kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
but the underlying problem is the same rightwing dictatorial nationalistic populism.
notwithstanding mr van orden's fine words we fear a bonfire of our human rights.
my postbag is crammed with pleas from brits desperate not to lose their european rights.
and now boris johnson has an increased majority won let us recall on only forty three of the vote. won despite fifty three voting for parties offering a new referendum on brexit.
that seems designed to make it difficult for citizens to prove their status to prospective employers or to landlords.
first it used them as bargaining chips in the negotiations and now it is unwilling to provide a system that gives them full guarantees.
instead the uk government must listen to this parliament and remember that the european parliament also needs to approve the withdrawal agreement and above all it should use the transition period to reflect again on the question of freedom of movement and let another generation enjoy the rights that our generation had the privilege to have.
the uk government wants the shortest possible transition period making it impossible frankly to solve the plethora of problems that brexit will throw up this included.
but he will use this majority to harden his brexit.
madam president this parliament is right to debate this today ahead of its vote in two weeks' time on the brexit withdrawal agreement. it's right to do so because from the very start of this process the conservative government has made things difficult for citizens of other eu countries in britain.
it seems designed to make life difficult for them.
let me take just one example the refusal to give a physical document.
losing eu citizenship is another. eu members should allow uk residents to retain their original citizenship whether they become british during the transition period or after.
this deliberate tax on voting is part of the uk government's hostile environment for unwanted residents. i have long called on our government to lower the fee for becoming british.
finally i call on the eu to create an associate eu citizenship for those uk nationals who like many of my constituents wish to remain close to our european neighbours and continue to enjoy the freedoms under the eu treaty.
it is crucial for them to know that they will not lose their rights as eu citizens.
this is good for the uk for uk citizens it is good for the eu who will benefit from inward investment and it is good for the continuation of a friendly relationship we so urgently need.
there is no member state that should behave in this way at their borders no matter where as was said by colleagues earlier.
we need to see a stop to this.
having read the reports on the brutality of the croatian border police i must say that the stories i heard were sometimes even worse dog wounds wounds by tasers and the brutality that they had witnessed and that they had been subject to was horrendous.
i think the message here has to be clear.
on the contrary they'll have more.
mr president i want to refer to the three topics that have been raised the most here.
we were not speaking of five g or artificial intelligence. these few highlights show that the world is completely different and that we do need a completely different budget that means modernisation. one message from my part and i think i have the support of the parliament on this if the overall ceiling is too low if the budget in itself is too small
it's either all four have free movement or none of this is possible.
first of all where the budget is concerned i think dear prime minister it is very important that croatia and the presidency convinces the council to stick to its own strategic agenda because and i'm emphasising this we need the modernisation of the budget why this?
there is an opportunity to introduce that with an emission trading system.
two thousand and thirteen you remember the year two thousand and thirteen because it was the year when croatia joined the european union. the world was completely different. in the year two thousand and thirteen we did not have any idea of daesh.
this is decisive until the summer until the end of your presidency and here we have to decide on or it's the uk's choice to decide on how close or how distant they want to be from the european union but that also means from the single market.
the revenues of the emission trading system will grow so we will not take anything away from the member states.
it existed already but we didn't know anything of it.
so it is the choice of the uk how far they want to align or diverge but this is decisive for how good access to the single market will be or not. in short it's the old proverb you cannot have your cake and eat it at the same time.
you cannot accept to have a level playing field if there's a huge divergence in taxation or social standards or environmental standards.
the only way out is our own new resources at european level.
but we can also allocate at european level the revenues from the emission trading system to serve the european green deal.
at that time we had no paris climate agreement.
this is really a new commission with a new focus and new priorities and that we fully support and we are really standing behind that but then of course the big question is going to be will there be investment?
and that also desires investment and there i have to say and i can't fully judge yet because i haven't seen the final proposal but of course we've seen earlier versions but is now the real green deal with a new policy really matched by new policies on investments?
first of all it seems like the same old discussion on the european budget that was started by the previous commission and secondly when we are talking about a sustainable investment plan i sincerely hope it's not just another juncker investment plan.
it's possible when we are looking at green public procurement there we can really make a change.
