kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
indeed for those who have become long term unemployed and for families that have been divided by emigration the social and economic cost will be felt for years to come.
it is important to recognise that the private losses of irish banks were unfairly placed as a burden on the shoulders of irish taxpayers in order to minimise the risk of contagion across the euro area as a whole.
you do not make people richer or reduce their indebtedness by making them poorer.
however its other recommendations lack substance or definition and amount to a prayer for things to improve.
only withdrawal from the eurozone and a reintroduction of their national currencies which will fall in value will allow them to enjoy export led expansions.
one country's domestic demand becomes another's export potential.
a stable home market keeps production going and boosts exports to the rest of the world.
of course to remain competitive they will have to set their currency at a favourable rate for the export trade and that is to devalue. in that case wages will remain low.
can we really accept that in an eu which keeps on emphasising its democratic credentials we have actually seen the duly elected prime ministers of two member states usurped by the placemen of the troika?
in other words the programmes did not mark the beginning of the crises but rather the start of their resolution.
and the painful process of assessment is behind in many countries but the economic turnaround is now tangible and visible. the european economy did not collapse nor did the euro break
unemployment has started to decrease. ireland successfully completed its programme in december as planned.
but we must remember that hindsight is a wonderful thing and we must not attempt to put the blinkers on in order to exclude the context in which these difficult measures were put in place.
in other words we should not just blame the medicine when the affliction itself was very often much of the cause.
europe has just experienced the most difficult economic crisis since the great depression but we are slowly coming through it.
things are slowly starting to improve even in the west midlands.
this is the future.
we need to turn to the future. we need to make sure that economic growth continues and that the benefits of this growth are passed on to the citizens who have been hit the hardest by the crisis.
business confidence needs to be restored to facilitate and encourage job creation so as to decrease the unacceptably high unemployment in these countries.
we call on you to take account of social indicators for the purpose of renegotiating the adjustment programmes. we call on you to come up with corrective measures to improve the social situation with the help of the ilo and the council of europe.
we call on you to revise the structure of the troika so that there is democratic involvement of this parliament and so that there is someone democratically accountable for what happens and that would be you mr commissioners.
the social failure of the troika programmes has led to heart breakingly horrible situations a measure of poverty and desperation and hopelessness that europe should be ashamed of.
meanwhile people feel that they have no democratic influence any more over the most vital systems of their countries and unfortunately that feeling is justified in many cases.
it may have made sense when the main competition was coming from within this continent.
it makes no sense in a world where we are competing with china and india.
the truth is that we have burdened ourselves with higher taxes with more restrictive regulations with more intrusive regulators and licences and inspectors and bureaucrats and clerks.
we cannot put it all down to the rise of asia.
last night i was pleased to hear the belgian presidency commit to looking at the parliament's recommendations. i would say to the council that it is crucial that they take on board many of the really excellent recommendations in mr ry's report in particular i think those referring to improved governance.
finally i fully support the concept that employment enhancing growth should be based on decent work as promoted by the ilo.
the signature act of the ayatollahs was the siege of the american embassy.
what the ayatollahs were doing was signalling that the old rules did not apply to them and that they answered to a different authority. they have carried on as they started disregarding any notion of territorial jurisdiction sponsoring their militias and their terrorist organisations.
like those it made no acknowledgement of the principles of sovereignty or territorial jurisdiction.
even in the second world war when mutually opposed ideologies fought to extirpate each other the sanctity of diplomatic legations was respected.
from the gulf to the lebanon to the silk road khanates to the balkans they have struck at civilian targets as far away as london and buenos aires. i cannot help feeling that we would be in an even stronger position to condemn them if we had more respect ourselves for the principle of territorial jurisdiction and indeed democracy.
i was pleased to be one of those who voted in favour of the resolution.
political pressure and public protest have brought an end to capital punishment in many countries.
in my long experience in the european parliament i have never known such a huge majority in favour of a resolution of this type with one vote against twenty two abstentions and more than six hundred in favour.
can i say that this is important for animal welfare but also for the continuation of research in the european union.
we talk all the time about encouraging young people into science and spending more on research and innovation and this does involve the use of animals.
