zar twenty six zero per year. while a tiny elite have enriched themselves grinding poverty and exploitation continue for the mass of black south africans.
there is nothing complicated here whatsoever.
they were mown down by the police some of them shot in the back while running away with the police acting as private security guards for the mines.
have followed the dramatic events.
we express our condolences for the lives lost.
we welcome the appointment by president zuma of a full judicial commission of inquiry into the incident and of an interministerial committee to deal with the aftermath of the marikana killings.
ms ashton also told our south african partners that the eu would be following with keen interest and attention its proceedings and findings.
the commission established by president zuma will be chaired by a retired judge of the supreme court of appeal a positive sign of its independence.
it would be wrong to speculate and to try to anticipate the findings of the judicial commission but clearly it is important in our view to examine the root causes as well as the precise circumstances of these events.
mr president it is almost two decades now since the end of apartheid and the first democratic elections in south africa and that country has made great strides. as africa's largest economy it has benefited from the huge rise in demand for commodities and minerals particularly gold.
however the recent massacre of miners by south african police reflects the country's inherent instability.
the police force is sadly bereft of adequate training equipment and non lethal crowd control methods such as water cannon.
there should be a full investigation now with no impunity for the perpetrators.
i extend on behalf of my group the ecr sympathy to the relatives of those who died and also to those survivors and witnesses who were scandalously later charged with murder.
thankfully the government has now backed down on this.
but julius malema the former youth leader of the anc is exploiting this terrible tragedy to whip up anti government sentiment with his incendiary and violent rhetoric.
he is a great threat to the fledgling democracy of south africa and therefore the stability of the entire region.
it should also be noted that article three hundred and nineteen of the tfeu gives the council and parliament the same mutual access to inter alia their accounts their financial statements and their replies to the observations of the court of auditors.
remains on the table.
more concretely the council suggested replacing the current arrangement of non intervention between parliament and the council with an arrangement which ensures transparency and full accountability on a reciprocal basis between the two institutions.
you are aware that the council has made concrete proposals in the past.
we have even invited parliament in the past to appoint a formal delegation to discuss how we can resolve this issue. so far parliament has chosen not to respond and yet the proposal let me stress once again remains on the table. i would like to be very clear that the council
neither council nor parliament can be exempt from this. that is why the council in its proposal to which i have just referred considers that there should be a mutual exchange of information between parliament and the council. our view is that any permanent solution
of course all relevant information on the financial management of the institutions has to be available for scrutiny.
does of course not contest that parliament is the discharge authority acting on a recommendation from the council but it really is clear that the commission is the only legitimate institution to which discharge is granted in relation
i would like to begin by underlining that the annual report of the court of auditors shows that no errors were found in relation to the council's and european council's expenditure in section ii of the two thousand and eleven eu budget.
i would like to state that as in previous years the council has a sincere wish to find a lasting solution which would be acceptable to both parliament and the council.
these remain on the table.
we call them spanish practices.
of course any agreement for scrutiny of another institution should be mutual.
i told my constituents in the west midlands the industrial heartland of the united kingdom about this. i am not sure that they actually believed me.
why are you so afraid of democratic scrutiny?
a democratically elected parliament!
i see that the council is not changing position.
that is something which is not bearable.
we have always opposed that.
mr president i shall try to be briefer than the previous speaker. my group proposes to adopt the budget as agreed by the council. it offers a small increase and that is a reasonable compromise. keep in mind that eu member states and citizens have to cut their budgets.
the parliament lost this battle as we predicted.
unfortunately the debate on the budget had a false start.
here the debate was even inflamed by hotheads who wanted to kidnap the budget to force access to own resources in other words eu taxation.
we were delicate enough not to touch the issue of the british rebate in our budgetary review and our eventual choice for the future is not to increase the expenditure but to change the proportions between the national direct payment and own resources in line with the vision of the treaty and the founding fathers of the european union.
i for one regret that mr cameron approves such an increase while imposing severe cuts in the british budget a situation that has started to generate civil unrest.
two thousand and eleven others instead will complain that this is not enough.
many members in this chamber will congratulate themselves on having obtained a.
this money is not going to improve the economy of those member states nor is it going to provide jobs for those who are losing them but if kept in britain it would avoid the need to increase the tuition fees for example.
i for one deplore the fact that this parliament ignores the crisis that europeans are going through and only looks to satisfy its own ambitions.
these are the order of the day and this is what our people have to face.
the republic represents a huge export market for us so this crisis hurts our people as well.
mr president i cannot vote for any increase in the parliament's budget and i believe that many people in the united kingdom will be watching the proceedings here in utter amazement.
the euro is in crisis and i want the house to note that even though my constituency does not use the euro we share a land border with the republic of ireland.
beside all this crisis we have a proposed.
to those who believe in the european project and who believe in european integration and i am not particularly one of them you did your cause more damage than anybody else could have done by trying to insist on this ridiculous increase in eu spending when everybody else every other public institution in europe is seeing the pain of cutbacks.
