kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
i have to say i was disappointed when the veto was used in the united nations because at the end of the day it is the people on the ground as has been said who suffer the most.
i believe very strongly that the russian people deserve much better than they are receiving at present.
some say it will not happen. opposition parties must be given fair play but above all i certainly hope all goes well for the russian people in the coming weeks and months.
i wish them good elections i wish them to be free and fair and i sincerely hope that the electoral commission is able to oversee those elections rightly and properly.
i know there are some problems with copyright and other issues and i have listened to my colleague mr tannock explain what some of them are.
we should not allow any bureaucratic problems to stand in the way of the rights of those who are visually impaired.
two thousand and twelve two thousand and thirteen it should be a priority for this house to say that we urgently need to put in place the necessary control procedures to ensure that the rals' problem which has been an ongoing problem from year to year does not happen again.
i suggest the priorities for her work should be looking at the creation of jobs growth and competitiveness but i would also urge her to look very carefully at cost control under heading.
five i wish to say also that i share her views on the danger of carrying forward major liabilities from one year to the next as we have done in.
specifically her remarks on quality of spend and budgetary control and rigour are most welcome.
this is also about the proper level of payments not only for two thousand and fourteen of course;
if i only think of the leftover payments of two thousand and twelve then i have more doubts about the reality of the two thousand and fourteen budget than i actually want to admit.
one point has to be very clear there has to be enough money for payments as well as for commitments otherwise we run the risk of an eu deficit and this we cannot risk.
given that there is a difference in payments and commitments it is questionable whether we can actually meet these goals.
two three billion below what was implemented last year and we can easily expect more claims coming in the final year of the financial perspective.
these are only the guidelines. however i do believe that these guidelines are a timely reminder that europe needs to stimulate growth not just in the eurozone but right across europe.
in this parliament we believe that the eu budget itself must play a role in creating jobs and growth.
this parliament believed the commission but unfortunately many member states did not.
i wonder if the commissioner could tell us how we can put in place mechanisms to show and prove to member states that there is a shortfall in the eu budget.
this is even more important as member states are cutting back on spending. therefore i welcome this report's emphasis on investment investment in infrastructure education and skills training which should be funded through cohesion policy as well as in research and development and employment measures which are also very important particularly employment measures for young people.
so i am pleased that this report will preserve governments' ability to promote green energy projects because frankly there is no point in having a level playing field if the playing field is ten feet underwater.
there is after all no point in having a level playing field if all the grass on it has been torn up.
the lux leaks scandal showed how some multinational firms were able to reduce the rates of tax they paid to almost nothing.
i am also very pleased that this report recognises where liberalisation and competition may not always be appropriate.
competition here i would suggest is like a one hundred metre race where one competitor has to wade through treacle while the other sits in a formula one racing car.
we have to take action against these impediments to competition.
these firms are not necessarily more efficient but they were able to bring down their costs through purely artificial means.
governments must be able to provide infrastructure that is essential for growth whether that is in education or healthcare or indeed in quality social housing where the market has failed to deliver.
madam president i would like to thank the commissioner for being here this evening. it is often said that competition policy should lead to a level playing field for companies regardless of their size and regardless of their country of origin so i am pleased this report recognises that there can be no level playing field when some firms are able to evade or aggressively avoid paying their taxes.
finally governments must have the freedom to act against the biggest civil challenge of our time climate change.
regarding the google antitrust case i welcome your meetings with all the complainants including google last week to get a fresh look into the case.
i hope the commission's decisions will be announced soon possibly today in this debate.
some of them like here have no problem going public.
i am not ideological against google or any other us company i am simply against monopolies.
to conclude i am convinced that google only will move with the threat of a fine or with the threat of an amending regulation so ms vestager will you call for a statement of objections in the google antitrust case?
i want to stress once again that this is not a european versus american company war.
it encourages the ability of people already earning millions in bonuses and large salaries to put the cost upon those who are struggling to make ends meet.
it encourages corporatism not capitalism;
i have seen them swan across these buildings both here and in brussels where they have access to meps and put their ideas forward.