but also we need to address changes in fiscal policies and if then in the draft we see that you are planning a debate and the outcome of that debate will form the basis for any possible future just steps including how to treat sustainable investment that doesn't read like the change that we need also in our fiscal policies.
because we all know this is not a minor change this is a change this is a transition in all the sectors in all the regions in all the countries of europe.
we really have to look at additionality and changes of the eib there.
the majority of the british people actually did not vote for a brexit party.
it is a betrayal of britain's long standing commitment to humanitarian support especially to the most vulnerable.
if this is what global britain looks like post brexit it sends out all the wrong messages as to who we are and who we want to be as a nation.
i'd like to pay tribute to labour lord alf dubs himself a jewish refugee who led the campaign on this issue and i hope the house of lords rectifies what has been a huge mistake made by the government.
whether in or out of the eu we must not abandon our commitment to human rights and internationalism and as a child rights campaigner i ask all those in positions of power to remember alan kurdi and all the other child refugees who died whilst we turned our backs.
last week in the uk the house of commons rejected proposals to maintain protections for child refugees in the redrafted eu withdrawal agreement bill.
there is strong surveillance within our police to prevent any violation of human rights or any behaviour which would contravene our own law european standards or international conventions.
we understood the message we can't do more with less finance available'.
my country proportionally perhaps has more border police than any other.
second we have taken into account the strategic agenda the trio programme the programme of the new commission and our own programme.
but i repeat once again unlike many other member states we have said no barbed wire between two friendly neighbouring countries such as croatia and bosnia and herzegovina and we will not erect fences between nations which are friendly which will always be together as we were together in the past.
but we need to find a common consensus if we are to embark on the new own resources.
in the eleven months ahead of us with an intelligently drafted and crafted negotiated framework i think we can attain a good agreement as a starting point for future relations.
legal process with so many possibilities to either suspend or to reverse or to ask more or to build another requirement of this exercise. it is just a start of a marathon.
therefore on some of the items we know that climate change and the climate neutral objective until two thousand and fifteen will be the driver of our economic transformation.
come. finally i just want to reiterate that all of our services all of our ministers government meps who are here and i thank them for their contributions will be at your disposal to have a good dialogue together and to reach compromises.
on the western balkans and the issue of enlargement we are not naive.
this is the role of the member states within the council and also the facilitating and leadership role that the european commission
it. to give an ambitious agenda for those who want to reform transform and attain the standards that we have in the european union.
we should help to address this issue so as to take into account the different state of play of our industries our financial capability our budgetary capabilities in order to go in the same direction but not to have negative economic consequences.
i know more perhaps than anybody since i've been dealing with this issue for almost thirty years that the level of enthusiasm that the west with open hands offered to the central and eastern european countries in the ninety s will never happen again to those who would like to join. but what we need to do is intelligently to structure the process for the next ten years.
this is one of the objectives of european democracy.
what it means to have more than sixteen zero people killed in your own country almost at the end of the twentieth century.
whenever there was an allegation there was an investigation.
let's be very clear about it. this is important to note.
that's how we address our political responsibility today.
this will simply not happen.
portfolio for first time ever in the history of the european union it is this which we feel to be an existential question for the european union. for almost half of our member states who have negative natural growth such as my country i think there is a need for a set of tools with the great sensitiveness of the president of the commission who knows in her previous roles how important this issue is how we can combine policy measures which have proved to be efficient in other countries
i think the most important element in the last three and a half years was the unity of
it was actually he thirty years ago on thirty may in the first democraticallycomposed croatian parliament who said that european integration is the way to go and everything we have done in the last three decades has been the implementation of this objective.
we are a bit of a symbol and a signal as i said at the beginning.
only thirty years of democracy twenty eight years of international recognition seventh year of membership.
first of all what is the philosophy of our first ever presidency of the council?
i dare to say that i might know a little bit better what is the legacy of the first croatian president and what he wanted for croatia once we gained our sovereignty for the future and the perspective.
those who were in the union from the start or those who joined like our neighbours from central and eastern europe in two thousand.
mr president first of all thank you for the many reactions many suggestions many different points of view on the current priorities of the croatian presidency but also on some ideas how you believe we should tackle the most important political and legislative dossiers which are on the agenda.
moreover we said clearly we will not erect fences between parts of the bosnian herzegovina border where croats live as constituent people in bosnia and herzegovina and croats on the other side of the border.