this is obviously a good result for david cameron for mark rutte but it is also a victory for the hard pressed taxpayers of europe who have to pay all the bills of the eu institutions. at a time of austerity at a time of cutbacks in most member states it was frankly madness for this parliament to be trying to increase eu spending by. six i am pleased that there has been at least some modicum of common sense.
it is very important to have a budget in place so that we can carry on the discussions in the other areas without the additional complication of working under provisional twelfths.
this is a sign of our optimism.
i have to stress the importance of parliament voting in the same way as was voted in the council namely to avoid further conciliation.
the level of payments is set under the condition which is very important for the commission that they agree on a joint statement submitted to act swiftly if needed to provide additional payment appropriations through transfers or amending budgets in order to avoid any shortfall in payment appropriations.
so i think voting and agreeing iter should be a win win situation for all of us.
this is really very important.
from my perspective this new procedure needs fine tuning.
i say that to myself but i say it also to the council and the commission and i think we need to examine and review how we have worked in the past.
they are very small but my concerns are for the future.
i hope that that will not actually come to pass.
i speak as the agriculture rapporteur and i need the word agriculture to echo through this chamber because we have concerns not just about figures but also procedure.
we could and should do our work better.
it is in any case high time that the levels in the annexes were reviewed because they do not take account of changes in diet and cultural preferences.
i hope the commission will bear in mind that parliament is remarkably united on this dossier.
many of us will remember how anxious members of the public were at that time and just how long the radioactive contamination lasted in certain places such as the english lake district where soil conditions and heavy rainfall caused the ground to be contaminated for many years.
we need clear guidelines that everyone can have confidence in.
that is why we need a different legal basis and a panel of experts broadened to include independent scientific experts on public health and food safety.
it is of much wider public concern. similarly it is essential that the levels of permitted radiation are set in a way that means food is safe to be consumed by people of all ages.
so the commission needs to submit a full report on maximum permitted levels.
for example cassava is a staple food for many people not a minor substance.
so it is very important to have in place a system which will give the greatest possible reassurance to members of the public in the event of a nuclear accident.
this is not just a technical subject that can be left to nuclear boffins.
mr president this debate on permitted levels of radioactivity in food is timely because this april will be the twenty fifth anniversary of the chernobyl disaster.
can you imagine the stress that would be caused if advice went out that said that carrots for instance could be safely eaten by adults and yet not by children?
finally i want to thank the rapporteur mr belet for the very consensual approach that he has adopted on this report.
the european union will use the opportunity of engagement with the new chinese leadership this year not least at the sixteenth european union china summit to map out the further course of the relationship over the coming years.
we need more.
it could have done nothing.
china has become one of the strongest proponents of a rule based trading system.
we need more chinese investment into the eu to drive growth growth that is now imperative.
during our financial crisis it pumped more money into our economy and kept us stable.
our luxury brands are penetrating new chinese markets.
instead it increased investment into the eurozone.
the eu seeks to impose its dogma on china far too often for example on aero engine emissions an attempt which was unsuccessful.
two thousand and eleven more than that trade between efta and china had increased at a rate of twelve a year in the five years before that.
the high representative is much missed as well of course as being very often missed.
not as an adversary in the style of the eu but similarly to the constructive friendship offered by those countries whose leadership is sensible enough and wise enough not to be part of the eu wannabe super state.
mr president let me first convey my deep and profound personal regret that baroness ashton is not present.
this is how an independent uk a uk outside the european union would conduct its relationship with china.
by contrast if we look at the three efta countries efta and china signed a trade agreement in.
tonight korea has been mentioned. if we look at what was going on in myanmar we can say that china played a very positive and significant role in opening up that country so let us take this example and let us try to do the same in korea because as in the case of burma it too can be a win win situation
without this strategic dialogue without this strategic operation there is no way we can solve security problems financial problems economic problems;
in some areas the dialogue is successful and is bringing very positive results both for us and for the chinese.
china is a member of the security council and so we can say that there is no problem of global sometimes regional importance which can be solved without china without our cooperation.
in spite of these differences we should pay attention to big problems the great problems of this world.
indeed we are strategic partners because if we look at the combined number of our populations together we form almost one third of the global population and the same applies when we look at our gdp trade and other forms of
because sometimes we do not have only common interests but sometimes we also have a different sets of values. as has been mentioned we have multi party democracy while the chinese system is based on the role of one political party.
a win win situation for the koreans for the chinese for the japanese and the entire neighbourhood and of course also for us europeans and for global peace and global security.
china joined the european union in escorting world food programme shipments to somalia in a spirit of burden sharing.
the european union intends to continue closely monitoring the overall human rights situation in china and we will not hesitate to speak our mind publicly.
we need to secure improved market access and a level playing field for european union business negotiating a substantial eu china investment agreement to contribute to the creation of growth and jobs on both sides.
