kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
we are now well into the third year of discussion on this piece of legislation.
to give you some examples i could easily except your amendment one hundred and twenty two which ensures that consumers will not be charged for sending back goods after a withdrawal if they are worth more than eur.
i can see many reasonable suggestions for further increases in consumer protection and as i have said before the consumer rights directive should be a rights directive.
i am confident that an acceptable and balanced compromise is now within our reach.
in broad terms it is consistent with the aim of improving the functioning of the internal market while creating added value for consumers.
i know that by your amendments you seek additional improvements.
after all this time and notwithstanding the differences which do remain i see light at the end of the tunnel.
it should be worthy of that name.
the commission believes that the council's general approach is a good starting point in our search for a good compromise.
mr president that was a very constructive debate in this chamber i must say with all benches agreeing that we need to have a better more constructive more efficient consumer rights directive than we have today and
and there is a very short timespan during which we can try to achieve this better legislation that all the members who have taken the floor from all the political parties want to have.
mr president the compromise we have in front of us is a very good step in the right direction.
however we must have the courage to go further in particular on remedies for lack of conformity guarantees and unfair clauses. i have listened carefully to the arguments for years but my vision has been and remains full harmonisation.
transparency legal certainty and competition increase free choice for the consumer and decrease red tape for business. the challenge is to strike the right balance.
for high consumer protection and low costs for business the consumer rights directive should not become a tug of war between market and people.
nor should we live under a false assumption that national rules protect consumers while common european rules benefit business.
the left has been rigid and obstructive reducing the debate to a nitpicking exercise of comparative law bargaining between national rules.
i believe instead that the common interest of the european people should prevail.
minimum harmonisation and national exceptions as advocated by the social democrats simply hinder citizens from taking full advantage of a common market. at a time of crisis faced with rising protectionism it is as easy as it is irresponsible to be populist.
i think that it is right as viviane reding says that the co legislators now have to move forward and make some decisions.
that does not mean that we are in any way committed to moving forward and closing those negotiations. however we owe it to citizens and consumers to hold at the very least an open meeting to see if there is some basis for agreement.
i think all colleagues are in tune with that.
of difficult waters around where we are treading at the moment.
i think it is a first cautious step towards dealing with harmonisation on issues that cause great emotion and a lot of political agitation.
understandably consumers and consumer organisations in different countries do not like to see rights taken away.
i think that has been one of the biggest problems we have faced.
i think we have a compromise that adds real value for consumers and for businesses particularly in the areas of internet and cross border trade.
we must sustain those and also certain other areas but my final word to the commissioner is this we desperately need a framework within which to make progress towards more harmonisation.
we have a whole series of fragmented initiatives including your work on consumer contracts and other revisions.
we desperately need that long term strategic approach that will complete the stepping stones towards the milestone.
to full harmonisation of consumer protection regulation in the european union.
because i think this is an area where the eu as a whole can make a real difference in the fight against isis. as you said yourself isis derives some revenue from the sale of conflict oil but actually more importantly uses oil refineries in its territory itself.
this is not complex technology.
minister it is difficult to know where to start in such heartbreak in the kobane situation and the fight against isis generally but i will focus in the time available on conflict oil.
it takes barely ten days to put a mobile refinery together and on to a lorry and that is giving isis real operational independence so a very concrete question for you will the eu step up cooperation particularly with turkey jordan and the krg to stop the importation of this technology to isis controlled areas because if we can choke that off we start choking isis itself.
that gives it a degree of operational independence an energy independence which needs to be curtailed.
they have been degraded by air strikes but the issue is the importation into isis terrority of mobile oil refineries.
mr president my thoughts and prayers go out to the brave and innocent people of kobane who continue to suffer at the hands of islamic state.
so i am particularly pleased that my country the uk has announced yesterday that it will be deploying intelligence and armed drones across parts of syria marking a welcome shift away from the policy of engaging only in iraq.
furthermore there are still reports that turkey is failing to effectively prevent jihadi movements from turkey to syria and in addition the turkish government continues to refuse to outline the details of the secret deal regarding the release of its forty nine hostages held by isis.
with estimates of up to one zero civilians many of whom are elderly and vulnerable remaining still in kobane its defence from isis is vital to prevent a potential massacre.
