kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
there is a trend in politics to create scapegoats to other' to store up hate and it is a growing trend in politics and progress is reversible.
it is one thing that we must always be on our guard against.
there are powerful forces who with some success in many cases are undermining and misrepresenting human rights at a time when the eu must be the voice the antidote to promote those values and to be the voice for minorities within the wider world.
we have a job to do and many people are relying upon us. i endorse the motion and thank everyone for their support.
mr president i really want to join my colleagues in sharing the outrage for the real emergency that we are witnessing with you said it ulrike hundreds of men that have been arrested and detained in chechnya just because they are perceived to be gay and tortured to disclose their alleged gay friends.
the systematic witch hunt of human beings just because of their sexual orientation goes beyond discrimination it is persecution it is terrifying and unacceptable and we cannot be silent and turn our eyes.
in the eu we should stand united and act together and i welcome that our president has immediately taken action and a firm stand against those crimes and i support further action by the european commission.
the russian federation should openly denounce those crimes and thoroughly investigate them in respect of international law.
there must be zero tolerance against impunity and all perpetrators should be brought to justice.
as a member of the united nations and the council of europe russia should respect that all human beings are equal and no one has the right to persecute an individual or a group just because they are different or are perceived to be different.
in our times hate homophobia violence discrimination can never be justified in the name of religious values.
mr president i want to join the thanks to the commissioner for a very powerful intervention on how the european union is using all its possibilities to condemn these atrocities that we have been hearing about during the last two months.
this horrible persecution is on one hand linked to the emphasis on what they call traditional values and believe me according to traditional values homosexuality is something that should not exist.
this is also linked indirectly at least to the decriminalisation of domestic violence in russia some time ago because family' means the traditional family' and what happens inside the family is something that should not be touched.
in this extreme way we have seen honour killings which are tolerated by the state even induced by the state and we have to be very strong.
human rights defenders are persecuted against and the committee against torture saw their offices burnt down by security forces not long ago.
mr president dear colleagues dear commissioner what is happening in chechnya right now is the extremest form of escalation of a backlash that we are actually seeing all over europe and all over the world right now.
the reports of torture of persecution of imprisonment and even of killings are absolutely shocking but the precondition for these kinds of dehumanisation are one thing and that is denial denial that we even exist that gay men lesbian women bi trans and inter people exist and when the chechnyan president declares that there are no gay men in chechnya he does exactly that.
the european union will have to speak up and defend the rights of those that are being denied their existence in chechnya and not only tomorrow but all the time because we exist and we can be proud to exist.
this has helped increase confidence among member states that excellent projects can be developed and that the practice of fixing national allocations can be phased out.
this will help reinforce a more strategic approach to implementing environment and climate related policies and will mobilise other eu funds for environmental and climate objectives.
the final result is good news for the environment and good news for the fight against climate change.
when we talk here today about the regulation the trialogues and the budget for the programme it all may seem rather theoretical and bureaucratic but many of you have seen the real results and the benefits on the ground of life projects in your regions doing very necessary work.
the european parliament's work over many years has contributed to making a real success of the life programme.
life has helped people take action to protect nature where they live and where they work; it has helped policymakers improve the quality of their work and it has helped businesses to innovate and create jobs.
the commission welcomes in particular the strengthening of integrated projects.
the provisions on capacity building and on dissemination and exchanges of best practice will help people develop quality projects and will spread the benefits of action on the environment across the whole union.
the other question is that the funds are limited and we see huge cuts in budgets for nature conservation at national level as well.
it is relatively small but it is one of the most successful financial instruments that the european union has and that is why i am extremely satisfied that we are not only increasing it but also continuing it.
first of all we are celebrating life here but a few weeks ago commissioner barroso put nature legislation on his refit list and it was among those areas of what he called small things'.
according to the commission's own staff working paper we are only spending twenty of what we should spend on nature conservation.
i am afraid it was another example of how the member states think of the eu budget and am very glad that both parliament and the commission avoided the destruction of the life instrument.
i must say that i was surprised by the attitude of the member states on the life instrument first of all on the co financing rate that they were asking for.