we risk pushing scientists and research into medical conditions outside our borders where there is less regulation so while we do need to improve the regulation and indeed the welfare of animals used in testing in research institutions and universities we also need to guarantee that the research can continue.
i voted in favour of this because i believe it is the most pragmatic solution to a problem that we have in updating the one thousand nine hundred and eighty six legislation.
at the same time any solutions should incorporate a quality dimension.
i urge the commission therefore to introduce without delay the proposed european vacancy monitoring system which should also include a european skills passport.
that was the women from iran who are here looking for support for their colleagues and for this resolution.
but i was very glad to meet with them and to make a commitment of support.
it is staggering but perhaps noteworthy that we received many more e mails on the issue of animal welfare than we did on this issue about human life. i just make that remark for what it is worth.
i think we should say because we were asked to use this word in particular that many of the women who are condemned to execution by stoning and otherwise are condemned for the crime of mohareb which literally means someone at war with god.
but actually all that these women have done is to protest against a dictatorship in their country and to desire to bring about change for the better for themselves and to restore their rights in that particular country.
our concern is about the fact that these two ladies are not being afforded due legal process and not only that but when they try to employ lawyers the lawyers themselves are persecuted and driven away from the country.
we see a government that has a complete disregard for democracy a government that ignores the results of the elections and then beats up the people and kills the protesters who want to see more democracy.
we also see the persecution of people of other religions of the christian faith of the baha'i faith.
but i would also like to point out very quickly one other person that we should be thinking about and that is ibrahim hamidi who was accused of homosexuality.
mr president i would like to congratulate elizabeth jeggle and all of those involved in reaching this balanced compromise on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. indeed the european animal welfare movement welcomes the prompt adoption of the agreed compromise. i believe the adopted text will bring about direct and tangible animal welfare benefits while at the same time it will allow essential medical research to continue in europe which hopefully will deliver new innovative and effective treatments.
the compromise that we have reached today is also an important step towards harmonising european regulations on animal experimentation and that in itself i think is very important.
finally it is a humane response which has established upper threshold limits for pain and it does put an obligation on the commission to inspect animal testing institutions where there is due reason for concern.
take ryanair pilots and first officers based at stansted in my constituency. many are not directly employed by the airline but are employed as contractors meaning that they do not have access to sick pay.
the european union i think has learned from the bad pr of the last time that it tried to do this when it was literally wanting to count every fish landed even from people fishing on the rocks. it has now done what it usually does which is to pay for a lobby group supposedly representing the anglers who are in fact a group created by the commission and then pretend that the
legislation is representative of the sector.
you have signalled with your fifth option what your preference is but i ask you again for the sake of four hundred and forty million citizens please go back to a blueprint and come up with something new something that does not just paper over the cracks and look backwards for solutions rather than looking forward for what is actually required.
but the legacy you will leave sir in terms of the white paper that you have outlined this afternoon is really quite dangerous and a real delusion in terms of denial of what has happened.
there is one member state that has made the right decision to walk away.
and so what you see across the european continent is the emergence of all the threats and all the issues that you have highlighted in your white paper but there is nothing in the white paper that gives citizens across europe the opportunity to voice their discontent via referenda for instance and actually highlight to you what is wrong. we all wish the european union project a future.
there are twenty seven member states that want that to happen.
everything that has happened in the european union in the last few days and last few years for that matter has been because of lack of action the lack of sensible action or the lack of action full stop.
but sir can i just implore you to look at that white paper?
because we have no capabilities to do so at european level.
that is the lesson.
the treaty of rome was a fall back option a fall back solution because they were not able because of the no' vote in the french national assembly to make a defence union to make a political union and to make an economic union.
i think it is very important to talk about the founding fathers because they had more ambition than just the treaty of rome.
it defies belief that mr juncker or anybody else can fail to understand that the european single currency is the single biggest reason for the catastrophic levels of youth unemployment in countries like portugal spain and greece.
mr president the white paper on the future of the european union follows the usual format that we are used to.
it quite rightly wants to ensure that every generation is better off than the previous one.
the solution is always the same namely for the eu to have yet more power in order to solve the problems that it created and that always means yet more integration political fiscal and economic.
it acknowledges that the effect on the young is particularly felt within the euro area and in the same paragraph it goes on to say this highlights the need to complete economic and monetary union'.