credible reports that isis fighters have captured chemical weapons in the form of mustard gas from syria is but one example of the dire consequences of the danger posed by the evil threat of isis or isil or the so called islamic state call it what you like but ultimately it must be totally defeated.
so i take this opportunity to salute the brave efforts of the kurdish ypg forces on the ground and i also welcome turkey's belated decision to allow peshmerga troops to cross the border though of course it is a little too late for what we would normally expect from a nato ally.
one eight million people are internally displaced in iraq.
in this regard we should say that the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.
i made it very clear that our priority must be to destroy isil in iraq and syria and wherever isil resides including on our own streets in europe.
we should support the kurdistan regional government but not get too close to the iranian regime.
there was hardly a word on the urgent need for us to have an effective and common foreign and security policy.
the time it takes before decisive action is taken to protect the people in kobane resembles the world's paralysation in the face of the war in syria. remember the arguments used not to take effective action if we removed assad then the jihadists would take over? today we still have both along with two hundred zero dead millions on the run and girls and women particularly vulnerable in an unacceptable manner being enslaved raped and married off.
now we are literally watching yet another disaster unfolding in kobane and we should be urged to be more than bystanders.
the eu must work with turkey and avoid strengthening jihadists who are also funded by actors in the persian gulf that we still consider allies.
iraq is divided along ethnic and religious lines.
last but not least let us not forget that a large part of the funding of this terrorist organisation comes from the illicit sale of oil and goods.
it is of crucial importance that the peace process remain on the table and that all sides continue with the road map that is to be set up.
that is also the reason why we have to be united in our fight against is. the situation in kobane has already deeply affected the internal situation in turkey.
what turkey has done in terms of taking up a huge number of refugees from syria is to be commended and i also welcome the latest statements that not only humanitarian aid can pass through the border from turkey to syria but also the kurds from iraq will be allowed to reinforce the kurds in kobane.
mr president in the last weeks we have witnessed a humanitarian crisis unfolding in kobane. around two hundred zero people have escaped the terror of islamic state seeking refuge in turkey.
not neglecting the situation in kobane we must also take into account the overall situation.
the threat of islamic state has certainly not diminished also in iraq where it has even become bigger in some parts of the country.
we have to jointly ensure that we will not allow islamic state this important symbolic victory as it would also certainly set back the morale of the iraqi kurds.
as has been said already by many previous speakers kobane has become the symbol of the fight against this terrorist organisation which poses a threat not only to the security of syrians iraqis and countries in the region but a threat to all of us.
it is our moral obligation to support the kurds fighting off is and defending their city in kobane.
we witness different groups within turkish society attacking each other and putting extra pressure on the settlement process.
we must question whether we are doing enough to help the three million refugees many of them children who are now spread across jordan turkey lebanon iraq egypt and parts of north africa.
the war there has killed hundreds and thousands;
six five million people inside the country and it has forced more than three million to flee for their lives beyond the borders.
the flagrant violation of international law by all sides in the syrian conflict must be confronted and referred to the international criminal court.
the town of kobane has become a crucial symbolic battleground in the war against isis.
mr president syria has become a major humanitarian challenge facing the world today.
we have a duty to act and this union has a moral obligation to help civilians in kobane to do everything in its power from both a humanitarian and political perspective to stop the advance of isis and deal with the refugee crisis that is threatening to tear that region apart.
so the questions we must raise should also still be about resolving the conflict in syria building legitimate opposition bringing legal accountability for all responsible for the crimes of war and.
but those who simply want to use this issue to bash turkey must equally acknowledge that the country is receiving more than five hundred refugees a day from kobane according to unhcr and has given support already to.
we should welcome the announcement that the turkish border is open to peshmerga forces but remember that there are large numbers of diverse people fighting under the name peshmerga which simply means fighter in kurdish.
europe should support his call for iraq to join the international criminal court to strengthen the legal as well as the military fight against them and as we meet today the us state department still says there is a possibility that kobane will fall to isil'.
one two million refugees who have fled there from syria during the past three years.
we have to acknowledge that this is not a conflict between armies and there is proper concern about the rules of conflict being ignored.
what about the siege by syrian forces of more than three hundred zero people around aleppo who are literally being starved to death and the two hundred air strikes they mounted against their own people yesterday alone?
mr president one of the real tragedies of kobane is that it has also served as an enormous distraction.