i see that michel is here and this topic is just after our debate.
this is the idea behind the summit that we want to organise in zagreb and therefore i say for those who are afraid of saying yes' to the opening of the intergovernmental conference with albania and north macedonia we know it's a complex
secondly on the dossier of migration which many of you have mentioned i will say once again and repeat this with full understanding that this is crucially what we must do in the months ahead of us.
this is our policy and we will stay behind it.
how we can offer them to those that have difficulty.
we speak about a frontex of ten thousand border police.
everything that we have put as priorities is very realistic.
we should not pretend that in an unprecedented situation we can solve with the first contractual relations everything we'd like to do in the future after the divorce that is happening literally in three weeks' time. therefore we will help you as the council on the proposal of the commission to find the right balance for completion in the months to
has. i thank you very much mr president for this opportunity and for having been with you here today in strasbourg.
we know what sovereignty means. we know what it means unlike any other country which is present in this hemicycle.
there were some disciplinary measures.
on the budget the stakes are high.
in that respect i don't want any of the countries in our neighbourhood to be forgotten especially bosnia herzegovina which is strategic for my country.
six five hundred i hear some statements and allegations which in the reports you read or the rumours you hear are almost to become effect.
it. enlargement doesn't happen overnight it happens after years of long reform process and careful scrutiny by the commission and the input of the member states.
this is very important to know.
that's very clear.
the. twenty seven we remain united with full solidarity extended especially to the most concerned countries such as ireland.
the stalemate cannot last forever and that's what we will try to do in the following days looking for strong support from all actors involved and asking the contact
even though the future looks bleak and we don't see prospects for a short term resolution of the political impasse we must continue trying to create political space for negotiations.
these developments require a strong response and further restrictive measures targeting those responsible for undermining democracy are being considered. of course these measures shall in no way harm the venezuelan people that are already dramatically affected by the crisis.
this is what i can summarise what they wanted to tell to you and i'm sure that the debates will go to these conclusions which i am anticipating. we need more concerted efforts by the whole of the international community
one thing is sure we need more concerted efforts by the whole of the international community and we need them urgently.
targeted sanctions cannot be the only tool we need other complementary constructive avenues that can contribute to a peaceful solution.
group to continue working.
so that means that we sit down in a mature way forget about the sound bites and get the fta done properly.
no country will regret it more than my country ireland.
so i would like to thank all the meps from the united kingdom who've been great friends of ours for many many years in the european parliament.
we all need to enhance our national military capabilities.
nothing perhaps is closer to the bone of national sovereignty than our national armed forces so increasingly of course the eu wants to bring them under its control. i also recognise that the top strategic priority for both the uk and the european democracies must surely be the continued wholehearted commitment of the united states to our security and defence through nato.
it seeks a european defence union at a stroke the separation of europe from our transatlantic allies otherwise what would be the point?
basically this means separate from the united states'. it gives little thought to the implications of this; it pays lip service to nato;
it devotes one paragraph to the united kingdom the leading military power in europe;
my concerns on both these points were the reason that i have led the opposition to csdp what some might call the eu army throughout my time in this parliament. the reports before us advocate qualified majority voting on matters which should be national prerogatives. we find that mr danjean's report is all about strategic autonomy'.
the lessons of the past have not been learned.
we all need to be more capable and willing allies.
i wish and i hope that you will give us back our self respect because right now very often it is painfully missing.
please use this unique opportunity to lead by example and to leave a legacy that we can all build upon in the future.
the climate crisis burning inequalities brexit our long term budget and also the growing problems with the rule of law in certain countries are all issues that have long term consequences for our european family.
madam president dear croatian friends we often say that the eu is at a crossroads and now is your chance to decide which road we collectively take. as you take on this massive role at such a crucial time your decision could not be more important.
i urge the croatian presidency not to underestimate the importance of the ongoing rule of law procedures because it's not about poland or hungary it's about us as a community and whether we as the european union have the self respect to do something when our rules and values are being neglected.
i hope you have the courage and confidence to act as a true champion of the rule of law and also progress with the article seven procedure that has been deliberately halted in the past.
we ended up in the european elections as the single biggest party in this parliament.
why did boris johnson get such a massive majority in the last election?
