kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
one what specific measures will the commission take to ensure that the epa is implemented in a manner which upholds the sustainable development provisions of the sadc epa and will it consider setting up a structured civil society monitoring process such as a domestic advisory group and provisions for parliamentary oversight? two.
african countries are climbing up the doing business' rankings.
to be more precise it foresees the exclusion of sensitive products long liberalisation periods flexible rules of origin and special safeguards and measures for agriculture food security and infant industry protection.
article four of the agreement stipulates that the parties agree to continuously monitor the operation and the impact of this agreement.
let us remember one thing the eu will benefit as we obtain better access to the southern african customs union markets for a number of products but what is particularly important is that many geographical indications from the eu will be protected in south africa under this epa.
what measures will the commission undertake to ensure policy coherence for development in the implementation of the agreement?
the question is how we monitor the implementation of this agreement.
those who are now being lobbied intensely by the citrus fruit lobby should know what the opposition means to the people in the south african states but also for those european businesses seeking much needed potential for growth. moreover they should also know that the arguments brought forward are actually unsubstantiated
and that their fears are not borne out by the facts.
how does the commission intend to take on board civil society reports and recommendations to address cases of infringement of commitments under the epa?
moreover should the eu apply a multilateral safeguard on the wto rules the eu offers its epa partners a renewable five year exemption from its application.
let me be very clear about one thing.
i strongly believe that this epa has the potential to bring fundamental positive change and contribute to sustainable economic growth and deepened intra regional trade integration.
we think that pragmatic solutions are now key in order to maximise the positive impact of the agreement.
through trade and investment it contributes to sustainable development and poverty reduction.
let me thank all of you for the remarks and ideas that we have exchanged during our discussions.
however we believe that it is crucial to put flesh on the bones of these provisions and that the practical tools for this monitoring need to be strengthened.
moreover the sadc epa helps to diversify the economies of our partner countries.
all new liberalisations are limited in time and in quantity.
very recently the elected parliament of lesotho has ratified this and i have spoken with representatives of lesotho who very much welcome this agreement because they think it is a chance for them to reform to modernise and to diversify their economies. so again i think the africans know what is best for them and
the black spot disease has indeed been a problem and we have been working very closely with south africa and with my colleagues in dg sante commissioner andriukaitis and we have not spotted any problems for this season at all.
we will encourage as i think you have already started to plan parliamentary dialogue between you and the parliaments of these six countries and we will make sure that there is sufficient funding to make this exercise a real one.
so this is a good agreement.
on agriculture we have made an impact assessment.
actually preparations have already started in south africa for a structured civil society dialogue where we will be monitoring these issues and we will do that in an independent objective and transparent and open way and share those results with you.
it will be monitored together with you and with your help and support i am sure we can make it even better and make sure that we also have a very vital parliamentary and civil society dialogue and hopefully contribute to growth diversity and modernisation and regional integration which is a very important part of this epa and which we will monitor closely
i will be happy to report regularly to you on how that goes.
there is a system an early warning system where we make sure that if there are any tendencies of market disturbances we can alert very very quickly.
we think that the problem is actually being solved but of course we will keep a very close eye on this. whatever happens to the cotonou the epa references to it remain after.
mr president we expect consistency and policy coherence from the commission especially when it comes to our relations with developing countries but this agreement is not consistent with the eu's sustainable development goals.
we have consistently asked the commission for improvements over more than a year to give civil society a role in the monitoring of this agreement and to empower whistleblowers in the region but it is only now on the eve of the vote that the commission is responding not with concrete legal proposals or commitments but with promises of annual general dialogue without clarifying the followup to civil society complaints.
this is not a proper sustainable development chapter or monitoring.
therefore i agree with civil society in the region and with the united trade union movement in the eu and southern africa that this agreement currently falls far too short of the mark.
mr president after receiving the copa cogeca letter outlining a so called threat to our agriculture as a result of this agreement i went immediately to look at the opinion from the agricultural committee on this report and guess what? there isn't one because the agriculture committee decided that it was such a threat to our agriculture it was not even worth doing an opinion on this report.
this is a ridiculous last minute scare story that has been thrown into the pot here.
on the other side of the coin some members think that the agreement is a threat to sadc countries and to their economies.
i welcome what the commissioner said about the sustainable development chapter.