is the european commission willing to make an analysis of what we are going to spend in the next couple of years on nature conservation and see whether that is sufficient to meet our targets for the biodiversity strategy?
the success of life is that it is quality driven and defining the money before looking at the quality of projects is per definition not quality driven.
if we look after the small things then we will get big results.
however i fully support this programme and it brings great value particularly in my own country of ireland.
we have policies on the environment and on agriculture that need to be better coordinated because we need farmers to live and farm in rural areas and to manage the landscape. i have said to you commissioner that if we were to remove farmers and to put in a civil service structure it would cost us so much that we could not afford it so we need to be rather more united and to
the budget is not enormous and i know commissioner you would like to have the budget that agriculture has.
there are aspects which people would be concerned about and one is the very small budget for it.
in many ways it is a good name because we could be talking about life or death in terms of the way we treat our environment in particular and especially how we adapt to the changes in the climate.
of course as a british member i had some real issues around overseas countries and territories. these regions are rich in biodiversity but they often struggle to secure funding from international programmes because there is an assumption that they will be funded by the eu.
so i do welcome this proposal.
i am pleased with the measures on fixed national allocations because i actually believe that having those gives applicants certainty that they are going to be listened to and that the money will be available.
it is not a huge budget but it is very beneficial and it fills an important niche which is funding the environmental and climate projects that are not eligible for funding anywhere else.
but knowing that the fixed national allocation is available gives them some certainty.
the first reading agreement as i said was the result of protracted negotiations and i am pleased with the outcome.
i would suggest when the dust settles on cap reform and on our big budget debate that those of us who have a common interest might think more strategically about how we get the desired results.
farmers want to and do protect nature but they need to be helped and supported to do it. they do not need ngos and others accusing them of doing things which they do not do.
they need help.
so i think there is more that unites us than divides us.
he believes that the recent flood tragedy in sardinia was caused by climate change and that those of us who argue against manmade climate change are therefore somehow responsible.
he does not believe that the flood was caused by global warming he blames the eu's stability and growth pact which has denied sardinia the funding it needs to manage its water courses.
the flood in sardinia was caused not by global warming but by a failure to dredge the river.
so mainstreaming the integration of the policies which were mentioned by many of you is a very important part of how we can truly work together not only with other funding instruments but also with others who are working for the same course. you mentioned at the beginning madam
that is clear and we will do it step by step.
clearly there is an understanding that dg environment and dg climate action will continue to provide political guidance. the externalisation idea was always that a job which could be done by professionals should be done by professionals
when it comes to the co funding level it should really be chosen
funds. where we tried that we would simply activate more external funding.
this network will give them a platform to exchange information and share best practice.
this is an extremely important positive decision and i would encourage all members to support it.
this will be particularly useful when member states are implementing eu initiatives such as the youth guarantee schemes. the bench learning' system will also enhance the efficiency of public employment services by identifying in which areas they are performing well and allowing others to learn from this.
mr president this decision recognises the importance of pan european cooperation in the area of employment most notably at a time when unemployment has reached record levels in some member states and sections of the population are finding themselves stuck outside the labour market.
it will also help us better match job seekers with vacancies including vacancies in other member states which will decrease unemployment and increase intra eu mobility.
identifying skill shortages should be a priority in order to ensure that we are providing all our citizens not only our young people with the skills that they need to fulfil their potential in the labour market.
this network can help us do this across the union.
the cooperation that this network facilitates will contribute to the achievement of the europe two thousand and twenty aims for smart sustainable and inclusive growth.
i am also pleased that the final text makes to reference to skills matching and skills shortages.
the network will support initiatives which aim to facilitate the transition from education to work.
indeed in ireland our public employment service is undergoing a fundamental transformation at present with the roll out of new intreo offices which will ensure for the first time that a person's first contact with an employment office will be their first day on a pathway back into work.
the simple reason why we have twenty six million people unemployed across europe including nearly one hundred thousand in my own constituency of dublin is because there are not enough jobs and the way to reduce unemployment is for europe to move its focus from one sided austerity towards sustainable growth.
