lmms-lab-audio/europal-asr huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-13
Mr President, the signature of the EU on the Istanbul Convention was a historic step to strengthen our tools to prevent violence, combat impunity and protect victims. Since then, Estonia, Cyprus, Germany and now Croatia have ratified the Convention, but 10 Member States are missing, including the Presidency. I am asking them: how many women have to be harassed, beaten up and killed? How many girls have to be married away, mutilated or trafficked for prostitution before they ratify and enforce? All women and girls should feel free and safe in Europe, and no tradition or culture can justify men's violence against women. The EU accession to the Convention strengthens accountability for Member States and external action of the EU in promoting women's rights globally. It is about building a culture of respect for women and girls involving men and boys. The Convention not only provides for sanctions, training, support for victims, but also measures to combat stereotypes and sexism. So together today, let's call on the Presidency to put the Istanbul Convention on the agenda of the European Council for as long as it takes, and call on all countries Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine to engage with civil society, with religious leaders, across political parties based on facts. Thank you, Vice-President for what you said. Let's also call on the Commission to open a dialogue on the misleading interpretation of gender in the Convention. The Convention is not against family Mr President, I'm finishing it is against violence that is against families. As co-rapporteur of the Istanbul Convention, I will remain committed to zero tolerance to any violence against women and girls.
Date: 2018-07-02
Mr President, data collection has played an important role in the development of the common agricultural policy since its inception and is an essential tool in keeping to evidence-based policymaking. It allows policymakers not just to assess how current policies are being implemented but also to monitor trends and better prepare us for future reforms. As we embark on another CAP reform, it is only right that we continue to ensure that we are using the best available methods of data protection. However, we must also be mindful of the importance of the simplification of the CAP and these aims do not necessarily contradict each other. Crucially, new technology, such as satellite data and important IT systems, have the potential to ensure, on the one hand, that the data collected is useful and accurate, while at the same time reducing the administrative burden on producers. In my opinion, there also needs to be greater cooperation and joined-up thinking between the agriculture departments of the Member States and regions, and then farmers can ensure as smooth a process as possible.
Date: 2018-07-03
Madam President, last week's Summit was wrongly billed as make or break for Brexit talks on the Northern Ireland border. Calmer heads have prevailed, but time is short. The backstop solution for Northern Ireland, as set out in the Protocol, is wholly unacceptable. Northern Ireland sells more goods into the Great Britain market than in all other markets combined. Equally, around 75% of all goods and services brought into Northern Ireland are from Great Britain. A solution that sees these goods and services as being from a third country and therefore subject to customs checks is a totally unwanted interference within the UK's internal market and its constitutional order. We will never accept such interference in the constitutional and economic well-being of our part of the United Kingdom. The European Union institutions have set as their priority the need to uphold the Belfast Agreement. This Agreement gave rights, in equal measure, to both communities in Northern Ireland. By seeking to take away that automatic access to the UK's own internal market, the EU is removing those rights and undermining the agreement.
Date: 2018-07-05
Mr President, even though so much has been achieved since the Arusha agreement, I have to express deep concern regarding the existing political and human rights situation in Burundi, which undermines any initiative for reconciliation, peace and justice. Since April 2015, Burundi has been going through acute political, human rights and humanitarian crises, which have so far led to the death of 595 persons, while another 3.6 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. Therefore, I welcome the European Union's humanitarian actions in this regard and I consider that we must maintain support for the population affected. It is crucial that this aid be provided in a direct manner to those in need. Violence and intimidation against political opponents, human rights defenders and NGOs must end, as well as the continued degradation of media space and press freedom. I will conclude by underlining that we should step up our efforts all together.
Date: 2018-09-12
Madam President, today Mr Juncker wanted to establish his legacy, but sadly, that legacy will be the loss of a Member State and more importantly the loss of confidence in the European Union, as demonstrated by recent elections in Sweden, Italy and Germany, as well the migration crisis that continues to cost lives. On Brexit, Mr Juncker reaffirms his view that there should be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I agree. But he also reaffirms support for the Belfast Agreement. However, the EU backstop proposal ignores one of the core principles of that agreement: the principle of consent. Let me make it clear once again in this House: there can be no borders and certainly not those imposed by the European Union within the internal market of the United Kingdom, or interference in its constitutional framework. Great Britain is Northern Ireland's largest market place, where we sell more than in the Republic of Ireland, the rest of Europe and the rest of the world put together. Equally, 70% of everything that comes into Northern Ireland for consumers and the manufacturing process comes from Great Britain. Customs are regulatory barriers which put jobs and families at risk.