it's selfdeceiving to think that such projects as nord stream two are only about the economy.
for this reason the south and east neighbourhood policies should effectively combine political financial security and the defence dimensions. it is time for the actionbased eu partnerships with aspiring democratic neighbours.
the list of such valuable partners is shrinking dangerously and they deserve a corresponding status in our european policies. moreover economic interests should not overtake our security concerns.
i am their mep and i refuse to sit back while their rights are torn up and they are plunged into imminent danger.
instead of scrapping the policies which have driven these gross injustices this uk government is working to expose those of the three million eu citizens in the uk who fall through the cracks to exactly the same broken heartless system.
help us hold our own reckless government to account.
i have seen these people denied citizenship. people who have lived in the uk for their entire lives suddenly find themselves denied work homes and access to health care.
we can't trust this british government to protect citizens' rights so i plead with all meps who are lucky enough to remain in this chamber for another four years please do not stop fighting for the rights of eu citizens in the uk and british citizens in your countries.
one million of these eu citizens live in my constituency of london.
of course control of our own borders was a key factor in the vote to leave the european union.
now we need to make rapid progress on the future relationship between britain and the european union but first of all we have to get the withdrawal agreement out of the way.
i feel sure the resolution is designed to be helpful in spite of its misconceptions and some nitpicking.
historically of course no country equals the united kingdom in terms of protecting the rights freedoms and liberties of the individual.
twenty two the uk is in an advanced stage of preparation but hardly any of the remaining member states have published plans as to how the system will work for british citizens resident in their countries.
on the subject of citizens' rights this is an area where both the british government and the eu have been more or less in agreement from the start.
mr president may i say the resolution focuses disproportionately on the future status of eu citizens in the eu but pays scant attention to british citizens in the remaining twenty seven countries of the european union.
this is not a demonstration of a system offering kindness and consideration.
with over three million eu citizens in the uk thousands of europeans who made my constituency in the north west of england their home who are valued by their employers and neighbours and friends we absolutely need to ensure that citizens' rights are properly protected and people are treated fairly and lawfully.
reports by lawyers indicate that despite the uk government claiming that the process should take one to four days some people are waiting months leaving them without essential status documentation and rendering them unable to get jobs or rent a home.
we call upon everyone here in the european parliament to ensure that the uk government upholds its commitments to protect eu citizens' rights.
they don't get any card they can use when they travel.
two five million european union citizens living in the united kingdom have already applied for residence status.
and while the questions may have been subtly different the reason for asking them were always the same.
it gives them the protection and the certainty they need.
it allows them to stay where they live today under the same conditions for as long as they want and without any discrimination based on their nationality.
others have arrived later.
so we are in close contact with the citizens and the uk authorities on these issues.
but after the end of the transition period the united kingdom will be a third country.
this is good news.
therefore protecting these citizens' rights has always been our top priority from the moment the referendum result became clear.
we need to ensure that all citizens especially the most vulnerable are fully supported throughout the process.
we will have to negotiate a new way forward and we are getting ready to formulate the mandate for those negotiations ahead of one february.
and i am speaking here about. three five million citizens in the uk who come from a european union member state and about the roundabout one million british people living elsewhere in the european union.
they teach children they treat patients they care for the elderly they work in farms or factories they have started their own businesses and provide a living to many more.
but seriously there are many other cases where people are confused or unable to apply for whatever reasons.
we will closely cooperate with the united kingdom to make sure that we can get this right and that we can solve any problems as swiftly as possible.
they want to have a plan for their futures and the future of their families.
this is of utmost importance.
and we will always negotiate in good faith to build a new comprehensive partnership with our british friends.
the good news is that the united kingdom has already begun implementing the european union settlement scheme.
it was of course about citizens' rights.
so once the house has ratified the withdrawal agreement our top priority will be to implement our shared obligations both in letter and in spirit.
one came from a young man who came from benelux living in the uk who was of course worried about his future.
we are ready to help european union citizens living in the united kingdom to ensure they are properly informed and supported. and of course we will do the same when it comes to british citizens living in the european union.
and the same question came back time and again with different personal twists.
and for me this is a legal issue with a moral imperative.
another came from a british lady who has an italian husband and who was worried about his status what's going to happen with him.