competition is an essential part of small and medium sized businesses for those people to try and find work for them to be able to have enough money in their pockets to pay their gas and electricity bills and feed their families and so it is always welcome when you see a report undertaken by an individual like mr messerschmidt who i know cares about issues
but unfortunately in this chamber in this institution such reports will always fall on deaf ears and have no capability to achieve the goals that people want because at the end of the day this chamber and the people working within it have rules that are effectively run by the corporations.
such as this.
they have the power and the influence to have preferential access to the commissioners and the parliamentarians.
they can put rules and regulations in an unelected chamber that bring in high barriers of entry for small and mediumsized businesses.
it encourages greed not selflessness;
this is a dangerous place where competition fails at all points and no report such as this will achieve the goal that we need which is to relieve the people of the poverty they are suffering in europe.
sir i am grateful that you have a free mind and i am grateful that i have a free mind but what i have seen in this chamber is large parties such as the ppe and the socialists voting en bloc sometimes together but always en bloc.
net neutrality are vital to boost competition and foster innovation.
as a liberal i am however disappointed that this report focuses too much on more regulation more regulation for instance for the sharing economy for the internet economy which is actually one of the few sectors that still grew during the economic crisis.
we seem to forget that we are representatives of millions of consumers but also of millions of business owners who rely on the eu competition policy to have the necessary confidence to start and run businesses.
eu competition policy needs to contribute to building the right environment for innovative businesses to grow.
what we need is a strong european competition authority which is proactive in adapting to the new challenging and fast moving markets of the digital economy.
what we certainly do not need is to replace it with more regulation that will eventually only harm our most innovative businesses.
i strongly hope that our liberal competition commissioner shares these views and i hope that colleagues in this house do so also.
i would like to underline the remarkable result of defending public services from being subject to a policy of competition.
the possibility for the member states to organise public services according to their own needs is a crucial point for our socialist and democratic group within this parliament.
in the amendments i proposed and defended a stronger role for parliament in shaping our competition policy with the goal of increasing the level of market transparency stability and growth.
by means of this report we are closer to achieving fundamental goals like ensuring fair competition and combating social dumping on the labour market subjecting services of general economic interest to the rules of competition tackling fragmentation and anti trust behaviour in the eus digital market
on the values the basics and the platform of our competition policy i think it is very important that it stresses how competition is part of our democracy and this prevents great concentration on capital and ensures that those who have the talent and the initiative who want to make their case can actually do that in an open market. i think it is very important to stress as is done in the report that in times of crisis competition rules should not be relaxed.
the aims are relatively simple independent secure cheap and sustainable supply.
it is very important that we implement the legislation that we already have.
the role of competition policy is among other things to keep an eye on energy companies that re erect barriers to the internal market to ensure that companies cannot shield themselves from competition.
we need to make sure that we have full blown competition and to make sure that new technologies can actually reach the citizen. competition helps our small companies to challenge large and dominant players.
last but not least as was mentioned tax fairness and transparency. to work with tax with competition tools is not a question of using the back door.
we need the transparency to make sure that we do not use tax policy to create unfair competition.
i do not know about you but certainly i visit the small and mediumsized enterprises in our constituency very regularly and they say to me frequently that they are concerned by the practices of those multinational firms which engage in profitshifting and indeed firms which engage in shifting their profits to offshore tax havens so i hope that your party might be changing its policy in that regard as well.
yet again it also highlights the fact that we need to cooperate very closely with national authorities because in that interrelationship we can solve things that can otherwise not be solved.
i think that is a very good point because it sort of highlights the goals of competition policy not just to enforce because of enforcement but to enforce in order to enable people to make their choices and for their businesses to thrive.
some of the price differences actually may be ascribed to the differences among member states in how drugs are subsidised.
of course we will be happy to follow up on that as we do with our sector enquiry in patents we do follow up reports every year.
i will of course do my best to use the competition tools to get into the cases where we see fiscal aid and where tax rulings are being used to enable unfair competition because we think that is against the basis of our competition values.
when it comes to energy a number of commitments have been made which has made i think the desirable effort to open up our markets.
last but not least also in this area we have imbalances between the competences of the member state and the competences of our common union.
but it is within the scope of the member state to decide their energy mix.