this war in syria has been raging on for more than three years with over two hundred zero dead and millions displaced.
we must not forget that he started the war against his own people and now he is coming very close to being courted again.
yes isis is a big threat to the stability of the region but what stability i may ask? isis has also contributed to the diplomatic resurgence of president al assad.
that must not happen dear colleagues.
the international media has a front row seat on the hills in turkey and beam with their tele lenses and dishes the daily destruction into our living rooms. but we are witnessing a microcosmos of the war and thereby forgetting the bigger picture.
nobody is talking about boots on the ground or british troops or any other kind of american or european troops that i know of.
with the sorry history of the middle east and the interventions of the west do you not agree with me that it would be very well beholden on our leaders yes to do the right thing and yes to support good against evil and these barbaric people but would it not be right for them to take a more cautious and careful approach and think very carefully before going forward in any kind of gung ho manner.
we also need to make sure that we have sufficient safeguards in place through a coordinated approach not just to avoid arms falling into the hands of is as has happened to a batch of us weapons dropped in kobane on monday according to reports that i have seen.
when we talk about the threat posed by is it is crucial that we do not forget that the assad regime is partly responsible for their success.
therefore i welcome monday's decision to further strengthen sanctions on the syrian regime.
it is clear that to me we need to offer full support to the moderate syrian opposition in its goal to ensure inclusive and democratic political transition and we need to urge the iraqi leadership to make sure that all groups in society have substantive participation in government.
a unified response to isis will only be possible if these conditions are met.
and that the politically appointed court of auditors did not have any comments on the council's internal auditor's report of april two thousand and eight what would they say?
are we going to continue to avoid talking about the gorilla in the middle of the room because we are afraid to lose privileges obtained after years of silence?
the committee intends to recommend discharge on expectations for the future.
however a political decision was taken to give discharge and the compromising paragraphs were watered down.
back in two thousand and two when i was chief accountant of the european commission the then director general for budgets stated in a letter to the then internal auditor of the commission that the discharge procedure was an interinstitutional game and nothing more.
we can choose to expose and end hypocrisy when we vote for the two thousand and seven council discharge.
mr president may i firstly take this opportunity to give credit to commissioner kallas for the real progress which has been made in addressing the issues and reservations expressed by the court of auditors.
i agree and in this respect two thousand and seven was no different from previous years.
it is widely accepted that the adoption of accrual based accounting systems has been a success and that that installation has been responsible for much marked improvement.
i also want to acknowledge good progress made with the common agricultural policy and in particular the iac system which has given great benefit as well.
in my view this outgoing commission has made more positive progress than any preceding commission in recent times and i thank him for his efforts.
this parliament has repeatedly called on the member states to devote far greater urgency to addressing the auditors' concerns and in particular we have called on the member states to meet the terms of the two thousand and six interinstitutional agreement.
this report deals specifically with cross border voluntary activities and emphasises how cross border activities can promote and enrich young people and volunteers who are involved in these activities through intercultural experience.
as has been said volunteering and volunteers account for one hundred million people or five percent of voluntary activities throughout the eu.
together we are encouraging member states to make volunteering accessible to all sectors of society and to support cooperation between providers of voluntary activities in the eu. another common recommendation to member states is that they should adopt the volunteering measurement methods developed by johns hopkins university to get a clearer picture of the role of voluntary activities in our economy.
our communication aimed to outline the ways in which the commission already supports the voluntary sector and how it plans to further improve the recognition and promotion of volunteering in the future. we agree on many points.
the european year of volunteering lies behind us but we are now at a starting point for ensuring that the legacy of that european year remains in place.
this positive influence will continue since it may take several more years for some of the benefits of the year to bear fruit and become tangible.
so far six important policy documents have been adopted as a result of the european year.
also it was very proactive during the european year of volunteering so well done to the commission on that.
first of all there is an issue about economic and financial consolidation in different member states.
there is a temptation to cut back on the support that is available to voluntary organisations.
thirdly there was a question addressed to me what is the commission going to do in the long term to deal with the challenge of migration?
it was mentioned that climate change is upon us.
i think we need to do more where it matters the most for the people affected but also for our own security.
next time around.
secondly many of the speakers expressed a very understandable concern about the limited flexibility we have. but we still have some flexibility for next year;
of course we will have to invest more in the security of europe.