Date: 2018-09-12
Mr President, I fully supported the report on Article 7 asking Members to assess if there is a risk of a serious breach of European values in Hungary. I voted for Europe and for PPE values, on the side of the Hungarian people. Raising concerns, based on facts, about the Hungarian Government's policies is not punishing the people. I am proud to be a Swede, an Italian and a European. There is no contradiction. As a friend of Hungary, I appeal to Prime Minister Orbán to move from denial to dialogue and to reconsider policies violating Article 2 of the EU Treaty, in particular restrictions on academic freedom and on civil society, and breaches of European asylum law. I believe in building bridges, but we urgently need to see concrete changes and results in Hungary. I am proud the PPE stood united for European values, showing that we are a credible political family. I will continue to stand up for the rule of law against populism and extremism in Europe.
Date: 2018-09-13
Dear friend, Mr Štefanec, I am addressing you as a close friend. Why do you think all these lower-quality products were found only in central and eastern Europe? Do you not think that central and eastern European citizens should have the same rights as the citizens of other countries in the European Union?
Date: 2018-09-13
Mr President, I strongly support the calls upon the Government of Myanmar and the security forces to put an end immediately to the ongoing violations against the Rohingya people and other ethnic minorities in northern Myanmar and to ensure that security and the rule of law prevail. The international community must adopt a united and strong stand on this situation. The European Union and the Member States have to take the lead in the UN General Assembly and the upcoming 39th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council and step up their efforts towards the establishment of an international mechanism to back investigations into alleged atrocity crimes and to seek justice by prosecuting those responsible for atrocity crimes. Finally, as is emphasised in this resolution, thousands of Rohingya people, many of whom are children, are internally displaced and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Against this background it is paramount to continue to call for immediate and unhindered access throughout the country for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Date: 2018-09-13
Mr President, I welcome this new strong resolution against Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government's repeated actions and violations of basic democratic principles. I want to welcome Sam Rainsy, a friend and a great leader, who does not give up in his struggle for more justice and democracy for the Cambodian people. The elections last July in Cambodia were a farce, the party of Hun Sen, in power for 33 years now, obtained 100% of all contested seats in the national assembly and the senate. The opposition was banned and declared illegal. The government of Hun Sen is illegitimate and I would like the EU and Ms Mogherini to recognise and acknowledge this fact. The EU gives a lot of money to Cambodia and we cannot continue doing business as usual. Cambodia benefits from the most favourable regime available under the US Generalized System of Preferences. Under Article 19 of this regulation, in case of serious human rights and labour rights violations the EU should suspend the preferential tariffs temporarily. If the EU wants to save its credibility we cannot do business as usual. I call on the Commission to publish immediately the conclusions of the last EU fact-finding missions and I invite the Commission to report these conclusions as soon as possible to Parliament.
Date: 2018-10-03
Madam President, the UK's adoption of the European Union system of criminal law is destroying our freedoms and liberties under English law. Magna Carta said that the English could not be arrested or imprisoned without evidence laid against them in an English court. The European Union has swept away that ancient liberty. We can now be imprisoned in a foreign jail on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations on a piece of paper. Under the Bill of Rights 1689, we could not be fined or have our property confiscated without a criminal conviction in an English court. That liberty was swept away under the EU Directive that allows our assets to be frozen or confiscated on the say-so of a foreign court. Now the EU wants to turn this directive into a regulation so that Member States will have no leeway in its application, and it even allows for non-conviction-based confiscation orders. For centuries the English could not be imprisoned or have their property taken away without a criminal conviction under their own laws in their own courts. Now a court in any corrupt EU Member State can judicially kidnap our citizens and freeze or confiscate their property. Our governments tell us that we have to surrender our liberties so that they can protect us from cross-border crime and terrorism. The same governments open their borders to any organised criminal from around the world that wants to launder their money in our banking systems. They open our borders to any thief or fraudster that can come purely because they are EU citizens and we cannot deny them entry. Her Majesty's Government wants to opt into this regulation and Mrs May no doubt intends to incorporate it into her proposed security treaty with the EU after Brexit. UKIP MEPs will vote against this. We protect British liberties and freedoms, not betray them.