we all agree on the digital agenda;
sooner we will have to tackle that point
if we manage to connect five hundred million people our citizens and businesses will be able to reap all of the benefits and opportunities of the digital economy.
two thousand and fifteen let me finish by thanking the commission the commissioner the rapporteur and my fellow shadows for their extraordinarily good cooperation;
secondly we need a more efficient allocation of spectrum an allocation that also more actively reflects today's diverse demands and needs for spectrum.
madam president better and less expensive data transmission through high speed broadband for all in two thousand and twenty that is an ambitious policy target i must say and i fully support it.
it is about ensuring europe's place in the world as a leading knowledge based economy.
nevertheless i believe that with the parliament's first reading position we will be able to take a big first step towards this goal.
because then we will be home to the development of all the new services that will be crucial to the modern economy and to our competitiveness.
and modern information technology.
sometimes when we talk about the world's biggest economies we talk about the us and china all of us forgetting that the european union is the biggest economy although we do not have the biggest markets.
we are really talking about how we want things to be in the year.
by the way i see a lot of synergies between the use of spectrum for the distribution of content and culture especially talking about audiovisual media content and for wireless broadband. digital television and wireless broadband can develop successfully in parallel
existing positions already require this and we need to move to effective licensing of the spectrum going forward and not going backward.
fifthly the importance of an efficient inventory of spectrum use which is an essential part of building an effective and forward looking policy programme.
another nuanced issue while i understand the addition of the need to ensure sufficient spectrum for audiovisual services that should not single out specific modes of delivery.
just through preparing the whole debate i am of course already in contact with certain ministers in certain member states that are even more confronted with the neighbouring country aspects.
number two keeping under review the possibilities for additional spectrum to meet the growing consumer demand for wireless broadband.
i think there is no difference between our points of view;
in addition wireless is essential in areas currently deprived of such access.
of course remaining obstacles such as interference on air or on cable tv will have to be solved;
both parliament and commission recognise that an early adoption of the proposal is desirable considering the importance of the work ahead to implement this programme.
and cultural impact by enabling innovative services for the benefit of citizens. and i would like to add the term cultural' impact as this is quite important.
that parliament shares the commission's view on the importance of a coordinated and effective spectrum policy to meet broadband targets. and indeed it is vital to maintain and improve europe's economic and competitive position and to maximise its social
talking about the cultural aspects it is that cultural element that i want to emphasise first because i know that this has been a significant preoccupation of members of your parliament.
the proposal not only protects the existence but also ensures the future development of those valuable cultural and economic services which by the way produce rich media content and feed future data highways with attractive cultural offerings.
there are a number of other important issues where the report is supportive or reinforces the commission proposal and that is encouraging.
number one for spectrum already technically harmonised an obligation to authorise its use by two thousand and twelve should not be replaced by the softer obligation to make such spectrum available.
completely on your side and even if your speed is perhaps a little bit higher be assured that we are aware that that is the next step.
the commission particularly welcomes and agrees with the position taken in the report on a couple of issues.
out. time is not our friend in this and at the end of the day if we want to have a solution and if we are backing the number one position called for by mr hkmark then we need to go as quickly as possible in that direction.
on restructuring the presentation of principles and objectives should not reduce the visibility of the principle of efficient use of spectrum which should apply to all sectors to the greatest extent possible.
fourthly the coverage of other important union policies beyond electronic communications here i am talking about the environment transport or research and the need to make a substantial amount of spectrum available.
european union policies will need appropriate support in international negotiations and member states may also need assistance to negotiate with neighbouring non eu countries.
just a couple of remarks to conclude.
i very much support his desire to legislate so as to see europe meet the technological challenges in this sector and maintain a leading position in the world.
this is cutting edge technology and it is very important.
the key point is getting the right balance between the different interests involved the incumbent broadcasters the mobile operators broadband provision and the official users including the military and civil emergency services.
we have to continue to encourage a global approach resting on economic development governance and security if we want to advance regional stability respect for the essential and fundamental elements of cotonou and the fight against poverty.
the political dialogue initiated in two thousand and eight provides a good platform for sustained engagement with the eritrean authorities. let us be clear we expect some positive and tangible steps in eritrea as a result of this process.