the paper acknowledges that the current economic crisis particularly affects the younger generation.
the austerity measures designed to keep the euro alive just make things worse.
it recognises the problems facing it but fails to understand that many of these were created by the eu in the first place.
if mr juncker tried to understand the reasons why the british voted to leave it might help him understand what is needed to reform the european union.
i hope that the way you choose today is the right one.
my strong vision is like yours to have a europe that is not divided; to have an open and modern europe peaceful and with real security and wellbeing for everyone.
i am sure that majority exists here in this house;
mr president in the times we are living in we need a strong europe but we also need to understand that visions are more than institutions.
sometimes i feel that we lack the real political will to take these decisions because we fall into the trap of ever ongoing discussions about institutions to replace the old institutions.
let me reassure this house that we will also continue to raise those issues in other fora including at the highest level.
commissioner ashton also had the opportunity to express here in july her concern over the unrest in xinjiang deplore the loss of life and express her condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims.
the eu respects china's right to bring those responsible for violent action to justice but reaffirms its long standing universal opposition to the use of the death penalty under all circumstances as well as the importance it attaches to the right to have a fair trial. the eu has raised these concerns repeatedly with the chinese authorities and reiterates its concerns in the two declarations published on twenty nine october
we must continue to work on the development of our strategic partnership and the respect of human rights as an integral part of our continued dialogue.
is not about thinking alike on each and every matter. it is true that europe and china may disagree and have different views on some issues such as on human rights and democracy.
as two major actors on the global stage our strategic partnership is increasingly focused on addressing global challenges.
human rights issues including the death penalty and respect for the fundamental rights of ethnic minorities are systematically raised during our regular political contacts and in particular during our human rights dialogue with the chinese authorities.
the same is also true for the respect of the rights of ethnic minorities.
the strength of our relationship allows us to discuss these matters frankly.
for the eu human rights are universal and the situation in tibet is a legitimate concern of the international community.
we have consistently passed this message to our chinese counterparts and listened very carefully to their views.
we all share the goal of a more open transparent china adhering to international standards on human rights and working together to address global challenges.
the statements called on china to commute any other death penalties passed in connection with the disturbances in tibet and xinjiang.
and on thirteen november as it always does in such situations.
i have criticised the repression of peaceful tibetan culture the persecution of falun gong as well as other religious minorities and the presence of widespread censorship in china including the media and also the internet and google.
i condemn as well the brutal and widespread use of the death sentence for lesser crimes such as economic subversion and pimping believe it or not.
nevertheless my group the ecr regards it as a personal conscience matter whether the death sentence is justifiable in the most serious crimes of terrorism and murder.
china has a harsh policy against taiwan.
this is difficult i know.
mr president i support calls for the end of the death penalty in china more especially when the death penalty is used to terrorise minority ethnic groups and nations within the chinese state.
the european union the united states and other world powers however in their criticism of human rights violations in china are very soft.
in the case of violation of workers' rights those criticisms are virtually non existent.
this is because they wish to build business links with chinese business and the bureaucracy that controls the state so that they may profit from the appalling exploitation of workers in china.
china is a gigantic sweatshop of exploitation of workers.
for example tens of millions of migrant workers lead lives of shameful misery with their children suffering the consequences of the horrific conditions under which they live.
the eu based and the us based multinationals participate in this exploitation to facilitate their super profits. the chinese regime is increasing its repression and that repression has increased since the chinese stalinists
decided to go for the capitalist market as a means of developing the economy.
there is massive repression of journalists and campaigners for justice for communities and for workers.
recently a socialist colleague of my own was banned from china.
laurence coates a socialist who writes under the name of vincent kolo who is the editor of chinaworker.
info' campaigns for workers' rights and free trade unions.
we should stand with workers in china.
we should call for freedom of expression and assembly and international solidarity with workers in china to fight this horrific bureaucratic regime many of whose members aspire to be oligarchs obviously as they did previously with the same system in russia.
the second priority is to improve knowledge and innovation for growth;
as you may already know the aim of this report is to show the way in which the member states understood and follow the two thousand and six community strategic guidelines on cohesion when drawing up their twenty seven national strategic reference frameworks and four hundred and twenty nine operational programmes adapted to meet their specific constraints and requirements.