Date: 2018-10-03
Mr President, I am touched and grateful for the amazing support that I received from colleagues, cross-political groups. Let me tell you, Vice-President Ansip, how much I truly appreciate your commitment and cooperation, together with Commissioner Gabriel and Director-General Viola. I noticed, Mr President, that only the extreme right populists have been against. They want the next generation to live in the past, instead of the future. They have not given us the answer on how France, for example, under the Front National, would compete alone by closing digital borders with China or the US. As usual, they are attacking without giving any answers. Let me tell you instead that I am proud that we have managed to keep the national exceptions restricted to just one. I am proud that we have succeeded in overcoming the Member States' concerns that data process outside of the territory would be less safe and accessible. Tell us please, dear colleagues from the extreme right: how would data be safer in a box in a cellar within a national border instead of in the cloud with the most efficient and safe cloud service providers? If they are not efficient, they are out of a job. And let me tell you that we have seen attacks, Mr President, against central government systems, and it is actually decentralisation more than centralisation of data storage and processing that can provide more security at a time when hackers are proliferating. Wake up to the digital realities. Many sectors directly benefit from the free data flows. Some colleagues mentioned e-health. The transport sector is a good example. The truck industry, from Scania to Volvo, are depending on the free flow of data to deliver environmentally friendly and innovative solutions and to speed up maintenance at a distance. Mr President, we are only at the beginning of seeing the advantages for public authorities and companies. There is already more efficiency, fewer cars and more climate-friendliness in the use of a cloud provider located in another Member State. Let me finish by telling you how much I have appreciated the cooperation with the Estonian Presidency, which managed to find a common solution quickly in the Council and the precedent set by Bulgaria for good cooperation in quickly finding a final agreement. A warm thank you to all the shadows: Christian, Daniel, Dita, Julie and Marco, the Commission, Mark from the ENCA secretariat, Silva from the EPP, the legal and policy department and stakeholders for their invaluable contribution. Mr President, together we have truly delivered a Volvo and a Ferrari, ready to drive into the new digital area.
Date: 2018-10-04
Mr President, I welcome this resolution on the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. I also want to salute Mr Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress. Respect for universal human rights, democracy and the rule of law should remain at the centre of relations between the EU and China. This resolution condemns the increasingly suppressive regime that minorities, in particular Uyghurs and Kazakhs, face in China today. We call on the Chinese Government immediately to end the practice of mass arbitrary detentions, and to close all the camps in which one million people are arbitrarily imprisoned. An independent investigation mission should be allowed to visit Xinjiang and Tibet. Our resolution also calls on the Chinese Government immediately to release Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, and all other detainees. Dear colleagues, China is a big country. It is also rich in ethnic and cultural minorities, from Tibetans to Uyghurs. It should not be scared of them. It should recognise and respect them. This would make China an even greater country. Free Uyghurs, free Tibet, free China.
Date: 2018-10-04
Madam President, we have removed the barriers to the free flow of data within the European Union. The fact that we are establishing the fifth freedom within the internal market is a game changer for the European digital economy. I would like to say it's a good example of a Europe that delivers and I want to thank all of you warmly for great cooperation and support.
Date: 2018-10-22
Mr President, fully supports this proposal because it is a scandal that we have entities who find a way to be reimbursed by taxes they never paid. So we do need to have a debate on this. Nevertheless, we think that the resolution should not be prepared for this session because we believe that we need to go deeper in identifying the problem behind it, and we recommend this being discussed in TAX3 Committee. So we support the debate but we feel that the resolution should be discussed in another month.
Date: 2018-10-22
Mr President, the S&D Group proposed to include in this session a Commission and Council statement followed by a debate on a European mechanism on the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights. We really see this as a major and central task of the European Parliament. We would like to clarify that our purpose with this debate is to focus on the instruments not on particular cases but on instruments. We need really to provide the necessary instruments to deal with these issues wherever they take place. So this is the approach we are proposing, and we believe that we should have a clear majority of the Parliament, because this is a major task where we need to deliver by the end of this legislature.
Date: 2018-10-23
Madam President, I would like to say to the First Vice-President: yes, what is at stake is knowing what kind of European Union we can present to our citizens in the upcoming European elections. A Europe which can really deliver on solutions for their problems, or a Europe which is paralysed by the forces of the status quo? We, the S&D Group, are really striving for real European solutions, and we need to deliver them in the last months, for sure. When it comes to tackling social inequalities, this means fully implementing the European Social Pillar. When it comes to climate change, this means having an ambitious strategy for a low-carbon economy. When it comes to the digital revolution, we need to frame it, to conduct it in such a way that we improve working conditions and we control the effects on our democracy. And when it comes to migration management and the refugee crisis, we need to make sure that Europe counts not only on the European border, but the real European Asylum System and a real partnership with Africa. Then we can ask: but do we have the means for this? And we think we have, because if we fight tax evasion tax avoidance the means will be there. We need to turn these into a future Community framework and also a proper reform of the eurozone, overcoming the current differences. And then we can ask: can we decide on this? Yes, we can. In the European Parliament we decide by a majority, so let's see now how the different Groups promote these real European solutions. And yes, when it comes to the Council, these proposals coming now to extend qualified majority voting in the social area, taxation and foreign affairs this makes sense will support the Commission in this direction. Let's make the best of the upcoming months. This is indeed the moment for us to strengthen European sovereignty as the main leverage to increase citizens' ownership of their own lives.