i am glad it is going to have adequate funding and i look forward to civil society being fully involved in monitoring this epa.
i am personally absolutely convinced that a properly implemented epa with accompanying measures such as aid for trade will be good for africa.
a successful economic partnership between africa and europe can benefit africa economically and benefit europe by reducing those migration flows.
i will be supporting this epa tomorrow.
we shall remember boris as a strong advocate for a modern democratic and open russia a russia open to the world.
some have been repeatedly denied registration.
remember that the russian population opposed those practices by taking to the streets leading to the wellknown bolotnaya square trials.
in our human rights consultations we have called on russia time and again to establish a level playing field for political parties by allowing opposition parties to play a role and by ensuring diversity of the media.
looking at the state of democracy in russia today we see that freedom of expression is under increased pressure.
strengthening political freedoms and supporting the consolidation of democracy are moreover objectives set out in the first article of the partnership and cooperation agreement between the european union and russia.
commitments to democracy and to accountability; belief in civil society as a force.
russian citizens deserve no less than a democratic and open russia.
he defended values which we all share respect for human dignity;
the defence of basic freedoms including the freedom of expression is i would like to remind you in this room a statutory obligation for all members of the united nations.
we support russian organisations who are working on improving the legal framework in russia.
opposition parties struggle to exist and to have access to mainstream media.
journalists lawyers intelligence officers human rights defenders they had little in common until they became victims of those who portray socalled enemies of the state' as legitimate targets. we all know that the conflict in ukraine has intensified the public discourse against the toofamous fifth column. let us not forget those who face trial in russia through unfair procedures because of the ukrainian conflict
the last duma elections in two thousand and eleven were described as slanted in favour of the ruling party' by osce odihr.
individual leaders who emerged from those events are constantly harassed while others left russia out of fear for their freedom or for their lives.
this goes against the spirit of our visa facilitation agreement and follows similar incidents that have happened already.
he was killed just two days before leading a demonstration against the war in ukraine and the effects of the economic crisis in russia.
together with our european union head of delegation were united in attending his funeral on tuesday joining an impressive crowd. let me share here the words expressed by president schulz on russia's refusal to let one of you ms kalniete into russia to attend his funeral.
sanctions have started to make their impact.
these three had certain things in common.
the hope of democracy in russia is almost crushed.
the world has to understand what it is dealing with in mr putin.
how can we support them?
the best short term hope for everyone is that some of his more moderate colleagues can be prevailed upon to depose him and the west must encourage them to do this.
this message is for us who represent democracy and values and who knew boris personally knew him as a man of exceptional courage and strength.
but first and foremost this is a brutal reminder for those in russia who are still trying to save their country from sliding into the darkest ages of its past.
there is a very good record of all that he said here on that day. he was here in parliament to call for support for the forthcoming duma and presidential elections and many of us were participating with the democratic opposition in order to find ways to make sure that once again those
we must give recognition to the incredible courage of the russian democratic opposition which is now standing against russia's aggression against ukraine.
we certainly have a reason now to recognise this and have more and more visible contacts with them otherwise the rest of democracy will die in russia.
i think that the tragic and undoubtedly political murder of our friend boris nemtsov must now lead to a reset of the european union's relationship with the democratic forces in russia and this is what we are calling for in the resolution to be voted on tomorrow.
elections would not be stolen.
i would invite colleagues to look back to the morning after the murder and the message sent by a no less wellknown figure sobchak at the murder scene when she said let us all stop'.
i think she struck a note in russian society which woke up to the understanding that a very dangerous line had been crossed and that each and every citizen in russia has to think about what is going to happen.
war has been mentioned many times in this debate.
these people are the casualties of war for a right to oppose the government for a right to tell the truth for a right to have your own opinion. all of them were murdered for their beliefs.
the murder of boris nemtsov might bring the kremlin regime ever closer to the point of no return for russia.
we might never know the exact truth about this murder.
but it is obvious that the kremlin is responsible for creating an atmosphere of hatred impunity unlawfulness and terror.
this is a scary message to the west. information that mr nemtsov was working on a report on russian soldiers' involvement in ukraine is even more disturbing.
there are two possible impacts that this murder might have on russian society.
one it can increase fear.
another that it can consolidate likeminded people under the banner for change.
if this is the case then there is hope for russia.