such a network would facilitate and encourage cooperation with the social partners trade unions ngos and regional authorities to ensure their support and cooperation in helping people back to work.
there is much that we can learn from each other particularly in the implementation of the youth guarantee. a european network of employment services would help us better anticipate and detect emerging labour market problems and to respond more effectively.
at the same time closer cooperation between all member states' public employment services does have an important role to play.
it would also facilitate the implementation of employment projects part financed by the structural and investment funds particularly the social fund.
the starting point for delivering the youth guarantee to a young person should be their registration with an employment service.
the commission has made it clear on various occasions that it does not share this legal interpretation.
the decision will improve the functioning of public employment services in the eu.
this should help them to raise their performance level and improve services to job seekers.
public employment services are at the forefront of action to tackle unemployment and to improve the resilience of the labour market.
job seekers and employers alike expect good public services including high quality services delivered by the public employment services.
for the modernisation of public employment services.
while the need for legal clarity is important what is crucial today is to adopt the decision and make sure it will be implemented.
i note that the council plans to adopt a unilateral statement emphasising the voluntary nature of member states' participation in this network while stating that all member states will participate.
two thousand and fourteen moreover public employment services are key actors for the implementation of the council recommendation on establishing a youth guarantee.
the public employment services network to be established under this decision should carry out concrete initiatives such as a common evidence based reference system combining benchmarking and mutual learning activities mutual assistance between the network members and the implementation of strategic actions
we do indeed have to work on better macroeconomic conditions and we have to find solutions to boost investment. however we also have to work on improving the functioning of labour markets and that is why working for better functioning employment services is so crucial.
the new network of public employment services will help increase the performance of these services through mutual learning and technical assistance projects.
but the political importance of this network goes much further.
two years ago in the employment package in response to the recession we outlined the vision for a european labour market. for many people in the european union today a job abroad is the only short term solution to unemployment and for various reasons such as a better knowledge of foreign languages or falling transport costs we have to expect further increases in mobility.
we need to help those who want to take advantage of the freedom of movement in the eu.
however it is wrong to assume that this proposal is just about labour mobility.
it is true that when we are looking at issues around unemployment questions about quality and information coming from the administrations have a really important role in this.
this has a real impact on people's lives. we should remember that access to high quality public services is a strong part of the active inclusion agenda so it is right that we learn from each other's experience and really benefit from that. i think that the involvement of all member states is extremely important and frankly i find that the arguments that we have been having over this have been totally dispiriting. we have made a turf war out of something which really should be common sense
namely that we do need to be developing the experience and to be giving people a better experience whether that is dealing as people have mentioned with the youth guarantee and youth employment or questions about long term unemployment and also particularly in relation to vulnerable groups.
that will include not only the regional and local employment offices but also organisations which for example represent the unemployed and vulnerable workers.
so we hope that we can get over this hiccup at the start and move on to have something that is going to be very constructive.
many of the blockages to increased employment are at member state level and action needs to be taken at those levels to guarantee that not only do we give the skills and resources to people to allow them take up those new jobs but also guarantee that those skills and training live up to a certain standard.
that is what is most important now with this whole current crisis especially with youth unemployment that we give skills to people to ensure that they have the skills for those new jobs that are coming down along the line.
lists. we all know through party political experience that this is not very easily
but there are very many problems of indirect discrimination.
they have helped us to show that the women are there and that we just need to use the talent which is available in society.
where we do not agree is on the measures to be taken in order to change this situation.
in those areas where there is a very clear european competence. i need the help of parliament to continue to raise awareness about the very large number of inequalities and to take the measures that are needed to change this
mostly we do not agree on what should be done at european level and what should be done at national level although very often the two have to be combined. so i really need the support of parliament in order to go forward
we are going to review this directive analysing with a report in the coming months how it works and in which countries it has made quite a difference.
i also need your help in order to help those forces in the political parties which fight for a better representation of women on the electoral
several members who asked this question are no longer in the chamber but at any rate i think it is important that i tell you this. we do have a european directive on equal pay for equal work and there was a very interesting hearing concerning that problem
gap. one of the conclusions of the hearing was that we desperately need transparency rules to be applied in the member states.