Date: 2018-10-24
Madam President, I would like to say to President Tusk that we have indeed a serious situation when it comes to the European Council not being able to deliver real solutions to the problems we are confronted with. We do, of course, have many external challenges but something that we know for sure is that we need to strengthen internal cohesion among Europeans and the recipe for this is very clear. We need to address social inequalities by fully implementing the social pillar and we need to support investment into the future. We still do not have all the necessary means. At the heart of this you have a historic task, which is to complete, reform and rebalance the economic and monetary union. We have all the proposals on the table. We need the political will to complete the banking union, to reform the European Stability Mechanism and to create a budget capacity in the euro area in order to support Member States to invest in the future. Let me give you a concrete case. I come from Portugal, which is recognised today as a country which is making a real effort to go beyond blind austerity and to make a real recovery and a real effort to change. But now we are stuck. We cannot go forward unless the economic and monetary union is properly reformed. These kinds of cases must be supported because, if they are not supported, you will start having cases like Italy in other places in Europe. This is the choice that the European Council is confronted with. Either we support countries which want to move ahead with social cohesion and turn to the future or we will have a fragmentation of the European Union. The choice is there on the table of the next European Council in December.
Date: 2018-10-24
Mr President, I also know the Lisbon Treaty quite well because I was part of the team of the Portuguese Presidency in charge of completing the negotiation of this Treaty in Lisbon back in 2007. Let me make a clear point. The problem we have is not with the Lisbon Treaty. The problem we have is with the kind of policies we need to implement in order to deliver better European solutions. Let's be fair: when we focus on the Treaty, the Treaty has involved important progress when it comes to democracy. First of all, the fact that this Parliament has extended co-decision in many, many new areas. This is really deepening European democracy. Second, the Lisbon Treaty could pool sovereignty where this is needed: when we address climate change; when we negotiate trade agreements; when we affirm our monetary sovereignty. In all these areas we need stronger European sovereignty. This does not go against national sovereignty. This is to strengthen our control of the situation. I am now addressing the part of Parliament and those Members of the European Parliament who are taking a position against the European Union and the treaties of the European Union. You are wrong. This is not the problem, and the solution is not to withdraw from the treaties. The solution is to change policies in favour of more economic and social convergence and more tax fairness. That's for sure. So this is the way to go.
Date: 2018-10-24
Mr President, good animal health is absolutely vital for improving overall animal welfare, food production and, ultimately, human health and well-being. Like humans, animals do get sick. That's the reality. Sometimes it is necessary for antibiotics to be used, in a sensible manner. For instance, the use of antimicrobial products in livestock is important to restore full health as soon as possible and to stop the disease developing further in the animal or throughout the herd or flock. While preventative use of these products may be necessary under certain conditions, they should never be used as a substitute for proper feed, good hygiene practices in an appropriate environment and animal welfare standards. Antimicrobial resistance in both animals and human beings is a growing cause for concern. I find this agreement strikes a good balance between tackling AMR and also allowing safe and secure access to vital medicines. In the UK we do things slightly differently I suppose maybe that's part of the problem than is the case in the rest of Europe. Veterinary medicines have to be prescribed and we also have a strong distribution system allowing medicines to be distributed by vets, suitably qualified persons and pharmacists, depending on the type of medicine. The system allows farmers and pet owners accessibility to a choice of essential medicines for their animals, but not antibiotics. I am relieved that this agreement allows us to continue with a system that has stood over the past decades. I congratulate all involved in this report.
Date: 2018-11-13
I don't think that we need to reduce the power of national states. What we need to do is to strengthen this power by combining it with the power of the European Union in order to get the necessary resources to finance our budgets. A very good example is digital taxation. Yes, we need to use the full power of the European Union to impose on the big operators of the digital economy their duty to pay their taxes in the single market. Like that, we can finance better public services at national level. So Europe is a must for the power of national states and not a way to reduce it.