the commission has given a positive response to the demand for further financial support to the reinforcement of
the recent dispute between eritrea and djibouti is to be seen in a larger regional context and for which a global solution needs to be sought through local and regional actors.
future. the participation of eritrea which plays a key role in the regional dynamics is essential for the success of the horn of africa
on the cpa it is crucial that the government of khartoum and of south sudan settle their differences over critical issues such as sharing of oil revenues boundary delimitation and legislation in security and political
process. on the political side the european union continues its activities in support of the djibouti process which should lead to more inclusiveness through the election of a new president and the formation of a government of national unity with an expanded parliament.
the commission will also continue to monitor the human rights situation and the democratisation process.
these authorities as well as the other sudanese stakeholders know only too well where their responsibilities lie and what they need to deliver. in darfur military operations and violence must be ended and the political process fully resumed. the deployment of the unamid must take place within the foreseen
we should therefore maintain a strong dialogue with and a strong pressure on the khartoum authorities to obtain their full cooperation both on the cpa and also on darfur and their processes.
process. without international and regional support that advances the emergence of favourable conditions for its implementation the agreement will have little chance of
ethiopia with its poverty alleviation efforts where important progress has been registered.
the commission remains seriously concerned about human rights violations and the precarious social and economic situation.
this initiative is based on the two thousand and six horn strategy which was adopted in the conviction that the conundrums in the region can only be dealt with
the horn. we have been establishing good working relations with igad which supports the horn of africa initiative and which plays a key role in its implementation.
success. as regards security the commission remains committed to supporting the establishment of a system for the sound governance of the security
weak regional security and inter community tensions affect the internal situation of the country especially in the ogaden where access to the population still remains constrained.
the internal situation in eritrea is partly determined by the impasse in the border conflict with ethiopia.
globally. in this spirit the commission supports your proposal to nominate a special representative for
there is no plan b for the djibouti
considering the circumstances of the two thousand and five general elections the commission will closely monitor the preparation and proceeding of the two thousand and ten elections especially in the context of the recently approved ngo legislation and the re arrest of the opposition leader ms birtukan medeksa.
time. the sudanese authorities must respect their obligations as regards the facilitation of humanitarian aid and human rights activities.
the persistence of violence in darfur and the difficulties in completing the implementation of the north south comprehensive peace agreement have the potential to destabilise the country and affect the whole region.
and risk. but they also provide an opportunity to launch an inclusive political
strategy. commissioner michel's contacts with the heads of state and government of the region including president isaias have allowed an opening in this regard and the new igad executive secretary is in the process of engaging with the eritrean authorities including on the reform and revitalisation process
let me comment on the situation by country before concluding with remarks on the regional strategy for the horn. firstly let me say a word on ethiopia eritrea. ethiopia occupies a strategic economic and political place in the region. the commission continues to support
the internal situation in each of the countries of the horn cannot be understood in isolation from the regional dynamics.
as indicated in your draft resolution the virtual demarcation of the border between ethiopia and eritrea as decided by the boundary commission will not lead to a full resolution of the problem if it is not accompanied by dialogue aiming at the normalisation of relations between the two countries.
a second joint experts' meeting on water energy and transport where concrete projects could be developed that might be presented to a possible donor conference is foreseen for the near
we are no longer an institution limited to giving assent and this is not the way parliament wants to work with the recast in the future.
thus the compromise improves the definition of energy related products' by clarifying which products could be covered by implementing measures such as window insulation materials or some water using products like showerheads or taps.
first they will be subject to specific impact assessment and implementing measures will be developed only for those products that have significant environmental impact have significant potential for improvement and are not covered by other legislation that can achieve the same objectives more quickly and with less expense.
extending the eco design requirements to energy related products such as windows or water taps is the first step towards a more ambitious approach and a sustainable product policy at eu level.
two thousand and twelve i would have liked the commission to have had a firmer and more visionary approach especially since we have all the instruments on the table today and this was the best option identified by the impact assessment.
last but not least relevant stakeholders are consulted and associated in defining and reviewing the implementing measures and assessing self regulatory measures.
change is needed but change is also possible without overburdening companies and households.
an improved product design would avoid waste and provide consumers with more efficient more reliable and longer lasting products.