we must encourage help and protect all those who fight for democracy.
we express concern that he may have died partly because he was prepared to be a different voice within russia on the current situation in ukraine. we say that because that is what he said himself in july last year in relation to death threats that he was receiving then.
if international visitors are blocked from attending even the funeral it gives little confidence that the investigation can be open to external scrutiny and will meet international standards.
to those in russia watching or reading this debate we support forces of democratisation in your country as in all countries.
to those in government that does not mean that we are against you.
indeed in this resolution we reiterate that we wish to restore relations with you.
but this has to be based on respect for democratic values and the rule of law principles which are mutual obligations as fellow members of the council of europe and signatories of the international convention on civil and political rights.
as my group has said before in an atmosphere where nationalistic fervour is being generated we have to be careful of the language we use in order not to add to that further but to challenge it.
but we will speak out.
this is not painting in different colours;
colleague i would like to ask whether you would be prepared for your group also to agree to the statement that we should honour the memory of the murdered mr nemtsov also
by clearly denouncing the environment of hate that has been created against russian opposition figures by the kremlin?
i would start from here because i think there is a unifying line in this hemicycle i always try to look for such lines and this is the need for our strong constant commitment to engage with russian society.
i think we need to do that when it comes to peopletopeople contacts and we need to do it when it comes to young people in russia.
there is a risk of losing entire parts major parts of russian society especially the young generations to the idea that europe is not an enemy.
to those of you who called for an overall strategy towards russia from the european union let me welcome very much these words.
i think there is a need to collectively think on how we engage as some of you have mentioned on our positive tools to engage with the russian population.
we also have to ask ourselves the difficult questions and one of these difficult questions today is how do we effectively in the best possible way support dynamics in russian society or at least prevent them from being completely removed from public debate?
is clear that we will hear more and more about that.
we have started this work.
we will discuss that too in the european council in the foreign affairs council in the coming months.
the murder of boris nemtsov was a murder which was demonstrative and with political motivations'.
these are the strong and very clear words of someone who is on the domestic political scene someone who had the courage to come here.
politicians can be murdered for many different reasons all around the world.
of course what we demand from the russian authorities is the swift and timely revelation of all the facts they know but we have the suspicion that this may not extend to telling the whole story.
but we need not to be horrified by russia;
his name has very sadly been added to the fartoolong list of russian politicians and journalists murdered for speaking out against the system.
i grew up during soviet times with stories from my mother who was deported to siberia in a animal wagon when she was just six months old;
of my grandfather who was sent to a prison camp;
of my grandmother who lost two children during the war.
every family in our country has a similar story and so do russian families. i still remember the fear of wondering what might happen to my father who opposed the regime.
therefore i understand the fears that the opposition in russia might have.
speaking up in russia for democracy fundamental freedoms and respect for the rule of law takes lots of courage.
but i wonder if you would agree with me that there is a slight danger if we take too hard a line against a tyrant like mr putin that it actually only helps to strengthen him by building up his strongman position if outside forces appear to be too strongly pushing against him?
so my answer is that we shall not leave these courageous people alone in their fight.
he like many others wanted to make russia a better place.
mikhail kasyanov was here also a dear friend and he was quite clear we in this parliament should not look into the mirror and say that we have made mistakes or that the enlargement of nato was a mistake because it provoked putin.
nato has brought shelter to the countries in eastern europe which are now members of the organisation.
it is also about restoring an absence of the rule of law because even if you do not like a politician you should respect him or her and that politician should be safe.
i am pleased therefore that the resolution goes beyond looking just at the topic at hand but at the need to ease tensions across all the divides. i particularly welcome the emphasis on cross border cooperation with regard to this issue and the need to work together in times of terrorist attacks particularly in the realm of sharing intelligence on extremist groups.
indeed we saw in paris and in brussels in the last few years actual terrorist attacks specifically committed against a kosher supermarket and the jewish museum in brussels.
as the populations of eu member states become ever more diverse it is important we pay close attention to encouraging and ensuring that the successful social cohesion and integration of all communities is worked towards.
it is quite clear from the statistics that the number of anti semitic attacks both verbal and physical is on the rise in europe including in my own country the united kingdom particularly on the internet.
as vicepresident responsible for parliament's dialogue with religions i have been meeting religious leaders from across the european union including of course jewish leaders.