with our know how we want to contribute to greener cities in china and share our experience on issues like emissions reduction water security and rural development.
these improvements still need to be translated into better promotion and defence of human rights.
china is a key strategic partner for the european union and increasingly a significant player on the world stage.
mr belder's report highlights the fact that china's political and economic involvement in africa has contributed to economic development.
high representative ashton is committed to enhancing the european union's relationship with china in world affairs.
in the last three decades china has achieved significant social progress with hundreds of millions of people moving out of poverty.
we place particular importance on the security aspects of the european union china relationship.
and of course we will continue to encourage china to abide by international human rights standards and promote the rule of law for the benefit of its economy social stability and its respectability abroad.
during two thousand and twelve the european union paid particular attention to the human rights situation in tibet as the high representative pointed out in this house last june and in a statement on tibetan self immolations last december. our line is well known and has not changed we reiterate our call to the
mr president honourable members the eu china relationship is one of the most intense on the economic front one of the largest in terms of people to people exchanges and our formal eu china dialogues cover almost all conceivable areas.
in particular china should no longer be able to act as a lone friend to pariah states from sudan to the dprk and train missiles at friendly nations while simultaneously demanding full international respectability.
for this reason i welcome the report's balanced stance.
it appropriately considers the needs of taiwan whose friendship group i chair in this parliament particularly with regard to president ma's plan for the de escalation of tensions in the east china sea where one false move could easily plunge china and japan into a potentially catastrophic war.
there are also important amendments on tibet whose people continue to be oppressed by a chinese government intent on destroying the tibetan people's language and way of life.
china with over two trillion dollars in reserve also needs to observe high standards of corporate governance in africa i am the rapporteur for the horn of africa.
china has undergone an immense change in the past decades which is financially illustrated by the overwhelming increase in the quality of life for many chinese.
at the same time many issues still remain unsolved and some have tragically escalated. the repressive policies against tibetans' basic freedoms have caused a wave of grievous self immolations.
involving the tibetan minority communities in governance as well as respecting and supporting multiculturalism needs to be the way forward in china.
another obstacle has been the escalating conflict in the east china sea where the only solution is for the affected parties to agree on the joint exploitation of the region's natural resources.
this has been envisaged in the peace initiative drafted by the president of taiwan.
i am led to believe that china has invested in the greek economy that china has put money into greece and italy and also into spain.
moreover the negotiations of the network and information securities directive which aims to increase member states' capacity to react to cyber threats in a coordinated manner while imposing security requirements on critical infrastructure providers should be completed by the end of this year. the commission further announced its intention to reform the eprivacy directive in the digital single market strategy as soon as the general data protection reform has been adopted
the commission is also committed to increasing trust in cloud computing by launching a series of initiatives in two thousand and sixteen covering certification contracts switching providers and a research open science cloud as well as the support of the free flow of non personal
a thorough review and assessment of the commission's exposure in terms of it security has been launched with a view to establishing an it security reference framework to structure and prioritise a range of short term actions and a longer term it security strategy.
finally the commission would like to underline that it has been for many years a major user of open source systems for example its data centre. it would also like to refer to the strategy for internal use of open source software which was updated in
in its ruling of six october two thousand and fifteen in the schrems case the european court of justice further clarified that any legislation permitting public authorities to have access on a generalised basis to the content of electronic communications must be regarded as compromising the essence of the fundamental right to the respect of private life as guaranteed by article seven of the charter. likewise legislation not providing for any possibility for an individual to pursue legal remedies in order to have access to personal data relating to him or to obtain the rectification or erasure of such data compromises the essence of the fundamental right to effective judicial protection as guaranteed by article forty seven of the charter.
july. two thousand and fifteen security and confidentiality are systematically considered when defining the tendering specifications in the commission's it contracts.
with a focus on ensuring a high level of protection for data subjects and a level playing field for all market players. this includes a high degree of confidentiality of communications in europe.
we warned of mass surveillance not for security and purposes of protecting individuals but simply mass surveillance very expensive mass surveillance which was uncontrolled which has negative implications.
and it is very prescient that such an important vote took place in march two thousand and fourteen because human rights in a digital age were taken very seriously by this parliament for a reason and that is that privacy is not a soft option;
and i am very proud that this parliament went into great detail in the post snowden era on digital rights and human rights in the digital era because we were able to say on the one hand that this is vital to tackle terrorism it is vital to tackle security threats but that it is incredibly important to understand that we will not do this if there is no credibility in the way that mass surveillance is carried out.
for the european union with the trilogues currently running on data regulation and on the question of the data directive but also on the agreements on pnr on swift and so on it is very important that we understand that the european union is itself invested
and for that reason we have the competence and we have the need to understand these issues and get these issues fixed.
look around you and see whether that is necessary and then look at this resolution and see whether it is worthy of support.
in this follow up resolution if i take one example the safe harbour judgment of the european court of justice we have a situation where the european parliament warned incessantly that safe harbour was not safe that the transfers of mass data