the projections of the ipcc tell us that by two thousand and twenty five there may be one hundred million climate refugees.
let me stress that there is a very strong commitment on the side of the commission to monitor implementation use money wisely and any possibility that might arise during the year to direct to priorities as they emerge.
thank you for all your hard work.
facing the uncertainties of tomorrow we ought to have space
this is an increase
it has been a privilege to work with the luxembourg presidency with minister gramegna who has contributed enormously to a spirit of conciliation rather than confrontation.
we face unprecedented humanitarian and refugee crises; the necessity and i would add urgency of supporting a fragile economic recovery in the european union.
we are working on implementing the payment plan agreed by the institutions and at the same time directing the limited capacity for increase to where it matters the
mr president this budget responds to the immediate needs for additional security migration and border control as well as meeting the problems of the agricultural sector.
first it is important that we focus spending on areas that deliver true european added value.
i believe it does it in a manner that is both timely and appropriate.
the young people of europe still need our help.
especially in these times when we see that the lack of education and little prospect for jobs leads to radicalisation we have to use all available instruments to secure a future for young people in europe.
in this sense i urge the commission as stated in the final conciliation text to analyse the results of the youth employment initiative and to propose changes if needed so that this programme can continue until.
the job is not yet done.
in my short intervention i would like to focus on the importance of continuing the youth employment initiative be it in its current form or in a revised form. my view is that it is crucial to send a signal to the european youth that they are still a priority for decision makers at european level.
very briefly on migration i very much welcome the fact that we succeeded in ensuring an adequate budget in headings three and.
secondly the cuts to iter were a bit too modest for our liking.
i praise the two hundred and seventy four meps who voted for the greens' amendment asking for greater transparency regarding the use of a general expenditure allowance.
thirdly although the medium term payment challenges were recognised and the institutions have committed themselves to ensuring that the massive payment backlog seen in the recent past are indeed something that belongs to the past it is not getting any easier and therefore we need to make sure that we are flexible enough to fight back against whatever comes
secondly i would like to thank madam georgieva who presented such a decent compromise.
four points.
this project in my opinion is a total waste of taxpayers' money and the money should be used elsewhere.
in my country this is public information and no harm has been done except to those who abused the funds.
it is a policy which purports to be humane but actually leaves millions of the most vulnerable the elderly women and children in refugee camps.
frankly even britain should be doing more.
one five billion for dealing with the migration crisis frontloaded over the next couple of years and which actually may well end up kicking the can down the line to a future budget at a time when resources are going to be even more stretched and creating more problems for the european union. we are spending this money and it is leaving all sorts of contortions in other areas;
it is a global problem which we are treating as a european problem.
we warned back in april that a commission change of policy would lead to the mass migration of people.
the problem is that it is the road to hell which is being paved.
instead of bringing people ever closer it is dividing still further.
the eu budget for next year started with political guidance based on the three highest priorities employment enterprises and entrepreneurship. it is time to make the final assessment on whether the priorities have being followed correctly regarding the entire job done in the respective committees plenary sessions and interinstitutional negotiations in the context of the existing economic situation and refugee crisis.
it seems that the time of miracles is not over. or maybe it was not a miracle but an excellent rapporteur that we had.
by no means can we see an end to these exceptional times.
common sense prevailed. we have a budget that focuses on employment enterprises and the young people of europe.
but i would like to finish by saying that when we have really exceptional circumstances they call for exceptional measures.
i was impressed earlier when the commissioner spelt out how much additional funding would be put towards jobs and growth.
you should agree with me that that is a great effort within the constraints of a difficult budget.
you also need to understand that the european fund for strategic investment is a valuable tool here which has been leveraged out of this budget and i wish it every success.
first of all can i apologise to the commissioner.
we asked for a fair and transparent trial that could be observed by the international diplomatic community as well as access to lawyers and families for the detainees.
we have urged laos to protect freedom of expression and association and peaceful assembly.
if that should not be the case we will continue to raise the issue and will continue to discuss the situation with the authorities of the country.
during the universal periodic review in january two thousand and fifteen under the auspices of the un human rights council laos committed to protecting freedom of expression freedom of the press freedom of assembly and association.
two thousand and nine we therefore expect laos to maintain its own commitments taken at international and national level.
the european union is also following closely other similar cases in the country.
the sentences given to the three are long and disproportionate as many of you have mentioned.