it is deplorable at this time in the twenty first century european union that many of our citizens live in fear of discrimination abuse and hate crimes simply because of their religion.
this work should help public authorities to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of our religious communities.
we are hearing stories that send shivers down our spine of children being afraid to go to school and families contemplating leaving europe because of the fears that they have.
the five g network presents our societies and the european union's industry with new and great digital possibilities by enabling new connectivity opportunities via both high quality and high capacity networks.
in addition i fully agree with the idea expressed in the report that in order to seize these opportunities we need to ensure that the necessary conditions to develop five g infrastructure are in place by two thousand and twenty twenty five and i hope much earlier namely a transparent competitive and investment friendly regulatory framework
this report will pay a key role in the advancement of europe's digital agenda and will allow us to maintain our position at the forefront of global innovation and investment by becoming a five g and gigabit society.
the implementation of faster and higher quality connectivity for all europeans can act as a vital vehicle of improvement in the areas of economic growth and employment for all areas of european society.
ukraine has seen its share of exports to russia halve since two thousand and thirteen a major dislocation of its trade given the historic links between the two countries.
we do now see a commitment by ukraine to transition to a full market economy.
so i strongly welcome the dcfta that has been in place since last year and i'm equally supportive of these additional measures that aim to further support ukraine's now growing economy and its further integration into the european union's single market.
madam president as russia continues the proxy war in the east of ukraine and its illegal occupation of crimea it is right in this house that we and in the rest of the european union continue to support ukraine standing up for the rules based international order and values that we all believe in and also demand a full implementation of the minsk agreements.
madam president i did indeed vote in favour of this report on the commission's proposal suggesting additional temporary economic trade preferences for ukraine. we need to understand that ukraine is at the moment undergoing enormous economic difficulties and at the same time undertaking very complex economic reforms. therefore i believe that this commission proposal is both timely and right.
it is complementary to the already existing eu concessions and the dcfta trade preferences and will allow increasing annual tariff rate quotas for certain products.
i believe it will help to speed up ukraine's economic recovery deal with the consequences of the ongoing embargo from the russian side and further facilitate bilateral trade relations between ukraine and the european union.
madam president whilst it was recently reported that the rise in anti semitism in the uk was one of the highest in the world much of it is due to increased anti semitic abuse online particularly via social media.
now that is unacceptable but i am just trying to make a point in terms of where that is coming from. challenging anti semitism in the united kingdom is always going to be a problem while we have one mainstream political party seen by the media seen in terms of public opinion and i am referring to the labour party
failing consistently to deal with the problem within its own ranks very often trying to disguise its deep rooted prejudices as anti zionist or anti israeli.
the party in my opinion and this is my view i can only go with what i hear and see has seemingly time and time again refused to tackle the issue within its own senior ranks just inflicting simple reprimands but actually not dealing with the issue.
madam president the telecommunications revolution has improved people's lives in a way that no legislation from this or any other chamber can begin to approach. there has been an absolute transformation of the human condition particularly in developing countries and it is something almost wholly unforeseen by politicians.
what's been the response of the european commission?
i can't help noticing that there have been an awful lot of legal actions in the last five years against us based tech firms perhaps in pursuit of what commissioner oettinger calls digital independence' for the eu.
microsoft google apple they've all been on the receiving end of it.
of course there aren't really european equivalents to these firms and perhaps the reason for that is because of the regulatory regime that we've created here.
the policy can only be either principled or pragmatic it cannot be both.
it is making the claim that it can be all things to all men in the name of promoting civil society.
it is hardening its tone internationally often in areas that do not concern it and is accelerating its plans for its own military forces.
but the sad reality of european union foreign policy is that it has a history of destabilising regions like the ukraine and the balkans and also unleashing events that it cannot control like the migrant crisis.
madam president there is one charge against which i would always defend members of this house and that is the widespread belief in many of our member states that meps are lazy that we come here and sit around and do nothing.
frankly the world would be a much better place if that charge were true if instead of constantly legislating people would come in and clock in for their very generous attendance allowance and then go and work on their golf handicap or read a novel or do something other than meddling in the lives of everybody else.
but of course human nature being what it is we having claimed all of these generous expenses decide we have to do something we have to justify our work in some way and so we produce reports like this.
on what conceivable measure is this anything that has to do with the european union?