so you can see that while sometimes a european directive solves problems other problems can only be solved at the level of the labour market at the level of the social partners working together and at the level of national governments introducing transparency
let us deregulate and let us ensure that the best person for the job gets it regardless of gender colour creed religion or anything else.
if a woman is good enough she will be promoted.
as a woman i believe women have the right to real choices in their lives.
those of us who saw the film could not fail but be impressed by the women's struggle to gain equal pay and the demand for a level playing field in the workplace.
the eu is not the right body to be making permanent legislation on quotas for our political parties businesses or any other sector for that matter. it is with regret therefore that i will be unable to support this report.
i strongly support the calls in this report to put a stop to domestic violence and other crimes against women including forced marriages and female genital mutilation.
there is an equal amount i feel should not be tackled here but best dealt with at member state level.
with reference to the report on women in politics i will be honest and open about the fact that in two thousand and nine during the european elections the leader of my party imposed temporary positive measures to encourage and help women become meps.
leave this to the individual member states who know their men and women best.
on the matter of forced marriages i am proud that my government in the uk is looking to criminalise this cruel practice but i do not believe that legislative quotas and rules on maternity leave should be made at eu level.
as a conservative politician i have a duty to work towards this objective.
i admire the report's bold statements about same sex families and the rights of lesbians and gay men as a further move towards equalities in all areas.
forty years on women in europe are still struggling for equality in certain areas of life.
last week we held international women's day and during the day a film called made in dagenham' was played.
this experience taught me that positive measures work best when they are implemented at member state level and on a temporary basis.
the trouble is that so far voluntary measures have achieved next to nothing and we need to do something because doing nothing is not an option.
i would like to start with a quote by an american feminist who said decades ago already true equality will only have been achieved if we have as many incompetent women in positions of power as incompetent men.
we have been waiting for decades;
i mean if you do not want quotas if you do not want to address the gender pay gap if you do not want to unblock the horizontal anti discrimination directive if you do not want to talk about maternity and paternity leave then what do people actually want to do for gender equality?
the european union does have all sorts of policies in support of families which is fine; i support that.
another issue that to my surprise turned out to be slightly controversial and something that i would like to put on the political agenda is that of single person households not to be confused with single parent households single person households.
no one should be either rewarded or penalised for the size or composition of their household.
commissioner this is a very strong political appeal by this house a repeated appeal to the commission to come forward with proposals for a road map analogous to the gender equality road map.
if we can do it for women and the european union has achieved a lot for women and gender equality we can do it for lgbt people.
but demographic developments show that the composition of households is changing and it is time that the commission recognised the new demographic reality and ensured fair and equal treatment for people living alone.
i will start with the first one the one on quotas or binding targets for more women on the executive boards of listed companies.
i have to say to the commissioner that i am slightly disappointed at the follow up.
as colleagues will constantly ask did you get there because you are good or did you get there because you ticked a few boxes?
you promote mediocrity and i contend that businesses should have the right to hire the best person for the job and it should not matter whether they are male female black or white or anything else.
after all these years of eu gender equality regulations targets and initiatives the situation is still pretty poor.
she did it based on raw ability an iron will and because she was the best person for the job.
in a desperate bid to sound popular you are not only patronising women you are promoting mediocrity and you are hampering business.
it is called a meritocracy and it is something which britain and the english speaking peoples of the world have been pioneering for centuries.
madam president figures show that the pay gap between men and women is still large.
if anything this will create a culture of discrimination.
this crisis compels us to take into account at once and seriously the economic importance of gender equality because gender based exclusion is not only unfair as we always say but offsets the economy as well. member states and the private sector should be encouraged to integrate gender experts into their crisis management.
for them the glass ceiling is much thicker than we would think.
this public consultation is not about whether we need more women in decision making at an economic level but how we should get there. the public consultation will run until twenty eight may and following the input the commission will then take a decision on further action later this year.
idea that increasing female representation in political decision making is good for democracy and good for economic prosperity.