in other words it is important to remember that each member state and even more so the regions have diverse needs arising from their geographical location and economic and institutional development. therefore the resulting tailor made national cohesion strategies in the operational programme undoubtedly vary significantly
nevertheless i can already assess that the general priorities have been adhered to by all member states with specific particularities imposed by their level of economic and territorial development. it is also important to note that they might suffer certain changes in the sense of the increasing focus on investments in areas with immediate growth potential and urgency in the context of the european economic recovery plan the community response to the global
and the third priority is to attract more people into employment or entrepreneurial activity in order to create more and better jobs.
to any signals we get from the ground that this principle is not being respected in the individual member states.
and the integrity of the whole
i also fully agree with all of you who say that cohesion policy does not and must not work in isolation;
supporting sustainable competitiveness is the most effective way to achieve cohesion in the european union.
we have been working with your great support over the last months on this challenge.
another proposal hopefully still related to this period.
times. some of you mentioned the question of transparency.
mr president much of what we have discussed here this morning will go to the next parliament to implement.
i also greatly appreciate the fact that all member states have already devoted a significant amount of their total financial allocations to investments in research development and innovation but i have also noticed that for most of the eu convergence regions ensuring accessibility remains a significant problem as they face a lack of transport infrastructure.
on the other hand i am glad to witness member states' efforts to prioritise investments aimed at increasing labour participation and improving skills as well as fighting against poverty and social exclusion in their programmes financed by the european social funds.
cohesion policy strives for equality yet privatising directives such as the postal directive have had the effect of further eliminating services to poorly serviced areas.
and why with better roads and infrastructure courtesy of eu funds is limerick in the south west of ireland becoming an employment black spot?
madam president cohesion policy in all its forms is meant to be the engine of equality and it has had many successes. however cohesion policy should be considered in the light of a long term assessment of its overall effect. in such an assessment the question is simple are communities and the people who live in them better off because of eu cohesion policies
was it that the structural funds and cohesion policy were no match for the cap?
or that they could not mitigate the common fisheries policy which over three and a half decades decimated irish coastal communities and fish stocks in irish waters?
but why then in the long term are there so few farmers left and so many unemployed and under employed in irish rural areas?
is it because cohesion policy has nothing to say in response to competition policy which allows a new member state to entice away dell a keystone industry in the area with eur fifty four million in state aid?
and the structural funds that support them?
the problem may be that our cohesion policy has no cohesion with other eu policies like competition market liberalisation etc.
until all eu policies are guided by these principles programmes will continue to conflict.
the secret is that cohesion does not come from policies it comes from basic unifying principles that should run through every policy principles of respect for the human person real subsidiarity priority of the vulnerable respect for life stewardship of creation the importance of family the dignity of work solidarity
the gap between lip service in government strategies and delivery on the ground is widening with every tightening of the fiscal belt.
hence i regret the passing of that programme particularly since nothing comparable has taken its place.
the switch of focus to private public partnerships is a poor substitute with access to jessica doing little to soften the blow at least so far.
you will have seen i hope as i have the distinct benefit of the urban programme particularly in north belfast.
in the present economic climate the prospect of jessica producing the anticipated leverage effect is diminishing leaving an unfilled gap in many cities where urban redevelopment and investment are still needed.
the first is that cohesion policy is and should remain a central pillar for achieving the european union's sustainable development goals.
that commitment will remain even more relevant in the post crisis period when generating green collar jobs will be the european pass to sustainable employment. there is also another clear message in all the reports which is that cohesion policy should cover all the european territory while the focus of cohesion policy should clearly remain on supporting the catch up process of the poorest.
i share your view on the importance of delivering european public goods in all regions.
the crisis makes that message even more relevant.
many regions are looking these days at new ways and means of adapting to rapid global changes and avoiding the risk of falling behind.
i am very pleased to see that you understand territorial cohesion in a way that is close to my heart which is that territorial cohesion is first of all about mobilising the development potential of all the different territories.
here the challenge is for territorial cohesion to be taken into account upfront when designing policies and not to be seen as a tool to repair the damage once it has been done.